Board of Directors - 2006
 

EAST

Dany Assaf is a lawyer in Toronto with wide expertise in business law. He served as an advisor to NCCAR and a number of Canadian organizations with national and international focus.

Nabil Ayyad, raised and educated in Ottawa, is a prominent leader in the Arab Canadian community. He is also currently Executive member of the Nepean-Carleton Conservative Association. Over the past two decades, he has served as president and as a board member on the executive of several community-based and charitable organizations. Mr. Ayyad is a successful entrepreneur, a member of the Greater Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and former Director of the Ottawa Merchants' Association. He has been a member and strong supporter of the community bridge building work of the Canadian International Peace Project.

David Comerford (Treasurer) has over 20 years of international development experience and has worked for several Canadian and international NGOs including CBIE, UNAC, Oxfam-Quebec and CCIC.  He has lived and studied for more than seven years in Egypt and Tunisia and has travelled extensively in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. He is currently the director of External Relations at CUSO, the largest cooperant-volunteer sending agency in Canada. Mr. Comerford takes great interest in Canadian public and foreign policy.

Michel de Salaberry is a former Canadian Ambassador to Egypt, Iran and Jordan, Deputy Director, Middle East Division, Chief of Staff to the Minister for Constitutional Affairs, and Director, Middle East Relations Division at Foreign Affairs Canada (formerly DFAIT). He is currently a free agent since leaving the Foreign Service in January 2005 and is working for IMPACS (an NGO that supports civil society and independent media in Canada), L'Arche communities of the mentally challenged in both Gatineau and Bethlehem-Azzarieh, Al Shehab Community Centre in the Cairo periphery, and New Day Foundation for intercultural dialogue between Toronto, Canada and Tehran, Iran, incubated through studies in philosophy and political science.

Jareer Khouri is a policy advisor and executive assistant at Queen's Park in Toronto. He is also a past executive member of the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF). He has an Honours B.A. in International Relations and an LLB (University College London). He appears regularly on TV and radio for commentary on issues of the Middle East and media analysis.

Bahija Réghaï (VP) has extensive experience in the area of human rights, community development, and intercultural training. She has worked and travelled extensively in Africa, Europe and North America. She brings in over 20 years of community and NGO experience. She is a vice-president and founding member of the Arab Canadian Women Association (ACWA) of Ottawa, first co-chair of Al-Awda-Canada, a member of the Advisory Council of the Across Boundaries Multifaith Institute (ABMI) Montreal, and president of the Coalition of Arab Professional and Community Associations (CAPCA) of Ottawa.

Samer Roumani is currently president of the Syrian Arab Association of Canada and vice-president of The Coalition of Arab Canadian Professionals and Community Associations (CAPCA). He is currently the webmaster of 6 major Canadian websites dedicated to advocate and promote the Arab causes. He has supported and worked with NCCAR on many projects in the past. Some of these include the (a) fundraising to send members of Canada's Parliament to the Occupied Territories, Syria and Lebanon (February 2005) and the (b) Arab Film Festival. Mr. Roumani is married to Safa Chaker, a French language teacher/Arabic language teacher and has two children, Ali (12) and Iman (10).

Samah Sabawi is a sociologist, social worker, and freelance journalist by profession and graduated from Monash University in Melbourne in 1988.  She has worked as a radio show co-host in Melbourne, Student Welfare Officer in Melbourne, teaching ESL in Tunis and Egypt and worked for three years in Outreach Crisis Intervention at the Pinecrest-Queensway Health and Community Services of Ottawa. Currently she is the Director of Human Resources in a high-tech firm in Ottawa. She has lived and worked in many countries including Australia, Egypt, Tunis, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.  In addition, she has travelled through Lebanon, Syria, Israel, the Occupied Territories, Iraq and Kuwait. She recently produced and co-authored the play  "Cries from the Land", which had great success in Ottawa.

QUEBEC

Hasan Al-Shawa (President) is President and CEO of Shawa Enterprises Canada, a Montreal-based private investment group. He currently sits on the board of directors of several North American, European, and Middle Eastern companies, trusts, and organizations. Mr. Al-Shawa has accumulated 20 years of experience in business development and real estate in the Middle East and North America. He is active in the community as the President of the Abu-Baker S. Al-Shawa Charitable Foundation, member of the Canadian Arab Federation, on the Board of Trusties of the Canadian Palestinian Foundation, board member for the Social Network for Arab Professionals, and board member for the Arab World Festival.

Fouad Sahyoun

WEST

Sine Chadi is chairman of Imperial Equities Inc. and the company's chief executive officer. From day one, Mr. Chadi has been the principal driver of the company and has overseen all day-to-day aspects of Imperial's growth and development. He brings more than 20 years of professional experience in the real-estate sector to Imperial. He is also the founder and principal shareholder of North American Mortgage Corp., as well as of numerous other companies involved in the acquisition, redevelopment and disposition of real estate assets.  Mr. Chadi also sat as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1993 to 1997. He represented his caucus on a number of the Legislature's economic development, public accounts and treasury committees. Mr. Chadi is also an active community leader and fundraiser for a number of community groups including the Boys and Girls Clubs and Crystal Kids. He received the Honorary Chinese Citizen Award for his philanthropic work with the Asian community in Edmonton.

Rsmeya Hammoud (Secretary) is a legal assistant at the Duncan & Company law firm in Calgary, Alberta. She works in the civil litigation branch and has extensive experience in various litigation areas. Rsmeya has served on a number of boards and is an active volunteer in Calgary. She enjoys being active in community affairs and takes an interest in various events to educate and promote community activities.

ATLANTIC

Dr. Ismail Zayid was born in 1933 in Beit Nuba, Palestine, and was educated in Jerusalem. He received a scholarship from the Jordanian government to study medicine at Guy's Hospital Medical School, University of London, England. Dr. Zayid graduated in 1958, and undertook specialty training in pathology at the Postgraduate Medical School, University of London. After a number of high-level appointments, he was appointed as chief of service, Division of Anatomical Pathology, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1994 until his retirement in 1996. He has contributed extensively, both on a national and international level, in teaching and researching in the fields of Breast and Gynecologic Pathology. In addition to his stellar medical career, Dr. Zayid has been an activist for the Palestinian and Arab cause. He has published two books and many articles on the issue. Since 1978, he has served as president of the Canada Palestine Association and, since 1982, as president of the Arab Canadian Association of the Atlantic Provinces. He has also served on the NECEF board and played an active role in the Canadian Arab Federation in the eighties.