Richard Saillant
Richard Saillant is a Moncton-based economist and author. Richard is a former vice-president of the Université de Moncton and director of the Donald J. Savoie Institute. He has also spent nearly fifteen years in Ottawa in various departments, including the Privy Council Office, Industry Canada and Transport Canada. Immediately prior to returning to New Brunswick, Saillant was a director general at Industry Canada, where he advised the government on large foreign takeover proposals, including BHP's failed attempt to acquire Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, the largest takeover proposal in Canadian history.
Richard has written or edited four books over the past three years, his most recent book, A Tale of Two Countries: How the Great Demographic Imbalance is Pulling Canada Apart (2016) was longlisted for the National Business Book Award.
David Campbell
David is the former Chief Economist for the New Brunswick Jobs Board and founded his own economic development consulting and research firm, Jupia Consultants Inc., in 2008. Based in Moncton, he is one of Atlantic Canada’s leading economic development consultants. He has worked with more than 40 local, provincial and national economic development agencies, industry associations and government departments in six Canadian provinces and two American states. He holds a certificate in economic development from the University of Waterloo in Ontario and a master’s in business administration from Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Panelists
Dr. Richa Bhalla
Dr. Richa Bhalla has been a member of the Canadian and Indian Dental Associations, Fredericton Dental Society and licensed from New Brunswick Dental Society. She's also been a member of the Multicultural association of Carleton County and Multicultural Association of Fredericton. She loves giving back to her community and has participated in various free Oral Health Camps to serve veterans and students in India. She likes teaching, has shared her knowledge with dentists through training sessions and has taught as faculty in dental college too. She's been a pioneer in helping people to quit smoking and tobacco use through joint efforts with the Government of India. She immigrated to Woodstock from India in 2016 with her husband, daughter, and pug, and was marveled at the acceptance of the community.
Katherine Houser
Katherine Houser has been a community developer with Horizon since 2018. She currently serves the Upper River Valley area, covering from Nackawic to Beechwood. She is working towards completing her Masters in Applied Health Services Research through Saint Mary’s University. Katherine is passionate about taking a holistic approach to health and empowering others to create sustainable change. She strongly believes in the importance of building strong, meaningful relationships with community members. Katherine strives to bring people together and help provide structure for her community’s passions.
Mayor Arthur Slipp
First elected to council in 2001 and since becoming mayor in 2008, Mayor Slipp is currently completing his third consecutive term in office. He is a former President of the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick, and, while president, he served three years as a member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Board of Directors. He has also been a member of Western Valley Regional Service Commission #12 since its inception in 2012.
Mayor Slipp holds a B.A. (History and Political Science) and a B.Ed. (Secondary Ed) from UNB and a M.Ed. (Secondary Ed) in Instructional Technology from the University of Alberta. Prior to retirement from teaching, he worked his entire 32-year career at Woodstock High School.
Dave Tisdale
Dave Tisdale bought his first truck in April 1984, as an owner operator for Day & Ross Inc. After approximately ten years started to expand. He became a Ltd. company in 2001. Today Tisdale Trucking Ltd. has seven trucks and 9 employees.
Annick McIntosh
Annick is a career counselor, entrepreneur and mother of two wonderful boys. She and her partner are co-owners of the Pür & Simple restaurant in the Bathurst area, which employs nearly 25 people. Her goal of opening a restaurant in the area was based on her desire to provide a different dining experience to the community as well as to create jobs with a great working environment. Although she herself does not have the culinary talent to prepare their wonderful dishes, she very much enjoys eating there.
Victor Mendez
Victor is a communicative and engaged Electrical and Telecommunications Engineering professional. Proven in a wide range of expertise ranging from generator to grid synchronization, electrical protections design and coordination and electrical system modelling to medical devices design. He is passionate about his work and research and is an Electrical Project Engineer at Power Precision Inc.
Sara Azhari
Born in Casablanca where she obtained a bachelor's degree in mathematical sciences, Sara then joined a business school (HEM), in her hometown, where she obtained a bachelor's and a master's degree in Marketing and sales in 2013. Her curiosity and her thirst for the adventure took her to the United States, where she worked as a cultural representative of Morocco at Walt Disney World Orlando. She then set out to conquer Asia where she was Marketing Manager at an international university in southern India. Her return to Morocco in 2016 allowed her to work as an Account Manager in an operational marketing agency. Passionate about marketing and communication, she has taught courses in India and Morocco. She left Morocco to settle in Canada in August 2019 where she currently works as a communications manager for the Réseau en immigration francophone du Nouveau-Brunswick
Dr. Nir Shoham-Hazon
Born in Israel, Dr. Nir Shoham-Hazon, MD completed an Ophthalmology residency in his home country in January of 2010. Dr. Shoham-Hazon went on to pursue a lucrative fellowship at the University of Toronto. Dr. Shoham-Hazon moved to Miramichi in 2017. He has a clinic in Miramichi, and is currently constructing a new ophthalmology clinic along Water Street in the Historic Downtown Chatham Business District. Dr. Shoham-Hazon is also an assistant professor at the Miramichi campus of the Dalhousie University and Memorial University Faculties of Medicine. He is a husband and the father to two wonderful young boys.
