Foundation Staff

Accounting

Kitty Lee, CGA, Finance Manager
Kitty’s major responsibilities include preparing financial statements and taxes filings, managing audits, co-coordinating payroll and benefits; assisting CFO in budget and forecast. Kitty has more than 10 years extensive working experience as a senior financial analyst/senior accountant in various industries including telecommunications, marketing and automotive.

Charlene Wallace, CGA, Senior Accountant
Charlene’s responsibilities at the Foundation include monitoring and analyzing of expenses, assisting Finance Manager in budgeting and forecasting, and tax filings. Previously, Charlene worked as the Accounting Supervisor at Advocis, a voluntary membership association of financial advisors and planners in Canada. She has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Accounting and is a Certified General Accountant in Canada.

Raymond Yu, Accountant
Raymond is responsible for overall accounting and internal control functions at the Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, Raymond was the Senior Accountant with The Loyalty Group, a database marketing firm. He is a CMA Finalist and has a Bachelor degree in Finance from the University of Western Ontario.

Administration

Karen Rampersaud, Executive Assistant 
At the Foundation, Karen is executive assistant to Reeta Roy and is responsible for maintaining board relations. She has over 20 years of administrative experience in private equity and strategic consulting. Prior to joining the Foundation, Karen worked with the Canadian Managing Directors of both Bain and Company and The Boston Consulting Group. Karen was born and raised in the West Indies.

Jasma Thomson, Office Assistant 
Jasma provides logistical and general office support for the Foundation. She comes to the Foundation with experience in client relations, and worked as an Administrative Assistant at the Quorum Group of Companies. Jasma is socially engaged, with a commitment to help young people have the maximum opportunity to become leaders in their lives. Jasma holds an Advanced Diploma in Business Administration – Management Studies from George Brown College.

Communications

Samir Khan, Communications Manager 
Samir works on the Foundation’s external communications, which includes collaborating with partners to raise awareness and profile of their activities and learning. He comes to the Foundation having had a varied career in public opinion research, communications and journalism. Samir began his career as a freelance journalist before taking a variety of communications positions within the federal government, with a specialization in communications technology and Aboriginal development. Upon moving to Toronto, he worked for youth research consultants DECODE before moving EKOS Research Associates, one of Canada’s foremost social research companies. 

Katrina Kyselytzia, Communications Associate 
Katrina focuses on internal and external communications projects that include media monitoring and knowledge sharing, partner communications, and managing the Foundation’s website and social media. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked with Oxfam Canada where she organized their annual youth leadership summit. Katrina has also worked with local non-governmental organizations in Uganda and Tanzania on health and gender projects. Previously, she worked for the University of Alberta’s Global Education Program to provide logistical and programming support for their signature event, International Week. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Science with a focus on international relations and gender, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry. 

Allysone McGreal, Internal Communications Associate
Allysone manages the Foundation’s internal communications activities. She coordinates new employee orientation, facilitates staff training, and organizes yearly retreats. Allysone joined the Foundation in June 2007 and was instrumental in the Foundation’s initial set up. Prior to joining the Foundation, Allysone worked with the President and CEO at Bentall Capital, a real estate advisory organization. Allysone studied Women’s Studies and Psychology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. 

Jyotsana Saha, Public Affairs Associate
Jyotsana manages external communications and works with the Foundation’s global partners to elevate the profile of projects. Before joining the Foundation, she worked at McMaster University as a Development Officer. She obtained an Honours BA in Political Science from McMaster University and holds a graduate certificate in public relations.  

Christina Sass, Consultant, Communications
Christina joined the Foundation to focus on fostering collaboration and maximizing impact between partners. She has extensive experience cultivating cross-sector partnerships designed to confront global challenges, particularly in education. She started and helped lead youth programs in the US, China, The Middle East, and Africa. During her three years as Deputy Director of the Program Department at The Clinton Global Initiative, she worked closely with President Clinton’s office to design and implement content for CGI meetings with a particular focus on the empowerment of girls and women.  Christina has a Bachelors degree from the University of Georgia and a Master’s in International Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. 

Toni Tiemens, Senior Manager, Communications
Toni Tiemens is an award-winning practitioner with more than 20 years experience in communications. Prior to joining The MasterCard Foundation, Toni managed an extensive portfolio of pharmaceutical, not-for-profit, association, corporate, and consumer clients both domestically and internationally. She has worked for such pharmaceutical organizations as Pharmacia and Eli Lilly Canada, and in senior positions within several communications agencies in Toronto, Canada. She has led large-scale global communications and continuing medical education programs and has established a strong rapport with many international opinion leaders, health care professionals, patient and health organizations, and professional organizations. She also believes in giving back and has volunteered her time to such organizations as Rethink Breast Cancer and The Brazilian Carnival Ball, one of the largest fundraising events in Canada. Toni is also a published children’s book author.  She received her Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto.

