Meet the Board of Directors

Lesley Antoun is a seasoned professional with an engineering degree, a business degree and more than 25 years of strategy, governance and program management experience with leadership teams and boards.

Three years ago, she established an independent consulting and advisory practice with clients as varied as multinationals, private enterprises, a Crown corporation, First Nations organizations, and a university. 

Central to Lesley’s work are strong ethics and high personal integrity. She helps organizations improve their overall performance by co-creating strategic plans, governance, communication, and performance management tools, always leveraging her vast experience as well as best practices.

Brandon is Kanien’kehá:ka from the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with Great Distinction from Concordia University. Presently, Brandon is in his third year at McGill University’s Faculty of Law where he is President of the Indigenous Law Association.

During his time at Concordia, Brandon was a member of the 61st Garnet Key Society. Recognized for his contributions to student life and the university community, he was the 2019 recipient of the Outstanding Student Leader Award, the Volunteer Recognition Award, and he was recognized as an Arts and Science Scholar for his academic record in Political Science.

Brandon has experience working in both the public and private sectors. Before becoming a Ministerial staffer to the Honourable Marc Miller on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Brandon interned at a leading national law firm on Bay Street in Toronto where he was a part of the international trade and litigation team.

In his First Nations community, Brandon has experience working with the Mohawk Council and the Court of Kahnawake on justice related matters. In 2019, he was unanimously appointed by the Mohawk Council to serve as Chairperson of the Kahnawake Cannabis Control Board where he oversaw the regulatory development of cannabis in his community.

A seasoned international economic development professional with many years’ experience in Africa, Nichola recently retired from the World Bank Group after 26 years of service. Highlights of her career include establishing the office in Gabon, leading the ethics office, developing greenfield engagements on disability and excluded minorities, and managing the $1.5b Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.

Now independent, Nichola has remained actively engaged on the sustainability agenda. She is actively involved in promoting the role of aquatic foods, especially seaweed, in the food system, and in that context organized and moderated several events leading up to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. Since 2021 she has been serving as Senior Advisor to the Safe Seaweed Coalition on partnerships, engagement, and communication. She also recently completed a consultancy with the Environmental Defense Fund, supporting their development of a climate resilient food systems strategy.

Nichola is passionate about giving back and volunteers in a variety of roles. She serves on the board of a Washington DC-based non-profit theater company, co-chairs the Margaret McNamara Education Grants South Africa Program, and mentors professionals in several countries.

She leads the CUAA’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force and serves on its Nominating Committee.

Susannah Tam has always been active in promoting Canada-China trade and knowledge exchange. From 2016-2020, Susannah oversaw all financial & tax issues at Montdorex Pharma Inc as their Chief Financial Officer. Before that, Susannah was Managing Director, Financial Advisory Services (China focus) at Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, after spending 4 years as CFO at Metafoam Technologies, based in Canada & China.

Susannah sits on advisory council for fund-raising for Contemporary Norman Bethune Fellowship Endowment Fund, an initiative of MUHCF and Montreal’s Chinese community. In 2014, Susannah founded Canada China Heart to Heart Foundation whose mission is to promote medical knowledge exchange between Canada and China.  Susannah holds an MBA from Concordia University, specializing in Finance and Operations Research.

Fatou is a thoughtful leader in the spaces of inclusion, equity and belonging. She combines her lived experience with her academic and professional qualifications to foster a welcoming and intersectional culture in workplaces and schools. Deconstructing unconscious and internalized biases, Fatou promotes respectful spaces where creativity can thrive.

Her love for building meaningful lasting relationships and dismantling career barriers led her to pursue a career in HR and Inclusion. She is currently the Senior HR Manager for IG Wealth Management Eastern Canada offices. In this role Fatou creates organization wide presentations, working documents and toolkits to address unconscious biases and help leaders engage in difficult conversations around social justice. Fatou is the recipient and nominee of multiple awards including Canada’s 2022 Top 100 Black Women to Watch, Prix Femmes d’affaires du Québec 2022 and Concordia University Alumni Association Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion award.

In 2015, Fatou founded the Black-led non-profit Young Athletes of Montreal. The organization seeks to promote inclusion and excellence through sports in young Black high school students in Montreal. The organization has held a series of seminars inviting young participants to gain knowledge on financial literacy, personal development as well as workshops on inclusion and belonging in schools.

As the French designate for the Black Professional in Tech Network Fatou facilitates group training programs on inclusive leadership. She also plays an advisory role for Canadian companies who seek to attract, hire and retain black talent.

Fatou provides mentorship to self-identifying Black, Indigenous and women of colour on career advancement through Accelerate Her Future. In her spare time she is also a steering committee member of the Montreal chapter of She Said So, a global community of women and gender minorities in the music industry. Fatou brings an intersectional lens to the organization’s mission to connect and empower underrepresented communities towards a more equitable industry.

Fatou is an energized Diversity, Equity and Inclusion champion. She loves to work with teams to solve problems that others find overwhelming.

Since joining RBC Royal Bank of Canada in 2014, Alexandre occupied various roles within the Credit Management and Recoveries department. He recently transitioned into a new role as a Business Account Manager, where he is responsible for Small Business lending and business development.     

Alexandre graduated from Concordia with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accountancy. While completing his undergraduate studies, he was very involved in Concordia’s student community, competing in several business case competitions and participating in various student-led initiatives. Alexandre is passionate about numerous social and educational causes, supporting them through different fundraising efforts. He is also a member of the Concordia University Young Alumni Council.

Hussain is an experienced government relations and public affairs professional with a passion for solving complex public policy issues. He brings nearly a decade of experience navigating complex regulatory, political, and procedural aspects of government decision-making at all levels of government.

Currently, Hussain is a Senior Associate, Government Affairs at Invenergy. He communicates the company’s corporate positions on government legislation, regulation, and procurement policy across Canada. Previously, he worked at a government relations firm and within the Government of Canada as a trusted advisor to senior executives.

Hussain holds a B.A. in Political Science and Journalism and an M.A. in Public Policy and Public Administration from Concordia University. As a student, Hussain actively promoted Concordia and was the Vice-President, Finance of the Political Science Student Association and President of TEDxConcordia.

Hussain currently volunteers as a Board Director for the Government Relations Institute of Canada.

Hanna is the Canadian Leadership Talent Acquisition Manager for Reitmans Canada Limited, Canada’s iconic fashion retailer. A key business partner to the leadership team, talent team and employees, her mission is to enhance Reitman's employer brand, talent acquisition best practices and methods and to engage with exceptional talent building a high performance organization.

Before that she worked for Randstad Canada as the vice-president of Strategic Markets. In her spare time she works toward advocating, educating, and empowering parents, children and young adults with learning disabilities. Since 2010 she has held a position as the Vice President of the board of the Montreal Center for Learning Disabilities.