Professor; co-founder, ITMD Bridge Training Program
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Bangladesh
Dr. Shafi Bhuiyan brings tremendous international experience and a wealth of knowledge to Canada. For nearly two decades, he has worked extensively in global health and education initiatives, and has diverse experience in both developed and developing countries. He is an internationally recognized expert in global public health, a champion of maternal and child health and a pioneer of the Maternal Child Health (MCH) handbook initiative. He is a strong voice for diversity, inclusiveness and community services empowerment.
One of his most notable accomplishments since his arrival in Canada has been his successful contributions in designing, creating and leading an innovative bridging program for Internationally Trained Medical Doctors (ITMDs) in Ontario. This unique program has helped significantly transform the lives and careers of many international trained medical professionals in Canada.
Dr. Bhuiyan recognized that ITMDs experience significant challenges to obtaining a medical licence in Canada, so a large number either choose survival jobs or remain unemployed — an economic loss for both the country and the immigrants themselves. So Dr. Bhuiyan explored alternative, non-licensed pathways to help these skilled medical professionals engage in meaningful employment, which led to co-founding the pilot project for the ITMD bridging program in 2015 through the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University in 2015. The bridging program offered both coursework and practicum placements in leading health sector institutions to equip new immigrant health professionals with skills to successfully transition into non-licensed health sector employment.
The program is now a permanent offering at the Chang School. Since winter 2015, it has received more than 600 applications. The program has a very high success rate with more than 80 per cent of its graduates securing employment or transitioning into postgraduate studies. To date, it has successfully graduated six cohorts for a total of 106 students.
Dr. Bhuiyan holds positions as adjunct professor at the School of Occupational and Public Health and co-founder of internationally trained medical doctors (ITMD) post-graduate bridge training program at Ryerson University and also an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.
Dr. Bhuiyan has constantly expanded his professional engagement in various areas beyond the classroom and is actively involved in a wide range of professional activities. For instance, he founded the International Trained Medical Doctors Canadian Network (ICaN) to provide a platform for a diverse group of ITMDs. The network empowers ITMDs by providing them with advocacy services, mentorship, professional development, global public health education, health research management and career coaching. Networks of this nature are much needed in Canada to better identify challenges and highlight opportunities for ITMDs and help them transition into the Canadian health workforce.
He is also the founding board member and scientific director for the International Committee on the Maternal Child Health Handbook (MCH), which fosters international collaboration to empower women and improve maternal, neonatal and child health worldwide. The MCH Handbook was initially developed in Japan after World War II and has since grown tremendously and expanded into 39 countries worldwide.
Since 2013, Dr. Bhuiyan has also been involved with the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research (CCGHR), a network of professionals committed to promoting better and more equitable health worldwide through the production and use of knowledge. He is involved with CCGHR in various capacities and serves on the board of directors and as a board member and treasurer.
Professor, medicine
City: Hamilton, Ontario
Country of Origin: Guyana
Dr. Mohan Ragbeer came to Canada after five turbulent years as dean of Medical Faculty, UWI, Jamaica, applied for several dozen academic positions across the country, got two interviews, was deemed overqualified, but was finally employed by a start-up private Laboratory Co., which included forensic work in rural towns.
He has overcome obstacles from childhood, from near drowning (he was born and raised in Guyana, in the flood plain of two tidal rivers), to doing adult-level work daily — with four pre-teen siblings, on a small farm run by his mother, after the tragic loss of his father when he was seven —separation from family at 10, and near death from cerebral malaria at 15. He showed courage and resilience in extreme adversity, throughout his life, using the experiences to spur achievement. His education was acquired through scholarships, work, family gifts, the kindness of the three families who boarded him, and loans.
Dr. Ragbeer is an extraordinary immigrant, a polymath, with global experience brought to Canada as a medical professor, geographer, historian, journalist, forensic and laboratory scientist, former dean, administrator and family doctor, and solved laboratory problems in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Guyana. He was the third person in the world independently to identify excess heart disease and diabetes in diasporal Indians, in 1962 (Guyana), following Wattley (Trinidad, 1958), and Danaraj and Muir, (Singapore, 1959), reported this, and worked at prevention for decades, inspiring others to do likewise. He was also first to identify the organisms causing Chromomycosis in Jamaica and Guyana, and one of two Guyanese who, in 1962, established the link between rubella and congenital heart disease.
He has fended racism in the Caribbean and Canada, ageism (high achievement at a young age); overqualification, stereotyping, and criticism for developing maintenance of clinical competence programs, now part of CPSO and RCPSC mandate.
He is a prolific author, with three books that rethink history of Guyana, the Caribbean, India and globally; one on the “brain drain.” He has more than 200 medical articles, 300 newspaper columns on current affairs, and has contributed significantly to Canada in social and race relations as an officer (past president) of several associations in Hamilton, and was part of Hamilton’s post 9/11 healing strategy. The many awards from sectors involved show this.
Vice president, human resources and general counsel at Providence Health Care
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: Tanzania
Zulie Sachedina arrived in Canada from Tanzania with her parents in 1976. Recognizing that education was the only way through which she would be able to succeed in her new country, Sachedina enrolled at York University and financed her undergraduate education through loans and several part-time jobs. She pursued her master’s in health administration from the University of Toronto and after several years of work in health care, decided to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a lawyer.
While she was at law school, she was appointed on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board where she was assigned to deal with many claims for compensation from women who were victims of criminal violence. It was an experience that continues to propel her to help improve the lives of those who have had to overcome enormous personal challenges.
Once she was called to the Bar in Ontario, Sachedina was appointed to the Social Assistance Review Board and then to the Immigration and Refugee Board. In 2001, she returned to health care. She is currently the vice president, human resources and general counsel at Providence Health Care in Vancouver. In this role, Sachedina is responsible and accountable for the human resources functions within Providence, including employee services, learning and organizational change, compensation and benefits, labour relations, occupational health and safety and staff scheduling. She also manages all legal matters, including risk management and privacy issues that arise within the organization.
Sachedina is an active volunteer and believes in making a contribution to the community. She has been a Director of many organizations, including OXFAM Canada, Canadian Council for International Cooperation, FOCUS Humanitarian Assistance, Human Resource Management Association of BC, and she is currently a trustee of Health Benefit Trust and a governor of the Law Foundation of B.C.
Sachedina is an active member of the Ismaili Community and currently serves as chair of the Ismaili International Conciliation and Arbitration Board — appointed by His Highness the Aga Khan — to oversee a global system of dispute resolution in 18 countries, including Canada, where Ismailis have a significant presence.
Founder of Gifted People Services; partner of Aurora International School
City: Ajax, Ontario
Country of Origin: China
Yu (Dianna) Jiang is a partner/owner of Aurora International School, a private primary school in Newmarket, Ontario, that follows the Ontario curriculum outlined in the Ontario Ministry of Education guidelines, but also infuses the education from Confucianism, combining both Canadian and Chinese education.
Jiang founded Gifted People Services, a registered a nonprofit organization in 2012. The grassroots, volunteer-led organization provides training, quality respite services and related resource to families living with developmental disabilities. The first program started from April 2012. In four months, clients jumped from two families to 20 families. Currently, 50 families are actively participating in the program. At the end of 2017, it had served 350 families. Jiang has raised funds for Gifted People Services for five years, ranging from 10,000 to 50,000 in a year. She has fought very hard to educate herself and raise awareness of the challenges facing autistic children and their families, because she herself has an daughter on the autism spectrum.
Jiang came from China 17 years ago with her husband, at three months pregnant with no family or friends to lean on. Finding suitable housing, good jobs and beginning a new family in a new country was a mammoth challenge. When she and her husband found out that their daughter was diagnosed with autism when she was one and half years old, hardships escalated, and Jiang found herself a single mother. Moving forward with all the courage she could gather, Jiang registered into a Ryerson University degree program, all the while volunteering at Surrey Place Centre in Toronto (Surrey offers family counselling, support for families with special needs children and much more), while taking care of her daughter.
She was then hired by Job Club, Toronto, to help newcomers find employment in their field.
In 2008, she found work as an employment consultant with ACCES Employment, and in the same year, she attended University of Toronto’s Woman’s Business Edge program. From there, she successfully acquired a full-time position as a marketing and events co-ordinator within the same organization
Moreover, Jiang has volunteered at St. Christopher’s House as a computer tutor, volunteered at Community Matters Toronto as employment counsellor, volunteered at the Surrey Place for autism as a marketing assistant, and volunteered at Rouge Valley Health System as fundraising assistant. She also served as a board member of Community Matters Toronto. She is currently the vice president of Canada Zhejiang Association to help newcomers to Canada from Zhejiang Province, China.
Law student
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: India
Umang Khandelwal is currently in her final year of studying law at the University of Cambridge, while also serving as a trustee of the university. Last summer, Khandelwal worked at Hootsuite as a legal summer student, working directly with corporate counsel to assist in international expansions and designed and implemented a process to administer the company’s equity compensation program.
Prior to Cambridge, Khandelwal obtained her bachelor’s in international relations from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C., where she served as valedictorian of her graduating class. While studying at UBC, she spent a term abroad at Sciences Po studying EU economics and political affairs, obtaining a certificate in social sciences and the humanities. She also spent a summer as a Hansard Scholar in London, working as a legislative and administrative assistant to a Peer at the House of Lords, focusing on issues such as prison reform for women and increasing the participation and representation of women in politics. While at UBC, Khandelwal was the associate VP, academic and university affairs, where she advocated on behalf of 40,000 students on academic issues, research accessibility, and mental health to the provincial government via reports and meetings
She is an outstanding example of a young Canadian, whose commitment to driving change in Canada and globally is inspiring. Her contributions to highlighting and constructively responding to global challenges extend her impact as a young Canadian internationally. Khandelwal has participated in the 2014 WTO’s Public Forum in Geneva, the World Democracy Forum in Strasbourg, and the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Washington D.C, attending high-level meetings with representatives from financial institutions, central bankers, private sector executives and academics to discuss global financial stability and to advocate for more effective frameworks for international aid.
In 2016, Khandelwal represented Canada in China at the Y20, one of the official stakeholder groups of the G20, and directly presented the negotiated policy document to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau via video-call. Her dedication to increase access to justice for immigrants, refugees, First Nations and other marginalized groups shines through in how she commits her professional and personal energies.
Over a summer between her intensive semesters at Cambridge, she volunteered with Access Pro Bono BC, where she assisted lawyers in providing summary legal advice to low and middle-income individuals on a range of legal issues, including family, human rights and civil law (debt, employment, and housing) and with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. Khandelwal is also a trained anti-discrimination workshop facilitator, in which capacity she conducted workshops to empower individuals to constructively respond to discriminatory comments or situations, fostering inclusiveness in the UBC community.
The dedication that Khandelwal shows to responsibilities amidst a demanding academic workload not only demonstrates her exceptional work ethic, but, most importantly, her deep personal motivation to make a difference.
Having been raised by a single mother, and moving to Vancouver from India at age 15, Khandelwal’s personal conviction motivates her wholehearted pursuit of creating a positive impact on the people and the world around her. She was named a Barclays Women to Watch 2017 and a Darpan Magazine Newsmaker of 2016. She was also the flag bearer for Canada at the Queen’s Commonwealth Service in 2018.
Professor of marketing, Centennial College
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Nepal
Tulsi Dharel was born in Nepal, the country of Mt. Everest, in a middle-class family that always leveraged him from being an initiator and activist in helping change people lives. He has been a leader, manager and advocate for last 20+ years of his successful career.
Dharel has obtained his PhD, in social marketing and holds a master’s in business administration (MBA). Dharel is a dedicated and committed social person who carries 20+ years of experience in business development and social inclusiveness. He immigrated to Canada in 2000 with his wife and son. Since the beginning of his career, he has always been consistent in different endeavours, including advocacy for new immigrants, youth and helping entrepreneurs to succeed in their goals. He himself comes from a family background of business and social activism, which has also helped smooth guidance people in need. In his youth, he has well represented the youth communities that were searching for recognition and acknowledgement of their contribution to the society. He has played a crucial role in bringing isolated people together and integrating them into the mainstream.
Dharel has received several awards and acknowledgement for his hard work and commitment to making a change. Just to name of few, major awarded Outstanding Asian Canadian Award 2017 awarded by Canadian Multicultural Council, International Leo (Youth) of the Year by Lions Clubs International, U.S.A., and the Mongolian government awarded him an Honorary Medal, the highest medal for a foreign citizen, for supporting public enterprises in building their marketing niche while he was working as a senior international marketing consultant in Mongolia.
Currently, he is teaching at Centennial College, Toronto, since 2007 as a full-time professor of marketing. He had taught at George Brown College (2006-2011), Toronto, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo (2000-2001), Mongolian National University, Mongolia (2002-2004), and Tribhuvan University, Nepal (1987-1999). As a well-experienced teaching professional, he has always been able to translate teaching rhythm and its notion in mobilizing, encouraging and influencing community and people.
Besides his teaching profession, Dharel is actively involved in helping and guiding community-based local and national level Nepalese organizations by offering them his selfless support, encouragement and time.
Dharel has been co-ordinating a mentoring and professional networking program for Nepalese Canadian since 2012. Around 100+ mentors and about 450 interested mentees and participants took advantage from his mentoring leadership role.
Giving back to the community, he is the chief co-ordinator of the Nepal Promotion & Buddha Birth Anniversary celebration (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 & 2018) at Yonge-Dundas Square and Peace rally in Yonge Street. He was also the chairperson of the Himalayan Festival at Nathen Philip Square (City Hall, Toronto), 2016, 2017, the biggest outdoor Nepalese festival in North America.
He is also a founding member of Concern-Nepal, Canada, 2012 (an intellectual discussion forum); Nepali Sahitya Samaj 2004 (Nepali Language and literature promotion forum); NRNA-Canada (Nepalese global diaspora networking) 2008; Nepal TV Canada 2015, under Roger TV Channel and Nepalese Canadian Heritage Centre.
Further, he is chairperson of Nepalese Canadian Community Services 2016-2018, and vice-president of the Association of Nepalese in the Americas 2017-2019l; and vice-president, Canadian Multicultural Council, 2018-2020.
He will also be a conference convener at the International Conference on Nepali Diaspora’s Contribution to Higher Education in Nepal, July 7-8, 2018, in Toronto.
Retired; former minister of citizenship
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Poland
It was a different kind of Canada when Tony Ruprecht arrived from Germany in 1959 — not as open to opportunities as it is today. But, within three days he found a job as a spray-painter with Dominion Electric Co. He soon realized that not being fluent in English would limit his ability to participate fully in Canadian public life. That’s why he bought four dictionaries – German, Polish, Romanian and Italian, since those were the languages he grew up with. He studied their English translation with them at every opportunity.
In 1964, he entered Laurentian University as a mature student and won the Miller Scholarship in 1965. In 1969, he received a graduate assistantship at Wichita State University for his MA and then an assistantship at Miami University for his PhD.
Looking at Canada from a U.S. perspective, he quickly realized that Canada was a blessed bilingual country with a constitution that openly recognized the multicultural nature and contributions of its citizens. Ruprecht felt compelled to keep this kind of Canada united and hold it up as a beacon of freedom and co-existence where diversity is recognized as strength.
While teaching at Brandon University and York University as a professor of political science, he organized a series of “Canada at the Crossroads” conferences. As the rhetoric of Quebec independence and consequent break-up of Canada heated up, he entered public life as a Metro Toronto councillor in 1978. There, he began actively organizing the first “Keep Canada United” unity march by bringing ethno-cultural leaders and their national congresses together in order to defeat the Quebec independence referendum.
In 1981, he was elected MPP for Parkdale and, in 1985, appointed as minister of citizenship responsible for multiculturalism. He then invited all ethno-cultural communities to submit a list of qualified names for appointments to boards and commissions. This process was the seed that grew into the production of the best-selling book Toronto’s Many Faces. It is a guidebook to the multicultural character of the city, featuring profiles of more than 60 ethnic communities, including local histories, festivals, food and art. The book identifies each community — where its people came from, why, when and where they settled in Toronto.
In 1995, the Quebec independence movement again threatened to break up Canada. Ruprecht once again organized a number of unity meetings with multicultural leaders, but this time they were asked to provide lists of people’s names who live in Quebec and could be contacted to vote for unity. It turned out that this action was significant since this second referendum for Quebec independence was defeated by less than half a percentage point.
In November 2017, the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada recommended Ruprecht for Canada’s 150th anniversary medal, stating “Dr. Ruprecht as one of the key architects for Canadian unity and ask him to accept our nation’s gratitude.”
In 2011, Ruprecht left active politics. He now advises a number of governments on how to improve public health. He devotes his life to the scientific discoveries of improved health and life extension. He has written three books on the subject: Antiaging Emotions; Radiant Health Workbook and The Spiritual Foundation of Radiant Health: linking medicine to spirituality and healing.
Ruprecht has been decorated with various medals by 11 national governments.
Senior manager, operations and innovation, Youth Research and Evaluation eXchange Project, York University
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Zimbabwe
Tinashe Mafukidze is a Toronto-based impact designer and systems entrepreneur, born in Zimbabwe, and raised in Burundi, Kenya and Canada. Her practice focuses on curating customized solutions and supports for people and projects in Canada and the world that seek to drive systems level impact, innovation and change.
She has served on local and international boards and committees dedicating her efforts on social enterprise, inclusion, migration, gender-based analysis and health. For four years, she co-owned and managed her first business, an African art social enterprise that supported families affected by HIV/AIDS in Toronto’s Kensington Market when she was 15 years old.
Mafukidze was also a founding board member of CAPAIDS (Canada Africa Partnership on AIDS) in 2003, an organization that provides health and economic development opportunities for those affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. In 2013, she co-founded CatalystsX to equip young innovators and the social enterprise ecosystem in Ontario and across Canada. Whether it was through working on scalable cross-sectoral solutions to address unemployment challenges affecting immigrant communities or leading innovative strategies to engage the most underserved youth, she has carried her entrepreneurial spirit as an intrapreneur. She studied political science at Concordia University and project management at Ryerson University. Mafukidze is a trained process facilitator through Anima Leadership & Process Work Institute. She also studied Innovation Leadership through University of Waterloo’s Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience in Haida Gwaii.
Mafukidze is currently working as the senior manager, operations and innovation for the Youth Research and Evaluation eXchange project at York University, where her work is focused on systems design, organizational effectiveness and strategic partnerships. She is also exploring the power of the social, intellectual and financial capital of the migrant in brokering opportunities that bridge the global socio-economic divides. Since 2015, she has also been a member of the TELUS Community Board that provides grants for youth social innovation projects in the GTHA.
Founder and CEO, Zatiq
City: Peterborough, Ontario
Country of Origin: Bangladesh
Sultan Moni moved to Canada from Abu Dhabi in 2013 while in high school. Upon graduating high school, Moni started a business consulting company: Central Dominion, which helped new immigrants and international students successfully start a business in Canada.
In 2015, Moni went on to publish his debut novel, Let the Heart Beat, a fictional novel that tells a story of a young kid battling cancer. In 2016, Moni founded Zatiq, a technology startup based out of Peterborough, Ontario, that leverages advanced technologies to personalize the food discovery and dining experience.
In 2018, Moni made his first debut in the entertainment industry with his reality TV comedy cooking show, Master of Disaster: Disaster chef tries to cook.
Aside from his ventures, Moni also founded Meal for Everyone, a non-profit organization that helps feed the homeless, and 100 students of Peterborough, a student-run group that crowd funds a small amount every three months to support a local project.
Moni is also known to sponsor and support various student run events and projects in his community. Moni, a 22-year-old entrepreneur, author, TV star and philanthropist has already impacted the lives of many while still being a full-time computer and business student at Trent University, all within a short span of five years since moving to Canada.
Student; activist
City: London, Ontario
Country of Origin: India
As a 23-year-old, Sukhmeet Sachal has accomplished more than many do in a lifetime. Yet through all his achievements, he continues to embrace a humble demeanour. He is a budding benevolent leader who has a passion to make a difference in this world.
At the age of six, he immigrated with his family to Canada from India. Here, he settled down in Surrey, B.C., and started his education. In elementary and high school, he got involved with the community in all different aspects, which led him to becoming the class valedictorian. As a result, he was offered scholarships from various universities across Canada. Ultimately, he chose to complete his undergraduate studies at McGill University in anatomy and cell biology.
In his first year, he was elected by his peers as the president of the Freshmen Undergraduate Science Society. He continued as a Students Society of McGill University Science Representative, as well as Clubs and Services Representative. He was also selected as the academic director of the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity for which he represented his university at the Academy of Leadership in to St. Louis, United States.