Kenza Bennouna
Kenza Bennouna is a graduate of CCNB. Born and raised in Marrakech, Morocco, her parents initially wanted her to study in France because it was close to where she grew up. However, she applied to study in Canada without even knowing where it was. Kenza is Communications Director for the International Students Association of New Brunswick, and very recently moved to Miramichi in order to start employment at a local bank. Kenza is just getting to know the Miramichi region and she provides the perspective of a very recent arrival to the community.
Jeffrey MacTavish
Jeffrey MacTavish is currently the Director of Economic Development and Tourism of the City of Miramichi. Among other things, he is responsible for tourism promotion, product development, business attraction and retention, and special community development projects. He has been a Board Member of Downtown Miramichi, Miramichi Chamber of Commerce, CBDC Northumberland Inc., Miramichi Public Transit Commission, and Station Wharf Marina. He is currently involved as a member of Growing Miramichi, as well as being part of a stakeholder committee on affordable housing.
Simran Randhawa
Simran Randhawa is an International Student at the Miramichi campus of the New Brunswick Community College and is recognized as being a leader among her peers. Arriving from India in 2019 at the same time as many other newcomers, Simran brings first- hand knowledge of what it is like to be a young newcomer living in the Miramichi region.
Jenny Arlette
Originally from Burundi, Jenny Arlette arrived in Quebec in 2013, before moving to Miramichi in 2015. Jenny is President of Miramichi Afro Connection (MAC), which now has over 50 members. MAC helps welcome newcomers to the Miramichi region and assists with their integration to the community. MAC's goal is to support the growth of the Black community in Miramichi as the region sees increasingly more Black people calling Miramichi home. Jenny plays an instrumental part each year in Miramichi's Black History Month events, and she played a key role in organizing a series of public dialogues on racism during the summer of 2020.
Calecia Rumble-McCalla
Calecia Rumble-McCalla is the Rural Settlement Network Coordinator, as well as the Youth and Family Services Officer at the Miramichi Regional Multicultural Association. Originally from Jamaica, Calecia has lived in Miramichi since arriving in 2014 and has been involved in many significant newcomer initiatives in our region. In 2019, Calecia attracted media attention throughout Atlantic Canada when she led the way in finding housing for an influx of international students to NBCC-Miramichi.
Alain Lamarre
Alain Lamarre was born in Matane, Quebec. After completing his university studies in Business Administration at the Ecole des Hautes Études Commerciales (HEC) in Montreal, he worked in economic development in Quebec before beginning his career in the cooperative movement in New Brunswick. He has been a member of the Greater Rogersville Chamber of Commerce since 2005 and has twice held the position of Chamber President. Alain believes that the Chamber of Commerce and its various partners are uniquely situated to be able to contribute to the socio-economic development of the Rogersville region through cooperation among educational institutions, community organizations, business people and the municipality itself. The future development of this region will involve capitalizing on its tourism and cultural potential, as well as the implementation of inclusive and unifying initiatives for young people and newcomers.
Dolly Obsuna
Dolly Obsuna is President of Filipino Miramichier, which is a chapter of the Filipino Association of New Brunswick that is located in the Miramichi region. Dolly has a Bachelor of Science, and has worked in management positions throughout her life. She is also a managing broker and licensed financial advisor.
Roberta McIntyre
Roberta McIntyre is from the community of Baie-Sainte-Anne, NB. She graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work from the Université de Moncton, and over the last 33 years has worked in positions at the Department of Social Development, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and since June of 2014, she has been the Regional Director for WorkingNB-Miramichi, which is a branch of the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour. In her present role, Roberta provides strategic, customized and measurable supports to individual job seekers, employers and partner organizations. Roberta believes that empowering businesses and individuals to move forward will ensure that our labour market and its participants are able to operate at peak potential.
Abdoulaye Mara
Abdoulaye Mara was born in the Republic of Guinea and spent his primary and secondary in schools in the capital, Conakry. Then, in 2013, he obtained his secondary school diploma in social science at the Saint Joseph school complex in Kaporo. He then decided to enroll at Kofi Annan University in Guinea, where he spent 3 years before obtaining a degree in business law in 2016. he left Guinea for Canada in 2017 and enrolled in the Diploma in Business Administration at the University of Moncton, Shippagan campus. Between 2017 and 2019 he held the position of representative of international students within the student association and also the position of administrative assistant at CAIENA as an intern. He graduated in 2020 and since August 2020, he has been working as an international student support officer at the New Brunswick Community College, Acadian Peninsula campus.
