黑料不打烊

Alexandra Ages currently lives in Victoria, British Columbia, where she serves as a constituency assistant in the riding of Cowichan鈥擬alahat鈥擫angford. Alexandra studied History and Applied Ethics at the University of Victoria, with a focus on the impacts of imperialism in the Middle East;听she spent her spare time managing the student food bank on campus and researching sustainable food procurement with Meal Exchange Canada.

Passionate about the Sustainable Development Goals, Alexandra has volunteered with the British Columbia Council for International Development,听and she attended the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development at the United Nations in 2019. She enjoys writing, and her publications include 鈥淐anada at a Crossroads: Time to take action for climate migrants,鈥� 鈥淎fghanistan: The Contemporary Consequences of Imperialism,鈥� and 鈥淸You]th are the Problem: Ending the Intergenerational Blame Game to Achieve the SDGs.鈥� Alexandra also loves dogs, and has two beautiful Bernese Mountain Dogs named Bella and Bear.

Danielle Appavoo has spent 3 years working in logistics and supply chain at commodity trading firms. Most recently, she worked on the Liquefied Petroleum Gases team at Elbow River Marketing in Calgary, Alberta, and, prior to that, on the Sulfuric Acid team at Glencore in Toronto, Ontario.

Danielle completed her Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto in 2017. During her undergraduate degree, she completed a one-year internship at the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, where she reviewed Environmental Compliance Approval Applications for air quality and airborne emissions.

Having developed a keen interest in energy, resources, and the environment, Danielle is excited to explore the intersection of industry and public policy in these areas. Through the Max Bell MPP program, she hopes to build the skills needed to help drive positive change in these sectors.

Mariel Aramburu is a policy professional interested in the complex intersections of the policy development process. She immigrated to Canada from Mexico City during her childhood and has explored policy contexts provincially, nationally, and internationally.

Most recently, Mariel鈥檚 work has focused on the role of the post-secondary system in the research and innovation ecosystem in Alberta. She has advanced legislation on talent development in technology and provided project leadership to a public advisory council. Mariel also has experience supporting trade and development activities through the Alberta International Development Office. She has spent time in Washington, D.C., where she was engaged in inter-American policy, and in Panama with the United Nations World Food Programme's Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mariel is passionate about gender equality and women's empowerment, food security, and community engagement. She served as a project advisory group member with the YWCA, where she contributed to the development of training curriculum for agencies serving Latinx women dealing with violence. Mariel has also served as a board member for the Campus Food Bank at the University of Alberta and for her local community league in Edmonton.

For the last few years, Rudayna has worked in the philanthropic and non-profit sectors听with national organizations whose mandates include environmental sustainability, gender equality, and anti-racism. While in these positions, she also fulfilled key roles in organizing and volunteering, as well as in public appointments. This has included leading programming for a grassroots organization听advancing the civic leadership of women, Two-Spirit, and non-binary peoples; advising a research think tank on a health equity project; and supporting visionary arts organizations.

Rudayna is committed to equity, racial justice, and centring the leadership of those with both the expertise and lived experience of socio-economic inequality in building the path to a more just and sustainable future. Her interests are wide and varied, and include issues concerning affordable housing, transformation of听the philanthropic sector, and health equity 鈥撎齪articularly mental health.

She has a Bachelor of Humanities, Highest Honours with a Minor in English Literature, from Carleton University, where completed an exchange at Jai Hind College, part of the University of Mumbai. She is a former DiverseCity Fellow and was named a Top 30 Under 30 in Canada by Corporate Knights in 2017.

Outside of work, studies, and community involvement, Rudayna loves to read, be outdoors, write, travel, and go to concerts and theatre performances..

Adele Brawley is a 2018 graduate of the University of Western Ontario, where she received a B.A., Honours Specialization in Political Science. Outside of the classroom, she worked as an analyst in Western鈥檚 Democracy Lab, a student-run research group publishing various political risk assessment reports on the multi-faceted consequences of government policy affecting foreign investment opportunities around the world.