After completing his undergraduate degree, he decided to take some time off and volunteer around the world. In September 2017, he was selected as one of 60 students to join an eight-month master of public health program at Western University in London, Ontario.
He achieved great success in his program where he was selected as the class representative by his peers for his leadership skills and he hosts his own radio show on good health and well-being. He has been selected for an internship this upcoming summer with the Public Health Agency of Canada to discover the link between climate change, the increased prevalence of infectious diseases and mental health.
Additionally, he works with the Canadian Public Health Association in a working group addressing the ecological determinants of health. If he does not already have a lot on his plate, he is also working with a few of his professors in publishing academic papers and planning a project with the World Health Organization.
On top of being an excellent academic student, his extensive list of extracurricular activities and volunteering initiatives are equally impressive. In high school, he started a club called Students Without Borders after he noticed different cliques forming. Collaborating with Free The Children, his club raised around $10,000 toward building two wells in Kenya. In university, he slept outside every year for one week for a campaign called 5 Days for the Homeless raising $50,000 with his team towards ending youth homelessness.
Also, he has embarked on several medical mission trips to Ghana and Uganda, where he fundraised for hygiene kits and basic medical supplies. In 2016, he participated in the ninth Annual Medical Mission with Indo-Africa Charitable Society in Uganda. Volunteers consisted of various medical professionals who teamed up with local medical practitioners and with the excellent support from many young student volunteers, like him, they provided much needed medical services to over 20,000 patients.
Before coming to Uganda, through his organization Road2Wellness Foundation, he fundraised more than $2,500 in British Columbia to create hygiene kits for the patients at the medical camp, which consisted of toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap.
Upon his return to Canada, he shared the knowledge he gained in hopes of inspiring other youth in British Columbia by creating a short documentary about his trip.
Last year, Sachal embarked on a trip to the Arctic for six months to volunteer and teach Indigenous youth sciences and help them graduate. He hopes to return to this community in the future as a physician. And his new organization, Break The Divide, is connecting high school Indigenous youth in the Northwest Territories with youth across British Columbia to create cross-cultural dialogue. The groups discuss geography, political issues, and learn about each other’s culture and ancestry.
For his great work, Sachal was awarded a scholarship by the Vancouver Foundation and the Michaëlle Jean Foundation called the 2017 Fresh Voices Relationship with Indigenous People in Canada Award.
Sachal has been recognized with several honours, including the Darpan Youth Extraordinary Award, March 2014; the Giving Hearts Award Outstanding Youth Philanthropist, November 2013, and the Surrey Board of Trade Top 25 Under 25, May 2013, among others.
Senior lecturer, Simon Fraser University; founder, Science in Action
City: North Vancouver
Country of Origin: Venezuela
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Sophie Lavieri is an award-winning senior lecturer at Simon Fraser University (SFU). She is the founder of Science in Action, a free science outreach program that has involved more than 1,000 volunteers and has reached more than 100,000 kids, many of them from Aboriginal communities and inner-city schools. Her efforts have helped secure more than $4 million in funding to build a science outreach centre and observatory.
As a mother of two and a recent grandmother, Lavieri serves as a role model to women aspiring to achieve impact in the profession while maintaining a commendable work-life balance. In her spare time, Lavieri loves bringing happiness to our elderly by singing at retirement homes with Chemsemble, the choir she founded.
Leaving Venezuela in 2000 was not an easy decision. Although her husband and two children had joined her while she was a visiting professor at the University of Florida, they never thought (as probably never did millions of other Venezuelans) that they would have to emigrate permanently. However, in the year 2000, with the turmoil that was starting to develop in Venezuela, and hoping for a better and safer future for their kids, they applied for Canadian residency. They were surprised that it was granted in less than three months, even skipping the interviews! Canada is now home (with capital H) for them.
Lavieri was quickly hired at Simon Fraser University. The hiring committee was impressed by her innovative and interactive teaching style, beating out excellent candidates from other top universities. Having taught thousands of university students over the course of her career, Lavieri decided to reach out to others beyond the university confines. Her goal was simple: “to have children of all ages gain an interest in science and to have their parents and teachers involved in the process.” This led to the foundation of the Science in Action program. On the other hand, she also volunteered for Science World’s Scientists and Innovators in the Schools (SIS) program, which allowed her to bring her “portable labs” to remote locations in British Columbia. Her impact in the community has been featured in numerous national and international articles and TV segments.
Lavieri has a B.Sc. in chemical engineering, a M.Sc. in biology, a degree in Pharmacy, and a PhD in medicinal chemistry. Her awards include the SFU Faculty of Science and the SFU Excellence in Teaching Awards (2004, 2006), the YWCA Women of Distinction Award (2009), the Waldo Briño – Inspirational Latin Award (2014) from LatinCouver, being named as one of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadian (2014) and the Cmolik Prize for the Enhancement of Public Education in BC Honourable Mention (2015).
Lavieri works hard every day “to give back to the country that has given so much to her and her family.”
Director, Symbiosis Pediatric Therapy
City: Surrey, B.C.
Country of Origin: India
Shalini Das is an occupational therapist and behavior consultant, as well as the owner and founder of Symbiosis Pediatric Therapy Inc., which provides a full range of therapy services for children within a fun and therapeutic environment by creating an atmosphere of warmth, caring and assurance for the children as well as the parents. Das has devoted her career to making a difference for children with special needs and their families. She has helped countless children learn to maximize their potential in roles such as playing, going to school and learning with their peers. Striving to help children discover their potential, Das leads a multi-disciplinary team dedicated to the company’s mission which ensures that each child is important.
Born in India, Das came to Canada in 2008 with her family, looking for a better work-life balance. Seeing a shortage of services for children with special needs and insufficient levels of support for their families in the Lower Mainland, Das started Symbiosis Pediatric Therapy Inc. to deliver full-spectrum private pediatric therapy services through a large, state-of-the-art facility in Surrey.
In response to the growing need for their services over the next few years, under
Das’ guidance, Symbiosis expanded to two more locations in South Surrey and Abbotsford.
Das has more than 20 years of experience in the health care industry, working primarily with children, making her a strong advocate for providing timely and quality clinical services to children with various special needs.
She is the first and only occupational therapist on the Ministry’s Registry of Autism Service Providers who holds a dual qualification as an occupational therapist and a behaviour consultant in British Columbia. She is also listed as a mentor with the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists and a student supervisor with the UBC Department of Occupational Therapy. She has a strong foundation of theoretical and clinical professional knowledge, which has helped her to grow her professional career from a therapist to a business owner, establishing her as a role model in the disability sector.
Das is a strong advocate for creating awareness of autism and other special needs in the society. She is involved in many activities which include presentations and dissemination of information in different parent support groups, autism societies, and schools. She believes that greater public awareness and education about children with special needs can break through walls of discomfort to promote greater understanding. Keeping this in mind, Das has volunteered her time to organizations such as the Down’s Syndrome Association, many autism parent support groups and the Learning Disability Association to name a few.
Recently, on International Women’s Day 2018, Das was honoured to receive the Surrey Women in Business award at an event organized by the Surrey Board of Trade.
Senator for Ontario, the Senate of Canada
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: India
Ratna Omidvar, C.M., O.Ont., is an internationally recognized voice on migration, diversity and inclusion. She came to Canada from Iran in 1981 and her own experiences of displacement, integration and citizen engagement have been the foundation of her work. In April 2016, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed Omidvar to the Senate of Canada as an independent Senator representing Ontario. As a member of the Senate’s Independent Senators Group she holds a leadership position as the scroll manager.
Senator Omidvar is the founding executive director and currently a distinguished visiting professor at the Global Diversity Exchange (GDX), Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University. GDX is a think-and-do tank on diversity, migration and inclusion that connects local experience and ideas with global networks. It is dedicated to building a community of international leaders who see prosperity in migration. Previously, Senator Omidvar was the president of Maytree, where she played a lead role in local, national and international efforts to promote the integration of immigrants.
Senator Omidvar is the current co-chair of the Global Future Council on Migration hosted by the World Economic Forum and serves as a councillor on the World Refugee Council. She is also a director at the Environics Institute, and Samara Canada and is the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council’s chair emerita and was formerly the chair of Lifeline Syria.
Senator Omidvar is co-author of Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada (2015), an Open Book Toronto best book of 2015 and one of the Toronto Star’s top five good reads from Word on the Street. She is also a contributor to The Harper Factor (2016) and co-editor of Five Good Ideas: Practical Strategies for Non-Profit Success (2011).
To honour her contributions, she received an honorary degree, Doctor of Laws, York University in 2012, was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2005 and became a member of the Order of Canada in 2011.
In 2014, she received the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of her contribution to the advancement of German-Canadian relations.
Senator Omidvar has also been recognized by Canada’s national newspaper, the Globe and Mail, by being named as its Nation Builder of the Decade for Citizenship in 2010. She was named to the inaugural Global Diversity List sponsored by The Economist magazine in 2015, as one of the Top 10 Diversity Champions worldwide. In 2016, she also received Lifetime Achievement Awards from CivicAction and the Canadian Urban Institute, honouring her strong commitment to civic leadership and city building.
Mechanical design engineer
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: Ukraine
Eleven years at Octaform has allowed Semion Krivulin to flourish as a talented, creative designer. Octaform’s focus was to expand the technology of a stay-in-place, concrete forming system, which has successfully impacted the biogas industry; first of its kind and a unique system.
Today Krivulin’s title is operations and research development manager, however his passion has always been for design, functionality and uniqueness. Krivulin obtained this title throughout many years of creating industrial designs that are progressive in the fast moving construction industry.
He has successfully patented 43 designs, including the plastic shopping basket we use all across North America. The thinking behind his designs has always been to help people and make their live easier.
What is more impressive is that he came from Ukraine, aged 42 with basic English. Although very qualified, he had to deliver pizzas when he first arrived to support his wife and two young children. He took this in his stride and used it to improve his English and absorb the Canadian culture
One of the sources of support Krivulin credits his personal achievements from has come from the Brit Lions Rugby Club, and his passion for the sport. Initially, Krivulin coached children, and with this involvement Vancouver Rugby were able to implement ‘mini rugby’ and introduce rugby to kids. Throughout the years, he has stepped back from active participation, however remaining an avid fan. This same passion is also evident in his social reaches within the company; he is helpful, friendly and courteous with every member of the team, as well has having a great sense of humour.
Cancer physician with CancerCare Manitoba
City: Winnipeg
Country of Origin: Nepal
Dr. Saroj Niraula was born in the Himalayan country of Nepal. After completing his specialist training back in Asia, he came to Canada nine years ago as a trainee at the University of Toronto.
For the past five years, he has been a cancer physician and affiliate scientist with CancerCare Manitoba and University of Manitoba. Besides his everyday clinical responsibilities as the leader of breast disease site in the provincial cancer institute, he contributes to world-class cancer research for advancement of cancer treatment globally. He has designed, conducted and reported a few cancer clinical trials, and is the local principal investigator for several international collaborative clinical trials of women with breast cancer.
He is also extensively published in international peer-reviewed medical journals such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Lancet Oncology among others, where he enjoys reporting his research on importance of balance between the benefits and harms of new cancer drugs. He is keenly interested in navigating ways to improve access to cancer drugs in resource-deprived settings of developing nations, and about sustainability of increasing cost of cancer treatment.
Dr. Niraula’s desire to provide high-quality clinical care to cancer patients, and determination to improve outcomes of cancer patients through research have been recognized by many international awards and honours such as the international development and education award, and merit awards from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO).
He is an active member and volunteer at ASCO, the largest umbrella organization of 45,000 international cancer physicians and professionals. His volunteer and humanitarian roles are mainly through his field of professional expertise: he is deeply concerned by inequity in health care between the developed and underdeveloped world. He volunteers to mentor cancer doctors from low- and middle-income countries around the world through ASCO’s international outreach program. He is also a current member of the selection committee for ASCO’s IDEA award.
If he had to pick one out of countless perks Canada has to offer, he says that would undoubtedly be the universal health care system where all citizens can have access to the world-class health care regardless of their socio-economic status. He dreams of one day witnessing such system extend beyond developed countries like Canada and reach the poorest of nations in Asia and Africa where hundreds of thousands of people lose their lives every year in the absence of mere basics of health care.
Be it extrinsic source of human suffering such as injustice and (various) inequalities, or intrinsic source of human misery such as natural disasters and diseases like cancer, being able to offer a helping hand to fellow humans in need provides Dr. Niraula with the greatest sense of achievement and purpose in life.
CEO, FreshWorks
City: Victoria, B.C.
Country of Origin: India
Sam (Samarth) Mod is the co-founder and CEO of FreshWorks Studio, an award-winning Victoria- and Vancouver-based firm working in the space of digital transformation and specializing in designing and developing mobile and web apps. They are currently ranked #1 in B.C. and #3 in all of Canada for app developers with a client portfolio that includes BC Ferries, BC Hydro, Harbour Air, Used.ca, BC Government, CGI and Sierra Systems. Mod has been the CEO of FreshWorks from the beginning, and below are some great examples of the growth & impact the company has had under his direction.
Employee growth from three employees in January 2016 to 48 Currently (>15x growth). FreshWorks is currently still hiring frantically to properly resource for work already booked in 2018. They anticipate 50+ local employees in Victoria/Vancouver by sometime in April 2018.
FreshWorks had four times year over year revenue growth from 2016-2017 while maintaining healthy and sustainable margins. FreshWorks is currently ranked #1 in BC and #3 in Canada for top app developers (mobile and web) by Clutch, which is arguably the most reputable global directory for development companies. FreshWorks is also ranked #1 in Canada for Android app developers and #2 in Canada for iOS developers.
In a short span of time, his hard work has won major contracts with BC Ferries, BC Hydro, Used.ca, many arms of the BC government, the City of Victoria, City of West Vancouver, Harbour Air, the Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health, and more.
In 2017, Mod opened an office in Vancouver and joined Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Vancouver chapter. FreshWorks expanded to larger office downtown Victoria at 736 Broughton St. in September 2017 and is currently renovating a second space in the same building to accommodate the growing employee base. He is extremely proud to be creating so many jobs, especially considering he only arrived in Canada five years ago to attend university for his MBA.
In 2017, he won the Douglas Magazine 10 to Watch award and Chamber of Commerce New Business Award.
In 2018, he won the SBBC Best Immigrant Entrepreneur Award and the Business Examiner award for Best Technology Company.
To give back to his new community, Mod has consulted with the Victoria mayor’s office and a small steering committee on developing an app based ecosystem to help combat homelessness by facilitating communication between those with extra bedrooms and those who need shelter. They have committed 100-200 hours and $20k in donated labour resources.
Mod also sponsored and created a project for the fourth-year BCom students to give back to the University of Victoria and encourage social entrepreneurship. FreshWorks proposed a ride sharing application for teams to develop which provided a community service by coordinating carpools for BC Ferries foot passengers. Along with other employees they devoted many (50-75) hours teaching students how to combine software development with social enterprise.
Executive director, SAV Canada
City: Mississauga
Country of Origin: Syria
Sam Jisri is the executive director of SAV Canada – Syrian Active Volunteers, a non-profit organization dedicated to aid incoming refugees and immigrants settling in the Greater Toronto Area.
Before SAV, Jisri travelled to Syrian Refugee Camps in Turkey and Jordan to volunteer his time to provide support for those who fled their wartorn countries; he translated for news outlets and raised awareness about the conditions of the refugees. Jisri also actively blogged to provide a platform for the vulnerable to voice their narratives and experiences. Maclean’s magazine gave Jisri the wonderful chance to film his daily voluntary work in details and he received an honour from Costi Immigrant Services for his work. Later on that same year, SAV was accredited by the Governor General of Canada.
Previously, Jisri operated an instructional centre specializing in computer and graphic studies in 2001 called the Canadian-Certified-Computer-Training, CCCT. He opened the largest centre for computer sales and maintenance in Mississauga, Smart Buy Company. His other positions include working as an art director in the 360 virtual tour department at the international company, IPIX, and also as an instructor at the Arts and Graphic institution. Now, Jisri spends his time working on expanding SAV to aid and support immigrants and refugees. Today, SAV has helped more than 6,000 Syrian Refugees.
As an entrepreneur, teacher, humanitarian and manager, the following accomplishments have allowed Jisri to equip himself with the necessary skills required to build an organization that helped and supported the incoming refugees and immigrants settling in Mississauga, Ontario specifically. Jisri had a vision to help those in need and by January of 2016, that vision started to become a reality.
In December of 2015, Jisri had established a sizable centre for accepting donations including various clothing, shoes, non-perishable food items and various items for infants. Jisri was honoured to have been amongst those who welcomed the Syrian refugees to Toronto. To
help them start their lives in a completely different country, many volunteers, including Jisri, provided transportation services, translation and generally creating a support system for the newcomers. Jisri also founded, with many others, the Syrian Advisory Council and is currently also a member.
In January of 2016, Jisri expanded SAV to include more than 400 volunteers for relief and voluntary work in areas such as translation, social relations, settling and transportation. Jisri was involved organizing an open press conference that welcomed more than 14 media stations discussing Syrian refugees’ lives and current situation.
During June, Jisri along with many volunteers worked all as a team on organizing a massive Ramadan project, Ramadan Baskets. In this project, the goal was to provide Syrians with food essentials for the month of Ramadan. More than 1,000 Ramadan baskets were given out to 500 families.
In addition to serving as executive director of SAV Canada, Jisri is president, SCC Syrian Community Centre; executive board director / presenter, INT Disability Summit (World disability NGO); executive board member, CAF Canadian Arab Federation; and director / investor in Emar builders and investment group and the Recommender Media Group.
Postdoctoral research scholar
City: London, Ontario
Country of Origin: Iraq
Sali Farhan completed her bachelor of science and her PhD in genetics and biochemistry at Western University. While at Western, she studied rare genetic disorders affecting Canadian and global communities, and later studied neurodegenerative diseases under the prestigious CIHR Banting-Best Doctoral Award, Ontario Graduate Scholarship and Western’s Doctoral Excellence Research Award.
Later in her studies, Farhan received the CIHR Michael Smith Foreign Study Award to support her research at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. She is currently a postdoctoral research scholar at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital under the ALS Canada Tim E. Noël Postdoctoral Fellowship, where she is studying the genetic basis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Today, Farhan is excelling in her career, however, life was not always simple and rewarding for her and her family. As the youngest of four, Farhan was born in Mosul, Iraq, during the Gulf War in 1990. Her parents, faced with the uncertainty and turmoil that a future in Iraq held for their four children, decided to flee the country. Unfortunately, this proved to be a very challenging and tragic task as the family of six had to endure life as Iraqi refugees under the Syrian government.
Later, Farhan’s family was finally able to flee to find safety and shelter in Lebanon, at which point her parents applied to immigrate to Spain, U.S.A. and Canada. On December 2, 1998, the Farhans landed in Canada and began their next chapter as newcomers, and four years later, as Canadian citizens.
Farhan attributes all her academic accomplishments to the sacrifices her parents made for her and her siblings, who are also in the process of completing their doctoral degrees. Her parents have endured tragic events yet continue to support their daughters throughout their academic and personal goals.
As a young female immigrant, Farhan is always advocating for other immigrants, especially refugees, to be given the same opportunities her parents provided her. She has mentored young female scientists, advocated for children and refugees as part of UNICEF, as well as participated in global teaching programs. Farhan’s resiliency and ambition come from her mother, Nidaa, who has worked in the mental health community for more than 30 years and has counselled and helped many members of Canadian communities within women’s shelters, Syrian and Iraqi refugee programs, and has always taught her children to stay committed and remain resilient in adversity.
Assistant vice-president, facilities management and development, Ryerson University
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: India
Since coming to Canada in 2000, Saher Fazilat has literally “built” a life in Canada. An engineer and leader of construction projects in the broader public sector, she has been building spaces and structures in collaboration with her communities; and building inclusion by championing women in her profession and encouraging girls to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as academic and professional disciplines. She is a highly regarded mentor, an expert in change management, and a sought-after speaker known for engagement with industry and organizations dedicated to opportunity, innovation and progress.
Fazilat joined Ryerson University as assistant vice-president, facilities management and development in 2016 — the latest step in an increasingly prominent career over the 18 years she has been in Canada. At Ryerson, she oversees 200 staff on six teams with a range of responsibilities including infrastructure (currently 300 projects ranging from planning, design and construction of two new buildings at Ryerson to campus renewal, renovation and maintenance); consultation and strategic direction for city-building initiatives; health and safety; and comprehensive sustainability.