Evaluation and Learning

Joe Dickman, Manager, Evaluation and Learning
Joe manages evaluation and learning activities across the Foundation. He brings over 12 years of international development experience, eight of which focused on program design, monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Prior to joining the Foundation, Joe was Deputy Director of Design, Monitoring and Evaluation at Mercy Corps, where he coordinated technical assistance to field programs and managed a dynamic agency-wide community of practice focused on peer learning.  He has also worked with CARE International and the World Bank, and has lived and worked in over 15 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. He holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs, with major in International Development, from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Boston College.  

Veronica Olazabal, Manager, Evaluation and Learning
Veronica manages evaluation and learning activities across the Foundation. She is an evaluation professional with more than 15 years of program and research management experience. Prior to joining the Foundation, she spearheaded the monitoring and evaluation efforts at The United Methodists Committee on Relief (UMCOR), a humanitarian relief organization, as well as co-chaired InterAction’s Working Group for Evaluation and Program Effectiveness. Her professional portfolio also includes working with the Rockefeller Foundation’s international programs on climate change and global health, and serving as Director for Policy and Research at the Food Bank For New York City. She holds a BA in Communications, a Master’s in City and Regional Studies from Rutgers University, and is in the final stages of acquiring her MA in Anthropology from Columbia University.

Finance

Crystal Chan, CA, Senior Financial Analyst
Crystal’s responsibilities include reviewing program budgets, and monitoring and analyzing program financial reporting. Prior to joining the Foundation, Crystal worked as a Senior Accountant at Rosenberg Smith & Partners LLP. She has a Bachelor of Mathematics and a Master’s of Accounting from University of Waterloo and is a Chartered Accountant in Canada.

Megan Chan, CA, Senior Financial Analyst
Megan’s responsibilities include analyzing program budgets and assisting program partners with grant compliance. Prior to joining the Foundation, Megan was a Senior Consultant in the Risk Consulting practice at KPMG LLP. She is a graduate of the Bachelors of Accounting and Financial Management, and has a Master’s of Accounting from the University of Waterloo.

Kevin Egan, CA, Senior Financial Analyst
Kevin responsibilities include reviewing and analyzing program budgets, and monitoring program financial reporting. Prior to joining the Foundation, Kevin held a variety of positions at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation as well as work experience with Ernst & Young LLP as a Senior Staff Accountant. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University and is a Chartered Accountant in Canada.

Caroline Forster, CA Senior Financial Analyst
Caroline’s work at the Foundation includes reviewing and analyzing program budgets and program financial reporting. She joined the Foundation after working as a Senior Auditor in Halifax, Dublin and Bermuda. Caroline holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax and is a Chartered Accountant in Canada.

Ava Leung, CA, Financial Analyst
Ava’s responsibilities include reviewing and analyzing program budgets and program financial reporting. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ava worked as a Senior Staff Accountant at KPMG LLP. She has a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Toronto and is a Chartered Accountant in Canada.

Microfinance 

Ruth Dueck-Mbeba, Program Manager, Microfinance 
Ruth manages a portfolio of Microfinance projects that focus on institutional capacity building and youth financial services. She comes to the Foundation with over 30 years experience in public accounting, financial reporting and management, and as a practitioner, trainer and consultant in the field of microfinance. Ruth has lived, worked, and travelled extensively in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and throughout Asia. Ruth is interested in building learning communities, sharing knowledge, and developing human capital. She is a Certified General Accountant, a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors, and holds a certificate in Adult Education. 

Alexandra Pattee, Program Coordinator, Microfinance 
Alex coordinates all activities for the Microfinance Program and supports the management of a portfolio of microfinance projects with a focus on expanding access to financial services with technology and product innovation, as well as financial education. She comes to the Foundation from Impakt, a boutique community investment consultancy, where she was part of a small team that advised corporations on their corporate giving strategies and partnership development processes. Alex became involved in microfinance when she was part of a pro-bono consultancy, Empowering Entrepreneurs, which provided strategic and operational consulting services to a microfinance institution, AMK Cambodia. Alex is a graduate of the Queen’s School of Business.

Sumaiya Sajjad, Associate Program Manager, Microfinance
Sumaiya manages the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program which includes partnerships with institutions offering high-quality training in microfinance. She has worked with the First MicroFinance Foundation in Egypt, Pact in Washington, DC, and BRAC in Bangladesh where she gained her knowledge in microfinance. Sumaiya also worked in the US with the National Summer Learning Association and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on both federal and state-level policies. Sumaiya holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Toronto.

Rewa Shankar Misra, Program Manager, Microfinance
Rewa manages a portfolio of microfinance projects with a focus on rural and agri-finance, capacity building, and financial education. She brings to the Foundation more than 13 years of experience working with agencies such as the ILO, ActionAid, CARE and the Coady International Institute. Her main interests are in impact research, policy research/evaluation and organizational development. Rewa holds an MPhil in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, a Certificate in Business Accounting from the Charter Institute of Management Accounting in the UK, and a Certificate in Community-Based Microfinance from the Coady International Institute.