Since then, Adele spent two years working in public relations in her native Montreal, where she gained valuable experience in strategic communications, business development, crisis communications, and competitor analysis. Adele is motivated by helping others听and hopes to work towards breaking down the social and economic inequalities women and girls face in Canada. As a former competitive swimmer and swim team coach, Adele enjoys being outside and in the water.

Raphaela Chakravarti lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and has been working in nonprofit development and immigration advocacy for the past few years. Most recently, Raphaela was responsible for researching policy trends and raising $600,000+ in private grants income for an immigrant-serving organization based in Boston.

Previously, she worked at a New York-based law firm, managing pro bono cases for survivors of domestic violence and unaccompanied immigrant children, administering a legal clinic for those facing evictions, and operating an immigration hotline for clients detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

While pursuing a Bachelor鈥檚 in Middle East Studies at Brown University, she spent three months in Beirut, where she worked with a team to organize and deliver emergency relief to refugees in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Her pursuits, both academic and professional, have been driven by a desire to understand how progress is defined and measured in efforts to effect social change.

When they ask me about who I am, the first answer that comes to my mind is that I am a single mother, an involved woman who wants to contribute to the world and makes it a better place. In 2014, after officially moving to Canada, my first reflex was to go back to school, when I was six months pregnant. I enrolled in International Studies at the University听of听Montreal, a place where I was actively involved on campus. I was the Vice-President of a campus association for two years, organizing conferences, cultural activities, and more听for the student听community.

When I lived in Rigaud, I was the President of听''Les Amis de la Culture de Rigaud," where, for two years,听I organized workshops and events such as the city's annual Christmas Market. Having served as a volunteer for the Canadian Red Cross since 2017, I decided to take on a full-time听role at the organization听after graduating听from undergraduate studies. Today, as a Case Manager, I work with victims of flooding; this听experience听has revealed to听me a flawed system rife with policy application failures. I hope to gain the tools necessary听to better听understand how policy is applied听and to听provide me with听ideas听for correcting听systemic failings. I am also interested in issues of听racism and gender equality.

Ricardo Chejfec is originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, but moved to Canada six years ago to听attend 黑料不打烊 and ultimately work听as a Business Analyst. With a background in academic research, computer science, and data analytics, Ricardo is interested in contributing to the development of data-driven policy and its aiding protocols. Particularly, Ricardo is thrilled to learn about appropriate and efficient ways to tackle income inequality, as well as issues related to taxation and employment policy.

Chunhong Chen, has double degrees from Rutgers University in the U.S. and Northeast Normal University in China, having majored听in Public Affairs and Administration. She currently lives in her hometown, Hangzhou, China, and she recently started an overseas marketing internship at NetEase. During the inspiring experience of volunteering听in a rural part in China, she served as a teacher, encouraging听children鈥檚 enthusiasm for learning. She found, however, numerous听problems with the education system 鈥� not problems听that could not be fixed in the classroom, but rather issues that would persist until their root听cause, lack of听economic development, was addressed. In light of this, Chunhong's wish is听to become an economic policy adviser and fully devote听herself to bringing about change through the听public sector.

Seeking to learn how economic policies are created and implemented in the real world,听and the challenges of putting them into听practice, she joined the State-owned Investment Corporation, and later took on a role with听Advocates for Children of New Jersey. Through these experiences, she became even more driven to do whatever possible听to contribute to economic development for society's least privileged.听Her goal in pursuing an MPP is learn strategies and gain听tools that will support her听efforts to narrow the gap between the wealthy and the impoverished.

Born in Algeria and raised in Canada, Rym was exposed at a young age to world politics. Rym has lived in Qu茅bec;听Ontario;听and, most recently,听Edmonton, Alberta. She holds a B.A in Political Science and International Studies from the University of Alberta. Rym is passionate about translating broad听ideas into specific actions and outcomes, hence her interest in pursuing a career in public policy.