From June 2014 to July 2016, Fazilat served Western University as executive director of facilities development and engineering where she led construction, property and energy projects. Her time at Western was distinguished by the joint purpose faculty of information studies and nursing building; the new interdisciplinary research building for cognitive research for brain and mind; and the roll-out of the university’s first sustainability design guideline — as well as winning the 2016 Water Efficiency Award recognizing initiative and excellence in water conservation.
From July 2008 to May 2014, she worked for the Town of Oakville as division head of new construction and major renovations, managing the city’s largest facilities construction portfolio, featuring Transit Facility Oakville, renovations to the Queen Elizabeth Community Centre and the Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.
From September 2000 to July 2008, she was project manager for the City of Toronto, including renovations to the iconic Toronto City Hall, civic centres, and the new Records and Archives Centre in North York.
On an occasion when Fazilat was praised for progress, she was memorably quoted as saying “We are pushing the bar higher every year and encouraged to put the accelerator down even further and hit goals we didn’t know were achievable.” This is the standard she applies, not only to her work, but to her commitment to the community. She is a frequent speaker and participant at industry and policy events, deeply respected for her input on issues and strategic suggestions on ways to move the yardsticks further along together. Examples include a Toronto Region Board of Trade panel on city-building where she provided opening remarks; the Canada Green Building Council Lasting Change Conference; the Construction Resource Initiatives Council mission to eliminate construction, renovation and demolition waste to landfill sites by 2030; and events focused on improving the bottom line for businesses, green real estate, climate change, low carbon buildings, and more.
Prime among these vital causes, Fazilat believes we have serious work to do in building engagement in STEM among girls and women. As a group of disciplines, science, technology, engineering and mathematics are acknowledged catalysts in innovation and progress — and female students and professionals in these areas are seriously underrepresented. Although statistically women earn a larger share of conferred degrees, in science and technology they earn fewer degrees than men — so there is a fundamental problem that needs to be addressed. She believes there are systemic barriers at a young age that typically discourage young girls from entering STEM, and it is essential to find an approach to turn this around.
As a role model, leading example and passionate advocate for girls and women in STEM, she speaks out about the critical need for parents and teachers to support and encourage girls to explore STEM fields from an early age. She believes the biggest obstacles for girls in STEM are bias and stereotypes, for example often girls do not know anyone in these fields or have an impression about these subjects that could be countered with knowledge and involvement.
She has won many honours, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal; Town of Oakville Executive Management Team Award of Excellence, 2012; and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Community Sustainability Award, 2012.
Founder and CEO, Magnotta Winery; president, G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Italy
Rossana Di Zio Magnotta is founder and CEO of Magnotta Winery, the third largest winery in Ontario and the most award-winning winery in Canada with more than 4,500 awards for product excellence. For more than 25 years, the company has been an innovator of world-class Ontario wines and exclusive products including Sparkling Ice™, the world’s first sparking Icewine, which won Grand Gold at Vinitaly, and Enotrium, Canada’s first Amarone-inspired VQA red wine that has been honoured with the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Ontario Wines.
She has also launched G.Marquis, a collection of premium wines and Icewines with a unique, authentic personality, available at the LCBO. And, in a bold move, she acquired the wine assets of Kittling Ridge, which has allowed her to double her stores and grow her product portfolio. Under her leadership, Magnotta products have also expanded into global markets including the United States, China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam.
Magnotta’s business and branding strategy has always been about creating interesting wines for wine lovers that exceed their expectations. Over the last few years, the company has launched an unprecedented number of new products to join its long line of more than 180 wines. Most of all, she identified long ago the need to demystify wine by empowering consumers with product knowledge which has proven to be a key component to her branding success. A winery is one of the most difficult businesses to sustain for a long period of time and many have come and gone, but the strong brand that she has built over the years has earned her loyal, enthusiastic followers making Magnotta’s presence in the marketplace for more than 25 years truly unique.
For more than two decades she has also been passionate about health care. A longtime supporter of Toronto hospitals, foundations and charitable organizations, she has sat on the board of directors of Humber River Regional Hospital, pioneered a pre-screening program for colorectal cancer and is now leading Canada’s first translational research facility for Lyme disease. Her early career as a medical laboratory technologist helped define her as a young adult and prepared her for an unexpected journey.
From lab technologist to winemaker to community advocate, Magnotta’s dedication to health care gave her a strong sense of caring about the human condition. It is no surprise that she would find a way to leverage her successful business to instigate change and improve people’s lives. For more than 10 years she has been tackling the obstacles that are preventing Lyme disease sufferers from being heard by telling Canadians the real story about this devastating disease. Through her winery, she has launched awareness campaigns and fund raising initiatives from annual events to charity wines and works diligently with the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation as a member of the board.
Today, her heart and soul is devoted to the G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases, a non-profit organization Rossana established to change the way Lyme disease is tested and treated in Canada. It has just launched the G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab in a landmark partnership with the University of Guelph. The Foundation is focused on raising $10 million to fund its five-year plan, which includes building a collaborative national research network and a Canadian Lyme consortium, developing the G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab into a full research centre and establishing a Lyme Clinic at a leading Ontario hospital that will evolve into a Centre of Excellence for Canadian Lyme patients.
Throughout her remarkable career, Magnotta has been bestowed many awards of distinction including the following philanthropic honours:
Publisher, ByBlacks.com
City: Whitby, Ontario
Country of Origin: Jamaica
Roger Dundas is the publisher of award-winning ByBlacks.com, Canada’s #1 Black online magazine, which averages nearly seven million hits per month. It has emerged as a bold, innovative platform that leads the way in featuring diverse aspects of the Black Canadian community.
Dundas has served the Black Canadian community in several different capacities, but mostly relating to the promotion of Black excellence through arts and media.
From 2006-2011, he was a board member of the Collective of Black Artists (COBA) helping the organization with marketing strategies.
In 2010, he and six other promoters formed their own collective to revive Black entertainment at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. He was successful in bringing a number of hit plays to the stage.
He is also the creative director of 404 Media Group, scouting and managing new branding, and publicity of clients. 404 Media Group has carved a niche with taking small business owners to the big stage of mainstream media coverage, landing coveted interviews for clients on shows such as Breakfast Television, CP24 Breakfast, CTV Canada AM, CTV Your Morning and Global Morning.
He is the proud father of two young children, six-year-old Chase and two-year-old Marley Rose. He’s appeared on The Dr. Vibe Show, CTV, NewsTalk 1010 radio and the Good Men Project talking about fatherhood and masculinity. Right now, he is in the middle of working on the Father Project — an online photo series that highlights Black Canadian men talking about how their relationship with their father affects how they parent.
Dundas has also been a dedicated youth mentor, being a guest speaker at events such as the Branded TO Youth Event, and he has also employed young people and acted as a mentor to them through the YMCA.
Most people describe Dundas as the ultimate champion of connections. He is passionate about helping young black entrepreneurs thrive by introducing them to not only the right people, but the right attitudes and commitment to excellence as a way of life.
In 2015, he was bestowed a Men of Honour Award by the Black Business Professional Association, one of the highest honours in the African Canadian community, attended by the Prime Minister and other dignitaries. In 2016, he was named among the Men of Distinction, BBPA (Black Business Professional Association) and, in 2017, he received the Innovation Award from the Canadian Ethnic Media Association.
In 2017, he was part of a lobby group made up of Black Canadian organizations who spent an entire day on Parliament Hill convincing the Canadian government to formally recognize the United Nations Decade for People of African Descent. In January 2018, he was among others present in Ottawa when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canada would, in fact, recognize the decade.
In February 2018, Dundas received a special commendation from Prime Minister Trudeau, a personally signed certificate recognizing his contribution to the African Canadian community through his work.
Like many Black Canadians, Dundas has persevered in the face of racism. When applying for government funding back when ByBlacks.com was still just a business idea, he was told by a funding rep that “this idea will never work because you Black people do not support each other.” Dundas is very proud of the fact that he has proven that man wrong, as ByBlacks.com has grown to become Canada’s #1 ranked Black online magazine, in just five years.
CFO, BC Liquor Distribution Branch
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: Trinidad and Tobago
Roger Bissoondatt joined the BC Liquor Distribution Branch as chief auditor in 1991. His dedication to strategic growth and ethical reporting propelled him to the executive director, finance and chief financial officer role by 1999, inclusive of the interim general manager role between 2012 and 2013. He was also appointed an assistant deputy minister in 2010.
Bissoondatt leads a team of approximately 100 staff and is accountable for the annual financial plan for a government branch that employs 4,000 people, is one of the largest retailers in B.C. with 198 stores and two distribution centres, and generates approximately $1 billion directly to benefit provincial health care, education and infrastructure.
His knowledge and experience of the complex liquor distribution landscape and dedication to community activism make him a highly respected leader at the LDB and amongst peers across the country from other liquor jurisdictions. His valuable leadership and involvement on steering committees for every LDB- and government-liquor initiative over 15 years has contributed to the overall success of the LDB.
In addition to CFO, Bissoondatt adds LDB’s representative on the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) and Intergovernmental Liquor Committee for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Financial Executives International Board Member, and Knights of Columbus Executive Council Member to his impressive list of responsibilities. He was a Canada’s CFO of the Year nominee, and received the Business in Vancouver 2017 BC CFO Award in the Publicly Accountable Category.
His dedication to public service at the LDB for more than 25 years and holistic approach to budgetary needs and capital trends consistently realizes exceeding revenue targets set by government. His leadership has benefited the LDB in the implementation of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance — making B.C. the first liquor jurisdiction in Canada to become compliant, an amendment to the Liquor Distribution Act uncovering millions in annual lost revenue, and the critical separation and reorganization of the retail and wholesale operations at the LDB in 2015.
Bissoondatt is passionate about developing potential and talent in youths, evidenced by his tenure on parent advisory committees for three schools lasting 12 years. Also, his activism is deeply felt by his community where for more than 30 years he has served at the Burnaby Youth Secure Custody Centre as an organizing member of their Christmas Dinner. His dedication in developing and maintaining a stable financial environment for local Knights of Columbus Council, a social and intellectual fellowship, culminated in his appointment to district deputy in recognition of his long-standing work with the organization. As district deputy, he was responsible for the effective and efficient operations of five Knights of Columbus Councils in the Greater Vancouver Area.
Bissoondatt received his bachelor of science degree from the University of British Columbia before completing his chartered accounting and certified management accounting designations. His professional development and certifications also include the Canadian Institute of Financial Planning, the Programme for Executive Development, MICA, Dale Carnegie and the Government of British Columbia, just to name a few.
Prior to joining the LDB, Roger worked in public practice at Grant Thornton and a short stint in the private sector, leading financial budgeting and auditing functions.
Social activist
City: Halifax
Country of Origin: Pakistan
Rana Zaman is a recognized leader, speaker and event co-ordinator on topics of racism, feminism, bullying, poverty and Islamophobia. She’s on 13 different not-for-profit committees and boards in which she’s the founding member for three and the president for two: the Pakistani Canadian Association of NS and the Caring Human Association.
In her work with the United for One Association, she helped raise $200,000 for Syrian refugees and the Caring Human Association provides food and other items for the homeless and low-income families. She’s also part of Diverse Voices for Change Halifax, which is the initiative to increase the number of women from diverse communities who are actively engaged in local government decision-making. She also serves on the Interfaith Halifax Harmony committee, which is recognized by the UN.
Due to her high level of activism, she has been recognized with the following awards: a Halifax Hero, Top 16 by Narcity for 2016, the Top 25 Immigrant of the Maritimes Award for 2017, Canada 150 volunteer Award, among others. People in need actively seek out her help and support as she is known as a generous giver and advocate. As a result, she’s initiated and involved her community to help buy food and gifts for Christmas for those in need. She also helped create a new coats drive for the homeless.
Her positive presence and role model like qualities have been inspiring for youth and fellow immigrants. Despite facing many difficulties of her own, as an immigrant, she has worked tirelessly to the point where she puts other peoples’ needs far above her own. She’s made it her life mission to help as many people as possible.
She never asks for anything for herself in return and instead always asks “What can I do for you?” Zaman is a shining example of what immigrants can bring to a new country when given the chance to start again. Every person that she comes into contact with feels the sincerity of her generosity and willingness to go above and beyond. She is quick to stand up in the face of inequality and injustice as she has encountered and overcome adversity to become a strong leader.
Zaman has led the way with her strong moral character, tenacity and big heart, and continues to mentor and encourage others to become powerful, passionate leaders in their communities, too.
Owner, Vidya Learning Centre
City: Brampton
Country of Origin: India
Radhika Dutta is the owner of an after-school program for children called Vidya Learning Centre. She currently has four locations in Brampton, Ontario, and has expanded this business tremendously in the last couple of years. She began this business venture in 2013 when she was just 23 years old and has been serving the community ever since.
Dutta has an education background in India, America and Canada. She holds a degree in psychology from the University of Texas in Austin and has an executive development certification from McGill University. She began her education business a year after she graduated and moved to Canada where she saw the help students needed in her community.
The company’s main objective is to provide extra academic help to students in need in areas such as math, English, science and French, and it also focuses a lot of its efforts in mentoring. In 2015, she was nominated for the Brampton Board of Trade Business Excellence Award in the Mentoring category. Additionally, in 2017, she was named one of Brampton’s Top 40 Under 40 people making an impact in the Brampton community. She encourages and serves as an excellent role model for the future generations of the Brampton community.
Dutta has helped many of the Brampton community students reach their goals and her main objective is to motivate and help students, thus shaping the minds of our future leaders. She has also provided job opportunities to numerous teachers and given them the initial training and experience required to provide excellent teaching services.
Dutta has accomplished and helped numerous people in the community ranging from busy parents, new immigrants and children. Being an immigrant herself, she understands the importance of having a strong academic background to excel in a new country. Her parents moved to North America to give her a better education and provide her with new opportunities. Education has been a focal point in her journey and she aims to provide the future generation with the same values and experience that will help them succeed. She also helps busy immigrant parents who experience a language barrier and helps them bridge the gap so they are better equipped in helping their children academically.
She is a great mentor for the youth, is constantly striving to provide the best service and works hard to make sure that the community that she is serving benefits from her efforts. She is currently working on expanding and opening more learning centres targeting areas in other parts of Ontario where the need for such programs is essential. With her vision and enthusiasm, she will definitely drive Canada forward in the future.
Educator, facilitator, social justice activist, performing artist
City: Coquitlam, B.C.
Country of Origin: India
As an educator, transformative facilitator, social justice activist and humanitarian, Priti Gami Shah brings 30 years of experience and insights to her advocacy work for equity, justice and peace. Her activism and political advocacy has been shaped by her upbringing in India and her experiences as a racialized immigrant in Canada.
Much of her work is focused on challenging systemic racism and approaches that negate immigrant, refugee and non-status women’s potential and experiences. This inequity inspired her to establish Drishti Consulting. Over the last 30 years, she has been working with non-profit organizations, public sector unions, governments, interfaith organizations and grassroots collectives.
She has created more than 350 workshops/programs that challenge gender and racial inequality. She encourages organizations to practise intersectionality (understanding of how overlapping identities including race, class, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation impact the way oppression is experienced). She has designed local/international conferences focused on issues of social justice.
In the early 1990s, Shah brought an anti-racist approach to her role as a leading member of the provincial Women’s Employment and Training Coalition (WETC) and as a representative of community-based education on the British Columbia Labour Force Development Board. For six years, she co-ordinated a coalition of internationally educated professionals called Capacity BC, which advocated for recognition of international credentials.
In her work with the Interfaith Institute on justice, peace and social movements, she co-led innovative partnerships with diverse interfaith groups. One of the most significant partnerships was with Indigenous communities. This relationship led to the creation of the film Hidden Legacies, which focused on the intergenerational impact of residential schools. Shah worked with Indigenous teachers to design a school guide to support teachers in using the film in their classrooms. She also recently worked as a facilitator and wrote a school guide for Jabber, a play that invites students to understand their own power when confronting stereotypes, racism and Islamophobia.
When 8,000 HEU health workers, mainly housekeepers lost their jobs due to privatization, her work was integral to the union’s multi-year Living Wage for Families campaign.
In 2009, Shah took the lead in establishing a friendship centre in Coquitlam called Miracle Connection; it is operated by volunteers, without public funding, to assist in the integration of Bhutanese and Syrian refugees. She is also the co-founder of Pratham, a B.C. foundation that supports a literacy program for street children in India and is spearheading a project in India that rescues girls from sex trafficking toward liberation.
Her past 30 years experience came together with the creation of the Pathways to Leadership for Immigrant Women (PTL), a strength-based and holistic program/curriculum grounded in an intersectionality approach that includes a self-directed civic engagement project. An evaluation by an academic team found PTL to be a transformational program. PTL is now being used by many non-profit agencies in Vancouver.
She was the finalist for Provincial Nesika Award, and won the Capacity Canada Award, CUPE recognition award for Human Rights and the Pratham BC award for Excellence. Her pursuit of justice and peace is her way of life.
Writer; co-founder, Sick Muse / Art Projects
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Colombia
Paola Gomez is a trained human rights lawyer, community organizer, public speaker, artist facilitator, writer and dreamer. A member of PEN Canada’s Writers in Exile and an advocate, Gomez is involved in causes such as ending violence against women and forced migration. Her works integrate arts, community engagement and anti-oppressive frameworks.
Gomez is the co-founder and director of Sick Muse Art Projects. In this role, she has developed an innovative way of integrating conversations about identity, inclusion and community engagement into community art programs.
Though Sick Muse Art Projects and with her partner, Alex Usquiano (a Colombian-born photographer), they have developed a micro-grant program to support community arts in rural regions of Colombia, through this work Gomez promotes reconciliation and acceptance for Colombians affected by years of armed conflict.
She facilitates creative writing workshops for women who are survivors of sexual violence, women who have experienced inter-personal violence and for refugees/newcomers to Canada. Her work is oriented to empower women and to create spaces for women’s stories to be heard.
Gomez writes poetry, essays and short stories. As a community leader, researcher and emerging curator, she has contributed to the access and visibility of other Latin American artists in the Toronto arts scene. Gomez is part of the TAC 2017 Cultural Leaders Lab and is a well-known community arts facilitator who develops a variety of community art programs aiming to support newcomers, refugee kids and women where topics such as identity and inclusion are at the centre of the arts engagement.
Gomez has co-curated the Art of Non-Violence Collective art exhibits and curated For Love to Frida and Other Women, Mientras Las Hojas Caen and Daydreaming, among others.
Gomez was awarded the 2008 Toronto Community Foundation Vital People grant in recognition of her exceptional community initiatives. The Canadian Centre of Victims of Torture (CCVT) awarded her with the Amina Malko Award for her work in supporting refugee women in Canada. Most recently, Gomez was awarded with the 2016 City of Toronto Human Rights Awards (Constance E. Hamilton) on the Status of Women. In 2017, she was selected as a Toronto Cultural Leader by Toronto Arts Council.
CEO of IAB Group of Companies; Canadian chairperson of the International Trade Council
City: Harrison Hot Springs, B.C.
Country of Origin: U.K.
Nikole Read is the Canadian chairperson of the International Trade Council (ITC), a global not-for-profit association representing in excess of 29,100 companies, chambers of commerce, business associations, standards agencies and government trade agencies worldwide.
Read received her LLB (Hons) Law in England, U.K. and studied international labour migration, politics and ethics at the University of Oxford, U.K. She is a proud member of organizations such as Amnesty International, Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce, Oxford Entrepreneurs and the Institute of Corporate Directors, Canada.
Locally, she is involved with local community services and sits on various boards as a board director. She is a part of two World’s Trade Board action groups: Sustainable Trade Action Group (STAG) and SME Trade Financing Group. STAG undertakes an audit with current industry partners to understand the current landscape of ethical trade and identify the opportunities where technology is able to improve or enhance existing ethical trade practices and/or enable new practices, and produces guidelines for industry to understand the conditions in which goods and services were created. SME Trade Financing group aims to take action on a global level to support the success of small businesses, and to engage the SME sector more fully in economic activity, particularly in developing and emerging markets.
She is also an avid entrepreneur, as the founder and CEO of IAB GROUP of Companies, where she leads a team of professionals and oversees the management and operations with strong ethical principles. Read draws on her previous business and legal experience in England and Canada. She has brought her unique combination of communication skills, legal and business acumen to clients facing a wide array of immigration and business issues and challenges. She advises public and private sector clients on a wealth of international trade issues, immigration within the realms of applicable laws. Her clients include quasi-government/state-related entities, multinational companies and small and medium-sized businesses. Read and her team serve diverse industries with the objective of promoting international trade while helping clients manage risks and remove barriers to trade and investments as they enter markets. For the past couple of years, her companies have been multiple nominees in BC Diversity Awards.
Read has been a support and volunteer for the local community services (Agassiz-Harrison and Chilliwack) for the past seven years. She has volunteered her time to teach ESL and citizenship classes and immigration clinics for local immigrants and citizens and organized and facilitated first two Multicultural Days in Agassiz/Harrison community. She has contributed her time to serve as a board member for Harrison-Agassiz Community Services and Disability Network.
Car dealership owner; Raptors “Superfan”
City: Mississauga
Country of Origin: India
Nav Bhatia is best known as the Official Toronto Raptor’s Superfan. He has not missed a home game since the inception of the team in 1995. He can be seen at the Air Canada Centre and quite a few road games sitting in his now famous courtside seat next to the basket. In 2015, Bhatia was also appointed the role of Raptor’s Community Ambassador and asked to report to the Global Ambassador, Drake, as they look to spread the love of basketball and the Toronto Raptors.
Arriving in Canada in 1984 with very little to his name, Bhatia worked his way to becoming the number one car salesman at Hyundai and eventually found himself the opportunity to own both the Mississauga and Rexdale Hyundai dealerships. The path to success was not without challenges; in particular Bhatia overcame many instances of racial intolerance as a visible minority.
Through his love of basketball, Bhatia looks to change the perception of Sikhs and South Asians to the mainstream audience hoping for a more united community where people won’t have to face the discrimination he dealt with over the years.
Bhatia believes integrating our youth at a young age is truly the path to help change this perception and build a more tolerant society. Each year he purchases tickets and brings thousands of kids of all backgrounds together to watch the NBA’s Toronto Raptors play at home.
With the start of the Superfan Nav Bhatia Foundation, he recently has accepted ambassadorship roles with Tissot, World Vision, Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and is working with the WE Charity; all organizations helping Bhatia and his Foundation bring kids together through the game of basketball by building basketball courts across the world.
President and CEO, Dynacare
City: Brampton
Country of Origin: Rwanda / Zaire
Naseem Somani is the visionary leader behind Dynacare, one of the largest medical laboratories in Ontario with satellites in Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta.
Fleeing political unrest and persecution in Central Africa, a young Somani, with her parents and younger brother landed in Canada. Very soon, her father passed away, leaving her to take care of her younger brother and a homemaker mother. With great tenacity, passion and courage she graduated with a bachelor of commerce and finance degree from U of T, then went on to become a chartered accountant. She began her career in 1987 as a controller in a smaller medial lab which Dynacare acquired in 1991. In 1996, she became the vice-president of operations and general manager of the Central Ontario Division.
Somani provided leadership and vision and consolidated several small labs under the banner of Dynacare. The amalgamation of corporations comes with bridging different cultures, people and corporate philosophies. Somani tackles this with humility, compassion and pragmatism. She is constantly aware of the impact of changes in people’s lives and livelihood and the value added benefit to the health care system in Canada.
In 2005, she was appointed as CEO of Dynacare. After consolidating and strengthening the Ontario operations, she expanded into Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta transforming Dynacare as Canada’s largest provider of medical laboratory services. Today it serves patients from all across Canada. Currently, the company has 2,800 employees who perform 55 million laboratory tests each year. Dynacare is recognized for its quality of work and is considered a top employer. It received Canada’s Top Employer Award in 2009 and 2010 and the GTA Top Employer for the past seven years 2011-2017.
Today, she is transforming Dynacare from a lab company into a health and wellness solutions leader. Although the company’s roots lie in providing essential medical testing to screen, diagnose and monitor medical conditions, she is moving toward becoming a health and wellness solutions leader by expanding to comprehensive pharmacy genomics solutions, digital health products and services that empower consumers or patients to play a more active role in their own health care. The corporate wellness program ensures that the 2,800 employees are healthy and productive. Dynacare also does mobile testing for specialized services for the insurance industry
Somani is a strong supporter of corporate philanthropy. Under her leadership, Dynacare has established a scholarship program as a means to help employees’ children with the rising cost of education. Dynacare has proudly awarded more than 240 students with scholarships totalling more than $300,000.
In 2012, she introduced Dynacare’s corporate giving program, which focuses on underfunded charities, thus fulfilling a mission of impacting lives and caring for people. Since its inception, several deserving organizations have been helped to the tune of $250,000.
Somani is a board member of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and C.D. Howe Institute, and
rotating chair of Ontario Association of Medical Laboratories. In 2001, she was given the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce’s Professional Woman of the Year Award.
Student; activist
City: Montreal
Country of Origin: Syria
Muzna Dureid is a Syrian refuugee who arrived to Montreal in Novmber 2016 Before arriving to Canada Muzna spent 5 years of her life as an international activist for freedom, lobbyist and women’s rights defender. She was the founder of a world renounce movement in the Syrian revelation to protect Young Syrian women in camps ‘lajiaat la Sabia’. Refugees Not Captives (RNC) is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that was launched on Facebook by Syrian activists in September 2012 . It aims to raise awareness about the issue of forced mar-riages in the Syrian refugee camps . After Muzna’s short arrival to Montreal, Canada, in addition to her international advocacy work, in less than two years She was able to start master degree in Conflict Prevention and Dispute Resolution and is now working as an intervener in Canadian Red Cross refugee health program with the Social Center for Immigrant Aid. Trilingual, Muzna is currently laureate of Women’s Future in the Mediterranean with Science Po University. She was invited to participate in the consultations of Canada’s National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security 2017-2022. Since Muzna’s first few months of her arrival to Monreal she proved herself as a community leader and mover and became a laureate of groupe ot trentre leaders of montreal by ministry of immigration for diversity and inclusion in montreal.
She is currently a laureate of the Sister to Sister Program with the Nobel Women Initiative. Muzna work for social justice went above and beyond when recently she was one of the main forces to start series of workshops on lesson learned between indigenous and syrian refugees in Canada in hope to build stronger bonds for stronger Canada.
Syrian Canadian advocate
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: Syria
Mohammed Alsaleh is a Syrian-Canadian human rights advocate, international keynote and TEDx speaker, and the refugee sponsorship trainer for B.C.
After losing two cousins to cancer, Alsaleh dreamed of becoming an oncologist, however, the Syrian conflict interrupted his education. During his final year of medical school, he was arrested by the Assad regime for his involvement in the peaceful Syrian uprising. After surviving imprisonment and torture, Alsaleh escaped to neighbouring Lebanon, where he registered with the UNHCR and came to Canada as a refugee.
Since arriving in Vancouver in 2014, he has become a well-known public voice in matters related to refugee advocacy, private sponsorship and the Syrian cause.
Alsaleh’s first job in Canada was to assist newly arrived refugees resettle in B.C. as a refugee resettlement counsellor with ISSofBC — the same Vancouver-based NGO that assisted him when he first arrived. Later, he was seconded as the national youth worker to facilitate a national leadership program that empowers newcomer youth to participate in civic engagement. As the current refugee sponsorship trainer for B.C., Alsaleh travels across the province providing ongoing information and training for the refugee private sponsorship community. He is also eagerly awaiting the arrival of his own family, who are currently refugees in Turkey and Germany.
From Syria to Canada, his journey was famously featured in 2016 in the documentary Welcome to Canada.
Welcome to Canada from Go Project Films on Vimeo.
Executive director, Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies
City: Calgary
Country of Origin: Ecuador
Milton Ortega, an immigrant from Ecuador, dedicated his academic and professional career thus far to the advancement of others and the pursuit of social justice. His numerous involvements on advisory boards, research projects and leading his own organization to better serve newcomers, all portray an individual that excels in his career, and strives to better support his community and other newcomers to Canada.
Ortega moved to Canada 10 years ago, and for the past six years has served as executive director of the Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (AAISA). With his efforts, operations of the organization grew and expanded services beyond Alberta to lead to AAISA’s inclusion on settlement efforts on a regional level, and as a recognized voice on the national stage.
Prior to his life in Calgary, Ortega completed his international relations degree in Ecuador with honours. Upon graduation, he received full scholarships to continue his academic endeavours in Oregon. He completed a master’s in public administration from Portland State University, and received many awards and accolades for his scholastic pursuits.
In 2008, Ortega relocated to Canada to launch his career in a new country. Initially working at an electronics retailer to support his family, he spent his non-working hours community building through his volunteer work. In an advisory capacity, he spent time volunteering as the former vice-president and director of policy with the United Nations of Canada Calgary Chapter, and with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada as the director of programs, and still made time to coach his daughter’s soccer team for several years.
After a couple years working with local post-secondary institutions, Ortega joined the non-profit sector in his drive to advance social justice. Since then, he has aimed to empower systems that provide for the community. He collaborates with multiple organizations on a local, regional and national level to advance the lives of newcomers, and to advance the sector that supports them. He currently serves on the advisory council for several committees — such as the committee for community grants with the Calgary Foundation, the Canadian Council for Refugees, advisory committee member for Pathways of Prosperity, and on the board of governors for Immigration Research West, University of Calgary Newcomer Research Network and served as invited editor for the 2015 Canadian Diversity Journal and participated with the University of Calgary’s Public Interest Clinic.
Full professor, University of Guelph
City: Guelph, Ontario
Country of Origin: Portugal
Mario Monteiro is a full professor in the department of chemistry at the University of Guelph. Monteiro is considered one of the most influential vaccine researchers in the world and is an important role model for students, especially those of Portuguese origin.
Upon his arrival in Toronto from Portugal in 1981, Monteiro entered Grade 9 and after some struggles he obtained his high-school diploma in 1987 and PhD degree in 1996. Immediately after, he was hired by the National Research Council in Ottawa to study the chemistry of microbes with funding from the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network. Due to his accomplishments in Ottawa, Monteiro was then hired by Wyeth in the United States (now part of Pfizer) in 2001 to develop medicines against infectious diseases.
In 2003, the University of Guelph recruited Monteiro, and since then his scientific contributions have placed Canada on the world-map for vaccine research. For example, a recent worldwide referendum placed Monteiro in the Top 50 most influential people in vaccines — the sole Canadian researcher to be recognized at this level. Monteiro has discovered key molecules capable of preventing bacterial infections responsible for deadly diarrhea in humans.
A new vaccine discovered and developed by Monteiro at Guelph targets surface molecules exposed by C. difficile and thus can control infection and colonization levels. This type of vaccine is a world’s first against C. difficile. This discovery has been widely acknowledged and is now the cornerstone of new fields in C. difficile research worldwide. The vaccine created at Guelph was licensed by a U.S.-based company that is now preparing the vaccine for clinical usage.
The first vaccine target that Monteiro set his eyes upon was that against Campylobacter infections. The vaccine developed by him against Campylobacter infections was the first to show 100 per cent efficacy and the first Canadian product for this ailment to enter human clinical trials, which are being carried out by the USA Naval Medical Research Centre. In 2016, the University of Guelph recognized Monteiro’s contributions to global health by awarding him the first-ever Innovation Award.
Monteiro uses his academic success to inspire students in the Portuguese community in Canada. Some studies have revealed that the graduation rate among Toronto high-school students of Portuguese origin is low. Monteiro spends a significant amount of his time being an education advocate on local radio and TV stations. Within the Portuguese community he serves as a juror in the largest Portuguese-Canadian scholarship competition. Monteiro was awarded the Professional Excellence Award by the Federation of Portuguese-Canadian Business and Professionals in 2015.
Monteiro’s work is in 100 scientific publications with more than 4,500 citations, and he has more than 20 patents (16 granted).
Founder of Joy of Less; manager of recruitment and admissions at UBC’s Sauder School of Business
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: Brazil
Marina Ramalho is the founder of Joy of Less consulting. Through the company, she helps clients to change their consumption habits and reduce clutter in their homes (and in their lives) through in-person coaching and online courses. She founded the business in 2016 after becoming the first certified KonMari Consultant in Canada.
She has been the subject of a front-page feature in the Vancouver Province, and featured in the Vancouver Sun, Chatelaine magazine and on CKNW radio. In addition, she is actively involved in social media groups supporting live-in caregivers from Brazil and other countries. She has been a mentor to caregivers making the transition to life in Canada. She herself came to Canada as a live-in caregiver, an experience that was both rewarding and very challenging. Making the transition to a professional career is not easy, and she had to persevere through many of the challenges faced by recent immigrants. Her ability to stay positive and find ways to break open doors is a testament to her strong will.
It was her experiences as a caregiver that actually spurred Ramalho’s interest in home organization. Her intimate view into family relations revealed the powerful, and often negative, role that “stuff” can play in the home. Whether it’s battles over messy rooms or massive credit card statements, the accumulation and storage of more and more seemed to lead to less and less happiness. When she read Japanese author Marie Kondo’s best-selling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Ramalho realized the solution to this problem. The book details the KonMari Method, which provides a step-by-step process to liberate yourself from accumulation. In August 2016, in New York City, Ramalho joined the first-ever cohort of non-Japanese trainees in the KonMari Method.
Ramalho has also been committed to volunteering, using it as a bridge to integrating into the community. Shortly after she arrived in Canada, she was a volunteer at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, serving as multilingual VIP support in the operations centre. Her favourite volunteer role was at the annual Canada Day immigration ceremony at Canada Place where she witnessed the joy of new Canadians taking their oath of citizenship — an experience she hopes to share with them shortly.
Ramalho is also a passionate advocate of international education, and she serves a manager of admissions and recruiting at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. She currently recruits students from around the world and this year visited Africa, Latin America, Russia and Southeast Asia on recruitment trips.
Journalist, author and publisher
City: Calgary
Country of Origin: Tanzania
Mansoor Ladha is a Calgary-based journalist, travel writer and author of Memoirs of a Muhindi: Fleeing East Africa for the West and Portrait in Pluralism: Aga Khan’s Shia Ismaili Muslims. He has held senior editorial positions with daily newspapers in Canada, Kenya and Tanzania and was the only ethnoracial publisher of two weekly mainstream newspapers in suburban communities in Alberta.
Born in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Ladha moved to the country’s capital Dar es Salaam where he worked as a journalist with the country’s daily newspaper. When he was told he would have to belong to the ruling political party in the one-party state to keep his job, he moved to Nairobi, Kenya. He found work again at a daily, but he would soon move again, this time across the ocean to Canada. He landed in Toronto at 29 years old, hoping to continue his work as a journalist in Canada. After about three months of not being employed, he was recruited by the Edmonton Journal. He then bought a weekly newspaper, Morinville Mirror, and established another one, Redwater Tribune, both within commuting suburban areas of Edmonton.He owned the newspapers for more than 25 years before selling them in 2005 and moving to Calgary.
Ladha has served on several volunteer bodies including the Calgary Arts Development, Edmonton Capital Health Board, Canadian Red Cross Northern Council, Alberta Press Council, Alberta Cultural Heritage Council, Morinville Chamber of Commerce and was chairman of the Edmonton Aga Khan Shia Muslim Community.
He was awarded Morinville Citizen of the Year, Silver Quill Award of the Alberta Newspapers Association for distinguished service to newspapers and the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award by the Governor General of Canada in recognition of outstanding and selfless contribution to the community and to Canada.
Student; activist
City: Winnipeg
Country of Origin: Philippines
Loizza Aquino is an 18-year-old social justice activist. She has been involved with social activism since the age of nine, but, in 2015, she started to focus on mental health advocacy in 10th grade after she lost one of her best friends to suicide. He was one of four high school students in Winnipeg that died by suicide within the timespan of one month.
After a countless number of hours spent on trying to find answers as to why this was happening, Aquino realized that she needed to stop searching for answers, but instead, create solutions to ensure this would never happen again. This inspired Aquino to create her own youth-led non-profit organization at the age of 15 called Peace of Mind. Her organization holds events called Youth Against Metal Health and Illness Stigma (YAMHIS), which provides a safe space and platform for students across the province to share their stories and experiences in regards to mental health.
A handful of high schools across Manitoba have created Peace of Mind groups within their school to sustain mental health conversations throughout the school year. Since 2015, they have reached more than 2,000 students, and have expanded from Manitoba to Ontario. These events have inspired students to get help and have even saved students’ lives.
Aquino has worked alongside a branch of the Government of Manitoba on several projects. She is a public speaker who has received many different accolades for her work in the topic of mental health, online safety and media literacy, youth empowerment and human rights. Her past awards include the Young Humanitarian Award of Manitoba, Global Bayaning Filipino Award, TD Scholarships for Community Leadership and the Youth Premier Healthy Living Award.
Aquino also recently created her own scholarship fund to empower other youth mental health activists and support across Canada and the Philippines. Aquino is a student at the University of Toronto, pursuing a double major in mental health studies and international development studies, with a minor in public policy and governance. She hopes to work for the United Nations one day to create policies for mental health across the world.
Notary public; board director, BC Moldovan Community Association
City: Langley, B.C.
Country of Origin: Moldova
Lilián Cazacu was born in the Republic of Moldova, located in Eastern Europe. There, he received his law degree, master’s in law, and PhD in law and criminology. Cazacu is a legal professional who worked in this field for about 20 years now. After he received his law degree, he taught criminology to undergraduate students, while working on his master’s and doctoral studies at the Moldova State University. In 2005, Cazacu and his family moved to Canada without speaking any English.
Since his nine years of legal education were not recognized here in Canada, he went back to school and received a second master’s degree in applied legal studies at Simon Fraser University, in order to become a notary public. In 2014, after 12 years of legal education, Cazacu started his own notary practice.
Now, after four years since he founded the LC Notary Corporation, his team consists of seven people and keeps growing every year. During this time, Cazacu has been nominated and awarded with several prestigious local, provincial and national awards. He has won the B.C. Best Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year (awarded by the Small Business BC) and the Business Person of the Year under 40 (awarded by the Langley Chamber of Commerce).
Last month, Cazacu was shortlisted as one of the top three finalists for the highest award at the Cloverdale’s Business Excellence Awards – Bill Reid Memorial Business Person of the Year! During this short period as an entrepreneur, Cazacu has also been involved in various community projects and organizations. He is the chair of the Notaries Chapter in Fraser Valley, the vice-president of the Aldergrove Business Association, a board director for the Estate Planning Council of Fraser Valley, an advisory committee member for the Legal Assistant program at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University, a member of the Rotary Club of Langley Central, member of the Walnut Grove Business Association, and a member of Langley and Cloverdale Chambers of Commerce.
In his role as a notary public, Cazacu provides non-contentious legal services such as estate planning (wills and powers of attorney), real estate transactions and various types of notarizations. He is very passionate about promoting the financial and legal literacy in his community and he always welcomes new speaking opportunities to educate our communities about estate planning related subjects. Cazacu, his wife and their four children live in the same community where he also practises as a notary public.
Founder and CEO, TheAppLab
City: Mississauga
Country of Origin: India
Kundan Joshi is the award-winning founder and CEO of TheAppLabb, a leading product innovation firm focused on strategy, design and development of intelligent and immersive app experiences.
Joshi is a serial entrepreneur, a sought-after motivational speaker, well-known community leader, avid youth mentor, passionate start-up advisor and active advocate for new immigrants.
He was born in Mumbai, India, but moved to Canada in 2000 and graduated from Western University with a software engineering degree and founded his first business while he was still in university. He then founded his company TheAppLabb in 2007.
TheAppLabb’s mission is to improve human experiences, while driving business outcomes for clients through technology innovation. Today, with more than 500 apps delivered in the last 11 years through eight global offices in Toronto, New York, Austin, Santa Clara, Hong Kong, Melbourne and India, TheAppLabb has created apps for top brands including Unilever, Samsung, Dell, Electrolux, Frigidaire, RBC, HBC, Teknion, TIFF, AutoShow, Rapala, ParkNFly, OREA.
Joshi powers innovation through TheAppLabb’s four divisions: 1. Services; 2. R&D — building hi-tech solutions with Artificial Intelligence, IOT, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Blockchain; 3. Incubator — investing in high potential startups; 4. Products, offering 20+ white-label B2B products, to clients in retail, media, health care and education sectors.
Joshi also serves as a partner, investor and advisor to 39 successful tech startups, including Urbery Grocery, Gift Jeenie, MyGreat — new immigrant chatbot — MEL nurses training, Buro rentals, Mentr — AI powered career guidance — and Payje — Doctor on demand.
