Carol Fancott is Director, Patient Safety, Equity, and Engagement at Healthcare Excellence Canada. She has a unique mix of skills and experience in the healthcare system, spanning front-line clinician, educator, academic, leader and caregiver. She seeks to build and strengthen relationships, and engagement and partnership are central to her work in quality, safety, and equity. Carol has led the co-development of numerous initiatives, tools and resources, where lived experience perspectives are at the core of improvements for quality and safety. She has also led programs such as Essential Together, a program co-developed during the Covid-19 crisis to support the safe reintegration of essential care partners in health and social care organizations across the country. A physical therapist by training, Carol obtained a PhD at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto where her dissertation focused on patient engagement and storytelling for organizational learning and improvement.