Maurice Beaudin
Maurice Beaudin is a professor of economics at the University of Moncton, Shippagan campus. He has published numerous works, notably on the dynamics of regional labor markets and skills needs, on the promotion of marine products, on migration and the economic development of the Maritime regions. Professor Beaudin has participated with several research projects and evaluation groups as well as committees at the regional, provincial and national levels. His current research focuses on the rural exodus and new rural-urban configurations in Atlantic Canada. Professor Beaudin recently collaborated with CAIENA to produce a report on the state of play and prospects of immigrants and newcomers in the Acadian Peninsula.
Toni Maresu
Originally from Italy, Toni moved to France in 2002. After obtaining a professional university license in security management, he worked for the Risk Prevention Department of the University of Lille. He arrived in Shippagan July 2020 and on September 28 he began his career as a Health and Safety Advisor for the fishermen's COOP on Lamèque Island.
Nancy Smith
Nancy Smith is a businesswoman who has worked in the restaurant business for over twenty years. With a background in accounting, she worked for ten years for the accounting firm Gagnon, Paulin. Co-owner of the Pinokkio restaurant and the Le Traffik club in Shippagan, she now takes care of the management of these two businesses full time, which annually employ more than thirty employees.
Cherrie Brizo
Cherrie Brizo is an immigrant holding a permanent residency here in Canada. She moved from the Philippines together with her husband and three kids and has lived here for more than three years. She is an accounting graduate from the Philippines and worked as an Analyst before she relocated to Canada. Currently, she is working at Asurion as a Customer Care Representative.
Cherisse Andal
Cherisse earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Asia and the Pacific. She worked as a Sales Division Head in the Philippines before moving to Canada. Cherisse has worked for some of the leading real estate companies in the Philippines and held key positions. She and her family arrived in New Brunswick on August 2019. Cherisse has been working as a Customer Service Representative for over a year now and is very grateful to be living in New Brunswick.
Andrée Caissie Savoie
Andrée Caissie Savoie is Vice-President of Corporate Affairs for Imperial Manufacturing Group, a privately-owned HVAC and building products manufacturer headquartered in Richibucto, New Brunswick, with other locations in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, as well as Illinois in the United States. Her responsibilities include overseeing Customer Service, Marketing, and Corporate Affairs. She has also championed Imperial’s recent Immigration Strategy alongside the human resources department and has become an advocate for private businesses within the province, participating to the Economic Immigration Lab lead by NouLab in partnership with the University of New Brunswick.
Isabelle Laplante
Isabelle is from the Edmundston region. She is responsible for coordinating economic development activities within the City of Edmundston Development Department. She has been involved in local community economic development for several years. She first worked at Enterprise Madawaska from 2004 to 2012 and then served as director of the regional office of the Ministry of Economic Development between 2012 and 2014.
Martine Rioux
Martine holds a bachelor's degree in Education and Political Science from the Université de Moncton where she graduated in 2015. Having worked in the field of education and employability, the 29-year-old Acadian from Kedgwick is now the Coordinator of the Welcoming Francophone Community of Haut-Saint-Jean. The goal of this project is to facilitate the journey of Francophone immigrants so that they feel included and integrated into the community where they have chosen to settle while making our communities aware of the importance of immigration to the economic, social and cultural level.
Cheryl Toner
Cheryl holds a BBA with a concentration in marketing from Bishops’ University where she graduated in 2002. After her studies, she worked for McCain Foods in the province of Quebec for 4 years before moving back to her hometown of Grand Falls to pursue her entrepreneurship aspirations. She opened Grand Falls Home Furnishings in 2006, which she owned and operated until 2012. In December of 2012, Cheryl and her brother Andrew became Owner/Operators of 2 Tim Hortons Franchises in Grand Falls. They now own and operate 4 Tim Hortons franchises located in both Grand Falls and Saint-Quentin.
Stevenson Casimir
Stevenson Casimir is originally from Haiti. He holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration, which he obtained from the University of Notre-Dame Haiti in 2006. For 11 years, he held several managerial positions in his native country. In May 2013, he arrived in Edmundston with his wife Ketly and daughter Ingrid as permanent residents. In August 2019, he saw the birth of his son, Stevenson Denis. He and his family made the choice to immigrate to the city of Edmundston because of some similarities with their hometown Jacmel.
In February 2014, he joined Atlantic Star Uniforms as Financial Controller. This company, which has 22 employees, including 6 from immigrant backgrounds, is located in the city of Edmundston and specializes in the manufacture of high visibility protective clothing. Currently, he holds the position of Deputy Director General.
Bérénice Gillet
Bérénice was born and raised in France in a small village in the middle of the mountains. She studied and divided her time between the cities of Voiron, Chambéry and Grenoble. She has a bachelor's degree in laboratory technology specializing in biochemistry and biological engineering, a pharmacy technician and herbalist diploma.
