OUR TEAM
Dr. ROUBA FATTAL
Founder
Dr. Rouba Fattal holds a PhD in political science, she is an author of several children’s books, a full-time public servant, a part-time professor at the University of Ottawa and Carleton, a devoted wife and mother to three children, and she is the founder of Kanata-Carleton Small Business Network (KCSBN) since 2015.
Rouba is what one would call a ‘super-volunteer’ in her local community of Kanata-Carleton. She volunteers as the Director of Outreach for the Trailwest Community Association (since 2015); as a Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator for the Ottawa Police Services (since 2016); as the Kanata Food Cupboard Chair of the Governance Committee (since 2019); the Canada Day in Kanata (2016, 2017 and 2018); and the Ottawa Public Library in Beaverbrook-Kanata (2016-2017), where she organized free workshops to seniors on internet and social media literacy to help them overcome loneliness and connect them with their loved ones abroad.
She works closely with Canadians from all backgrounds to address social challenges. Her recent efforts focus on battered women and homelessness. She is a Board Director at the West Ottawa Community Resource Center (WOCRC) since 2017, which runs Chrysalis House, a women’s shelter in Western Ottawa, and the Chair of their Board Development Committee, advocating for affordable housing within the community. Her initiatives promote inclusiveness, diversity and empowerment of women as well as youth and children with PTSD.
As an immigrant herself, she decided to not only thrive in Canadian society but also build up those around her helping newcomers establish themselves. She volunteered as a Board Director for the Rotary Club of Ottawa (2015-2017), where she organized a mega fundraising reception and a multicultural music night with the Christ-Church Cathedral raising over $74,000 that went to sponsoring two refugee families in Ottawa. She is a prominent figure in the community where she continues to help newcomers by mentoring them into finding volunteering opportunities and sustainable jobs.
As Founder of the not-for-profit enterprise in 2015 and President (2015-2020) of the Kanata-Carleton Small Business Network (KCSBN), Dr. Fattal saw an opportunity to fill a gap and need for the small local urban and rural business community. Over 500 local entrepreneurs are connecting to each other, finding valuable resources, and showcasing their products and services to their community - and the numbers continue to grow. You can visit her website which at: www.kanatacarletonsbn.ca
In 2020 Dr. Fattal received the Femmes remarquables Ottawa Distinguished Women Award. In 2019 she was the recipient of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award and Welcome Ottawa Ambassador Award, and was short listed for the Mayor’s Award for Volunteer Spirit. She also received the Kanata-South Award for Empowering Local Small Businesses from Councillor Allan Hubley (2018) and was the Kanata-North Nomination for Best Organization of the Year presented by Councillor Marianne Wilkinson (2018), and received a Recognition Letter from the Minister of Small Business for empowering women entrepreneurs through the Kanata-Carleton Small Business
Fair (2018), and the Mayor of Ottawa Civic Engagement Certificate for supporting the resettlement of Syrian refugees in Ottawa (2016). Rouba was also nomination for the Anna Lindh Foundation Euro-Med Dialogue Award for fostering open dialogue between Europe and the Arab World through co-founding the Euro-Arab Forum and she won fourth place (2011).
Mai Metawie is a Talent Acquisition and Diversity & Inclusion Specialist, with extensive experience supporting governmental and private organisations. With 20 years of experience in Human Resources Management, Mai brings to the board expertise in helping teams and communities to identify and achieve a common purpose. Mai holds an MBA from Kent University, UK with specialization in Learning Organizations. She believes that businesses, communities and countries flourish when diverse and divergent voices are encouraged.
President
MAI METAWIE
GERARD POWER
Secretary
Gerard is a Senior Legal Counsel at Simplex Legal LLP, an innovative Calgary based law firm that provides top tier in-house legal services on a contract basis. As a former general counsel and senior corporate executive, he understand the challenges faced by general counsel and the value of being able to bring in additional team members on a project or short term basis.
He has always loved learning languages. It’s a good thing too, because life has offered him plenty of opportunities to take in lessons. Born in Germany, Gerard was raised in a military family who took him to Montreal, Ottawa, Gaza, Beirut and Paris. He later married an Italian. Gerard works comfortably in English, French, Spanish and Italian.
ERIC AARON SONEGO
Treasurer
Eric Aaron Sonego is the owner of Eric Sonego Professional Group. He is an accountant (RPA, APA, CIA, CMA (AU) and IIA -internal auditor)
In practice since 1988. Prior to that he was management services officer with the Federal Business Development Bank of Canada. Eric specialize in small and medium size businesses. He has taught business courses at Algonquin College and at the University of Ottawa. He also gives seminars on accounting topics including taxation, retirement planning. His firm also gives training to business people who want to learn how to use Simply Accounting.
HASSAN EZDAHMAD
Director of Youth Initiative
Certified project manager, technically savvy with 15+ years experience in project management in IT, business operations and customer service domains. Excellent knowledge in identifying specific business needs and developing technology solutions that improve functionality and quality, streamline business processes, extend IT capabilities and realize ROI with minimal costs and risks.
OZLEM DONMEZ
Director of Logistics
DANIA KAYYALI
Director of Outreach
Dania holds a bachelor's degree in Technical Environmental Engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Swiss Business School. She worked as lecturer and researcher after she graduated in 2015. Then she joined Waste Management Agency in Dubai as environmental engineer. In 2017 she was appointed as Point of Contact for the agency with the ministry of environment and climate change in UAE....
Dania holds a bachelor's degree in Technical Environmental Engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from Swiss Business School. She worked as lecturer and researcher after she graduated in 2015. Then she joined Waste Management Agency in Dubai as environmental engineer. In 2017 she was appointed as Point of Contact for the agency with the ministry of environment and climate change in UAE.