Joshi has received the 2017 Technology Achievement Award from Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce; 2016 Innovator of the Year award at Transformation Awards; 2016 Grant’s Desi Achiever Award; Young Entrepreneur award at Midweek South Asian Awards; Honor W award by Western University.
Joshi is a founding director of Startups Give Back charity. He is also the founder of Toronto Innovation, a collective of the top innovators in Toronto from enterprises, startups, academia and the city, with the mission of making Toronto the global hub of innovation by 2020.
Joshi serves as advisor on boards such as Centennial College, George Brown College, Peel College and Canadian College of Business, Science & Technology.
During his term on the board of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, he established programs to help, mentor and foster professional growth of youth and new immigrants in the community.
He regularly mentors young entrepreneurs, professionals and new immigrants, to set them up on a path toward success.
President and founding director, Kin’s Farm Market
City: Richmond, B.C.
Country of Origin: China
Kin Wah Leung hails from Guangzhou, a populous city in the province of Guangdong in southern China. He came from very humble beginnings and, as a young man, financial success was just a dream. In the spring of 1981, news of his family’s Canadian immigration sponsorship would not only take him on a physical journey to a new country, but also on a new path toward astonishing success.
The Leungs landed in Vancouver in December of 1981 and soon after he would face the biggest challenges of his young life. After finding a scanty claustrophobic attic near Commercial Drive, the Leungs were set to make the best of their new life. For Kin Wah, this meant English classes in the morning and working as a dishwasher at a Chinatown wonton restaurant at night. This was his regular schedule until his family ventured into business in 1983 by opening an eight-foot long produce table in Granville Island Public Market; the place where he honed his skills in business.
By 1987, the first Kin’s Farm Market location opened its doors at Blundell Centre in Richmond. By 2017, there were 32 Kin’s Farm Market locations in British Columbia. After 30 years in business, Leung is a bona fide produce expert, talented display artist and driven business man. Those days at the market were modest indeed, compared to the multi-million dollar enterprise Kin’s Farm Market is today.
Leung’s enthusiasm, hard work and passion for Kin’s Farm Market has not diminished over the years. The advice his nai nai (grandmother) gave him as he left China is the life philosophy that he continues to live by — “Work hard on your career, build a great and bright future, be successful in business, and bring honour to the family and ancestors.”
Under his hands-on leadership style, Kin’s Farm Market is giving back to the community by supporting positive changes through diverse initiatives in the areas of wellness, healthy eating and sustainable living. His unquenchable entrepreneurial spirit continues to flourish with aspirations of delivering fresh produce nationwide and growing the company to 200 stores. Kin Wah Leung has undoubtedly made his nai nai proud.
In his spare time, Leung loves listening to music, watching movies and spending time with his family. He is also an avid spectator at tennis tournaments watching his very talented tennis player son, Brandon, compete.
Hockey dad; author; retired school principal
City: Nobleton, Ontario
Country of Origin: Jamaica
Karl Subban is a former school principal in one of Toronto’s toughest neighbourhoods, and the father of five children, including three NHL players. He’s dedicated his life to helping others reach their potential — to be better at their careers, and as people. Today, he’s an author and popular speaker. In his powerful talks and in his brand-new memoir, How We Did It, he explores teamwork and leadership and offers a fresh take on what it means to succeed
In his 30 years of coaching, teaching, parenting and leading, Subban has learned how to inspire people. Hailing from the Caribbean, where he never played hockey, Subban has nonetheless raised three NHL players, including the now-Nashville Predators defenceman P.K. Subban — one of the league’s brightest stars and an Olympic Gold Medal winner.
His new memoir, How We Did It: The Subban Plan for Success in Hockey, School, and Life has become an immediate, national bestseller. It’s a personal story of a unique journey — a saga that begins in Subban’s original home of Jamaica, explores his achievements as a father and educator in Canada, and stands as a must-read account of one of hockey’s most fascinating families. It’s Subban’s proven approach to resilience, perseverance, and goal-setting — and how to bring the best out of everyone.
As parents, Karl and his wife, Maria, have raised five accomplished children. Their two oldest daughters are teachers, one a record-setting university basketball star and the other an acclaimed visual artist. Each of their three sons, P.K., Malcolm and Jordan, have been drafted and signed by NHL teams.
Entrepreneur, Educator and Researcher, founder CMX Partnerships, Admissions Manager at Study Group and Associate Faculty at Royal Roads University.
City: Victoria
Country of Origin: Mexico
Juan Navarro is an educator, researcher and an entrepreneur. He enjoys promoting Canada as a great destiny to study, to do business and to partner with. He has extensive experience connecting opportunities, developing business and making things happen. Navarro is considered a business leader and expert on topics related to global trade, international education, entrepreneurship and finance.A
As an entrepreneur, with his company CMX Partnerships, he has dedicated his efforts to promoting the construction of collaborative agreements, introducing and representing Canadian Institutions with counterparts abroad and organizing trade missions to visit British Columbia. As an entrepreneur, he successfully ran an international trade company together with his wife named Arriba Mexico Food Company, which introduced new authentic Mexican flavours to British Columbia and was recognized as one of the top 10 companies during two years in a row in the Small Business BC awards (2016 and 2017).
As a researcher, his analytic reports have contributed to promoting a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges that Canada has in front in particular with the Asia Pacific Region and Latin America. His research projects have been issued by leading universities, research centres and institutions. For instance, he completed a special report for the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada with the goal of being presented by Canada´s delegation during the International meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in Peru in November of 2016. His last research project entitled “Canada and Associate Membership in the Pacific Alliance: an important part of a Global Trade Strategy”, which did with a Former member of Foreign Affair Canada, was issued in January 2017) by the School of Public Policy of the University of Calgary.
As an educator, Navarro participates actively in business conferences and educational forums locally and abroad sharing his business acumen, his research outputs and his life experience. Currently, Navarro serves as admissions manager for the study group in the International Study Centre located at Royal Roads University. In addition, Navarro served as an associate faculty at Royal Roads University where he teaches finance courses for undergraduate and graduate programs.
Navarro is always looking for ways to contribute to society and to volunteer for good causes. He founded the Mexican Forum in 2015. It aims to create synergies and to develop high-profile initiatives between Canadian and Mexican institutions and professionals. He is the founding president of Society of Mexican Talent of British Columbia, a non-profit organization that brought together Mexicans, Canadians and other people living in the province and interested in fostering strategic initiatives into the knowledge economy between these two nations.
Navarro also volunteers as a mentor of young entrepreneurs for Futurpreneur Canada.
He also organized the Hispanic Literature Tour in BC initiative to promote Hispanic literature in British Columbia.
In 2016, Navarro supported the United Way of Greater Victoria different ways. For example, his company Arriba Mexico Food Company donated 30 per cent of one day’s sales to this institution and supported campaigns such as the Raise the Red.
Navarro is the winner of the Founders’ Award from Royal Roads University (2015). The Founders’ Award is presented to one student in each graduating cohort of a degree program, in recognition of having exemplified the qualities of leadership, sustainability and personal development.
Lawyer; CEO and co-founder, Building Breakthrough Boards (B3) Canada
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Philippines
Before immigrating to Canada, Josephine Victoria Yam was already a practising lawyer admitted in the Philippines and New York. She practised law in an international law firm and became one of the Asia’s first internet lawyers. She was interviewed on international television such as CNN and CNBC and featured in the international magazine Newsweek and Cosmopolitan.
Despite her success, Yam and her husband, together with their two small children, made the difficult decision to leave their families, friends and lucrative businesses to come to Canada. They wanted to raise their children in a world that was free from fear and anxiety. Landing in Toronto, Yam had to start from scratch. She had no family, no friends, no job — no safety net whatsoever. It was a lonely, humbling, confusing and dark phase of her life.
In the beginning, she could not find a job — even a job as a legal secretary — because employers refused to consider her non-Canadian legal expertise. Going back to law school meant investing four years of her life as a law student, even if she was already an experienced New York and Philippine lawyer. But Yam is the rarest of lawyers — one whose foreign credentials the Law Society of Ontario recognized as exceptional so that she immediately qualified as a Canadian lawyer. She has been admitted to practise law in Ontario and Alberta.
She then became an extremely successful Canadian lawyer in the public, private and non-profit sectors in Canada and internationally.
As a lawyer-entrepreneur, Yam leverages her deep tri-sector work experience in the private sector as a lawyer with international law firm Baker & McKenzie in Toronto, Hong Kong and Manila, and with the Asian Development Bank public sector, as senior legal counsel with the Alberta Government handling large, complex multibillion-dollar energy infrastructure projects. She is also CEO of the Environmental Law Centre of Alberta and a board director of various nonprofit organizations.
She is currently on the executive committee of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) Toronto and a member of the Canadian Bar Association. She regularly provides educational talks and webinars, and participates in panel discussions and conferences, on non-profit board governance to the various groups and communities across Canada.
Yam is also CEO and co-founder of Building Breakthrough Boards (B3) Canada. B3 is a purpose-driven social enterprise dedicated to increasing diversity and inclusion in corporations through nonprofit board service. It matches highly- skilled corporate employees to serve on non-profit boards for leadership development, diversity and inclusion and community building. In a relatively short time frame, B3 has garnered a roster of large corporate clients that belong to the Top 100 Employers in Canada and Top Best Diversity Employers in Canada. B3’s team currently operates in Ontario, Alberta and B.C., and plans to expand to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, the Maritimes and Quebec next year as well as in select U.S. cities.
Yam graduated from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. She also completed her master of laws (LLM) degree at the University of Calgary. She also pursued advanced education at Harvard Law School and the University of Toronto.
Career consultant, Ted Rogers School of Management
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Brazil
José Cabral is a career consultant with the Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, where he supports the undergraduate bachelor of commerce students in the human resources, global management and health services programs.
Before Ryerson, he worked at George Brown College and community agencies such as Dixon Hall Employment Services and ACCES Employment. He is passionate about assisting students with career planning and school-to-work transitions, as well as helping newcomers realize their goals with fulfilling careers.
Cabral holds a bachelor of computer science, a post-grad in computer networks, a diploma in career and work counselling, and certificates in project management and HR management. He has more than 25 years of multinational experience in the information technology industry, in organizations such as Hewlett Packard, IBM, Xerox, and EMC Canada. Since arriving in Canada, he worked in the IT field as a consultant and project manager, supporting the implementation of knowledge management systems across Canada and overseas, including Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and South Africa.
He embraced the Canadian values long before becoming a citizen, which helped him adjust to the new environment upon his arrival. He soon started giving back and assisting newcomers settling in Canada, as well as youth with their career development needs. As a volunteer, he has helped multiple-barrier facing service users with their employment needs at the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) since 2007.
Initially, he taught MS Office and resumé writing and later job search skills. He has also volunteered with Polycultural Immigrant & Community Services (PICS) at a similar capacity. His previous engagements include TIFF and its partner film festivals, such as the Brazil Film Fest and InsideOut. In addition, he was a pre-games volunteer with Toronto Pan Am Games 2015, where he handled protocol and the arrival/departure of delegations from all Latin America.
Currently, as a mentor with Hispanotech, he assists internationally trained newcomers integrate into the Canadian society and find meaningful employment. As a board member at the Federation of Portuguese Canadian Businesses and Professionals, he contributes to the student affairs and IT committees, and at the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the education committee, he supports partnerships and promotes cultural exchange between educational institutions in Canada and Brazil.
Lastly, at the student affairs committee of the human resources professional association, he assists with events such as the case competition for students and info sessions on campus.
CEO, BioNeutra
City: Edmonton
Country of Origin: China
Jianhua Zhu — scientist, educator, author, visionary, entrepreneur and industry leader — taught at universities in three countries and was a vice-dean of 300 professors. He came to Canada as a visiting professor in 1998. Five years later, he took a risk and started his own company with a goal of advancing human nutrition and wellness. Fifteen years later, his company has become a Canadian science and business success story.
His company, BioNeutra, has been called a leader by the federal government, the Conference Board of Canada and the Globe and Mail.
Zhu was winner of Canada’s 2017 outstanding Chinese Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year award sponsored by Roger’s Broadcasting. Judges for the country’s most influential Chinese business association, the Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs (ACCE) made the choice and presented the award at a 1,000-person Oscar-style gala.
Zhu is a 2018 nominee of Canada’s equivalent of the Nobel prizes — the nation’s top innovation award which carries a prize of $100,000. Zhu or his company received many awards, honours and recognitions in 2017. He led a multi-million dollar international research program with links to major universities and research organizations that resulted in the award of two unique patents, which enables the production of a novel, highly regarded low calorie, healthy sweetener which has been approved for sale in 30 countries by the world’s top three regulatory authorities. The product, VitaFiber, is also a prebiotic, dietary fibre which is designed to help with two of the world’s growing health problems — weight management and digestive issues.
Zhu was his inspired to make a contribution to his life-time goal of improving public health by his family (his parents and two sisters are all MDs). He donated a $1.5 million pilot plant to the University of Alberta to enable other scientists to test the viability of their business ideas. He says he owes his success to the university and other government agencies.
Actor
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Philippines
Isabel Kanaan is a Filipino-Canadian comedian, actor and writer best known for being on CBC’s sketch comedy show Air Farce. She was recently awarded the NBC Universal Bob Curry Fellowship and was named one of Toronto’s breakthrough stage artists of 2017 by NOW magazine.
She is now a member of Canadian Comedy Award wining sketch troupe The Sketchersons and performs weekly on their show Sunday Night Live. She is also known for her lead role in the LGBTQ-friendly series Haunted or Hoax, which won the NYC Webfest’s Audience Choice Award.
She toured North America with the sketch revue Hey 90s Kids, You’re Old, which won awards in Toronto and New York Festivals. She received rave reviews at the Reel Asian International Film Festival for her performance in the Filipino-Canadian film Ponytail. She has also worked on multiple projects with the Canadian Film Centre such as The Housekeeper and Philip.
She teaches improv to kids at the Second City Training Centre and is a member of Second City’s Educational and Family companies where she regularly performs sketch comedy revues and plays for young audiences such as New Show, Who Dis? and The Misfit League.
She is also a core member of Carlos Bulosan Theatre where she co-wrote and performed in Anak, a play that showcases the family life of Filipino-Canadian immigrants.
She was born in Manila, Philippines, where she started dancing in Julie Borromeo Performing Arts Studios at the age of 7. She transitioned to musical theatre and started doing live theatrical productions by age 10. When her family moved to Canada in 2008, she discovered acting for film and TV.
When she first arrived, she struggled with culture shock and thought she could never pursue her love of acting in a new country; but through hard work and dedication, she was able to achieve her goals. She enrolled in Seneca College’s Acting for Camera and Voice Program and graduated at the top of her class in 2014. She then got accepted into the Second City Conservatory and graduated in 2016. Quickly after, she got on to Second City’s House Company performing improv and sketch comedy every week onstage.
She has two brothers with autism and dedicates everything she does to them. She continues to work hard to show them that anything is possible.
Nurse; refugee advocate
City: Swift Current, Saskatchewan
Country of Origin: Lebanon
Hussein (Sammy) Khalife came to Canada first to Nova Scotia where he completed his education in science. Upon graduation, he found work in health care in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, and continues to work in area hospitals. He also is continuing his education and hopes to finish another degree soon.
Khalife is a volunteer with the Swift Current Ministerial Refugee Committee. He found out about the group through Facebook and attended the preliminary meeting (two years ago) and simply offered his services as a translator. When a Syrian family of 13 arrived in Swift Current, Khalife began getting involved in many capacities other than translating. Transportation, health care, co-ordinating things like English classes, grocery shopping, parent-teacher interviews, recreation activities and soon began to eat up all his waking and non-working moments. He also has developed a relationship with the Swift Current Housing Authority to provide low-cost housing for new (and smaller) families as they arrive. He also has built relationships with food banks and work with them to help feed the hungry. Currently, he has arranged housing for an additional 13 former refugees and is hoping to raise support to bring in many more.
As time went by, Khalife’s passion to have Swift Current host more families began to become infectious. Soon, other families (both new to Canada and those who were already here as government sponsored families) began to hear of the wonderful support that refugee families experienced here in Saskatchewan. Khalife has been instrumental in promoting refugee support here is Swift Current and has now become an unofficial spokesperson for the Ministerial’s work speaking at churches, service group and council meetings on behalf of the work.
Khalife, just recently, has travelled to Lebanon and took the time to visit some refugee camps there to see the current conditions and to see the difference the people in Swift Current have made to the lives of those who are now here.
You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but Khalife suffers from a form of congestive heart failure and his heart is operating at around 30 per cent capacity. He has recently been put on a new medication to hopefully avoid future heart surgery.
Author, speaker, consultant
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: India
Himanshu Narang believes the core purpose of his professional life is to help people and businesses produce legendary results in what they do. He is an accomplished author, professional speaker and business consultant.
Indian-born Narang moved to Canada six years ago in 2012, to pursue his master’s in business (MBA) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Moving to Canada came with its typical set of immigrant challenges for him: difficulty in understanding the Western culture, lacking fluency in English, limited financial resources and no network. Narang, however, persevered and embraced all his challenges with an openness to learn, grow and become the best version of himself.
Since graduating from UBC, he has not only consulted for and positively impacted some of Canada’s leading companies in areas of business strategy and operations improvement, but has also trained more than 25,000 executives and entrepreneurs on effective business skills. He is widely considered one of the most impactful consultants and trainers in North America.
Earlier this year, Narang published his first book, Legendary Consulting – How to Consult Like the Top 1%, which is gaining a lot of popularity in the consulting community.
Narang has been judged as one of the top nine speakers in Canada by Toastmasters International, the world’s leading authority on communication and leadership. He has also been honoured with multiple international and national awards for excellence in business and public speaking, including the prestigious Graham Anderson Golden Eagle Award, 2016 by Toastmasters International for exceptional display of public speaking skills.
Narang is the founder and CEO of BEX Academy, a corporate training business that empowers organizations to achieve higher levels of performance and results through its world-class adaptive-learning based training programs.
Narang has also cofounded and is the CEO of GoGetters Vancouver, which is Vancouver’s first Epic Achievement Club. GoGetters Vancouver organizes monthly personal development and networking events in Vancouver to help highly driven working professionals and entrepreneurs produce breakthrough results.
President, Khalsa Diwan Society Sukh Sagar
City: New Westminster, B.C.
Country of Origin: India
Harbhajan Singh Athwal was born in India in March 1946 and immigrated to Canada in July 1968. He married in 1968 and became a Canadian citizen in 1974. He worked as sawmill labourer for 38 years before retiring. He has three grown children and three grandchildren, and resides in New Westminster, B.C.
As a devout Sikh, Athwal has always followed the path of service to humankind as laid out by his religion. As such, over the past almost 50 years, Athwal has contributed greatly to the Canadian community through his tireless volunteer efforts and has been instrumental in providing many public services within the community.
Athwal has volunteered for and has been a member of many non-profit and charitable organizations over the past 40 years including Akali Singh Society Vancouver (1979), Khalsa Diwan Society Vancouver (1995-1996), Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara Association Surrey (2002), Khalsa Diwan Society Gurdwara Sahib Sukh Sagar New Westminster (1985 to present), and Riverside Funeral Home and Crematorium (2004-present).
As president of the Khalsa Diwan Society Sukh Sagar New Westminster since 2006, Athwal volunteers 80-90 hours per week creating and implementing programs to benefit and improve the lives of many people in the community. In 2006, Athwal spearheaded the creation of the Guru Nanak Free Kitchen program for the homeless in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. It provides the much-needed service of free nutritious meals to the vulnerable, needy, and homeless people of this area. Volunteers have been preparing, delivering and distributing the meals regularly every week for the past 12 years. The program also extends their services to other neighbouring communities and to any other requests from Vancouver City Hall, New Westminster City Hall, Burnaby City Hall, Surrey City Hall and other organizations in the Metro Vancouver area.
Athwal knows and understands the need to empower and educate the youth in our communities. As such, he has created many youth-oriented programs, events, workshops and camps geared at informing youth on many topics including: the dangers of drugs and gang violence, the importance of eating healthy and staying physically active, and the importance and need for volunteering in our communities to name a few. Athwal has also set up scholarships for high school students. He has also ensured that free nutritious hot meals are available at the temple for international students and homeless persons during every day of the week from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. He has also created and implemented educational programs and workshops supporting pregnant women, new immigrants and seniors in the community.