Her work experience is shared between food analysis and medical analysis laboratories for two years then 7 years of practice in pharmacy, carried out between France and Canada. She has been working for 4 years at the New Brunswick Botanical Garden. She also worked at the Resource Center for Newcomers in the Northwest, where she notably created and held the positions of Volunteer Manager, Events Coordinator and Parents Support Service Facilitators.
Joan Kingston
Joan Kingston is a nurse and a long-time advocate for stronger healthcare in New Brunswick focusing on the social determinants of health and community partnerships. Her community engagement, policy development, and government experience are great assets to all organizations she collaborates with. In 2014, she led the establishment the Fredericton Downtown Community Health Centre (FDCHC), a partnership between the University of New Brunswick and Horizon Health Network. It is an interdisciplinary, nurse-led facility to provide primary healthcare to people without access to primary care, including at-risk populations. The FDCHC serves as a living laboratory for interdisciplinary student education and the leveraging of community partnerships to address the social determinants of health. The FDCHC has provided care to thousands of equity-seeking members of our community including the poor, homeless and refugees. Joan was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in 1995 and held the portfolios of Minister of Environment, Minister of Labour, Minister responsible for the Human Rights Commission and the Minister’s Committee on Multiculturalism. She has also played various roles in government outside the Legislature, most notably her tenure as Principal Secretary, Government Affairs in the Office of the Premier from 2006 to 2010. Joan is the Chairperson of the Community Action Group on Homelessness (CAGH). CAGH is a joint initiative of over 30 non-profit organizations, government representatives and community leaders working together to end persistent, long-term homelessness in Fredericton.
Ljiljana Kalaba
Ljiljana Kalaba, Director of Settlement Services for Adults & Community Connections, Multicultural Association of Fredericton Inc. (MCAF) came to Fredericton, NB, as a refugee from Bosnia in 1995. Since her arrival, Ljiljana has worked with the Newcomer Programs at the Multicultural Association of Fredericton to support settlement & integration of newcomers in Fredericton community.
Ljiljana works with the MCAF staff and volunteers, government service providers and community partners to support inclusive, culturally sensitive programs and services in Fredericton.
Asif Hasan
Asif is co-founder and CEO of SimpTek. He is honoured to be leading an incredibly passionate team of people who solve critical problems in the energy sector with the vision to become the most trusted provider of products and services that make energy efficiency and sustainability simple for everyone.
Born in Bangladesh, educated in India, Asif chose Fredericton, Canada as his home while studying Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Brunswick. Asif believes that resilience, determination, creativity, and teamwork are critical for a strong leader and essential to overcome life’s challenges.
He is active in his community as a Dialogue Community Leader and Board member of Dialogue New Brunswick. He is currently leading the Lost Votes Campaign, a campaign working to allow permanent residents to vote in municipal elections in New Brunswick. He also co-chaired the City of Fredericton's current 5-year Immigration Strategy. Last year, he was recognized as one of the Top 50 CEOs of Atlantic Canada.
Norm Couturier
Norm is currently the President & CEO of 3D Planeta, a Fredericton-based tech company developing a next-generation 3D earth observation platform - the world’s most advanced 3D visualization of air, land and sea. He co-founded this tech company as the 9th in his 30+ year career as a serial entrepreneur based in NB.
His previous companies have employed 100’s of NB residents in high-tech roles in the healthcare, logistics and workforce tech sectors.
Since 2016, Norm has been active in helping to grow Fredericton’s innovation sector by leading startup entrepreneur support organizations and mentoring entrepreneurs.
Norm is committed to helping develop emerging technical talent in our region - both the talent that is from here and the talent that comes to us from other regions of the world. Within his current company, they are developing programs, in partnership with local academic institutions, to help engage and develop emerging talent - these programs are being shared with other regional tech companies to increase the visibility of the regional innovation sector and to attract and retain emerging talent - both local and newcomers.
Husoni Raymond
Husoni Raymond is a graduate of St. Thomas University. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica. Husoni is passionate about helping others and making a positive impact on his community through compassion and dedicated advocacy. Most recently, Husoni has been active in the Black Lives Matter movement in Fredericton and has been working towards eradicating barriers faced by racialized people who reside in New Brunswick.
Julie Cyr
Ms. Cyr has been in the role of new director of the CCNB Campbellton Campus since August 2020. She has strong management and leadership skills as evidenced by her background of diverse experiences and training. Among other things, she holds a diploma in Diagnostic Radiology from Cégep de Rimouski, a certificate in Adult Education from the Université de Moncton and is currently completing a part-time master's degree in Health Services Management from the Université de Moncton. Ms. Cyr is well known at the college for having held several positions there, including that of teacher in the articulated baccalaureate program in Radiological Techniques from 1998 to 2011, head of the health sciences department for 9 years, and also for having held the functions of director of the CCNB - Dieppe Campus, on an interim basis. She also started the international mobility component in the health sector of the Dieppe campus in 2008. She participated in an EU-CA project (4 years) in health with an E-learning component. She has been very involved in her provincial and national professional association of radiologic technologists for over 10 years. She was a member of the National Board of Directors as a representative of NB. She has regularly participated as an inspector (team leader) in accreditation evaluations of health education programs for Accreditation Canada for several years. Her approach is very concrete, practical and proactive.