For the past three years, Rym has been working for the francophone community in Edmonton, holding various roles in the not-for-profit sector. Most recently, Rym worked as a Government and Community Liaison Manager at the Association canadienne-fran莽aise de l鈥橝lberta, where she lobbied for francophone rights at the provincial and national levels. Having worked closely with government, Rym is eager to better understand how to create effective and thoughtful policies to solve complex issues that affect听everyday Canadians. In her spare time, Rym enjoys cooking, taking care of her plants,听and photography.

Yuting Fu, originally from听midland China, currently lives in Shanghai, where she is completing an internship at Porsche Consulting. She is a听graduate of听Rutgers University and Northeast Normal University. After the inspiring experience of being a grant committee officer in Philanthropy in Motion鈥檚 Model Foundation program, through which she听secured funds for听social enterprises, she devoted herself to social enterprise development. In addition听to听seeking out funds for social enterprises, she also decided to join one of them.

She began working for MyH2O Water Information Network as a Data Visualization Intern, working to draw public attention to water security problems in rural Chinese听villages. From these experiences, she began听to realize the important effects听public policy has on the work of听social enterprises. As an MPP student, she wants听to gain skills and knowledge to aid her work听developing听social enterprises.

Henna听graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology. She served as a researcher at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and the Harvard Center for AIDS Research. Inspired by her health policy background,听Henna听co-created the Bridging Borders Project, a multinational collaboration that brings Prime Ministers and Presidents together to share their COVID-19 response plans. The project has been utilized by heads of state and government across the European Union, South Asia, the Caribbean, Africa, and Oceania.

Born and raised in Mazar-i-Sharif, a city in the north of Afghanistan, Haris currently lives in Montreal. Throughout his career, Haris has worked in challenging settings for civil society organizations, the United States Government, the United Nations, consulting companies, private ventures, and think tanks. As a result, he has a solid grasp of adaptive project design and management. His multidisciplinary education and experience give him the skills and mindset to think about solving complex problems.

Haris holds a B.A in Law and Political Science from Balkh University and a M.A in Post-war Recovery Studies from the University of York (United Kingdom). He is learning about the energy storage industry, particularly lithium-ion batteries. He considers himself a good walker. He is interested in walking as a mode of transport and philosophy.

Asif Imran Khan is a policy advocacy and campaigning specialist, who has been working for the past six years to bring the voices of the poor and marginalized communities to the forefront of policy agendas in Bangladesh. Having started his career at BRAC, he has served as the advocacy and campaign lead of international NGOs in Bangladesh such as Save the Children, CARE, and Concern Worldwide. In his role, Asif successfully advocated to听key government ministers, members of parliament, civil society actors and media for pro-poor policy and budgetary provisions on food security, gender equality, the climate crisis,听and urban extreme poverty, among other issues.

At this point in his career, Asif has grown a desire to be more than a policy advocate through听learning听about and contributing听to inclusive policy formulation and implementation. Asif is a certified scuba diver and loves to spend his free time on creative writing.

Dorothy graduated from City University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Social Science in Public Policy, Management,听and Politics. The experience she gained from her exchange study in University of Warwick expanded her vision for the world and led听to her decision to pursue an MPP at听黑料不打烊. Her previous roles in the HKSAR Legislative Council Secretariat, the Hong Kong Police Force, and the Duty Lawyer Service were gave her experience if a variety of domains of public service. Most recently, she served as as an Enforcement Officer in the Estate Agents Authority, contributing to the听regulation of the听practice of local estate, in the interest of consumers. Both while听serving as听a service provider and as a regulator, she saw the extent to which听her work听contributed to a听harmonious and law-abiding environment.

Dorothy now aspires to a career advancing firms' corporate social responsibility efforts to help address global social and environment challenges.

