Meet the Team

Our Founder & President

Omar Karim

MBA, MScIB, EdD(c)

Omar Karim is a National TD Scholar and a National Millennium Scholar for Youth Leadership and Community Service. He is an I-STAR National Recipient and received I-STAR Awards for Arts and Culture, Youth Leadership and Community Service. Additionally, Omar is a recipient of the TD Champions Award, the MVP at Canada’s Next Impact Apprentice Business Competition, Citizenship Award Recipient. He is the National Director and National Education Lead in Canada for Post-Secondary Engagement and Initiatives for the Moose Hide Campaign Development Society and coordinates/manages the Office of Co-Curricular Engagement & Learning at Vancouver Island University. In addition, he was the Chairman of the 2017 Canada MBA Games hosted in Nanaimo and is the Founder of the BC MBA Games competitions. Karim and his team raised over $300,000 for the Moose Hide Campaign and raised over $750,000 in terms of funds raised to finance both projects. He is now pursuing his Doctorate in Higher Education with a focus on reconciling Indigenous perspectives in Co-Curricular learning and engagement.

Grounding Our Intentions

Elder Wilson Bearhead

Wilson Bearhead is Nakota: a member of the Wabamun Lake First Nation in Treaty 6 territory. Wilson has served as Chief in his own community, Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 as well as the Assembly of First Nations Alberta Regional Chief. Wilson was the first Elder in Residence for Edmonton Public Libraries before moving to serve as the Elder for Elk Island Public Schools for 4 years, and still provides cultural teachings and supports to many schools and organizations across Alberta. Wilson is the recent recipient of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation Indigenous Elder Award and is the co-author of the children’s book series, Siha Tooskin Knows. Wilson’s grandmother Annie was a powerful, positive influence in his young life, teaching him all of the lessons that gave him the strength, knowledge, and skills to overcome difficult times and embrace the gifts of life.

Our Special Advisors

Sobhana Jaya-Madhavan

Associate Vice President, External Relations, Simon Fraser University

David Woodward

Executive Leadership Coach and Work Integrated Learning Faculty, Vancouver Island University (Ret.)

Dr. Carrie Chassels

Campus Administrator & Associate Dean, Northeastern University

Brock Dykeman

Past President and Vice Chancellor, University of Canada West

Charlene Bearhead

Vice President of Learning and Reconciliation, Royal Canadian Geographical Society

Luke Nixon-Janssen

Director, Marketing & Business Development, Magnet, Ryerson University

Raven Lacerte

Co-Founder, Moose Hide Campaign Development Society

Nneka Otogbolu

Chief Operating Officer, Foundation for Black Communities Canada

Dr. Hazel Brown

Associate Dean, School of Sport, Health and Community, University of Winchester

Patrick Brennan

CEO, Advanced Professional Training Centre & Special Advisor to the President, Vancouver Island University

Tina Belcourt

Development Officer, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria

Cynthia Lange

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Consultant

Leadership Team

Omar Karim

Founder & President

Dr. Srividhya Mouli

Director, International Partnerships

Joel Hampson

Director, Leadership Team

Operations Team

Kurtis Johnstone

Technology Officer

Kayla Passmore

Campus Chapters Program Coordinator

Seth Recalma

Creative and Marketing Officer

Mohit Payare

Project Manager

Telanie Moolman

Communications Coordinator

Sehar Nayani

Human Resources Specialist

Tanish Bekal

Global Virtual Summit Coordinator

Harmeen Kaur Kahlon

Strategic Partnerships Coordinator

Dustin King

Outreach Specialist

Ria Bhambani

Events Coordinator

Melissa Carrera del Rio

Project Coordinator (Intern)

Rohith Goud Bandi

Project Specialist (Intern)

Hardik Jadvani

Finance Specialist

Strategic Partnerships & Outreach Team

Amber Lease

Strategic Partnerships Lead, USA

Anna-Lena Rusch

Strategic Partnerships Lead, Europe

Fernando Medina

Ambassador, Mexico

Gwen O'Mahony

Government Relations, Canada

Tobias Scholz

Ambassador, Germany