Marc Beaulieu
Atelier Gérard Beaulieu was founded in 1912 by Moise Beaulieu, Marc’s grandfather, who was a blacksmith at the time. Over the years, the company has evolved into a forestry equipment maintenance and repair business after Marc’s father, Gérard Beaulieu, became the owner. The name Atelier Gérard Beaulieu originated and was incorporated in 1984. Marc has worked in the family business most of his life. He started out as a welder and has held several different roles since.
When Gérard decided to retire, Marc and his brothers therefore found themselves owners and managers of AGB. In the early 2000s, with the forestry industry at a low point, Marc demonstrated a desire to change direction so that the company would become a manufacturer of metal tanks and containers. Faced with this new challenge, Marc’s brothers made the decision to sell their shares in the business to him and he therefore became the sole owner. Since Atelier Gérard Beaulieu became a manufacturer, the company has established two product lines and experienced the most significant growth in its history. The revenue is about 10 times what it was before Marc made the switch.
Mayor Nicole Somers
Nicole Somers was born in Saint-Quentin. She is a wife, mother of two children and grandmother with two grandchildren. A career woman, she first studied in Saint-Quentin and continued her training with CCNB.
She has held public office positions for 18 years and has served on the City Council since 2005. In the quadrennial municipal elections 0f 2012, she was appointed Deputy Mayor and in May 2014 she was elected Mayor of the town of Saint-Quentin. In addition to the internal committees and those attached to the town, she sits on numerous boards of directors of organizations, including the board of governors and governance committee of the Université de Moncton.
Recognized as a dynamic and generous leader, Ms. Somers is very committed to her community, particularly in terms of economic development, participatory youth, and maintaining and increasing services to citizens in the region. Among the many projects in which she has taken part, the recruitment of labour in the region, and the reception and retention of newcomers are noteworthy.
Honorine Ngountchoup
Honorine Ngountchoup is from Cameroon. She arrived in Canada in 2016 and in New Brunswick in 2017, to study as a medical secretary at the CCNB Campbellton campus. A student and a single mother, living with her son as the only family has been a constant challenge. Far from apprehending the Canadian winter, the unknown region as well as the new school and administrative system, she gives herself the formula of rushing straight towards her difficulties and her dreams. This is how she gets involved in the associative life of the college as a member of the student association, works in the creation of the arts and culture committee at the CCNB-Campbellton, and with her college comrades realizes a great mural as well as a video production for the promotion of the French language and is part of the 2018 cohort of the Study to settle in New Brunswick program. She gives workshops and presentations at Polyvalente Roland-Pépin in Campbellton and at École Académie Notre-Dame in Dalhousie. In the community, she made a large mural for a car dealership and sang in the Chorale Notre-Dame des Neiges. She is also involved in the field of culture as a member of the board of directors of the Société culturelle de la Baie-des-Chaleurs. As mistress of ceremonies, poet, painter, dancer or guest, she participates in various activities and events organized by various parties including the CCNB, the multicultural association of Restigouche, the ARM region Chaleur, the center of entrepreneurship of Restigouche, the Restigouche CBDC, the salmon festival, poetry evenings, exhibitions at the Restigouche Gallery, etc. Since 2018, she has created and hosts as a volunteer a weekly program called "In French" on the airwaves of local radio CIMS FM. In 2020, she was elected General Councilor of the Provincial Council of Cultural Societies, then Vice-President of the Baie-des-Chaleurs Cultural Society and member of the Board of the Restigouche Chamber of Commerce. She creates a Facebook page "Club d'Africains-es et Amis-es du Restigouche" to share African culture and in collaboration with Ismaël Lavallée, a local entrepreneur, she works in the creation of a web program (available on Facebook since December 20, 2020) entitled “Télé Chaleur” aimed at bringing together and enhancing the riches of Baie-des-Chaleurs. Honorine was the Individual Category winner for the New Brunswick Multicultural Council’s 2020 Champions for Cultural Diversity.
Marie-France Maltais
Marie-France has been the Executive Director at Agence Résidentielle Restigouche for 10 years. She worked as a program coordinator at the same location for over 15 years before becoming a director. She spent 14 years as head of unit and case manager at the Restigouche Hospital Center. She has been a consultant on the education council of the French-speaking North East school district since 2001 and Regional Coordinator for young international students (non-adults) from different countries. Mother of 3 children and grandmother of 2 small children, she remains involved in her community and participates in various committees.
Jeff Dempsey
Jeff Dempsey is the Dean of Information Technology and Natural Resources for the New Brunswick Community College (NBCC). After he completed his bachelor and master’s degrees in science at UNB Jeff worked as a wildlife biologist for the Dept. of Natural Resources before joining NBCC over 20 years ago. While at NBCC he also completed a certificate in adult education. Jeff is currently responsible for new program and curriculum development and strategic leadership for all programs in the Information Technology and Natural Resource sectors across 6 campuses. Jeff was born in St Stephen where he and his wife Ann raised three children. He has been active in his community coaching youth over the years and is currently the board chair for We’ve Got Your back Foundation Inc, a non-profit organization that helps meet the needs of school aged children with food insecurities.
Bryana Ganong
Bryana joined the Ganong family business as a member of the 5th generation as a marketing assistant in 1997, then rose through the ranks to hold several management positions moving the role of President and CEO of Ganong Bros. Limited in St. Stephen, New Brunswick in 2014.
Bryana is an alumna of the Wallace McCain Institute and has been involved in many leadership roles over the years. Today, Bryana is Chair of the New Brunswick Business Council, is a member of the Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP) Board of Directors and Wallace McCain Institute Advisory Committee.
She is the proud mother of three children and is excited about how immigration has enriched both the company and her community.
Gelie Mae Eviota
Gelie Mae Eviota was born and raised in the Philippines. She moved to Canada last August 2019. Accustomed to hardship, she is the eldest among her siblings, a family-oriented person, she managed to graduate during her college years in the Philippines because of an athletic and academic scholarship. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Tourism Management at Arellano University in the Philippines and currently an international student at NBCC St. Andrews where she is taking now Diploma in Hotel and Restaurant Management, her determination and hope to succeed are what make her stronger. She has her YouTube channel that shares her life in Canada as a student and gives helpful information to newcomers, especially for international students.
Seun Richards
Agunbiade Seun Richards is a Nigerian, a husband and father of three lovely children. His family relocated from Dubai in 2018 and currently lives in Saint John, NB. In April 2019, he resigned his paid employment to start delivering food for SkipTheDishes and pursue his doctoral degree in Entrepreneurship at UNB. He attended two entrepreneurship programs organized by Economic Development Greater Saint John (EDGSJ) in Q4-2019 and Q1-2020 to further sharpen his business management skills.
Leveraging his experiences as a newcomer and education, Seun registered a company - Door2Door Pickup Couriers in December 2019 and started operations in February 2020. The company proved pivotal in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic helping international students and newcomer families, as well as other residents of Saint John for groceries delivery during the lockdown. The services of the company are also demanded by restaurants and other local businesses in the city.
The company was contracted for Amazon Prime delivery and has grown to over a dozen workers, hired other newcomers from Nigeria, Cameroun, Kenya, Jamaica, India, Syria, Iran, Morocco, Sudan, Nepal, as well as local Canadians for its daily operations.
Seun is focused on using his experiences and studies to contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystems in NB and foster population growth agenda of the province. Seun was the Immigrant Entrepreneur Category winner for the New Brunswick Multicultural Council’s 2020 Champions for Cultural Diversity.
Joel Richardson
Joel is the Vice President Public Relations and leads public and government relations for Cooke Aquaculture Inc., a local family company based in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick, with salmon farming operations in Atlantic Canada, the United States, Chile and Scotland as well as seabass and seabream farming operations in Spain.
Cooke was started in 1985 and now has over 1,500 New Brunswick employees and 10,000 globally in ten countries, and ships over a billion pounds of fresh True North Seafood Company branded products a year to customers in over 67 countries.
Cooke’s corporate global headquarters are in uptown Saint John and the company offers many different career opportunities across its local seafood operations including administration, IT, logistics, sales, trucking, vessels, and processing plants.
Cooke has invested heavily throughout New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada which has significantly benefited the region in terms of local job creation, immigration, and youth retention. The team at Cooke works closely with local communities to help newcomers settle and succeed. As a family company, Cooke Aquaculture believes the secret to global success is always thinking local to build strong working waterfronts.
Alexandra Valencia
Although her hometown, Quito, is the highest capital city in the world, Alexandra is enjoying life at her sea level home in Saint John. She and her family have been in Canada for the last three years.
Alexandra works for the University of New Brunswick. She is a board member of PRUDE Inc. and a member of the Newcomers Advisory Panel for the Saint John Local Immigration Partnership. She volunteers with Courage in Action, an organisation dedicated to empowering women who are going through adversity. Her work is a great source of pride and inspiration.
She has previously worked for the Embassies of the UK, Japan and Canada in Quito, assisting companies, organisations and educational institutions from these countries in pursuing their interests and navigating the Ecuadorean market. Alexandra is passionate about creating opportunities and connecting people. The common denominator of her jobs has been contributing to a positive change in the lives of people through synergies, partnerships and strong people-centered approaches.
Her background is in business, but she is also a librarian, a baker and a traveller at heart. She enjoys spending time with friends and meeting new people, even if it is on Zoom these days! She says, “There is no better place in the world to do networking than Saint John. That is the beauty of living in a small city.”
