Governance, Financials & Annual Reports

Portia Daisy, Vice Chair

Portia has lived in the Durham Region for several years. She completed a BFA at York University and holds both a CHRL and PMP designation. Her employment background includes several years in the Financial Services Industry, Consulting Services and the Public Education sector. She currently works at Centennial College, where she is a valued Human Resources Professional with expertise in talent acquisition, employee development and change management/process improvement. She is also a certified Facilitator in Crucial Conversations. As a first generation Canadian she has a good understanding of challenges faced by new immigrants and she is excited to provide support to CDCD and its many programs. Portia’s volunteer work includes several years of leadership as a head coach to rep level girls basketball teams. In her spare time, she is very passionate about travel, listening to music and playing in various soccer and basketball leagues.

Hillary Smith, Treasurer

Hillary is a lifelong resident of Durham Region and is passionate about giving back to her community. She joined the CDCD Board of Directors in 2017 as she wished to use her background in Finance and Accounting to help support the organization and its objectives. Professionally, Hillary is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA). She is a Business Manager for a large Value Chain Solution provider in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry and specialized in risk and performance management. In her free time, Hillary enjoys being active and is an avid runner, cyclist, skier and outdoor enthusiast.

Pinder DaSilva, Secretary

Pinder is an innovative, performance-driven management professional, with experience in leading multidisciplinary work teams in the delivery and execution of employment and social service programs across Ontario. With a strong passion for inclusion, Pinder has spent over 15 years developing and managing programs that serve the unique needs and abilities of individuals. Pinder values the importance of building strong and collaborative cross-sectoral partnerships to address accessibility, inclusion and diversity challenges facing communities across Ontario.

Tarak Ahmed, Director

Tarak Ahmed, MSW, RSW, is excited to join the CDCD’s Board of Directors. He currently works at the University of Toronto as the Team Lead for Counselling Services. He also works part-time as a Professor at Centennial College and has an active private practice.  Tarak has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Toronto as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Ryerson University. He is also currently in the process of completing his MBA. Tarak previously worked at Toronto Community Housing, Ontario Ministry of Health, City of Toronto, and St. Michael’s Hospital. Aside from work and school, Tarak enjoys playing soccer and he loves travelling. Tarak resides in South Ajax with his family.

Omar Almajdalawi, Director

With a Master in Public Health and over 24 years of management experience in humanitarian relief and development programs Mr. Omar Almajdalawi has a passion for delivering results in complex project environments. Omar is currently pursuing a PhD in Conflict and Development/ Ghent University – Belgium. (The dissertation is about the humanitarian aid and dignity)

While managing large-scale programs and grants portfolios in partnership with sub-grantee local organizations, he has consistently achieved project and program goals in the face of extraordinary challenges. Budget management experience and donor experience includes ECHO, USAID, Danida, UN agencies, AuSAid, EC and SIDA, 

Managing teams in difficult environments, Omar is a passionate leader with an ability to bring people together, stay motivated, and achieve results. He has more than 16 years of experience in training development and delivery, motivation, team building and leadership, and has managed teams as large as 72 staffs.

Whilst technically specialized in Humanitarian Aid and resilience, Omar’s technical skills span the range of development and relief sectors with focusing on community engagement and empowerment and social accountability. Omar has a unique talent for fundraising, networking, Advocacy messages development, creating tools and mechanisms for coordination, Monitoring & Evaluation and has continuously succeeded in forging new funding relationships on behalf of his organization. His project management specialties include establishing and implementing monitoring, evaluation and learning systems, including through the use of digital tools, as well as accountability and feedback mechanisms considered one of his key strengths.

Omar participated in establishing many non-profit organizations and was a member on boards of directors several times where contributed highly in putting them on the right track, increasing and strengthening the relationship between these organizations and local communities and raising funds.

Ali Hirji, Director

Ali has over 15 years of experience in developing and leading teams at various stages of the IT development lifecycle. He spearheaded the growth of Durham College’s Cybersecurity Innovation Center along with their AI and Cybersecurity labs, and led the deployment of applications and infrastructure in line with ISO 27001 and NIST frameworks and prepared processes for SOC 2 level clearances.

Ali  has held senior roles at the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) in projects related to remote connectivity, the implementation of technical training, enhancing access to critical applications and more. As well as being a seasoned member of the Cyber community, Ali has led the deployment of tabletop exercises for the province of Ontario and delivered cyber training programs across various sectors. Most recently, Ali was retained to lead the cyber training division of the Youth Employment Services and lead programming to train and enhance skillsets of learners in cyber.

Ali is the host of various tech shows including Power Hour, a panelist for numerous forums including the CISO Forum Canada and a highly acknowledged lecturer at many institutions across Canada.

Along with pursuing his PHD, Ali enjoys lecturing at related courses at Seneca College, Georgian College, Toronto School of Management, University of Fredericton and Algoma University to name a few.

Rishab Madhar, Director

Rishab is from Oshawa, Ontario. He has an engineering degree in electrical discipline and holds P.Eng., PMP, CRM, and OSWP designations. He is passionate about continuing education in engineering, business analysis, risk management, project management, and cyber security. He studied in various community colleges/universities – Mohawk College, Sheridan College, George Brown College, NAIT, University of Alberta, University of Toronto, and York University. His employment background includes several years in distribution/generation of electricity, designing electrical systems, construction management, risk management, project management, and program management. He immigrated to Canada in 2006 and has also 12 years of international experience. In his spare time, he enjoys walking, travelling, making videos, playing keyboard, and Latin/WCS dancing.

Melissa Malcolm, Director

Melissa has been a resident of Pickering for 19 years.  She is committed to providing support and leadership to non-profits and charities and has spent many years volunteering and giving back to the community.  She currently sits on a Board dedicated to developing leadership skills in kids and has provided mentorship to young early career females.

An HR professional with a career spanning over 20 years in both the public and private sector, Melissa is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Malcolm HR Consulting, a Pickering-based HR consulting business providing service to small and medium-sized businesses.

Melissa graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a Major in Human Resources from Ryerson University and holds a High Honours Bachelor of Administration Diploma, HR Specialization from Seneca College. She is also a member in good standing with the Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA).

In her spare time, Melissa loves to travel, spend time with family and friends and volunteering.   She looks forward to contributing to CDCD and adding value as a Board member.