Paula Storch Tjossem, Consultant, Microfinance
Paula manages a portfolio of microfinance projects with a focus on youth financial services and outreach, and capacity building in Sub-Saharan Africa. Previously she worked with ShoreBank International on a variety of projects in East Africa, South Asia, and the Caucasus.  Her experience includes almost 20 years of living and working overseas in the inclusive finance and development sectors working with a variety of financial institutions, funders, and non-governmental organizations.  Prior to this Paula worked in the US banking sector in New York.  She holds a BSc in finance from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and studied contemporary Economic Policy at the American University.

Lindsay Wallace, Program Manager, Microfinance
Lindsay works on the Microfinance Team at the Foundation. She brings over fifteen years of experience in economic development, having lived and worked in numerous countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America.  She recently led the Economic Growth Team of the UK Department for International Development’s Rwanda office where she established a large microfinance support project along with a portfolio of growth-related projects agriculture, land tenure reform, and trade. She holds a Master’s Economics from the University of Toronto, a Master’s of Public Policy from Carleton University, as well as an undergraduate degree from McGill University.

Mark Wensley, Program Manager, Microfinance
Mark manages a portfolio of microfinance projects with a focus on expanding access to financial services with technology and product innovation, as well as entrepreneurship. He has worked in the microfinance field for nine years, during which time he has focused on scaling innovative and market-led approaches for financial inclusion. Prior to joining the Foundation, he was the Global Selection Manager for Unitus, where he led the creation of new partnerships to provide catalytic capital and advisory to high-growth microfinance institutions. He has lived and worked in Asia, East Africa and North America. Mark holds a Master’s of Economics of Development from the Australian National University, and a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University, Canada.

Youth Learning

Steve Cumming, Program Manager, Youth Learning 
Steve manages a portfolio of the Foundation’s Youth Learning projects that focus on connecting youth to markets and skills training for young people. He has spent more than three years living and working between South Sudan, Angola and Sierra Leone in field management positions and was also the International Programs Director for a Youth Development organization. Steve has a Master’s in Social Work from Carleton University and a Master’s of Post-War Reconstruction and Development from the University of York.

Kim Kerr, Consultant, Youth Learning
Kim is supporting the design and development of the Foundation’s global secondary education scholarship program.  She is an international development and education consultant with more than 20 years of experience working with national and international NGOs.  Prior to consulting, Kim was Technical Team Leader for Save the Children Canada where she provided technical support to education programming and supported Save the Children’s Rewrite the Future Campaign.  Kim brings technical expertise in child rights, basic education, community participation, and education in conflict-affected and fragile states.  She has authored papers on aid effectiveness in education and the role of Canadian civil society organizations in education aid.  She holds a Master’s of Education degree from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Alemayehu Konde Koira, Program Manager, Youth Learning
Konde manages a portfolio of Youth Learning projects with a focus on problems of youth unemployment, entrepreneurship, and social and financial education.  He previously worked with Plan International in Tanzania, where he was the Program Support Manager. He has over 20 years of experience in a variety of non-governmental, donor and academic organizations within the international development field, with emphasis on youth development work. Konde holds a BSc from Alemaya University of Agriculture, Ethiopia and an MSc in Agriculture Economics from Reading University, UK.

Meredith Lee, Program Manager, Youth Learning
Meredith manages Youth Learning projects that focus on the intersection between work and education, as well as those that address technology as a vehicle for training and employment. Meredith has over 15 years of experience working with youth both domestically and internationally in experiential education, program design, and implementation. Most recently as Director of Programs for Street Kids International, Meredith has worked in various capacities in youth development and program management in over a dozen countries in the Global South including four years living in Latin America and the South Pacific. She holds an Honours Bachelor Degree in International Development Studies from the University of Toronto, Canada and a Master’s in Public Administration from Queen’s University, Canada.

Margaret Meagher, Consultant, Youth Learning
Margaret manages a portfolio of the Foundation’s Youth Learning projects, including projects that focus on transitions to post-secondary education and education for social transformation. She has over 20 years of experience in international development and education, including gender and child-centered approaches, experiential learning, curriculum development, monitoring and evaluation, and has jointly authored several publications. Prior to joining the Foundation, she was a senior member of CARE USA’s Basic and Girls’ Education unit focusing on girls’ and gendered education where she managed a global evidence-based initiative targeting education for the most marginalized children across 17 countries. Margaret has extensive teaching, training, and mentorship experiences with various groups, and has lived and/or worked in East Africa, Southern Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Margaret holds a Master’s Degree in international development education and is pursuing a Ph.D.

Crystal Sequeira, Program Coordinator, Youth Learning
Crystal provides programmatic and logistical support to the Youth Learning team at the Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked with the Toronto Nationals (MLL), Denver Broncos (NFL), Denver Pioneers (NCAA) and Integrity First Management, a local Denver-based sports management firm. The majority of her experience has been in the sports management, marketing, public relations, and event planning fields. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in Finance and Marketing from the University of Denver.