Board of Trustees

Robert Vineberg

Robert Vineberg’s career in the Canadian Federal Public Service spanned over 35 years, of which 28 were with the immigration program, serving abroad, in policy positions at national headquarters and, most recently, as Director General of Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Prairies and Northern Territories Region, based in Winnipeg. He retired from the public service in 2008. Mr. Vineberg has written and published several peer reviewed articles on immigration history and on military history. His book, Responding to Immigrants’ Settlement Needs: The Canadian Experience (Springer), was published in 2012. He co-edited and contributed two chapters to Integration and Inclusion of Newcomers and Minorities Across Canada (McGill Queen’s University Press, 2011), and has contributed chapters to Immigration Regulation in Federal States: Challenges and Responses in Comparative Perspective (Springer, 2014) and Immigrant Experiences in North America (Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2015). He is Chair of the Board of Governors of Immigration Research West, Past-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Immigrant Centre Manitoba, a former member of the council of the Local Immigration Partnership Winnipeg and a Senior Fellow with the Canada West Foundation. He is also Past-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Manitoba Opera. Mr. Vineberg has a BA in History from the University of Toronto as well as an MA in Canadian History and a Graduate Diploma in Public Administration, both from Carleton University, in Ottawa.

Cynthia Price Verreault

A graduate of McGill University in commerce and science, Ms. Price Verreault held several senior management positions during her 20 years with Petro-Canada before leaving the corporate world to focus on the not-for-profit and philanthropic sectors. As the former chair of the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation, past director and senior advisor of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, and previous executive director of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Ms. Price Verreault values pragmatic, creative solutions for operational governance, responsible fundraising, and donor stewardship.

Currently serving her second term on the Board of Governors of McGill University, Ms. Price Verreault is a member of the Executive Committee, Chair of the Committee to Advise on Matters of Social Responsibility, past Chair of the Human Resources Committee, and both a former Senator and President of the McGill Alumni Association. She is a member of the Sports Hall of Fame Committee, the Joint Board-Senate Committee on Equity, and the Principal’s Award Advisory Committee.

She has senior level volunteer experience with organizations including the McGill University Health Centre, Queen Elizabeth Health Complex, Canadiana Fund, Trans Canada Trail and the Fondation Québec Philanthrope.

Ms. Price Verreault is a distinguished community leader in the healthcare, education, heritage and philanthropic sectors and has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. Born in Quebec City, educated and married in Montreal, Ms. Price Verreault continues to be actively engaged in her community.

Salima Ebrahim

Salima Ebrahim is the Head of External and Intergovernmental Relations with the City of Edmonton. Prior to joining the City of Edmonton she was the Executive Director of the Banff Forum, a national public policy organization whose mission is to reinvigorate public debate in Canada and strengthen the country through engaging leaders from diverse backgrounds and industry sectors, and came to that role after spending a number of years as a management consultant with Deloitte in Toronto. She is also a former fellow with the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights.

Salima is an active volunteer and is currently serving as Vice-Chair of the Inspirit Foundation. She is an alumnus of the University of Alberta (BA, Political Science and Sociology) and the London School of Economics (MSc, Public Policy and Administration), and has received several awards for public service leadership, including being a recipient of the Top 40 under 40 award, and a national “Women Who Inspire” recipient awarded by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women.

Omar Farouk

Omar Farouk is a Public Member on Council, and currently serving as the Vice President of the College of Opticians of Ontario. He has served his community for over 35 years in Canada, including as the former chairperson of the Employment Insurance Board of Appeal, a former public member of the College of Nurses of Ontario and current member of the Toronto Police Chief’s Muslim Consultative Community. Omar also has a Certificate in Conflict Resolution, from York University. All of these experiences have broadened his knowledge on public matters.

Omar has extensive experience working in charitable organizations, including organizing monthly food drives for his local food bank, delivering over 300 meals to those in need. He has partnered with 11 other organizations in Toronto in raising over $250, 000 for the Humber River Regional Hospital and is a licensed marriage officer in Ontario. In 2012, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal Award by the Governor General of Canada. In 2018, he was also a recipient of the inaugural award of Canada's 150 Community Award.

Throughout his years of experience, Omar has obtained a vast knowledge in policy governance and strategic planning that help define and shape an organization. In addition to his expertise, he brings critical thinking, respect, integrity and relationship management.

Kathy Hambly

As Executive Director of the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce for more than ten years, Kathy Hambly worked to encourage increased immigration to Prince Edward Island through advocacy at local, regional, and national levels. She developed the P.E.I. Connectors program to help newcomers pursue their entrepreneurial goals. She also fostered an initiative called Island Advance, which promoted entrepreneurship in P.E.I. and included supporting entrepreneurial immigrants as a key tenet. During Kathy’s time as Executive Director, the Chamber received national recognition for its innovative programs to engage youth, and she herself received the Canadian Chamber Executive of the Year in 2015. Previous to her Chamber career, Kathy worked as Director of Marketing and Development at the Confederation Centre of the Arts, the national memorial to our country’s founding fathers; and Director of Business Development at Innovation PEI.

Since retiring from the Chamber in 2016, she has continued to contribute to the community as a dedicated volunteer - serving on the boards of directors of the Charlottetown Airport Authority and Maritime Electric Company Ltd., and the Board of Governors at the University of Prince Edward Island. She has previously chaired the Board of Governors at Holland College and served on the Board of Directors of Junior Achievement P.E.I., and in local, regional, and national roles with the Chamber. She has an MBA in marketing and a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from Dalhousie.

Mona Kumar

Ms. Kumar is a multilingual lawyer with over sixteen years of broad practice experience in business law. A Senior Legal Counsel with an industry leading Canadian SaaS company, Ms. Kumar has also practiced in-house at preeminent companies including serving as a director and officer of a private subsidiary of a multinational company and in private practice at McMillan LLP. Ms. Kumar is an active member of the Mississauga community and serves as a board member and Policy Committee Chair of the Alzheimer Society Peel. She is a member of the Ontario Bar Association and has been an active member of several legal organizations including the South Asian Bar Association, the Association of Corporate Counsel and the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund. Ms. Kumar obtained her LL.B. (Cum Laude) from the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Arts Degree (First Class Honours) from McGill University.

Caroline Lavoie

Caroline Lavoie has worked in politics and public affairs for 15 years. Passionate about current issues, she has held positions with policy institutes both in the United States and in Ottawa, at the National Bank and with two public affairs firms in Montreal. Since 2016, Caroline has become a recognized expert on the legalization of cannabis. First a consultant, later the Director of Corporate Affairs for a licensed producer, she now advises businesses in the sector on public affairs and industry relations, and participates in the public debate as a commentator and speaker. As a volunteer, Caroline served for several years on the Young McCord Council at McCord Museum; a group advising the museum on ways to reach the younger generation. She also served four years as director and then president of Entre-Maisons Ahuntsic, an organization which works predominantly with immigrant families of low-rent housing projects in the Ahuntsic district of Montreal. Ms. Lavoie holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Economics from McGill University and a Master of Public Policy from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris.