Board of Directors

Fatima Ahmed, Chair

Fatima is a lifelong learner who seeks to understand the interplay between individuals and systems and how this can be harnessed, harmonized and leveraged to bring about positive, impactful change in an increasingly globalized world. She has nearly two decades of experience spanning multiple countries and blending academia, the biotech industry and NGOs, and has built an interdisciplinary career in support of improving human health. She is passionate about finding ways to build equity in healthcare through technology, supporting marginalized communities, and seeking out ways to be an instrument of change. Currently, she is a co-founder and director at LHS Labs, a boutique health systems consultancy working with governments and health authorities to transform healthcare delivery through innovation.

Renuka Seru, Vice Chair

PhD in Educational Psychology and certified in several therapy modalities, including EMDR, DBT, and EQ-I, Renu has decades of experience as a passionate and dedicated counselor and educator in the post-secondary environment. Renu brings a wealth of knowledge and experience related to leadership, problem-solving, skills, and issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). When Renu immigrated to Canada from India she faced many challenges trying to integrate into Canadian society, both professionally and socio-emotionally. She has real experience of the challenges immigrant women face. She is passionate about helping immigrant women and youth with their mental health, wellness, and personal growth. In the 1990s Renu participated in the Building Bridges program of PIRS which helped her to gain confidence and was successful in marketing her skills. Now she has some time to give back to society.

Kathy Price, Past Chair

Instructor in Early Childhood Education for many years in the post-secondary field. 

Kathy is an avid supporter of PIRS and has been inspired by the passion and commitment of those involved in programs supporting immigrant and refugee children and their families. She completed a Masters in Education in Curriculum and Instruction and graduate studies at the University of British Columbia and her current interests follow global and education diplomacy.

Sonam Swarup, Treasurer

Sonam’s (pronouns: she/her) passions lie in the intersection of community economic development, equitable design and story-telling. She has spent the last 10 years working with various social impact organizations, including 312 Main, The Wellbeing Project, The Discourse, and The Urban Worker Project. Previously, she co-founded a social venture that focused on engaging immigrant women and their transition to the Canadian workforce through cultural cooking classes. She earned her BA from Simon Fraser University and has studied internationally at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. She has received multiple awards for her work including HSBC Women Leader of Tomorrow for Western Canada and an AMEX Emerging Innovator.

Coral Gonzalez, Secretary

Coral is a researcher whose lifelong passion is to understand individual choices, their relationships, their impacts on one another, and how we can make a better world for ourselves and future generations, in particular for women and children. In her professional life as an economist, she works with the public and private sectors. She holds a PhD in Economics from UBC where she specialized in development economics and gender.

Coral is a proud Mexican who immigrated to Canada in 2011, and has since become a mom; as such, she understands the difficulties that a newcomer (and mom) might encounter navigating this new life. One of her passions is to empower women to help them advance their personal and economic well-being and build up communities that lift each other. When Coral is not parenting or working she is most happy enjoying friends and family at the beach or over a good meal.

Angela Heino, Member

Angela (she/her) identifies as a White settler of mixed European and Scandinavian ancestry and is grateful to live and work on the unceded and unsurrendered land of the Halkomelem-speaking peoples in New Westminster, BC. She has been a Registered Nurse for two decades, and she has over a decade of training and experience as an educator in both health care and post-secondary settings. She has worked in three Canadian provinces across various clinical areas and spent several months volunteering overseas with a community development NGO in eastern Uganda. She holds a BA in Psychology from Simon Fraser University, a BNSc from Queen’s University and a MSN from UBC. The focus of her graduate studies was the exploration of women’s pain experiences in relation to pressing health concerns and the need for creating trauma-and-violence informed and culturally safer environments for clients, families, and healthcare providers alike.

Angela has pursued additional education in forensic sciences and has worked as a subject matter expert and as a consultant on various research projects. Angela has served on the PIRS Board of Directors as a volunteer since Fall 2019 supporting newcomer, immigrant and refugee women and their families in the BC Lower Mainland. She joined Please Bring Me Home, a Canadian non-profit organization, as a cold case volunteer investigator in July 2023 out of a heartfelt desire to help find answers for the families and loved ones of the missing. Angela also volunteers with the Canadian Forensic Nurses Association helping with the development of forensic nursing-specific policy and practice guidelines.

Currently, she is the Decolonizing Lead/Faculty at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).

Prerna Thaker, Member

Prerna is a researcher by training and has experience working with immigrants and refugees in Germany and Switzerland as part of the World Health Organization.

She currently works with single mothers and homeless women in the Downtown Eastside.

In her spare time, Prerna enjoys horseback riding and swimming.

Shams Alibhai, Member

Shams is an international development practitioner and change leader. She is currently the Executive Director for the Immigrant Welcome Center on the North Vancouver Island area that includes Campbell River and Courtenay offices.

She brings Canadian and overseas leadership experience and competencies. Between 2017 and 2021, Shams led a skills development program targeted at young people with the Aga Khan Foundation Egypt and funded by Global Affairs Canada. The program was within the framework of Canada’s feminization policy. She embraces challenges and has worked in diverse and complex contexts that include the education sector in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In Canada, she was the Executive Director for the BC Council for International Cooperation and worked in communities across the province.

She has a passion for community development and cross-cultural communication. This interest has recently led her to the refugee, immigrant, and settlement sectors. She is a keen learner and is eager to transfer her skills in this sector. Shams holds two Master of Arts degrees: one in leadership from Royal Roads and the second in Islamic Studies from McGill University; her undergraduate degree is in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University. She enjoys speaking basic Arabic, Farsi, French, Gujarati, and Hindi.

Ella Laure Hipolito, Member

Named BC Business’ Top 30 under 30 for her leadership in equitable recruitment, Ella is an executive search professional specializing in the social impact sector. With a track record of successful appointments in not-for-profit healthcare, higher education, and related organizations, she supports executives and boards in securing exceptional leadership. Ella brings deep and current knowledge of HR practices nationally.

Committed to helping organizations navigate the challenging world of recruiting and hiring, Ella is a sought-after speaker for her expertise in building inclusive workplaces that advance equity and reconciliation.

A second-generation Filipino-Canadian with parents who immigrated to Vancouver from the Philippines via France, Ella witnessed the sacrifice and experiences that many face as newcomers to Canada. She has been outspoken about her endless gratitude to her parents and family members for their resilience, unwavering hope, and unconditional love that have allowed her to live the life she has today. They have taught her to embrace change, overcome challenges, and know that no matter what their struggles are, there is always space to lend a helping hand and build up the community around you.

Jessica Forman, Member

Jessica (pronouns: she/her) is originally from Southern California where she attended law school and practiced as a commercial litigator in a large U.S. firm for several years.

She relocated to Richmond, B.C. over 10 years ago with her husband and three kids and worked for a large regional firm in Vancouver for several years before deciding to focus her practice on employment law. Jessica is an experienced workplace investigator and the head of Forte Workplace Law’s investigations practice group. Over her years of experience as an investigator, Jessica has conducted traditional workplace investigations related to bullying and harassment and sexual harassment, environmental scans and workplace assessments for public and private companies, as well as for several Indigenous organizations.

When she is not working, Jessica spends a great deal of her time on the soccer pitch watching all three of her children play soccer in Richmond. She loves traveling all over B.C. with her family, especially over to Tofino and all parts of Vancouver Island. She is also grateful to give back to the community previously on the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and as a volunteer with Mamas for Mamas, a local organization that supports mothers and families in need.