Dionne Dominique Robianes
Dionne was born and raised in the Philippines, and now lives in Cap-Pelé, NB. She is a part of the current graduating class of 2021 of Moncton High School. Not only is she a part of the New Brunswick Multicultural Council’s Imagine NB leadership program, she has also taken part in multiple programs and workshops, on advocacy and other national and local problem solutions (such as presenting the replacement of traditional synthetic plastics to biodegradable plastics). After high school, she plans to continue her endeavours at the University of New Brunswick’s Fredericton Campus, specializing in Business Administration.
Hind Chbouki Berrada
Hind Chbouki Berrada is from Casablanca, Morocco, a large metropolitan city. Her life changed when her husband got a job in the town of Saint-Quentin, then she started a new chapter in her life, a new adventure is this town full of natural charms and she finds herself passionate about this region that offers absolute serenity and a picturesque charm. She is so happy to have started working in the position of community integration services agent in the Saint-Quentin Chamber of Commerce to be able to help newcomers in their integration and also community organizations in order to offer services and relevant resources.
Hind has a background in management and finance, and has over 5 years of experience as a project manager in procurement. She worked with different companies in Casablanca, multinationals and also Moroccan companies, as in her last position as a product manager in purchasing in a women’s ready-to-wear company which has more than 99 stores in the Middle East and the Maghreb.
Nathalie Savoie
Born in St-Quentin, Nathalie Savoie completed her high school studies at Polyvalente Alexandre J. Savoie. Nathalie graduated with a diploma in Business Administration - Accounting from NBCC Bathurst and is an active member of the group ECHO1, a support group for future family business managers Group of the Wallace McCain Institute.
Nathalie's professional life began in the family business, Groupe Savoie, in 1999 in the accounting department. She was promoted to the human resources department where she now holds the position of Vice President. Nathalie and her team have developed an international recruitment strategy for foreign workers in various countries. This strategy has proven to be successful over the past few years. She has been a member of the Board of Directors for several years and in 2016, she was named President of the Board.
In addition, Nathalie is involved in her community. Among other things she is one of the directors of the Hector Savoie Foundation, providing support to members of the community who are in great need, especially when unforeseen events such as illness or an incident results in costs. The Foundation also helps serve hot meals to schoolchildren from underprivileged backgrounds. Groupe Savoie also supports local sports teams and festivals as well as certain non-profit organizations, and provides scholarships to employees' children seeking professional development.
Dr. Manju Varma
Dr. Manju Varma has been working in the area of inclusion and anti-racism in Atlantic Canada for over 30 years. She has contributed to various textbooks as well as published both national and internationally on the topics of immigration, inclusion and anti-racist education. Her list of previous professions include university professor, conflict mediator and HR specialist, all in the areas of diversity and inclusion. Currently, she is the lead for the newly created Office of Inclusion, Equity and Anti-Racism at the the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). She also co-owns Engage!, a consulting company that focuses on diversity and inclusion from an Atlantic Canadian perspective.
Richard Cormier
Richard joined the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) in 2005 as Senior Policy Analyst, seeking to help the Agency and the region’s stakeholders better understand the Atlantic economy and respond to its needs. Richard’s current focus as Director of Communities & Inclusive Growth is supporting Atlantic communities in becoming more inclusive, innovative, and diversified, critical to helping the region grow. Richard is also ACOA’s Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) Champion.
Richard believes in the importance of regional economic development, and that it can only be done by collaborating. A key element of success in his career has been in working with governments, the private sector, and NGOs in Atlantic Canada, across Canada, and internationally.
From 2013 to 2017, Richard represented Canada on the OECD’s Working Party on Rural Policy based in Paris, France. While Paris is great and all, Richard knows he is lucky enough to live and work in one of the best regions on earth.
Jodi Mattatall
Jodi joined the Greystone team in October of 2019 in the position of Human Resources Manager. Jodi has a background in a variety of industries including production, healthcare, retail, and customer service contact centres in the Moncton area. She has more than 10 years of experience in providing full-cycle HR support including talent acquisition, coaching, and employee engagement. Her primary focus is to lead and supervise the HR functions within Greystone Energy Systems Inc. by promoting effective HR practices and working closely with the management team to implement and strengthen the organization.
Monica Leal
Monica is a Newcomer from Brazil since 2019, she and her husband selected Moncton as their new home and shortly after arriving in Moncton Monica joined Greystone Energy in September 2019.
Monica joined as an Electrical Assembler in the Production area and a year and half later she has become an integral part of the Calibration and Testing department within Production, Monica’s skills and background coupled with her new perspective, have contributed several new ideas which have been implemented and are now regular practice in Greystone processes. Monica arrived in Canada already highly qualified, she possessed her Master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering and since her arrival in Moncton she has achieved her Doctorate.
