Team Members

_{Claudette McGowan is a global information technology leader with more than 18 years of success leading digital transformations, optimizing infrastructure and designing new approaches that improve service experiences. She has worked in the technology industry for several organizations such as Deloitte, Metropolitan Police Services, North York General Hospital, Bank of Montreal and TD Bank.  Claudette began her career at BMO in 2000 and held multiple senior leadership roles including Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Technology Employee Experience. In 2020, she joined TD Bank as Global Executive Officer for Cyber Security. In her spare time, Claudette writes books for children, builds robots and is the founder of the Black Arts & Innovation Expo. Claudette holds a Bachelor of Arts from Lakehead University and a Master of Business Administration from Athabasca University.She is the recipient of several prestigious awards: In January 2020, she was selected as an honoree at the Jamaican Canadian Association’s 20th International Women’s Day event for her groundbreaking work in STEM. In 2019, Toronto Life recognized her as one of the city’s Top 50 Most Influential Torontonians, Women’s Executive Network recognized her as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, AdWeek Magazine heralded Claudette as a Toronto Brand Star, and the Digital Finance Institute honoured her as one of the Top 50 Canadian Women in FinTech. In September 2019, Claudette also had the honour of moderating what is being hailed as ‘the most insightful one-on-one conversation’ with Former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, in front of a sold-out crowd of 3,000-plus at Elevate Festival, Canada’s fastest-growing tech festival.}

_{Armughan helps people and organizations thrive in a time of uncertainty and change. He leads a team that is committed to helping our customers innovate with exponential technologies to create a more sustainable and prosperous future to drive human progress forward. He believes that technology is only the enabler but people are the true transformers. We can empower lives by using advanced technologies in AI, Quantum, Metaverse and Blockchain to automate repetitive tasks and allow people to focus on their impact and purposeful work. Armughan has found that people-centric focus to be closely aligned with my personal approach to leadership. His goal is to create and promote an organization that is diverse and inclusive of many different perspectives and approaches. He lends his time to groups such as CILAR (Coalition of innovation leaders against racism). He knows that diversity in all it’s forms creates a stronger organization and empowers our individual team members to bring their authentic self to work.}

_{Yung is the retired CEO of the MaRS Discovery District, one of the world’s largest innovation hubs, and Canada’s premiere science and technology innovation ecosystem. The MaRS innovation community has raised over $16.7B in capital, generated over $9B in net revenues and contributed over $30B to GDP since inception, currently employing over 32,600 people in the health, cleantech, fintech and platform technologies sectors, and at all stages of growth.As a serial entrepreneur and investor, Yung has built breakthrough scale-stage companies in enterprise software, mobile analytics and big data, media and entertainment, technology services and biotech. He is a co-founder of two not-for-profit organizations, the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR) and DifferentIsCool (DiSC). Yung currently serves on the boards of OMERS, the Toronto Region Board of Trade, Antibe Therapeutics Inc. (TSX: ATE) and is a member of Green Shield Canada. He is a Governor in Council appointee to Canada’s Net-Zero Advisory Body.Yung has been recognized as one of Canada’s “Top 40 under 40” and for leading one of Canada’s “50 Best Managed Private Companies” in the nation. Yung has a B.Sc. Computer Science, Economics and Mathematics from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the Entrepreneurial Master’s Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the NACD Cybersecurity Oversight Certification Program at Carnegie Mellon University, a member of MENSA, the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D).}

_{Maya Roy is the CEO of CILAR, and the past CEO of YWCA Canada and Newcomer Women's Services Toronto. With over 15 years of experience in the C-Suite, Roy has worked to build prosperity for all Canadians. In partnership with Rotman School of Business, she served as Strategic Co-Lead on A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada: Making the Economy Work for Everyone, the first nationally-focused plan of its kind in the world. Roy currently serves on the board of Women’s College Hospital where she serves on the Quality Assurance Committee and is an appointed member of the National Housing Council, which mainstreams human rights mechanisms into a $89 billion investment fund, the National Housing Strategy. She has also worked internationally to embed gender-based analysis and racial equity in Brazil, India, Thailand, and the U.K., into human rights and violence prevention programming. Her contributions have been recognized nationally and internationally. Roy was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, where she serves on the YGL Advisory. She has been a recipient of many honours including being named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, Toronto Community Foundation’s Vital People, and has received the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA)’s Gender Equity Advocate Award.She holds a Master's degree in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics, and a bachelor's degree in Social Work from Toronto Metropolitan University. In 2022, she completed executive education with the Harvard Kennedy School and Wharton School of Business in public leadership and board governance.}

_{Keneisha Williams resides in Toronto and studied Communications and Marketing at Ryerson University. She is an accomplished international event professional with over 15 years of experience. Her passion for advocacy, impact, and designing spaces of belonging led her to create her company the Black in Events Network. Currently, she is the Community Engagement Manager at CILAR. She gives back her time as a  mentor at both the Scarborough Women's Center and the Content Marketing Institute (CMI).  She was named 2 x Top 100 most influential people in the events industry, top 10 most influential women in the events industry. Most recently she has been recognized by MeetingsNet magazine as a changemaker, and Canada's top 100 Black Women to Watch. Her views and opinions have been seen in Forbes, Skift Magazine (formerly EventMB), The Globe and Mail and much more. When Keneisha is not indulging in her passion she is cheering on her son at his games.}

_{Passionate about addressing racial disparities and mental health, Tristan Morris - Program Associate at CILAR, is dedicated to community impact. Focused on program development, Tristan thrives in enhancing systems and fostering relationships. His commitment to promoting mentorship, racial awareness and diversity is evident in his work. Eager to contribute to positive change, Tristan seeks opportunities to assist those facing difficulties and advance missions of impact.}

_{Rayah is an emerging documentary filmmaker and Communications Coordinator for the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR).  In addition, Rayah works as a Marketing Manager and Producer for Creative’s Bazaar and also a Content Contributor for The Olive Branch of Hope. Her passion lies in capturing personal stories, raising awareness about mental‍health, and advocating the value of knowledge-sharing. Through her work,‍ Rayah aims to be both an ally and a source of support for those whose stories‍she shares.}

_{Passionate about building digital products and platforms, Ismail joined CILAR with the goal of creating innovative solutions to be accessible and enjoyed by everyone. With an educational background in Electrical Engineering, Ismail has experience working in product management and has worked for a few startups, helping them scale and improve revenue generation. Ismail is interested in creating tech for good products, especially in the AI space and is a founder of his own digital consulting company where he caters to SME's. In addition to this, Ismail has over 12+ years of community experience, whether its been mentoring youth, volunteering at non-profits or creating spaces for members in his community to interact and feel safe.}  

_{An adept freelancer with a rich skill set in administrative and executive support, this professional thrives in managing intricate schedules and ensuring seamless operations for CEOs in diverse sectors.}