Within the New Westminster community, Athwal has generously donated funds and participated in many events including the Annual Hyack Festival, the Queensborough street cleaning initiative, the improvement of the water drainage system and conversion of marsh land into a park now named Sukh Sagar Park, the renovation of the Queensborough Community Centre, the establishment of a new Fire Hall, and several school events at New Westminster Secondary School.
Athwal has been a generous donor to many causes. During the devastating forest fires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, in 2016, Athwal donated non-perishable food items, clothing, hygiene supplies and other necessities to a fill a truckload of much-needed supplies for the displaced residents of Fort McMurray. Here in our province, Athwal also donated towards the relief efforts after forest fires in Northern BC affected northern communities last year. Also, during a large power outage in New Westminster in November 2017, Athwal was instrumental to the City of New Westminster by ensuring that hot meals were available to the homeless and to all residents of Queensborough at the Sikh Gurdwara Sukh Sagar. Many people were very grateful for this service. He has also provided financial support to Royal Columbia Hospital and Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Around the world, in times of disaster and great need, Athwal has always contributed to the relief efforts. From the devastating earthquakes in Pakistan, in Chile, and in Nepal, to hospitals for the disabled in India, and to more recently, the plight of the Syrian refugees, Athwal has financially donated to all these causes and more.
Understanding the power and strength that comes from uniting and supporting different communities and cultures, Athwal was part of a Sikh contingent that attended the Truth and Reconciliation Forum at the PNE in 2014 to show solidarity with our First Nations and Indigenous brothers and sisters.
Director, Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library at University of Toronto
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: South Korea
Hana Kim is currently the director of the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library at the University of Toronto.
She arrived as an international student in Canada in 2001 to study for her master’s in library and information science at McGill University. Once she completed it in 2003, she joined the University of Toronto, as the Korean Studies librarian.
She served as acting director at the University of Toronto (2012, 2014), before heading west. In 2014, she became the first head librarian of Korean origin of an academic Asian library in North America, as head librarian of the Asian Library at the University of British Columbia (2014-2016). In North America, the majority of the head librarians of academic Asian libraries are of Chinese or American background.
In her current position at the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library at the University of Toronto, she manages a staff of 14 full- and part-time employees and many students in all areas of library operations and ensures responsive interactions with Asian communities and allied organizations, working locally and internationally to identify and implement mutual goals.
During her acting directorship, she led a team to prepare the library’s monthly lecture series “Asian Canadian Conference: Engaging Asian Canadians” and “Tides on Our Pacific Shore: Celebrating Asian Canadian Heritage,” which helped highlight aspects of Asian-Canadian heritage.
Kim has served as a member and chair of the Association for Asian Studies’ Council on East Asian Libraries; a member of the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA); and secretary and chair of Korean Collections Consortium of North America.
She has published numerous articles and made presentations on Asian Canadian heritage, rare material management, library management, collection development and overseas Korean studies librarianship.
She successfully fundraised to build the first Korean online database collection at the University of Toronto in 2003. She launched the Korean Canadian Heritage Archives Project in 2010, in collaboration with the University of British Columbia and successfully received grants from the Korea Foundation. She also participates in and co-ordinates various cultural events to promote Korean culture and literature to Canadians.
Kim was recently honoured with the 2018 Korean Canadian Heritage Award (Culture), Toronto.
Cancer physician with CancerCare Manitoba
City: Winnipeg
Country of Origin: Nepal
Dr. Saroj Niraula was born in the Himalayan country of Nepal. After completing his specialist training back in Asia, he came to Canada nine years ago as a trainee at the University of Toronto.
For the past five years, he has been a cancer physician and affiliate scientist with CancerCare Manitoba and University of Manitoba. Besides his everyday clinical responsibilities as the leader of breast disease site in the provincial cancer institute, he contributes to world-class cancer research for advancement of cancer treatment globally. He has designed, conducted and reported a few cancer clinical trials, and is the local principal investigator for several international collaborative clinical trials of women with breast cancer.
He is also extensively published in international peer-reviewed medical journals such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Lancet Oncology among others, where he enjoys reporting his research on importance of balance between the benefits and harms of new cancer drugs. He is keenly interested in navigating ways to improve access to cancer drugs in resource-deprived settings of developing nations, and about sustainability of increasing cost of cancer treatment.
Dr. Niraula’s desire to provide high-quality clinical care to cancer patients, and determination to improve outcomes of cancer patients through research have been recognized by many international awards and honours such as the international development and education award, and merit awards from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO).
He is an active member and volunteer at ASCO, the largest umbrella organization of 45,000 international cancer physicians and professionals. His volunteer and humanitarian roles are mainly through his field of professional expertise: he is deeply concerned by inequity in health care between the developed and underdeveloped world. He volunteers to mentor cancer doctors from low- and middle-income countries around the world through ASCO’s international outreach program. He is also a current member of the selection committee for ASCO’s IDEA award.
If he had to pick one out of countless perks Canada has to offer, he says that would undoubtedly be the universal health care system where all citizens can have access to the world-class health care regardless of their socio-economic status. He dreams of one day witnessing such system extend beyond developed countries like Canada and reach the poorest of nations in Asia and Africa where hundreds of thousands of people lose their lives every year in the absence of mere basics of health care.
Dentist
City: Brampton
Country of Origin: India
Dr. Raj Khanuja, who holds a dental degree and a master’s degree in health management, is founder of R. Khanuja Dentistry Professional Corporation, a progressive health corporation with seven dental clinics, under the names Castlemore Dental, Headwaters Dental and Flower City Dental. Located in diverse communities including Brampton, Orangeville, Scarborough, Fergus, Stoney Creek and Mississauga, the clinics offer cosmetic, family, implant dentistry, braces, sleep apnea and TMJ services.
The company is a very inclusive business that hires employees from all backgrounds and cultures creating employment locally. The company hires 30 employees, nine dentists and owns seven clinics making a sustainable and tangible impact in the region.
The company’s pro bono dental clinic, Doing Positive In My Backyard, a free dental day in the Community, has been serving the Dufferin-Caledon region for six years. The number of patients has consistently grown from 25 to 40 this year. He started the pro bono clinic in Fergus this year and saw 35 patients. The long-term vision is to have a community dental clinic that is open all year round and will serve clients who do not have access to a dentist due to lack of insurance or financial limitations.
Through his vision and creativity, Khanuja has published two peer reviewed articles in the leading dental journal published by the Ontario Dental Association. The article, “Computer-Guided Implant Surgery: A Flapless Solution for Ideal Implant Placement,” appeared in the January/February issue of Ontario Dentist 2017, which is distributed to 7,000 dentists in Ontario and all over Canada.
Khanuja’s business has been recognized nationally through the Canadian
Business Excellence Award for Private Businesses two years in a row (2016-2017) and (2017-2018).
On September 14, 2017, MP David Tilson of Dufferin Caledon presented Khanuja with a Canada 150 Medallion, a Medal for Community Service. He was one of the 150 recipients in the county to be recognized for his contributions to our community to make Dufferin-Caledon a better place for all citizens.
He also received the Toronto Region Board of Trade Community Influencer Award in 2017, the Business Excellence Award Centre-Wellington Chamber of Commerce in 2017, Brampton Board of Trade Teamwork Excellence Award 2017 and Business Excellence Award Dufferin-Caledon 2013, 2015.
Dr. Khanuja has a vision of connecting our great nation with individuals who take positive action and invest in social responsibility and become a role model community.
Professor, medicine
City: Hamilton
Country of Origin: Guyana
Dr. Mohan Ragbeer came to Canada after five turbulent years as dean of Medical Faculty, UWI, Jamaica, applied for several dozen academic positions across the country, got two interviews, was deemed overqualified, but was finally employed by a start-up private Laboratory Co., which included forensic work in rural towns.
He has overcome obstacles from childhood, from near drowning (he was born and raised in Guyana, in the flood plain of two tidal rivers), to doing adult-level work daily — with four pre-teen siblings, on a small farm run by his mother, after the tragic loss of his father when he was seven —separation from family at 10, and near death from cerebral malaria at 15. He showed courage and resilience in extreme adversity, throughout his life, using the experiences to spur achievement. His education was acquired through scholarships, work, family gifts, the kindness of the three families who boarded him, and loans.
Dr. Ragbeer is an extraordinary immigrant, a polymath, with global experience brought to Canada as a medical professor, geographer, historian, journalist, forensic and laboratory scientist, former dean, administrator and family doctor, and solved laboratory problems in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Guyana. He was the third person in the world independently to identify excess heart disease and diabetes in diasporal Indians, in 1962 (Guyana), following Wattley (Trinidad, 1958), and Danaraj and Muir, (Singapore, 1959), reported this, and worked at prevention for decades, inspiring others to do likewise. He was also first to identify the organisms causing Chromomycosis in Jamaica and Guyana, and one of two Guyanese who, in 1962, established the link between rubella and congenital heart disease.
He has fended racism in the Caribbean and Canada, ageism (high achievement at a young age); overqualification, stereotyping, and criticism for developing maintenance of clinical competence programs, now part of CPSO and RCPSC mandate.
He is a prolific author, with three books that rethink history of Guyana, the Caribbean, India and globally; one on the “brain drain.” He has more than 200 medical articles, 300 newspaper columns on current affairs, and has contributed significantly to Canada in social and race relations as an officer (past president) of several associations in Hamilton, and was part of Hamilton’s post 9/11 healing strategy. The many awards from sectors involved show this.
Engineer; Holocaust educator
City: Halifax
Country of Origin: Czech Republic
Korn is a retired civil engineer. After completing his education, Korn began working for the federal government in the Maritimes. In his position as a project manager, he managed the construction of major post offices, wharves and other infrastructure projects. Eventually, he began working with Parks Canada, acting as the chief engineer for the $20 million major restoration of the Halifax Citadel from 1977-1985. In this capacity, in 1981, he was sent by Canada to Venice in Italy to participate in a UNESCO-sponsored course, teaching state of the art historic restoration techniques of masonry structures. He then used this experience to help with the emergency restoration of the Canadian Parliament Building in Ottawa from 1994-1997.
Since arriving in Halifax in the early 1990s, he has been a passionate educator about the Holocaust, frequently talking about his experiences in schools and at community events. Korn loves music and singing, and has sung many memorial prayers and tributes as part of Holocaust commemoration programs. Korn has also worked continually with the Atlantic Jewish Council to ensure that all Holocaust survivors in-need in Nova Scotia have restitution from the Conference on Jewish Materials Claims Against Germany to help cover the cost of their care as they grow older.
On a national level, Korn represents Atlantic Canada with Canadian Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants (CJHSD), a grassroots organization founded in 1999 to advocate on behalf of its members and represents Canadian survivors at the Jewish Material Claims Conference. The CJHSD is an independent organization affiliated with the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of Jewish life in Canada.
As a board member of this organization, Korn has been instrumental to the process of building a national Holocaust monument in Canada, and more.
Korn was born in a Jewish family in 1937 in what is now the Czech Republic. In 1938, one year after the Nazis invaded the Czech part of Czechoslovakia, his parents decided to take him and his brother Jacob and move in with relatives in Slovakia. However, in 1942, when the Nazis starting deporting Jews from Slovakia to death camps across Europe, his parents sent their boys into hiding with a farmer in a nearby village. The farmer kept the two boys for one month until deciding it was too dangerous to continue doing so. Eventually, relatives decided to hide the two boys in an evangelical Lutheran orphanage in Slovakia where they remained for the rest of the war. Korn later learned that his parents were deported and murdered in Auschwitz not more than one week after putting the boys in hiding.
After the war, he and his brother Jacob were placed into the care of an uncle and aunt who took them back to Czechoslovakia. While at first, the family prospered, eventually they lost everything under communism and he and his brother Jacob ended up in orphanages both in France and in Israel.
Korn graduated from the Technion, Israel’s Institute of Technology and completed graduate studies in engineering in Montreal where he focused on the design of hydroelectric dams. In 2001, he was honoured in the Canadian Parliament along with 30 other Holocaust survivors by the Government of Canada.
Fashion designer
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Hong Kong
Dan Liu is an award-winning Canadian fashion designer with almost two decades of experience in the fashion industry.
After obtaining two bachelor degrees (psychology and computer science), Liu realized he had to pursue his love for fashion. In 1997, he attended Aoyama Fashion College in Tokyo, Japan, and studied fashion design and marketing. He started making his own knitwear accessories and founded his company Tatsuaki inc.
He draws his inspirations for Dan Liu and Tatsuaki designs from both his Chinese and Japanese heritage. With emphasis on beauty and practicality, his debut knitwear collection was so unique that numerous Hollywood celebrities frequented his first Yorkville store in Toronto.
His line evolved to couture pieces featuring knit, crochet and embroidery details, and his current chic yet elegant apparel can be worn from day to night. He is known for contemporary designs and tailoring that accentuates the female form with a romantic flair.
Working from concept to patterns, he incorporates colour contrasts and details to ensure every piece is perfect from any angle. Liu has presented his collections at World Mastercard Fashion Week, L’Oreal Toronto Fashion Week, Tokyo Fashion Festival, NYFW: The Shows and Shenzhen Fashion Week.
On February 2016, he was first accepted by WME/IMG New York for New York Fashion Week showcasing his Fall/Winter 2016/2017 collection to the world. Because of the remarkable success, he was invited by them again for his Spring/Summer 2017 on September 2016. On February 2017, Liu showcased his Fall/Winter 2017/2018 Collection with NYFW: The Shows again, and he returned again in February 2018.
Liu is also a host/producer of Fashion Girls By Dan, a popular Chinese fashion makeover reality TV show filmed in Toronto. The show has been on air nationwide in Canada on Rogers Television Omni Channel 2 since 2014.
Liu has a personal fashion and beauty consulting business that currently serves 350 clients. He has been featured in many media outlets and, in 2015, was the first Canadian fashion designer to be interviewed by British Vogue twice in a row.
As a fashion designer, his life is in constant travel between Japan, China, U.S.A. and Canada.
Vice-president of finance, Odessa Manufacturing; executive director, Asian Heroes Canada Foundation
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: Philippines
Carmelita Tapia migrated from the Philippines to Canada in 1988.
She finished her accounting degree in the Philippines. She is married to Edgardo A. Tapia, a mechanical engineer, and they have two kids, Odessa and Earl Von.
Tapia is active in the Filipino community being the chairman of HISTORAMA, a re-enactment of Philippine History in short plays, songs and dances, which is being utilized as an ongoing educational road show for dissemination information about the rich cultural heritage of the Filipinos from Stone Age to the present Republic. Successful shows were held at Queen Elizabeth Theatre in 2012, Sidney, Vancouver Island, in 2013, Seattle in 2014, Calgary, Alberta, in 2015, Portland, Oregon, in 2016, and the fifth anniversary, which was held July 8, 2017, in Burnaby, B. C.
As an active member of Rotary Club, she participated in various dental missions to the Philippines, first in 2003 and lately in 2010, and brought Canadian dentists to treat those who can not afford the high cost of dental treatment.
She is the executive director of Asian Heroes Canada Foundation, which honours Canadians and Asians who dedicate their time, money and effort to help alleviate the plight of the poor and marginalized in Asian countries.
Tapia underwent training at Vancouver Police Department’s Citizens’ Police Academy and was a past member of Vancouver Police Department Diversity Advisory Committee. The committee aims to bring awareness to various ethnic communities the role being played by the police force to keep peace and order in the community. From 2011 to 2013, she was a provincial government appointee to the New Westminster Police Board.
On the business side, she is president of Asean Canada Business Council, which acts as the bridge to promote trade and investments between Canada and the 10 Southeast Asian countries. Previously, she was president of Philippines Canada Trade Council. She is the Filipino business representative to Asia Pacific Gateway Committee of the Burnaby Board of Trade. She is responsible for organizing trade missions to ASEAN, first in 2003, then 2008 to Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines; and July 2013, to Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia. The trade missions zeroed in on education, health and wellness, skilled workers and immigration, power generating plants, commercial goods, and mining for both Indonesia and the Philippines.
Tapia had been a director of New Westminster School District #40 BC, which operated secondary and ESL schools in Wenshou, China. and Seoul, Korea, aside from being the vice-president of finance of family-owned Odessa Manufacturing, the only pollution control parts manufacturing facility in Western Canada.
President and founder, Fervent Events Inc
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Scotland
Calum McGuigan was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. He moved to Toronto when he was 22 years old (2006) to play rugby for four months, after graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University where he studied events management.
McGuigan put his academic qualifications to use at Daily Bread Food Bank, where he was events officer for 2.5 years. Once becoming a permanent resident in 2009 he started Fervent Events. Launching the company with only $4,000 in savings, he worked in a call centre for the first year, six hours per day, then went home and worked on the business for eight hours. Fervent Events first clients came from scraping through free classifieds and sending opportunistic emails and cold calls. A lot of work for little monetary reward, but lots of experience.
In the years that followed, Fervent Events hit various milestones and built a reputation as a leading experiential marketing agency in the boutique space. The company has worked with Microsoft, Universal Music, BMO, Toronto Star and SickKids Foundation amongst many others. All new business opportunities are inbound, as well as referrals and client renewals.
The company now has nine full time employees, situated in Toronto. Additionally, Fervent has 900-part time brand ambassadors across Canada. Last year, part time brand ambassadors worked an accumulated 120,000 labour hours. This is the manpower of 65 additional full-time members of staff. One client said they see Fervent as “a small company with a giant reach.”
The company’s five-year revenue growth 2012-2017 was 1,622%, hitting $4 million in revenue last year.
In the last year, McGuigan has become a guest contributor for Forbes.com. His articles write candidly about his company’s growth, successes and struggles, and can be viewed here.
Dermatology resident physician, University of British Columbia
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: Nigeria
Dr. Boluwaji Ogunyemi is a final-year dermatology resident physician at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He immigrated to St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, from Nigeria at a young age with his parents and older brother.
He has backgrounds in epidemiology, sociology, medical education, communications and leadership. In addition to being a physician leader, Dr. Ogunyemi regularly writes about issues at the intersection of diversity and inclusion, social justice and medicine. Ogunyemi completed medical school at Memorial University of Newfoundland in his hometown of St. John’s, after undergraduate joint honours in sociology and medical science from Western University.
Ogunyemi has been published in the New York Times, the Huffington Post, the Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun, and several other print and electronic mainstream media outlets. His original articles about the importance diversity and inclusion have been used in anti-racism workshops and his writing has been translated into French and Portuguese. Ogunyemi has also been published in a number of peer-reviewed scientific journals and regularly gives presentations at major scientific conferences across North America.
Ogunyemi has a long history of leadership within the medical community. This began with serving as president of the Medical Student Society at Memorial University of Newfoundland. He has served as director of communications for Resident Doctors of British Columbia and on the board of directors of the Canadian Dermatology Association. Ogunyemi sits on the American Academy of Dermatology Clinical Guidelines Governance Committee, was selected as a Canadian Medical Association Ambassador, and named chief resident at the University of British Columbia Department of Dermatology and Skin Science.
Ogunyemi has received numerous awards for leadership, academics, research, writing and advocacy including honours from the National Institutes of Health, Canadian Dermatology Association, Canadian Dermatology Foundation, Canadian Rheumatology Association, and is the recipient of the Harry Jerome Award in Health Sciences. He has been named a TEDMED © Research Scholar.
Boluwaji enjoys spending time mentoring youth and encouraging those form underrepresented backgrounds, including rural communities and immigrants, to pursue careers in health sciences. He has volunteered extensively for the literacy organization Frontier College and as a therapeutic recreation volunteer at St Luke’s Homes in St. John’s, Newfoundland. His clinical experience spans from Lagos, Nigeria and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Inuit communities in rural Labrador, Refugee Medicine and working in community health clinics in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Project manager
City: Markham, Ontario
Country of Origin: Nigeria
Bola Otaraki immigrated from West Africa in 2006 amidst turmoil fear and uncertainty and today, she is a senior project/program manager, scrum master, management consultant and chemical engineer with more than 20 years’ experience working in the banking/financial services, public sector and telecommunications sectors, focusing on infrastructure and application development projects both locally and internationally.
Otaraki came to Canada alone, unsure of the future and her next steps, and eight months pregnant with next to no financial resources. She came with a 1st degree in chemical engineering, an MBA and a determination to succeed.
Her journey has not been smooth, but one of courage, trust and perseverance. Upon the birth of her daughter on Canada Day 2006, Bola started planning how to get back in the workforce and, when her daughter was four months, she started searching in earnest.
She was featured in the Toronto Star in September 2007 for her resourcefulness, determination and drive when, new to Canada, and with no Canadian experience, Otaraki got a job with one of the top three financial institutions in Canada.