Jonathan Lesarge currently lives in Toronto, Ontario, where he has worked full-time for the past three years at the Government of Ontario and Ontario鈥檚 Legislative Assembly. As the Legislative Assistant to the Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga, Jonathan successfully steered the research and development of a Private Member鈥檚 Bill entitled Bill 50, The Cutting Red-Tape for Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2018, which would save consumers time and money by allowing new automobile dealers to register newly purchased vehicles online.

Similarly, in his recent role as Executive Assistant to the Parliamentary Assistant to Ontario鈥檚 Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, Jonathan advised on Ministry-related communications and policy objectives. Jonathan鈥檚 young career reflects his passion for politics, and his desire to harness public policy for the common good.听

Camilla Liu fell in love with policy communications ten years ago and never looked back. As a senior communications advisor for Employment and Social Development Canada, she informs the public and media about the Government's response to help vulnerable populations during COVID-19, and to shape their understanding of Canada's Homelessness Strategy that aims to reduce chronic homelessness.

Camilla has assumed different communications roles in government departments. Whether it is organizing an awareness campaign about Canadian innovation, writing a speech for a Minister at a stakeholder meeting about poverty reduction, or running a Facebook Live broadcast for an announcement on a new citizenship policy, she does it with passion.

Deeply concerned about COVID-19鈥檚 impacts on seniors in poverty, Camilla recently volunteered to raise donation as a digital content creator for a local charity in northwestern Cameroon that helps seniors to cope with the pandemic. She wants to find ways to reduce poverty in Canada and around the world, through public policy.

Juan strongly believes that science and technology have an impact on听public policy, and vice-versa. Over the past eight听years,听Leonardo has worked on the sustainable development of policies and science. His work focuses on social participation and dynamic networks for the creation and design of technologies and public policy. Leonardo is passionate about engaging with innovative and socially-oriented multidisciplinary听groups.

Leonardo holds a B.A. in International Relations from the Tecnol贸gico de Monterrey and听an M.Sc. in Science, Technology, and International Development from听the University of Edinburgh. After graduating he worked for almost five years as an advisor to the Mexican Secretariat of Energy. He later volunteered for 脡quiterre in Montreal, where he conducted research on potential partners鈥� Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility reports. Leonardo has knowledge and experience in international development, human rights, energy policy, and sustainable development. Leonardo鈥檚 work has focused on听renewable energy projects in听First Nations communities, strategic planning, and international affairs.

James Samimi Farr has worked for the last three years as the media discourse officer for the U.S. Baha'i Office of Public Affairs. In this work, he collaborates closely with journalists, striving to understand the norms of American media and evolve them to be more just, inclusive, and unifying. To this end,听he holds a regular roundtable with writers and editors from outlets such as The Washington Post, The Atlantic, HuffPost, Mother Jones, and others.

He also advocates in the media for the persecuted Baha'i communities of Iran and Yemen, and he听has coordinated coverage on this issue with various outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, AFP, Bloomberg, BBC, and several others. He has also written op-eds for such publications as the Religion News Service.

He grew up in Chelsea, QC, and is a semi-professional musician.

Gina holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Administration and Executive Management,听with a minor in Social Management, from听the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. She also has听a diploma in Project Management (Peru) and an international diploma in Smart Cities (Argentina and Austria). With over nine听years of experience in project development management, public policy management, and social entrepreneurship, she has worked in Peru, Mexico, and El Salvador, pursuing her interests in entrepreneurship, innovation, and gender.

Gina is a Director and Partner at Sector 3 Social Venture Group, a Peruvian NGO that promotes the socioeconomic development of听 (mostly women-owned) micro-enterprises by听members of vulnerable populations听in Latin America. Along with the Sustainable Preservation Initiative, Sector3听runs 鈥淓SCALA,鈥澨齛 business school specifically designed for marginalized entrepreneurs. She has also worked for the Peruvian Government (Ministry of Production) as National Coordinator of Business Management, a role wherein she听designed听and implemented the first business development services platform for Peruvian entrepreneurs.

