Board of Directors 2022-2024

Jane Badets, Chairman of the Board, Ottawa, Ontario

Dr. Julie Perrone, Montreal, Quebec

Farid Rohani, Vancouver, British Columbia

Dr. Ratna Ghosh – Montreal, Quebec

Marika Warner – Toronto, Ontario /Winnipeg, Manitoba

Dr. Srilata Ravi – Edmonton, Alberta

Dr. Hubert Lussier, Ottawa, Ontario

Nicholas Bakopanos – Montreal/Ottawa

Neelam Sahota, Surrey, British Columbia

Dr. Paul Bramadat, University of Victoria

Dr. Jean-Philippe Warren, Concordia University

Lucinda Chodan, Edmonton, Alberta

Jane Badets

Chairman of the Board, Ottawa, Ontario

Jane was recently retired as Assistant Chief Social, Health, and Labour Statistician at Statistics Canada. Throughout her career, Jane was responsible for a wide range of social statistics derived from census, survey, and administrative data sets, including statistics on demography, education, labour, income, health, justice, ethno-cultural origin, language, immigration and Aboriginal Peoples. She was also responsible for Statistics Canada’s Microdata Access Program, including the Research Data Centres.

Dr. Julie Perrone

Montreal, Quebec

Julie holds a PhD from Concordia University and has worked in communications and events for over ten years, in various sectors such as history, rail transportation, entertainment, and financial services.

Julie is the current Director of Communications and Marketing for Finance Montréal and, by association, for the FinTech Station and the Fintech Canada Forum. She is responsible for the organization’s visibility strategy and managing its various communication channels, from events to traditional public relations and digital.

Julie holds a PhD from Concordia University and has worked in the communications and events field for over ten years, in various sectors including history, rail transportation, entertainment, and financial services.

Farid Rohani

Vancouver, British Columbia

Farid Rohani is a successful entrepreneur, senior executive, and community leader. In addition to his many interests and business activities, Farid has volunteered for and led many large organizations as a committed and active citizen since coming to Canada from Iran as a young boy. Farid has held several important management positions, both locally and internationally.

Dr. Ratna Ghosh

Montreal, Quebec

An international specialist in comparative and multicultural education and women’s studies, Professor Ratna Ghosh is a leading figure in the world of education, research and development. Her commitment and her role as advisor to broad-based committees and forums have laid the foundations for a healthy and stimulating society in which the education system perceives diversity and ethno-cultural minorities as a strength.

Ratna Ghosh has held several important positions at McGill University. Appointed Sir William C. Macdonald Professor of Education in 1994 and James McGill Professor Emeritus in 2004, she was the first woman to hold the position of Dean of the Faculty of Education from 1998 to 2004. She is the author of an impressive number of articles and publications that have had a profound influence on the sociology of education and educational approaches to diversity and inclusion.

Marika Warner

Toronto, Ontario/Winnipeg, Manitoba

Marika Warner is the Director of Research and Evaluation at MLSE LaunchPad, a developmental sports facility for youth facing barriers in downtown Toronto. Marika’s portfolio focuses on program evaluation, longitudinal research, and university partnerships, emphasizing positive youth development and corporate social responsibility in professional sports.

Dr. Srilata Ravi

Edmonton, Alberta

Srilata Ravi is a Francophone Literature and Cultures Professor at the University of Alberta’s Campus Saint-Jean. She is also Director of IMELDA, Institut Marcelle et Louis Desrochers pour le Patrimoine et les recherches transdisciplinaires en francophonies canadiennes et internationales. Before joining the University of Alberta in July 2010, Dr. Ravi worked at the National University of Singapore (1994-2003) and the University of Western Australia, Perth (2004-2010). Her teaching and research interests include French and Francophone comparative literary and cultural studies and postcolonial and diaspora studies. She has published extensively on Francophone postcolonial studies, island literature, Indian Ocean cultures, and Franco-Canadian topics.

Dr. Hubert Lussier

Ottawa, Ontario

Hubert Lussier is a retired federal public servant who spent most of his career at Canadian Heritage. As Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM) of Canadian Heritage, he advanced programs, policies, and legislation related to diversity, language, and citizen engagement.

Nicholas Bakopanos

Montreal, Quebec/Ottawa, Ontario

Nick is currently studying at the University of Ottawa, in the third year of the LL.L. program.

Neelam Sahota

Surrey, British Columbia

Neelam Sahota is a senior executive with over 20 years’ progressive experience in financial management, strategic planning, risk management and operations in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. The cornerstone of her career has been taking a strategic approach to developing innovative business strategies to maximize collective impact.

She is a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (FCPA, FCGA) and an alumnus of the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University. Neelam has extensive experience in board governance, having served in several capacities. She is currently Governor of the Board of Simon Fraser University (Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee), Co-Chair of the Surrey Local Immigration Partnership, a member of the Advisory Board of OMNI TV at Rogers Communications and Solid State Industries. She has served as Chair of the Board of Surrey Libraries and Treasurer of the Immigrant Employment Council of BC. Neelam received the BC Libraries Trustees Association (BCLTA) Provincial Trustee of the Year Award in 2021 and the Surrey Board of Trade Community Leader of the Year Award.

Dr. Paul Bramadat

University of Victoria

Paul Bramadat holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Winnipeg (1990), an M.A. in Religion and Culture from McGill University (1993) and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from McMaster University (1998). He taught in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Winnipeg from 1998 to 2008. In addition to directing the History and Centre for Studies in Religion and Society (CSRS) since 2008, Paul is a professor in the Department of History and the Religious Studies Program at the University of Victoria.

Dr. Jean-Philippe Warren

Concordia University

Jean-Philippe Warren holds the Concordia University Research Chair in Quebec Studies and is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. Jean-Philippe Warren is the author of over 200 public and scholarly articles. He has published works on a wide variety of subjects related to the history and sociology of Quebec society.

Lucinda Chodan

Edmonton, Alberta

Lucinda Chodan is former senior vice-president, editorial, of Postmedia, overseeing the newsrooms of more than 120 news brands across Canada. She also served as editor in chief of major newspapers in three Canadian provinces: the Montreal Gazette, the Edmonton Journal and the Victoria Times Colonist.

Before becoming an editor, she was an award-winning reporter whose work appeared in the Gazette as well as national publications.

In 2023, she was recognized as a national “champion of truth” by News Media Canada for her
four decades of contributions to Canadian journalism.