Within a very short time, Otaraki started giving back in a big way to the Canadian society, a society that welcomed her with open arms. She has a deep passion to make a positive impact with those around her and anyone she comes into contact with.
Otaraki is not only passionate about state-of-the-art project management success, but also about impacting people around her positively in helping to transform organisations and communities and leaving a lasting impact and legacy! Her drive, passion, focus and energy are contagious, inspiring and motivational!
She currently sits on the board of directors of the Project Management Institute (PMI), Toronto Chapter and her numerous volunteer services and community involvement include her role as an advocate for Professional Engineers as a Political Action Network (PAN) volunteer with the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE); a mentor with the Toronto Regional Immigrant Council (TRIEC); a leader at her local church and a past board member with the Agincourt Community Services Agency; also with the TDSB Parent Involvement Advisory Council (PIAC).
She became a 2016 inductee into the Wall of Role Models, Canadian Black Women Role Model Awards. Otaraki’s successes are not only for herself, but for the many in the community that she reaches out to every day. This is one lady who has come a long way from starting from nothing to being a role model and source of hope for people around her.
Coach, speaker and teacher
City: Vaughn, Ontario
Country of Origin: Colombia
Bernardo Riveros was born in Bogota, Colombia, in 1968. He holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising and marketing from Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, and has more than six years of experience in Colombia in the advertising industry. He also holds a certificate in film production from New York University. He came to Canada as an international student in 1996 not knowing that Canada will become his permanent home.
Today, Riveros is the co-founder of International Language Academy of Canada (ILAC), one of the largest and most prestigious private English schools for international students, with locations in Toronto and Vancouver. ILAC gives direct and indirect employment to more than 1,800 people in both cities.
Riveros is also a certified coach, teacher and speaker with the John Maxwell organization.
Riveros has a passion for helping other immigrants which is why since his early years in Canada, he has served at different not-for-profit organizations. He was the director and president of the Colombian Canadian Professional Association (CCPA) for five years. He is the chair for CanadaForward Foundation, an organization that focus on leadership development for unprivileged communities in Canada and other countries.
Riveros has received numerous awards including the New Pioneer Award from Skills for Change, the Ten Most Influential Hispanics in Canada from the Hispanic Business Alliance and Award of Excellence from Colombia Abroad.
Youth worker; founder, Dare to Be Different
City: Etobicoke, Ontario
Country of Origin: Ghana
Bernard Laryea is an expert in inspiring young people by engaging with like-minded, enthusiastic go-getters in entrepreneurship. He is a vibrant motivator, youth worker, INI award winner for “Youth Worker of the Year 2013,” Black Role model for 2015 award winner, Ghanaian-Canadian Achievement Award winner 2015 and also a Community Leader award winner for Lamp/United Way.
Laryea is a passionate team player with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, who enjoys networking and motivating young people to pursue excellence. His true calling started when he lost both of his parents, and through that experience, he started to understand how to fully embrace his ultimate purpose in life and the many opportunities he has been given to fulfill them. His aim in life is to help young people in different communities to understand their identity and also to support them in starting their own business through entrepreneurship and mentorship programs. He saw his mother struggle her whole life when he was a young boy in Ghana, West Africa. His mom used to work three jobs to take care of four kids and other relatives. His passion comes from seeing his mother struggle; he learned to give not because he had much, but because he knew the feeling of having nothing.
Laryea was the co-founder of Young Entrepreneurs in Toronto, an organization that comprises young enthusiasts who are dedicated to helping youth in the city develop better entrepreneurial skills. The purpose of this group is to allow young entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs within the GTA to connect, interact and also share their stories of the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur. This organization helps young entrepreneurs in Toronto to interact with other business-minded entrepreneurs within the community, get free mentorship and accountability sessions, and also receive information about entrepreneurial events within the community.
He was also a member of Creating Global Citizen (CGC), starting as a participant and taking part in various leadership training activities, fundraising, travelling around the world implementing programs like Primary Education for Kids, Poverty, Women’s Equality, reporting back to his communities about what the impact it had on participants and our larger community.
After travelling with the group to Ghana where they worked with several schools and community groups, he continued to involve with CGC in the capacity of mentor to new youth members of the group, helping with fundraising and delivering workshops in Toronto.
He was also one the members who started a young men’s program at Rathburn Area Youth Community Centre to help support young people with cooking and life skills programming. This program helped young people learn how to cook and also be responsible in their respective communities.
In 2016, he founded “Dare To Be Different/Mindset’’ mentorship program. This started as an idea to support youth living in marginalized communities who are experiencing difficulties in finding, access to resources and mentorship. The vision of “Dare To Be Different’’ mentorship program offers young people a voice and a platform to learn through workshops, networking, goals mastery, one-on-one mentorship and role models. It also promotes the importance of staying in school, goal setting, entrepreneurship, healthy relationships, instilling trust and self-confidence in order to make healthy decisions, encourage leadership skills and independent thinking, and instill determination and resilience. Above all, make a difference while having fun are all areas of focus.
Laryea’s passion is to change young people’s lives and families because he feels like a blessing is not a blessing until you give!
Owner, Smiles on Wheels
City: Brampton
Country of Origin: India
Balbir Sohi is a registered dental hygienist and founder and owner of Smiles on Wheels, a unique mobile dental hygiene practice.
After immigrating to Canada in 2002, not knowing where to start like most immigrants, she worked in a factory. Later that year she started her journey in the dental profession by enrolling into school to become a dental assistant. While still in school, she started working part time and landed a full-time job as soon as she completed her studies.
Sohi progressed to a dental treatment co-ordinator and then a dental office manager. She then went back to school and became a dental hygienist and started working at a traditional dental office practice. While working at various roles she recognized that there was a need to transform the traditional dental office model into one that better addresses the needs of those who do not have the time or means to regularly obtain preventative oral care services especially families with young children, seniors, people with disabilities, those without access to transportation, busy professionals, workers with odd hours and the like.
With this goal in mind, she founded Smiles on Wheels, a personalized, at-your-doorstep oral care service. In this role, she manages a team of dental hygienists who provide preventative oral care services to clients in the parking lot of their home or work in a luxurious, fully equipped, retrofitted Mercedes sprinter vehicle. She, along with her highly qualified team of hygienists, also help educate clients on proper oral hygiene care and prevention strategies by answering basic questions, demonstrating proper brushing and flossing techniques and providing high-quality treatments.
She took Smiles on Wheels to the next level, applied to participate in CBC’s Dragons’ Den and was able to successfully pitch her business on season 11.
The business has received many accolades from professional organizations, community leaders and media sources who have recognized it for its impact on promoting affordable and accessible oral care for all. She has two mobile dental hygiene offices and is working to set up franchises across Canada and globally.
Sohi also founded a non-profit organization, My Dream Smile, which focuses on providing awareness about oral health and its impact on overall health. Through this venture, she has visited India six times since 2009 and attended more than 45 schools for oral health presentations. Those visits have impacted and touched the lives of more than 20,000 children to whom the organization gave out free toothbrushes and toothpaste after the presentations.
She has been nominated as Brand Ambassador by “Colgate,” a leading oral hygiene brand, and has attended more than 30 schools in Ontario for oral health and nutrition education presentations. She actively participates in seniors’ events providing education on importance of oral health and its impact on overall health.
Sohi founded the Let’s Walk Health event, which brings different health organizations under one roof to raise awareness of various health issues. The last event organized was attended by more than 300 residents and primarily focused on issues prevalent in the South Asian community with the presenters speaking in various South Asian languages.
She is also a host on health and education television program called Health Talk with Balbir on SSTV, a 24-hour South Asian television channel. On the show, she discusses burning community medical concerns with various guests from the medical profession. She is also the co-host of a live television program, Your Health, another South Asian show focusing on health issues with medical experts.
Sohi is also a member of the board of directors of the Indus Community and Gift from the Heart. She is also involved with the Brampton Board of Trade, Peel Regional Police, Indo Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Stop Diabetes Foundation.
She has been recognized for her contributions and received several awards, including the Volunteer Recognition Award – City of Brampton (January 2018), the Community Service Award by Ontario Dental Hygiene Association – 2017, and the Women Hero Award by ICACI 2017, among others.
Founder and CEO, Community Power
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: Tanzania
Areef Abraham is a natural community collaborator who loves to connect with people and help them move from ideas to on-the-ground action. Throughout his career, Abraham has combined his entrepreneurial and technical skills with his passion for helping people to impact diverse communities, such as new immigrants, Indigenous communities and commercial businesses, in a measurable and meaningful way. He has been a tireless champion for improving the lives of hard-to-reach communities in Canada through energy efficiency.
As a mechanical engineer, Abraham has dedicated the past 25 years to working in the energy efficiency sectors in Canada, U.S.A. and U.K. His passion for community and energy efficiency led him to found Community Power in 2009, an esteemed organization working alongside First Nation communities to co-develop and implement energy-efficiency solutions that bring measurable and meaningful impact to communities.
While working as First Nations and Energy lead for Simon Fraser’s Learning Strategies Group, Abraham came face to face with many of the structural disadvantages Indigenous communities experience and was compelled to use his energy and engineering skillset to make a positive impact. He founded Community Power to act as a solution to many of the ineffective and siloed programs aimed at Indigenous communities by taking a holistic approach to supporting internal community energy and housing goals.
Extending his impact, Abraham is also the president of the Empower Me program and a director at Kambo Energy Solutions. The Empower Me program helps new Canadians save energy, save money, and increase the comfort and safety of their homes. Kambo Energy Solutions is an industry-leading energy management company helping commercial buildings to become more profitable, efficient and sustainable.
Prior to founding Community Power, Abraham was a senior executive with Power Smart Inc. where he successfully engaged major North American utilities, manufacturers and retailers to adopt Power Smart programs. Terasen Inc. subsequently recruited him to turn around an energy services subsidiary. In 2005, he joined Simon Fraser’s Learning Strategies Group as their First Nations and Energy lead.
Growing up in post-colonial Tanzania presented Abraham with the challenge to understand contrasting viewpoints and differing world views. In addition, living between Tanzania, the United Kingdom and Canada has allowed Abraham to develop a unique comprehension of how best to reach and engage with a diverse array of people.
Crown counsel
City: Edmonton
Country of Origin: Iran
Aminollah Sabzevari works as Crown Counsel with the Department of Justice Canada in Edmonton, Alberta. A successful young lawyer, he is also an active volunteer, mentor and athlete. Sabzevari makes a positive impact on his community.
Sabzevari currently volunteers with the Edmonton Community Legal Centre, an organization that provides free legal advice to people with low income. He also volunteers as a mentor with the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers.
Sabzevari immigrated to Canada from Iran as a young child. He remembers how it was like first arriving in Canada and the friendship and support provided by fellow Canadians. After he learned English, his first volunteer position was as a translator for other ESL students in his class.
Sabzevari grew up in North Vancouver, where he volunteered for the Recreation Commission and the Harvest Project. During his studies at the University of British Columbia, he volunteered for the Safewalk program, the Speakeasy program, the International House and the UBC hospital. He worked as a residence advisor for several years, helping both domestic and international students living on campus.
Sabzevari was very involved in intramural sports, captaining teams and winning championships for soccer, ultimate frisbee, squash, badminton and flag football. He also excelled in academics, earning scholarships and working as a research assistant for the dean of the Law Faculty. For his community involvements, he received a British Columbia Community Achievement Award, the preeminent award for volunteering in British Columbia.
Sabzevari completed a master of laws in Health Law at the University of Alberta. His graduate studies were supported by a Law Foundation of British Columbia Graduate Fellowship, the Honourable N.D. McDermid Graduate Scholarship, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Health Law, Ethics and Policy Training Program. He volunteered with the campus Safewalk program and in outreach programs to students and the community with the Faculty of Graduate Studies. He worked as a residence advisor and was elected the first president of the Graduate Residence Student Council. While at the U of A, he captained an intramural ultimate frisbee team and won several intramural and club squash tournaments.
After finishing his studies, Sabzevari completed a clerkship with the Provincial Court of Alberta in Calgary. He currently practises tax, immigration and Aboriginal law with the Department of Justice. He has conducted proceedings in the Court of Queen’s Bench, the Court of Appeal of Alberta, the Tax Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal.
While he currently works as a lawyer, he has a science background and has volunteered for the past 10 years as a science fair judge for regional science fairs in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton. He judges individual projects for general awards and participates in committees that determine external scholarships. He enjoys judging at science fairs for the opportunity to meet the students, learn about their projects, and promote an enduring understanding and appreciation of science.
Sabzevari acts as a mentor for current law students and students interested in a legal career. He remains involved in sports, playing squash, badminton at the University of Alberta Badminton Club, and ultimate frisbee in the Edmonton Ultimate Players Association.
Throughout all his involvements, Sabzevari strives for excellence and continues his personal belief of contributing to the community.
Student; environmental activist
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: China
Alice Cheng served on the Toronto Youth Environmental Council (TYEC) executive between 2015-2017, during which time she has organized numerous conferences, workshops and charity fundraisers.
Together, as part of an annual Youth Action Series (YAS) across Canada, she worked with TYEC’s non-profit partners to plan the May 2016 “Eco-Hack Your Life,” a stewardship event for 250 youth, and most recently, the 2017 “Placemaking-centric” YAS. Among the workshops organized, one centred around cooking with sustainable dietary alternatives.
As the TYEC co-president, she has presented in front of Toronto City Council’s Parks, Environment and Climate (PEC) Committee in September 2016, urging for immediate climate action on the municipal level.
Additional responsibilities in this capacity included overseeing recruitment for all of TYEC’s programs, partnerships, and communications, facilitating monthly meetings at the 519 Community Centre for 30+ EcoAmbassadors representing 12 GTA secondary schools, and leading the council to become the first youth organization on the Toronto Climate Action Network (TCAN).
Post-TYEC, she was inspired to found a non-profit organization with support from Ryerson’s Sandbox by DMZ and the Sprout Ideas Fellowship Program. After successfully obtaining $2,000+ in funding, she began the #HEMPower Campaign to spread awareness on the benefits of industrial hemp.
Global Figure’s mandate is to bridge the disconnect between youth and the environment for a more sustainable future; in this new era of global citizenship, there is immense potential to make a collective difference by leveraging the purchasing power of Generation Z.
Through engaging, equipping, and mobilizing young change agents with the necessary resources to act on individual environmental impacts and consumption habits, Global Figure is committed to supporting youth-led, grassroots community projects and offering educational initiatives by offering affordable, conscious products for the everyday.
Her team of five youth have launched their first product, an “Everyday Sustainability: Lifestyle Kit!”, last fall. Despite their operations limitations, they have already sold 20+ units from tabling at fairs alone. In 2018, they are planning to leverage the potential of their 250+ Facebook page likes to transition into more of a media-based organization rather than continuing to flood new product into the market.
You can find her penning regular blog and meaningful Instagram posts for a youth audience, amplifying “local and global issues through a sustainable lens” on Global Figure’s blog, Figurative Language.
The student, certified aquafitness instructor and lifeguard has received several honours including Toronto’s Urban Hero Award in the Environment Category. This award was launched as part of Canada’s 150th celebrations in the summer of 2017 to honour the people that make a difference in the lives of others and exemplify what it means to be Canadian. She also received Corporate Knights’ Magazine’s 30 Under 30 2016 Sustainability Leaders Award.
P.E.I. Connectors Program Officer
City: Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Country of Origin: Iran
Ali Siadat is from Iran and moved to Canada in 2011. He is an electrical engineer, and also studied courses in business administration and tourism and hospitality. Prior to immigrating to Canada, he organized inbound tours for international visitors to Iran, opened and managed an educational institute specializing in various academic disciplines, and served as a business consultant. He also worked for the Iran Broadcasting Organization, producing, writing and hosting several regional and national television series.
Since moving to P.E.I., he has become an entrepreneur and an active community member. First, he worked in the manufacturing industry as a machine operator. His hard-working personality helped him get promoted after working for only four months.
Then he established Lady Saffron Persian Cuisine (first Persian cuisine in the province), which operated out of the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market. Since 2012, he has worked as the event manager for the P.E.I. Persian community. He is also a City of Charlottetown Newcomer Ambassador and a volunteer with the P.E.I. Association for Newcomers to Canada.
Siadat joined the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce in 2016 in the role of P.E.I. Connectors Program officer and has been serving clients since then. P.E.I. Connectors is an initiative of the Charlottetown Chamber of Commerce that serves immigrant entrepreneurs across Prince Edward Island.
As program officer, he provides one-on-one advisory and support services to clients who are new immigrants, in the development and execution of their business plans. Services are provided at all stages of the client life cycle, from intake, to exploration/research, to opening/launch and after-care support. He also organizes workshops and information sessions throughout the year, to familiarize clients with the local business environment, helping immigrant entrepreneurs succeed in their business in their new home, Canada.
As a community volunteer, he was involved in a worthwhile project called “Get Swabbed.” This registered potential bone marrow and stem cell donors to fill a growing gap in the national registry.
He has also been actively involved in the Diversecity Multicultural Street Festival since 2011. Sharing cultures and being involved with cultural and multicultural events is always on his to-do list!
Siadat was awarded as the best New Islander in 2017.
Executive director, New Brunswick Refugee Clinic
City: Moncton, New Brunswick
Country of Origin: Tunisia
Akram Ben Salah moved to Moncton, New Brunswick, from Tunisia in 2012, where he studied psycholinguistics at the University of Arts in Tunis. He applied for asylum, along with his wife and child, upon landing in Canada, after being persecuted for religious reasons in his home country.
Given the lack of federal legal aid to refugee claimants in the Province of New Brunswick, Ben Salah went through the entire process of refugee application without legal representation. He was granted the status of protected person in 2013 followed by permanent resident status in 2015 and is now eager to become a Canadian citizen.
Recognizing the impact that legal representation could have on the outcome of asylum-seeking applications is Ben Salah’s main motivation in today contributing his knowledge and experience to help sustain refugee support efforts in the province and the country as a whole. In light of the events occurring around the world, the need for such services and support is higher than ever.
In October 2016, the New Brunswick Refugee Clinic was born of this important need, where Ben Salah, executive director of the clinic, along with a board of immigration lawyers, work tirelessly to provide free legal support and representation to asylum seekers and applicants for permanent residence on compassionate and humanitarian grounds who do not have the means to pay for a private lawyer. The clinic achieved the highest success rate across the country and greatly contributed in improving immigrants’ retention rates in the province.
In November 2017, Ben Salah was elected on the executive board of the National Canadian Council for Refugees as an executive member representing the Atlantic region in Canada.
In March 2018, his work and success was recognized by the City of Moncton for having made significant contributions to the Greater Moncton community and reflecting what newcomers can achieve from settlement to establishing their lives in the community.
Co-Founder and COO, Canada Newcomers and Immigration Association
City: North York, Ontario
Country of Origin: Afghanistan
Ahmad Feroz Hematyar is the co-founder and COO of Canada Newcomers and Immigration Association. The organization is helping refugees to settle down in Canada and provides a wide range of settlement services. They have processed the refugee applications for more than 650 families (Syrian, Iraqis, Afghans and Eritreans), two-thirds of whom have settled as permanent residents in various parts of Ontario.
He’s managed to raise large amounts of donations to support the sponsorship and settlement of these refugees in Canada. He has co-ordinated and formed partnerships with a number of non-profit organizations, settlement providers and offices of MPs.
Hematyar has been involved in many other community activities and also helped out as a translator and interpreter for newcomers in Ontario. He is also the co-founder and country representative for the Afghan Youth International Council (AYIC) in Brampton, Ontario.
He’s also been an active volunteer with the Afghan Association of Ontario.
President and CEO, Imperial World Inc.
City: Oakville, Ontario
Country of Origin: Philippines
Norma Carpio arrived in Canada in 1967 and is the owner and operator of Imperial Travel and Tours Inc. She grew the business into one of the most respected and reputable travel agencies that serves the Filipino-Canadian community. She also initiated efforts to have the Philippines be the feature country at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) in 1998 and in the same year, was appointed to be the Toronto Chapter president of the Philippine Centennial Movement by former Philippine President Fidel Ramos.
She has been very active in the Filipino-Canadian community in Ontario, having held various positions in numerous organizations, including founding president of Club Filipino Oakville, director of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce, president of the Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC), and more.
Carpio is truly an outstanding immigrant and exemplary community leader, with great examples of generosity, including having initiated several fundraising events to assist the victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) that brought untold devastation in southern provinces of the Philippines in 2013.
