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Welcome
Services
Team
The diaspora Corner
Events
Contact Us
Donation

Meet the Team

Board of Directors

Germaine Basita

Founding member & Co-Chair

Germaine Basita

Founding member & Co-Chair

Germaine Basita combines more than fifteen years’ experience in peace-related research and work with INGOs in Africa and in the US, her particular interest being in capacity building for grassroots organizations. Germaine was a senior advisor to the American Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1993 during the political crisis in Burundi that lasted a decade. A public servant since 2009 with the Ontario government first, and later with the federal government, she managed community services and government-sponsored settlement and employment programs for new comers in the London-Sarnia region for six years before joining the public service. Germaine holds a PhD in Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master’s degree in Social and Public Policy with a certificate in peace studies from Duquesne University. Her commitment is to actively engage in the partnership between Canada and Africa to support the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

Email:[email protected]

Sahada Alolo

Co-Chair

Sahada Alolo

Co-Chair

Sahada Alolo is the Manager of Community Engagement at Multifaith Housing Initiative in Ottawa, Ontario (MHI). She also serves as the president of the Ottawa Muslim Women’s Organization and the co-chair of the Community Equity Council of the Ottawa Police. Sahada has a Doctorate in Educational Leadership and a Master’s degree in human services specializing in nonprofit management. Sahada comes with extensive professional experiences in women and youth leadership, Canada-Africa partnership, and empowerment of black communities in Canada. She worked as an advisor in Ghana for the World University Service of Canada to build the capacity of various NGOs in women and girl empowerment, fundraising and organizational development. As the chair of the Community Equity Council of the Ottawa police, Sahada works with council members to improve relations between Ottawa police and indigenous, faith based and racialized communities.

Email:[email protected]

Charlotte A. Craig

Board member

Charlotte A. Craig

Board member

Charlotte Craig is a writer, horticulturist, activist and “professional people person.” She studied communications and horticulture at Algonquin College in Ottawa and has a background in administration and management. She has worked with Indigenous NGOs and in Non-Profit housing, and has close ties to the LGBTQ+ and Disability communities. Charlotte has fingers in many grassroots pots, including a decade of advocacy for the rights of workers, women, new Canadians and people of color. She has recently taken interest in equitable urban planning and autonomous community development, and considers herself an amateur "policy critic." In her spare time, Charlotte can be found in her community garden plot or making art.

Email:[email protected]

Aline Muyubira

Board member

Aline Muyubira

Board member

Aline Muyubira trained in economic sciences in Burundi, and pursued professional training in business management and accounting from Maastricht, Holland. Aline has a solid experience of over 20 years in customer service and human resources management acquired both in Africa and North America. As a business woman since 1995, Aline is the manager and financial advisor of Manaf Tours and Travel Agency, a family owned business established in East Africa, with a branch in Nepean, Ontario. Aline Muyubira finds time to combine her business responsibilities with volunteer work in her community to engage in leadership activities, notably with the African League of Canada, as well as the Canada For Africa Group.

Email:[email protected]

Claudia Petrescu

Board member

Claudia Petrescu

Board member

Dr. Claudia Petrescu is serving as Chief Strategy Officer at Oakland University in Michigan. Claudia held several administrative positions, including Dean of a Graduate School at Oakland University. As a tenured Professor of Public Administration in the Department of Political Science at Oakland University, her research interests are in the areas of nonprofit management, capacity building, executive transitions, strategic planning, evaluation and organizational change. Claudia has been published in journals such as the International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, International Leadership Journal, Nonprofit Management and Leadership among others. Dr. Petrescu is also a recent graduate of the American Council of Education (ACE) fellowship program. She holds a doctorate degree in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh; and obtained graduate degrees from Duquesne University (2000), the National School of Public Administration and International Relations, Bucharest, Romania (1995), and Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania (1993).

Email:[email protected]

Rokhaya Gueye

Strategic Advisor

Rokhaya Gueye

Strategic Advisor

Rokhaya Gueye wears many hats: she is a mentor, a coach, a community organizer, a carpenter, an interpreter, and a serial entrepreneur. As a community leader, Rokhaya has, for the past 26 years volunteered her time by working tirelessly to help various non-profit organizations both locally and abroad. Rokhaya’s volunteering spans several organizations including: the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Carpenters Local 27; Delegate at the Toronto & York Region Labour Council; Ambassador and Mentor at the Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN); Mentor at the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) and career coach with Building Up. She also sits as member to boards of Directors, founding member and advisor for several non-for-profit organizations, notably the Canada for Africa Group (CFA). As an entrepreneur, she is the co-founder of Global Connection Venture and Afya Choices. Due to her work and role in her community, Rokhaya made the list of Canada top 100 most powerful women Award winners 2022. Some of her most cherished heart-work has been her time spent as a mentor/coach with international students, Sponsorship Lead of the Manyatta Network, building playgrounds for children battling critical illnesses with Million Dollar Smiles and as a crew lead with Habitat for Humanity GTA. Rokhaya is passionate about social change, women & youth empowerment, construction, technology, community economic development and philanthropy. She also believes that, “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful!’’ ‘Vouloir c’est pouvoir!’