She arrived in Canada in the end of 2018, and since then she has involved in many volunteering activities. She's currently a project coordinator in "Advancing New Canadian Women in Technology" program ANCWT at UOttawa, that aims to support new Canadian women in STEM fields.
Dania is pursuing project management degree at Algonquin collage and she's an active member of PMI and Toastmasters club.
ZEYAD ALHARBI
Director of Translation
HAL HILFI
Director of Marketing
Hal has over 20 years of professional experience devoted to operations management. His professional experience is complemented with solid proven leadership and people management skills. Hal developed vast knowledge throughout his career as he worked in different industries such as; sheet metal fabrication, fiber-optics, contract manufacturing, telecommunication, printing, and most recently in healthcare.
He is focused on developing business systems, process re-engineering, warranty services, contracts, proposal development and negotiations, client management, and process waste elimination using the principles and tools of Six Sigma and Lean methodologies. Hal is a results-driven, strategic thinker with the ability to manage long-term goals in conjunction with the immediate needs of the business. Academically, Hal received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from the University of Dayton in Ohio, USA. He also holds an Executive MBA degree from the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, Canada.
Currently, Hal is responsible for running the operations team at Thermo Fisher Scientific – Microbiology Canada located in the nation’s capital. He is responsible for the entire Canadian operation to manufacture and distribute prepared media (considered as a medical device) that allows healthcare laboratories and hospitals to culture and identify micro-organisms. The product offers solutions to diagnose infectious diseases and test potential bacterial contamination in food.
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​Hal’s responsibility encompasses all aspects of the business including quality assurance, human resources, finance, planning, engineering, practical process improvement (PPI), facilities, and supply chain. Accountable for the site in all areas of the business operations, budgetary, supply chain, site P&L, site goals & objectives and alignment of the operational performance against the corporate strategy and long-term vision. Continually influencing positive culture change throughout the organization by fostering an environment of honest and open dialogue, trust, and ownership.
Hal has over 20 years of professional experience devoted to operations management. His professional experience is complemented with solid proven leadership and people management skills. Hal developed vast knowledge throughout his career as he worked in different industries such as; sheet metal fabrication, fiber-optics, contract manufacturing, telecommunication, printing, and most recently in healthcare....
NURCAN KESKIN
Director of Sponsorship
HELEN HIRSH SPENCE
Director of Youth Program
After devoting 35 years to education, as a secondary principal, headmistress, and as President of the Ontario Principals Council, Helen embarked on a journey of social entrepreneurship. She saw how ageism was impacting Boomers and how the upcoming demographic shift would affect Canada’s social and economic fabric if not addressed. As a result, she founded Top Sixty Over Sixty (T60 Strategies) which provides thought leadership, consulting and training on age inclusion and diversity.
Helen has used her background and experience to successfully lead seminars, corporate retreats, workshops and to address audiences worldwide in her new role. She has a proven record in designing state of the art, original programming rooted in research and in practice. As a respected facilitator and motivational speaker, Helen is a strong performer in multicultural environments with the ability to gain trust and build rapport quickly among those with diverse backgrounds, interests and life circumstances. She is fluent in French, German and Spanish.
In addition to being an active volunteer locally, nationally and internationally, Helen has served on numerous boards. Currently, she spends much of her time advocating for and supporting older adults who want to become entrepreneurs or continue working. She also works with businesses to transform their multi-generational workforce into intergenerational teams.
After devoting 35 years to education, as a secondary principal, headmistress, and as President of the Ontario Principals Council, Helen embarked on a journey of social entrepreneurship. She saw how ageism was impacting Boomers and how the upcoming demographic shift would affect Canada’s social and economic fabric if not addressed. As a result, she founded Top Sixty Over Sixty (T60 Strategies) which provides thought leadership, consulting and training on age inclusion and diversity.
JASVINDER JASSAL
Director of Digital Marketing
Mr. Jasvinder Jassal is a E-business and marketing solutions developer founder and C.E.O of Netchill Media Group. Specializing in development of business strategies, market research, providing integrated digital marketing and multimedia solutions across multiple industries.
Mr. Jassal has over 25 years of experience working within information technology/management in financial, health and government organizations while delivering high quality projects dealing with application development, front-end interface and online e-business solutions. He is a positive and creative thinker with exceptional skills in solving complex problems and finding viable solutions quickly.
JULIE KASMIYA
Youth Advisor
Julie is a high school student attending A.Y. Jackson Secondary School.
Prior to her education in Canada, she lived in China where she completed the International Baccalaureate curriculum, partaking in Model United Nation debates and environmental conservation and humanitarian issues club-Roots & Shoots. Her experience with research motivated her to investigate the impact of social media on youth future jobs. In her free time, she enjoys singing, playing sports and volunteering at local retirement homes.
Dr. TOM EECKELAERT
Director of IT
Tom holds a PhD in Electrical/Electronics Engineering. He is currently working as Mixed Signal Design Engineer at Synopsys Inc.
Tom is a principal researcher with a very diverse technical skill-set and a natural drive to optimize and structure and find efficient solutions. Built on a mixed background in analog design and evolutionary optimization algorithms and an interest in both technical and non-technical problems, he has gathered a large amount of knowledge of the complete manufacturing cycle of electronic devices; going from IC design/layout and manufacturing, CAD/EDA Tools, over ATE/Qual verification, to inventory management, forecasting and financial issues.
I enjoy working on multiple different things, and I always strive to find methodologies in order to facilitate future projects.
Tom holds a PhD in Electrical/Electronics Engineering. He is currently working as Mixed Signal Design Engineer at Synopsys Inc.
Tom is a principal researcher with a very diverse technical skill-set and a natural drive to optimize and structure and find efficient solutions. ...