Liliia Iemelianova
Liliia Iemelianova moved to Sussex, NB with her family from Kyiv, Ukraine in 2017. Her husband, Taras, moved first in August 2017, and she and their son joined him in December 2017. Liliia works for JDI as an Immigration Administrator.
Taras Tovstiy
Taras Tovstiy moved to Sussex, NB from Kyiv, Ukraine to work as a truck driver for JDI Woodlands in August 2017. His wife, Liliia, and their son joined him in Sussex in December 2017. Taras later became an entrepreneur as a contractor for JDI. He currently owns three trucks and continues cooperating with JDI.
Ethel Belliveau
Ethel Belliveau is a founding board member of the Multicultural Association of Sussex (MAS). She has volunteered in the settlement office and sits on the finance committee. She has made numerous community presentations and written several columns for the Kings County Record to provide information and education to the community on MAS, welcoming newcomers, the need for housing, opportunities for businesses to employ newcomers and the importance of population growth for economic development.
She and her business partner operated the Subway restaurant in Sussex for 25 years.
She has experience doing her own foreign recruiting, helping her employees settle, apply for new and renewed work permits and complete their applications for permanent residence.
She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of New Brunswick and a Certificate of Proficiency in French. In her early career, she worked as a business consultant, strategic planner and market researcher. She retired in 2016.
Dave Corbett
Dave Corbett was born and raised in Sussex, NB and continues to call it his home. Dave graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a Degree in Business Administration and has been an employee of J.D. Irving, Limited for over 23 years. He has spent the last 4 years as the International Recruitment Manager within their Woodlands Division.
Dave is very engaged in the entire process of bringing newcomers into the province, from sourcing and recruiting candidates overseas to assisting in the settlement of these folks in the communities of Southern and Central NB that they now call home.
Emily McGill
Emily McGill is the Director of People, Culture and Communications with Mrs. Dunster’s Inc. Mrs. Dunster’s is a family owned and operated bakery, with bakeries in Sussex and Moncton, New Brunswick producing a full range of sweet goods, donuts, cookies, artisan and home-style bread and roll products. Prior to joining Mrs. Dunster’s, Emily was a Department Head with NBCC, a Business Development Executive with Opportunities NB and the Director of Human Resources with the Algonquin Resort. She holds her Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) designation and is a proud Alumna of both NBCC and UNB.
Emily is passionate about building strong communities and seeks related volunteer opportunities. Emily is currently on the Board of the Saint John Learning Exchange, and the Community Business Development Corporation. She is also a founding member of the United Way’s Quarter Club.
Ernest Vovk
Ernest Vovk born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. After some careful consideration, it was decided that he would join his father in Chipman and continue his high school education in a smaller rural community. This was extremely beneficial for him as he had only learned to read and write, but did not speak English. He started in his Grade 11 year and by the time he graduated, he was fluent in English. Along with his education and marks being above 80%, he also shared his passion for basketball. His peers became his teammates and Chipman for the first time in many years had advanced to basketball regionals and went on to sectionals. This in turn helped him get his foot in the door and on the UNB Reds Basketball Team. Ernest is currently in the Bachelor of Arts Program at UNB Fredericton and is looking to also study Business Administration.
Salomao Costa Santos & Family
Salomao Costa Santos born in Montes Alegre, Brazil. He was a forest machine operator in Brazil and was given the opportunity to attend an Irving job fair in Porto Seguro- Bahia. It was there that he learned of the prospect of a life in Chipman, New Brunswick, Canada. He could see this as being a great place to not only work, but have his family grow and develop. He was living in Tres Lagoas- Mato Grosso do Sul with a population of 123,00, quite a drastic difference to the population in Chipman. However, the idea of working and raising his family in a small rural region that was safe was very important to him.
Magda Figueira Santos Salomao’s wife of 21 years and manager of the household is learning English to communicate effectively with her new friends. Hellen Figueira Santos is 19 years of age, she is learning English and her goal is to be accepted into a NB University to study Nursing. Samela Figueira Santos is 13 years of age and currently in Grade 8 at Chipman Forest Avenue School and looking forward to starting high school next year. Kalebe Figueira Santos is 8 years of age and is in Grade 3 and thoroughly enjoying his new school at Chipman Elementary and learning English.
Liz Bailey
Liz Bailey is the principal of Chipman Elementary School. She is a product of Early French Immersion from a small rural neighboring community. Liz graduated from Minto Memorial High School in 1987. She received a Bachelor of Education from UNB in 1991, a Diploma in Advanced Undergraduate Study (DAUS) in 1998, and a Master’s degree in Education in 2003.
Mayor Carson Atkinson
Mayor Carson Atkinson has been the mayor of Chipman since 2016. He has has a B.A., B.Ed., M.Ed., and was a teacher for 37 years, having taught in Barbados, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and New Brunswick. Mayor Atkinson is also the Chair of the Chipman Newcomer Settlement Program.