Solange Mudahogora

Strategic Advisor

Solange Mudahogora

Strategic Advisor

Solange arrived in Canada over 17 years ago. She completed her Master's Degree in Sociology, specializing in women's studies, from the University of Ottawa in her first two years in Canada. She is a wife, mother, community development worker, advocate and founding member of Mimosa du Quartier operating in Gatineau, Quebec and Uzima Network Inc. registered in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Solange served on the board of directors for various community-based organizations, including Immigrant Migrant Women of Halifax, the United African Canadian Women Association in Nova Scotia. Now, she sits on the Universalist Unitarian Church Halifax private sponsorship committee. She has worked with different Non-Government Organizations and UN agencies as well as Academic institutions such as UNWomen, UNFPA in Rwanda, Care International, Intra Health/Prime II, Save the Children in Rwanda, Action AID in Burundi, Ottawa University, Maison Univers femmes and Bureau Régional D'action SIDA in Quebec, African Diaspora Association of the Maritimes and Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia.Solange's national and international experience has led to expertise in various areas, including development and implementation of community programs, research, evaluation, and advocacy in immigrant health, mental health, education, economic, cultural, social and human rights, Settlement and integration

Prime Nyamoya

Advisory Committee

Prime Nyamoya

Advisory Committee

Prime Nyamoya’s professional career spans more than 40 years which includes teaching at the university level and in the private sector; and numerous consultancies with international financial institutions. Highlights of Prime’s experience includes work with the African Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank, the EU, and UNDP. Since January 2015, his home position remained with the ADB as a senior consultant, travelling to Comores, Tchad, Gabon, Sénégal, Djibouti to provide technical and institutional support to governments in varied functions, particularly with their finance departments. Prime holds a bachelor's degree in applied economics (Management) from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium (1972) and two postgraduate degrees: a Master’s degree in public administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1976), and in economics from Boston University (1979). In addition, Prime completed a certificate program at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University.

Email:[email protected]

Jimmy Bankamwabo

Advisory Committee

Jimmy Bankamwabo

Advisory Committee

Jimmy Bankamwabo has over fifteen years of professional experience in strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects in Africa and Canada. He currently works as Senior Director of Development at Compass Institute Inc. Prior to joining Compass, he worked as a Senior Consultant (STC) for the World Bank Group in Morocco (PPP) and Burkina Faso (management of public institutions). Previously, Mr. Bankamwabo worked full time with the Quebec-based Institute for Development in Economics and Administration (IDEA International) on the one hand as a senior technical expert and trainer and, on the other hand, as responsible for the development of strategic partnerships. involving several regional and national continuing training institutes, including Laval University, the Economic and Statistical Observatory of Sub-Saharan Africa -AFRISTAT based in Bamako, Mali. Prior to joining IDEA, Jimmy worked for a long time as a consultant for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Jimmy has held several teaching and research positions at various universities and research centers. He holds a master's degree from the Faculty of Economics, Social and Political Sciences of the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, and a License from the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Burundi.

Janvier Nahimana

Advisory Committee

Janvier Nahimana

Advisory Committee

Janvier Nahimana believes that volunteering is a glue that ties communities together. He founded Mutcho Radio to give voice to his community in Halifax, Nova Scotia and to connect people from different walks of life. Janvier does not miss a chance to struck a conversation whenever an opportunity presents itself. Sharing stories is his way of celebrating life. Janvier’s background is in arts and multimedia. He built his career as a multimedia professional, photographer, Web and Graphic designer travelling around Europe. He worked five years as a communication manager at the Centre national de coopération au dévelopment in Belgium and was the cofounder and Art Director of the community journal director IWACU Burundi. Janvier is now based in Halifax since 2014. He worked at the African Diaspora Association of the Maritimes (ADAM) and with the support from African Nova Scotian affairs, he created the Mutcho Cultural group, a non-profit organization to develop a project in celebration of the Decade of People of African Descent (DPAD). Janvier Nahimana holds a Master’s degree in Arts from Moscow Arts Academy, and has certificates in Leadership and Project Management.

Email:[email protected]

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