Under Carpio’s leadership, PIDC was able to raise $150,000 of generous contributions from AT&T, the Chinese community, the Korean community, other Asian-Canadian communities and individuals for Gawad Kalinga (Give Care) an international charity organization and the ABS-CBN, a Philippine-based broadcast network.
A recipient of many awards, Carpio, in 2017, received the Canada-Wide first Golden Balangay award “Senior Achievement” and the Canadian Fashion Week (CFW) community Excellence Award in 2016, as well.
After serving six years as president, she was recently designated chairman emeritus of the PIDC and chair of PIDC-Mabuhay Philippines Festival – 2018, the largest celebration of Philippine heritage and culture in Canada.
The word retirement is not in her vocabulary as she is always looking forward to continuing her passion and dedication of considerably contributing her best toward the social transformation and development of the Filipino-Canadian community.
Artistic director, ProArteDanza
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: Italy
Born and raised in Rome, Roberto Campanella trained at the Scuola Italiana di Danza Contemporanea. In 1985, Campanella joined the Compagnia Italiana di Danza Contemporanea and later joined the prestigious Aterballetto. In 1993, he joined the National Ballet of Canada where he was soon promoted to soloist and was cast in many classical and contemporary roles.
Campanella made his choreographic debut at the National Ballet of Canada’s 1995 Choreographic Workshop and, upon retiring from the National Ballet in 1996, he trained from the National Ballet School’s Teacher Training Program from which he graduated with distinction. He is now a sought-after guest teacher for companies such as the National Ballet of Canada and Stuttgart Ballet as well as companies in Italy, Korea and Japan.
Although Campanella choreographs predominantly for his company ProArteDanza, he also choreographs a wide variety of commissioned works for companies at home and abroad. In 2001, Campanella was nominated for the Bonnie Bird Choreography Award in London. In 2007, he received the Fellowship Initiative Award from the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of the New York City Ballet and, in 2008, he was awarded a Chalmers Professional Development Grant.
Campanella’s first full-length work Alice in Wonderland premiered at Ballet Augsburg in Germany in October 2008.
Campanella was awarded the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Choreography with co-choreographer Robert Glumbek for … in between…, which premiered at ProArteDanza’s Season 2010.
Today, Campanella is a highly sought after choreographer/director for film and TV, creating movement and dance choreography for The Strain, Pompeii, Mortal Instruments, Nikita, Silent Hill and last year’s four-time Oscar winner The Shape of Water, to name a few.
Student; environmental activist
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: India
Winner of the 2016 International Children’s Peace Prize, 17-year-old Kehkashan Basu, has been impacting the global fraternity since she was eight years old with her work on peace, children’s rights, education for sustainable development, gender equality and climate justice. Basu is the founder president of youth organization, Green Hope Foundation, which educates and empowers children and youth globally and engages them in the sustainability process through ground level community-centric projects on mitigating climate change, stopping land degradation, promoting sustainable consumption, biodiversity conservation and gender equality, promoting renewable energy and social justice.
Green Hope now has more than 1,000 members across Canada, U.S.A., the Middle East, India and Nepal and has engaged thousands of young people and adults through their workshops and conferences in the implementation of the sustainable development goals. Her special focus is to educate marginalized children and she has visited Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon and several villages and orphanages across India and Nepal carrying books, clothes, toys and solar lamps to facilitate their education.
She is a United Nations Human Rights Champion and a United Nations Child Ambassador for the Sustainable Development Goals. When she was only 12, she became the global co-ordinator for UNEP’s (United Nations Environment Programme) Major Groups for Children and Youth, making her the youngest person in the world and the first minor, ever, to be elected into this position. Social media website, MOGUL, chose her as one of the Top50 Highschoolers in the world.
She is a Climate Reality Leader and her work was featured in a film on former U.S. Vice -President Al Gore’s 24 Hours of Reality global broadcast in 2017. The U.K. Youth Climate Coalition named her as one the eight global Climate Heroines of 2014 and in June 2017, rock band U2 featured her as one of powerful women changing the world at their Toronto concert.
In her role as the voice of children and youth, she has spoken at more than 75 United Nations and other international summits, travelling to over 20 Countries. She is the youngest member of Canada’s Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE) Executive Business Development Subcommittee, the Youth Ambassador of World Future Council and the Honorary Advisor for the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development – New York.
She is a poet and prolific writer and her maiden book on sustainability, Tree of Hope, was launched at the 2015 United Nations Childrens’ Summit in New York.
For her advocacy at a global level, Basu has received international awards from
UNCCD (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification) in 2012, the 2012 Korea Green Foundation award, the 2013 International Young Eco-Hero award from Action for Nature, U.S.A., the 2014 Kids are Heroes U.S.A. award , 2014 GESS award as Ambassador for the Environment, the 2014 Solar Pioneer Award, the 2015 Non-Resident Indian of the Year award, the 2015 International Diana Award, the 2017 Energy Globe Award and the 2017 Turner Social Change Prize. Most recently she received the 2018 Rising Star Award in Toronto on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
Educator, activist
City: Toronto
Place of Origin: Palestine
Sara Asalya is a Palestinian immigrant, a proud wife and mother, human rights advocate and a student leader. Asalya was born and raised in Jabaliya, the largest of Gaza’s eight refugee camps and home to more than 120,000 Palestinian refugees. She witnessed firsthand the impact of violence, displacement and trauma on the lives of war refugees and was extensively exposed to the lived experiences of these vulnerable communities. This has shaped her understanding of social justice and human rights by instilling her with a passion to effect change by helping others.
Since moving to Canada six years ago, she has encountered various challenges and barriers that newcomers and immigrants typically face when trying to access education and employment. However, these personal struggles helped her connect and ease the transition process with many fellow newcomers during her work in the settlement sector at Toronto.
She started her career from scratch when she arrived to Canada six years ago with her husband and a little son. Soon she became a well-known community leader and advocate for newcomers and immigrants in post-secondary institutions leading her to found her own non-for-profit student-run organization Newcomer Students’ Association of Ryerson (NSAR). Asalya identified gaps in the way we approach newcomers and adult immigrant students in post-secondary institutions, particularly around creating a robust and accessible transition system. This was the impetus that drove her to establish this organization, the first platform of its kind at Ryerson University to empower newcomer students to build fellowship, capacity and community through their shared experiences. Through this initiative, Asalya provided a safe space for newcomer and immigrant students to be active and contributing members of the community.
In the short time of six years, Asalya has worked with many organizations and held different positions including being the information and referral specialist at YMCA Newcomer Information Centre, the constituency commissioner at the Canadian Federation of Students and the vice-president, events and outreach, at the Continuing Education Students’ Association of Ryerson.
She currently works as the student engagement and leadership assistant at Ryerson University. She is also the president elect for the Continuing Education Students’ Association of Ryerson for the year 2018-2019.
Student; entrepreneur
City: Vancouver
Country of Origin: Iran
Mohammad H. Asadi Lari is a student, researcher, social entrepreneur and youth engagement advocate with a strong-rooted passion for health care and educational initiatves. He immigrated to Canada in late 2013, in the middle of grade 12.
Throughout his time in Canada, he has lived with and relied on the crucial support of his younger sister, Zeynab, and cousin, Saba. He was awarded with the Governor General Academic Medal upon graduating from Ecole Alpha Secondary School in Burnaby, B.C. He went on to pursue the sciences program at the University of British Columbia (UBC). His time as an undergraduate student allowed him to further the volunteer and civic work he was doing at local community and health care centres as a high school student. Through his community-related work, he’s helped organize inter-faith dialogues between Muslim, Jewish and Christian students — the first of its kind on campus, as well as teaching at weekly school in a North Vancouver mosque.
The hallmark of his work in Canada has been as the co-founder and managing director of STEM Fellowship, a non-profit focused on providing mentorship and experiential learning opportunities to high school and undergraduate students, particular those with backgrounds that are traditionally under-represented in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Over the past three years, the organization has grown to almost two dozen campuses and even more high schools in almost all of Canada’s provinces. Their work has been endorsed or supported by the federal government, leading non-profits and charities, academic and research institutions, corporations and banks.
Asadi Lari has also led or advised youth-focused initiatives with the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, Science World BC and the League of Innovators, all of which have helped him connect to like-minded youth from coast to coast.
During his undergraduate degree in the honours physiology program at UBC, he has engaged in various fields of research, most recently in neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis (MS). He hopes to pursue a career as a clinician-researcher, balancing his passion for serving individuals in need of care, with the necessity of innovation in technology and practice. One of his favourite things about the Canadian psyche is its global mindedness. He is grateful for the many opportunities he’s had over the past years and hopes to build on them to serve the most vulnerable in society.
President, Access Empowerment Council
City: Toronto
Country of Origin: India
Diana Alli D’Souza left her birth home in Mumbai in her early teens and took the bold step of travelling to London, U.K., to complete her academic studies with high hopes of entering medical school. Instead she was forced to give up her dreams having lost her dad and brother in two separate tragedies. She moved on to Guyana, and finally reached Canada, which she calls her true North Strong and Free. As a single mom of three, and a doting grandma of nine kids, she proudly embraces her multifaith families.
She has distinguished herself as a woman who has blazed trails, whose strength, courage, wisdom and her profound impact to do what is right, makes her an extraordinary individual who has reached out to diverse populations globally.
Alli D’Souza served the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto (UofT) with distinction as an administrative leader for 38 years. Very few staff or academic faculty are bestowed with such great honours during their lifetime, yet in her stead two awards were set to honour her contributions in perpetuity by medical students at retirement in June 2012 — “Diana Alli graduation award to a medical student with extraordinary service to student life and community service” and a national Canadian award “Diana Alli CITAC Award to an MD/PhD student for global service.”
She is also the recipient of numerous distinguished honours and accolades including the most prestigious Order of Ontario and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. She now runs accessempowermentcouncil.org — empowering youth and engaging the elderly globally — as president.
A torch-bearer for more than 30 years, she is known to have impacted disenfranchised communities long before the phrase “social responsibility” became a buzz word in the academic and business world, founding/co-founding/facilitating 21 ground-breaking outreach programs for disadvantaged and underrepresented populations (isolated seniors, homeless including co-founding a clinic, tutoring programs for high-risk youth).
She led the development of “Earthtones” the traditional musical concert raising tens of thousands of dollars for children globally. She co-founded the Summer Mentorship Program (SMP) for Black and Indigenous youth now 25 years strong with nearly 100% success rate. And the list of her contributions goes on.
Her daily mantra is basic — an individual can work miracles, can save lives, can make a true difference. She considers herself a Canadian with a global lens reaching beyond our borders and believes we need to stand in solidarity!
Wrestler and coach
City: Ottawa
Country of Origin: Syria
Mohammed Al Karad is a volunteer coach at the National Capital Wrestling Club (NCWC).
The 35-year-old from Dara’a, a city in southwestern Syria, rose to prominence for his wrestling skills during more than a decade as Syria’s 12-time national champion in men’s 65 kg wrestling freestyle and a former coach of the national Syrian team.
Al Karad brought an invaluable volunteering experience to Ottawa’s community from his extensive volunteering experience in Za’atari refugee camp where he spent four years. Committed to changing youth’s lives in the camp, he started a wrestling program that began as a rag-tag group of three, and eventually, with the help from Mercy Corps, it became a training program that coached more than 25,000 youth over a period of four years. “We did not use medals to show achievements,” he says. “We did it to provide emotional and mental support —to add a dream or hope to young people’s lives.”
In 2016, a group of eight friends in Ottawa heard about Al Karad and his young family in Za’atari. The group partnered with a local church, raised necessary amount in only three weeks, and was able to bring Al Karad’s family to Ottawa.
Within a week of his arrival in Ottawa, Al Karad started coaching at the NCWC, a non-profit organization that offers wrestling coaching and mentoring to children and youth from ages six to 20, and is committed to keeping the sport of wrestling accessible to those with economic or cultural barriers.
Al Karad was eager to share his knowledge of and passion for wrestling with youth, despite the fact that he spoke little English when he first arrived. Through NCWC Arabic-speaking wrestlers who acted as translators, as well as the universal language of sport, Al Karad was able to engage with the community and teach important lessons to the teenage athletes.
Al Karad continues to grow as a professional, applies professional knowledge and technical skills including coaching, sitting on boards, sport event management, training program preparation and thus makes a significant contribution to preparing professionals, strengthening recreational activities and help engage and motivate the next generation.
“Mohammed uses his technical knowledge and passion for the sport of wrestling to instill in youth of all sizes, shapes and walks of life the values of perseverance, inclusion, sportsmanship, courage, confidence and joy. I am continually inspired by the values he embodies through his actions,” wrote Erica Weibe, reigning Olympic champion in women’s 75 kg freestyle, winning gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Artistic director, Academy of Middle Eastern Dance
City: North Vancouver
Country of Origin: Iran
Pooneh Alizadeh is the award-winning artistic director of the Academy of Middle Eastern Dance (AMED). She established the academy in North Vancouver in 2004 and it continues to be a leading school of Middle Eastern dance in the Vancouver area and beyond.
Alizadeh immigrated to Canada in 2000. She brought with her a strong leadership and dedication to Middle Eastern folk and classical dance forms from her cultural heritage. Her academic background includes a masters’ degree in art from Tehran University. She is an accomplished performer, master instructor, choreographer, director and producer. She has utilized her artistic passions and expertise to help community, seniors, handicap and develop innovative performance and teaching programs.
Pooneh Alizadeh has volunteered, performed, and train performers at a wide range of venues and events.
Pooneh Alizadeh uses dance movements as a form of therapy — a true full body and soul workout! She strongly believes that dance can play an important role in creating a feeling of relaxation and peace, in developing healthy relationships and behaviors, creating better self-image in her students and releasing negative energy overall. She believes that every person has the right and deserves to feel good about themselves, to accept who they are and to be happy.
Named a B.C. Culture Ambassador in 2016 by City of North Vancouver, Alizadeh uses her art to create connections within her community. Some of her efforts include: organizing and leading a large group of artists at the Culture Day 2015 to 2017 in North Vancouver; organizing and choreographing a large group for Canada Day Parade from 2013 to 2017 in collaboration with Canadian Iranian Foundation; and participating in many local festivals such as Caribbean Day Parade and Festival , North Shore Folk Festivals, Korean Folk Festivals, Greek Festivals, Diwali Festival and Chinees Festivals and beyond. She is volunteering and performing monthly in senior houses, hospitals, schools, mental hospitals, etc.
She always thinking how she can help deaf people to feel the music and enjoy the melody and rhythm of music. she was studying to learn the sign language for making correct dance routine for deaf people.
Her dance with the sign language is designed to introduce disable people to the joy of music, understand the melody and the rhythm of the song and poetry, empower them to explore dance movement in a way that are stimulating and creative.
She wrote articles and had several interviews about dance and health in North shore news. She always helps, inspire and motivate others by her passion in Vancouver through her volunteering workshop in different places, such as hospitals, community events, senior houses, schools, mental hospitals and much more.
She was performing and train performers in First Norouz Celebration in Parliament (Hall of Honour) in Victoria.
She has the privilege of organizing and participating in more than 20 very large community events, Also very well-known artist with all social medias. She has a very strong network through all social media.
Teaching Dance in different community Center across BC and her own studio for the last 15 years.
She is a very active volunteer in Vancouver. She has conducted informal dance workshops for organizations serving seniors, youth and kids. These have a positive impact on participants – often enhancing social interaction and a sense of sharing and well-being across cultures. Examples include Senior houses in different places in Vancouver, lions gate hospital, Vancouver General Hospital. She was Volunteering in RCMP(Community Police) for 1 years.
President and CEO, Akran Marketing
City: Ottawa
Country of Origin: India
Raman Agarwal is president and CEO of Akran Marketing, which he founded in 1997. Agarwal has worked hard to develop strong relationships with suppliers, clients and the community. He is an award-winning entrepreneur with a great passion to help people achieve their marketing goals with successful promotions.
Agarwal came to Canada from India at the age of 19 with no money in his pocket. He attended high school and university while working almost full-time to support himself financially, not to be a burden on his parents. After studying electrical engineering at the University of Ottawa, he launched one of Canada’s most successful startup IT companies, Akran Systems, employing more than 250 people, including more than 100 new immigrants. In 2000, he took his experience and pivoted to found Akran Marketing. Akran Marketing represents one of Canada’s many success stories, employing more than 55 people in Canada with revenues exceeding $13 million.
In 2014, Akran Marketing was honoured by its industrial sector with the One of the ‘50 Best Places to Work distinction by the Advertising Specialty Institute, and Agarwal was honoured with the Best Boss of the Year award by PPAI.
As an advocate for the importance of corporate social responsibility, he was awarded the Torch Awards for Ethics by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in 2009. He believes a new, more sustainable measure of business success needs to be implemented in Canada: one that goes beyond a company’s profitability to take into account the impact a company has on society and the environment in which it operates.
Under his direction and initiative, Akran runs the Akran Employee Charity Matching Program to support the causes important to our people and to encourage their community involvement. His company’s Promotional Product Gift Program donates imprinted products to charities for those in need and for fundraising events.
Agarwal has a big heart when it comes to corporate giving. Ten per cent of all of Akran Marketing’s profits, without exception, go directly to charities. Agarwal also created the Akran Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization that pools the charitable efforts and resources of Akran Marketing, his employees, customers, the Akran supply chain and of private donors to support a variety of charities here in Canada, India, Africa and Asia to help those less advantaged, especially children living in poverty. It contributed $50,000 in emergency aid to Indigenous communities harmed by the Alberta fires; $25,000 in Texas hurricane disaster aid.; $10,000 in relief to help people after the Nepal earthquake; $20,000 for Philippines hurricane aid, and most recently, Akran has joined the Bell Let’s Talk Campaign, providing $10,000 in funding to improve mental health access, care and research.
Agarwal also serves on many charitable boards such as Habitat for Humanity, the Children’s Wish Foundation and the Better Business Bureau.
He also helps new immigrants settle in Canada and provides mentorship, guidance, financial support and assistance as well as employment. He has established a network with other business leaders and Indian community associations to connect new immigrants with jobs and to provide mentoring.
For all his efforts, Agarwal has won many honours, including Entrepreneur of the Year award by Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) – 2011; Top 50 under 50 in Ottawa by Ottawa Life Magazine – 2004, National Role Model Entrepreneur by Citizenship and Immigration Canada – 1995, and more.
Architect; Owner, Aomega Group Inc.
City: Calgary
Country of Origin: Ghana
Margaret Adu was born in Cape Coast, Ghana, the firstborn of four siblings.
During her high school and university days, Adu was a great athlete. In high school she was nominated the Sports Prefect and represented her school in 100m, 200m, 100×4 really, hurdles and long jump. She went on to inter-regional’s to represent her high school.
She took her graduate and undergraduate studies at the University of Science and Technology, in Kumasi, Ghana and was awarded the prestigious Ghana Institute of Architecture Award for the top portfolio of the class. She graduated with second class honours in the upper division.
To serve her nation, Adu was a teaching assistant at the university she graduated from for two years. At this same time she was the senior architect for Enningful Design Services, the main architect for Ashanti Gold Fields Corporation.
Adu then worked in London, England, from 1989 -1991 as an architect and was part of the design team for Glouster Park developments.
She moved back to Ghana to start her own business in architecture, exhibiting great knowledge in the world of architecture due to her diverse experience. She stood different from other architects because she paid great attention and detail to the needs of her clients. Adu still possesses this trait as she is compassionatly detailed in the business she runs today.
In January 1993, Adu moved to Edmonton to join David Nyarko. In 1997, the couple moved to Calgary. They are parents to Danielle, 21, Debbie 19, and Kobby 16.
When she couldn’t find work in architecture in Edmonton, she volunteered for a firm that quickly saw her worth. But to make ends meet while volunteering, she found paying work in home care. The architecture firm then hired her on, so she juggled architecture work during the day, and home care work in the evenings.
Although architecture was Adu’s foundation, she had a newfound passion in working with people and she developed a vision for a company that combined both. Adu founded Aomega Group Ltd., a company that builds and runs personal care homes in Calgary. Different than a nursing home, these are real houses designed to accommodate four to six clients, and 24/7 staff. She is also manager of operations of Secura Care Homes and More Ta Life Homes.
Adu has also been heavily involved in her community, as:
She has received several honours, including:
2010: Recipient Ghanaian Canadian Achievements Award for Community Service.
2014: Obsidian Award for business leader of the year.
2014: Immigrant of Distinction Award for business, Calgary AB
2015: 20 most Compelling Calgarians