Gina has volunteered for Make-A-Wish Peru since 2013. As she听pursues a Master of Public Policy at the Max听Bell School, she is aiming to strengthen her competencies and broaden her听perspectives, better equipping her to听create long-term impact听through the promotion of听entrepreneurship, gender equality, and women鈥檚 empowerment.

As a mid-career civil servant and public policy practitioner, I have chosen the Max Bell School MPP to complement my experience and prepare myself as a听leader in public policy.听My goal is to learn to create and expand the boundaries of what is possible. I aim to prepare myself to take on the public-policy challenges of the future听and contribute to solving real-world problems by developing impactful听policies. My particular areas of interest in policy are innovative听agriculture policy, environment and climate change policy, and emergency response policy.听听

Ines is originally from Tanzania,听where she has been working in social development consulting and project implementation. Her experience has focused on process improvement and government service delivery systems. In her career, Ines has worked with over 20 clients, including ministries, local governments, NGOs, and donor agencies. She also possesses working knowledge of agriculture, transportation, and government sub-sectors. Ines hopes to acquire more robust and holistic skills and approaches through her time in the MPP program.

She strongly believes developing countries, like her own, must aspire to solve systemic challenges in order to achieve stronger, equitable,听and people-centric听economies. Ines is also a 2019-20听Obama Africa Leader Fellow, a distinction听that has allowed her to access leadership coaching as well as connect with amazing change-makers across the African continent.

听Emily Nickerson currently lives in Toronto, Ontario and has been working to improve how people and governments leverage natural resources for economic development over the last five years. At Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Canada, she has worked to increase transparency in the extractives sector, both domestically and internationally, in order to enable citizens to hold their governments to account for how natural resource wealth is managed.

Previously at Mining Shared Value, she worked to promote local procurement of goods and services in countries that host mining activity. Building on her experience, Emily is keen to improve her understanding of how to create policies to manage and govern natural resources in an equitable and sustainable way. Emily also enjoys travelling and eating her way around Toronto with her partner.

Gulrukh is a an experienced strategy consultant and policy professional with work experience spanning across the Middle East and Asia. Originally from Pakistan, Gulrukh is quite familiar with the various public policy challenges prevalent in emerging markets and is passionate about solving complex policy issues. She is particularly fascinated by the ongoing policy issues in the global technology space related to sustainability, cybersecurity,听and data governance.

Gulrukh completed her undergraduate degree in Economics in 2019. After graduation, she moved to Dubai to work as a Business Analyst for a global management consulting firm called Kearney. She has worked on diverse private and public sector engagements including the provision of organizational public policy support at multilateral economic platforms such as the G20 Summit and the听World Economic Forum鈥檚 Annual Meeting at Davos 2020.

Gulrukh is also a fitness enthusiast and听avid traveler, and she enjoys partaking in various adventure sports such as paragliding, rappelling, and cliff diving.

Ellen Rowe is a cyber security policy analyst for the Government of Canada (GoC). In 2017, Ellen commenced her career as a Queen鈥檚 University intern at National Defence. With an interest in research and writing, Ellen took on the task of writing quarterly and annual technical reports for key GoC stakeholders, while working in the Cyber Threat Reporting team (CTR). Her passion to educate others about cyber security led her to become a cyber security policy analyst.

As a policy analyst, Ellen writes and manages operational policies. With her high-level understanding of technical issues involved in information systems and cyber security, Ellen helped develop the Cyber Defence Operations Ministerial Authorization (CDO MA). Ellen also leads workshops and presentations for executives, new employees, as well as other government department staff to ensure policy is properly interpreted.

Ellen regularly attends webinars and conferences in Ottawa. After learning many Canadians do no comprehend how or why cyber security is important until they are hacked, Ellen鈥檚 desire to write clear and practical policy grew. Ellen believes the MPP program will prepare her to develop policies that improve cyber security for vulnerable communities.

