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Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Richard Maksymetz

Chair of the Board

Principal at ALAR Strategy Group
Former Chief of Staff to the Minister of Finance (Canada)
Biggest Canadian fan of the University of Memphis Tigers

Muneeb Yusuf

Vice-Chair

General Counse of League Inc.
Formerly general counsel of Algoma Steel and Dundee Agriculture and attorney at Stikeman Elliott LLP
Sits on a number of non-profit and public boards

Michael Klosevych

Secretary-Treasurer

Chartered Professional Accountant
Graduate of the University of Ottawa, McGill University and York University.
Served as UNA-Canada’s Secretary-Treasurer for ten years (2007 – 2017)
20 years of professional Public and Private Sector work experience, most recently as a Senior Analyst with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
15+ years of volunteer experience on condo and daycare boards

Aki Temisevä

President & CEO (Ex Officio)

20+ years experience as a C-level senior marketing executive and CEO across the nonprofit and private sectors
Has led change at Procter & Gamble, World Vision, Children Believe, Right to Play and others
Global Citizen, born in Finland, with experience across all continents and home now in Canada
Results-based people leader, dedicated to crafting actionable solutions which build bridges and improve everyone’s lives

Directors

Anne Pearson

Regional Director, Ontario

Former professor of Religious Studies, McMaster University
Author of academic and non-academic books and articles
30+ years experience with community organizations and boards
Recipient of Hamilton World Citizenship and Order of Hamilton awards
President of UNA-Canada Hamilton Branch

Abdelkarim Awwad

Director-at-Large

Director of Marketing & Communication at Brian Jessel BMW
Board member of the German Canadian Business Association (BC)
President of the Canadian Academy of Protocol & Events management
Former head of the disaster management unit (Qatari Red Crescent)
Former advisor and consultant to several international organizations and embassies in the Middle East

Elsa Jutras Vigneault

Regional Director, Quebec

Head of the programming committee and secretary, United Nations Association in Canada – Greater Montreal branch
LL.B., University of Montreal, 2024
Student at the École du Barreau du Québec, 2024-2025
President, Lawyers without Borders University of Montreal committee, 2022-2023

Giulliana Tamblyn

Regional Director British Columbia

Founder of the Prince George branch of UNA-Canada
President of YGT Solutions Consulting
Socio-Economic and Stakeholder Engagement Independent Consultant
Advisor to the Board of a private corporation in the mining sector
Bachelor of Arts in Economics & Master of International Development from UNBC
Currently pursuing the Project Management Professional certification
Member of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada
Member of the Latin-American Studies Association

Luis Lopez

Director-at-Large

Vice President, National Support, Private Banking, Royal Bank of Canada
20 years of experience in financial services.
Bachelor of Engineering, master’s in business administration and GD on Business and
Environment

Mehreen Kapadia

Regional Director, Prairies

Community Liaison – NPower Canada
Former Project Coordinator with the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association
Former CIDA Intern in India (in conjunction with the Shastri- Indo-Canadian Institute, University of Calgary and Tarun Bharat Singh)
B.A International Development
Member of the Calgary Branch

Sen. Hassan Yussuff

Director-at-Large

Appointed to the Senate of Canada in 2021 (Independent Senators Group)
Former two-term President of the Canadian Labour Congress (2014-2021)
Prominent international activist, including two terms as President of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas
Served on numerous task forces and organizations, including the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Development Advisory Council
Member of the Council on Canada-US Relations

Activated