In her spare time, Ellen enjoys rowing, baking,听and photography.

Sarah A. Sayani is a听socio-economic development professional with almost seven years working experience with banks, having specialized in microfinance,听and with healthcare institutions, where she managed the听provision of primary healthcare programmes in remote communities. She has accomplished demonstrable achievements in facilitating听strategic collaboration听and innovative interventions for economic resilience in war-stricken communities.

I am a proud Egyptian who left my beloved country at the age of 11 and settled with my family in Qatar. I completed my B.SC in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M in 2012, at which point I started my career by working in the oil industry for three听years.

However, I decided to shift my career in 2015 and seize听an opportunity to work as an Energy and Economy Adviser at the Korean Embassy in Qatar. It is at the embassy that I widened the scope of my work and gained experience in global energy markets, energy economics and policy, diplomacy, and foreign relations.

After working for the embassy for 4 years, I began working听as an industrial researcher;听I spent the last year on secondment to the Qatari Ministry of Commerce and Industry working on the ambitious "Qatar National Manufacturing Strategy,"听aimed at听revolutionizing听the country's industrial sector.

I enjoy playing and watching all kind of sports (football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, handball, squash, swimming, etc.). I also love travelling and exploring the world, with its various cultures and exciting history.

Nayantara Melissa Sudhakar has been fortunate enough to grow up in various regions of the world, including Asia, the Middle East, and North America. Her experiences with different cultures and people have enabled her to build an awareness of intersectionality and its importance in advancing equal opportunities for marginalized individuals. To further understand this, Nayantara completed her Bachelor of Arts at the University of British Columbia, double majoring in Psychology and Sociology.

Eager to apply her knowledge and uncover factors of marginalization at the grassroots level, Nayantara joined non-profit organizations aimed at empowering stigmatized individuals, including those with developmental disabilities and mental health illnesses. In her positions as Support Worker, Community Resource Worker, and Crisis Line Responder, Nayantara worked with individuals to understand their personal goals and consequently leveraged various provincial and federal policies available to assist in their realization. With a passion for social and health policy, she now looks forward to contributing to the creation of global policies promoting accessible mental health support.

And amidst all this, Nayantara likes to immerse herself in dystopian literature, explore the night sky with her telescope, and discover new corners of our planet.

Seira Iwai听(Tanaka) was born and raised in Japan and currently lives in Tokyo. She has always been fascinated with how public policy can have听positive effects on people鈥檚 lives. After she completed a bachelor's听degree in Economics, she worked for the听Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services of Japan as a public servant for seven years. She feels that the role of government has become increasingly complicated and diversified, especially in the field of information, communications and technologies. Having participated in international conferences such as the G7 and the G20 as a听government official, she is interested in encouraging international cooperation regarding cross-border data flows and privacy policy.

Outside of work, Seira likes playing听classical guitar and running听marathons.

Noah is from Steam Mill, Nova Scotia. He has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Criminology and Human Rights from St. Thomas University in New Brunswick, and is nearing completion of a Master of Science in Criminal Justice Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science in England. His dissertation is on Indigenous-specific drug policy solutions pertaining to the opioid crisis in Canada.

During his undergraduate degree, Noah participated in the Students鈥� Union, Harvard National Model United Nations, an American Moot Court Association competition, and a legal aid mission in rural Panama. He worked with a听Member of Parliament 鈥撎齭erving听on the听Fredericton Constituency Youth Council 鈥撎齛nd held term positions as an Outreach Coordinator and Intern with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick and the Department of National Defence.

Guided by a strong sense of social justice, Noah鈥檚 aspiration is to work in Canada鈥檚 public sector to positively influence the development of public policy. His other interests include cooking, sports, and travel.

Udita Upadhyay is originally from India but currently听lives听in Houston, Texas. She has five听years of work experience in public policy research and risk management. After graduating from Nottingham she started working听with a public policy think tank in India. While in this role, she witnessed 鈥撎齛nd听studied听鈥� the failure of听a national policy, crippled by听flawed implementation and a lack of accountability. She also volunteered for an educational institution for children in a small village in North India.

A zeal to work in the private sector motivated her to move to Risk Management at EY (India). She spent a considerable part of her career with EY, where she worked on numerous projects, helping manage the firm鈥檚 risk. She assisted engagement teams to make decisions without compromising regarding compliance policies and the regulatory framework. Udita was been a part of a theatre group while pursuing听her undergraduate degree.听She is fond of travelling and is a novice painter.

Growing up in Dhaka, Bangladesh Anil was exposed to the socioeconomic realities of the global south and wanted to change the status quo in a meaningful way. He moved to Canada in 2013 to study Economics and听Political Science听at the University of Toronto. During his final year, Anil鈥檚 passion for public policy led him to advocate with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, supporting the Ontario150 program and moving on to manage stakeholders at ServiceOntario, the citizen service arm of the Ontario Government.

In 2020, Anil co-authored an article on Digital Social Innovation for the Canadian Science and Policy Centre, reflecting on #BacharLorai 鈥� a social movement he co-founded to provide over $100,000 in COVID-19 relief in Bangladesh. He was recently featured by Global Citizen for initiating Toronto Talks Privilege, a non-black project for Black Lives Matter. He believes in grassroots efforts, practices urban photography, and enjoys writing on Sundays.

Suhara Wijewardane was born in Sri Lanka, and has benefitted from an international background, having also lived in Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Austria, the US, and Canada. In 2018 she graduated from 黑料不打烊 University with a B.A. in Political Science with distinction.

Currently Suhara lives in Vienna, Austria, where she completed a year-long internship at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the Division of Nuclear Energy. She assisted in providing practical support on issues of stakeholder engagement to Member States embarking on nuclear power. Prior to that, she worked as a communications intern at the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), where she participated in Member State meetings on the development of outer space policy and helped to draft UNOOSA positions.

Suhara is keen to further explore the challenges of policymaking at the international level. In particular, she looks to contribute to policy solutions that support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In her free time Suhara likes to stay active, and enjoys running and playing tennis.

As the child of parents who immigrated from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Yvette has always had a heart for helping immigrant communities in Canada, especially through听empowering youth and women. From a young age, Yvette has been involved in her community as a volunteer, particularly for Alliance-Jeunesse-Famille de L鈥橝lberta Society (AJFAS), an organization committed to empowering francophone听immigrant families in Edmonton. Yvette was also selected as a member of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO鈥檚 (CCUNESCO) Youth Advisory Group, where, for over two听years she collaborated with other young Canadians on issues concerning youth in Canada. Yvette holds a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in International Studies. She has worked as a Public Servant for the Ministry of Economic and Social Development Canada and also for the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, where she is currently employed.

Yvette is easy-going, adventurous, and she also believes herself to be extremely funny. The Amazing Race Canada (Season 4) is among her crazier adventures.

Mikayla is a social innovator who bridges research, strategy, and design to address complex urban challenges. After graduating from Brock University with a Bachelor of Business Administration, she moved to Toronto and joined MaRS Solutions Lab, a social innovation lab where she tackled issues such as municipal data governance, transit-oriented affordable housing, and social procurement. She is passionate about sustainability and advancing the role businesses have in generating social and environmental impact. She is equally passionate about equitable city-building through large scale policy change and small scale community-led solutions and activism.

She is born, raised, and currently lives in Hamilton, Ontario. She has previously worked in provincial and regional government and has volunteered with environmental groups, mutual aid response, food sovereignty, political campaigns, and student leadership clubs. She loves politics, improv, Tetris, and growing, cooking, and eating good food. You can usually find her at one of Hamilton鈥檚 parks, trails, or beaches with a good book and some music.