Introducing the newest Ottawa Global Shapers
After a highly intensive recruitment process, the Ottawa Hub of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community is excited to introduce you to its newest members!
Situated in the nation’s capital, the Ottawa Hub is comprised of emerging and accomplished young leaders in the public, private, non-profit sectors. The Hub includes representation from the public service, professional services firms, technology companies, major corporations, law offices, medical organizations, academia, and non-profits. We engage in projects that empower young people in Ottawa to be agents of positive change, promote pluralism, and foster respect for the dignity of others.
We received a record number of applications this recruitment cycle, which made our final decisions extremely difficult. However, we believe these nine exceptional individuals embody our commitment to diversity, our values and our ambitions to improve our local community. They were selected on the basis of their achievements, leadership potential, unique skills/perspectives, and commitment to make a difference.
We look forward to working with our new members to amplify our impact, as well as having them challenge our Hub in new ways.
Please join us in welcoming Ottawa’s newest Global Shapers:
Lina Alvarez
Lina is a Latin Americanist with experience in international trade. She has worked in Argentina with Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service and currently holds a position with Export Development Canada as the Associate for the Global Trade Transportation team.
Born in Ecuador, Lina has a passion for Latin culture and history. This led her to pursue a degree in Latin American Studies from McGill University and environmental research in Panama. Most recently, she co-founded EDC’s Latinos y Amigos club to create a community space for colleagues to practice Spanish and celebrate Latin culture.
A big fan of entrepreneurship, Lina seeks to empower women through business and is currently a Brownie unit leader with Girl Guides of Canada. She hopes to encourage young girls to develop their ambition and learn about entrepreneurship, science, and technology.
Katie Boothby
Katie is an Executive Advisor at Shopify Inc. where she supports communications, directional planning and logistics for both the SVP of Data and Analytics and General Counsel. Prior to Shopify, Katie worked as Advance to the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, coordinating tour operations and media engagement. She also had roles in policy and issues management under two federal cabinet ministers (Finance and Labour/Status of Women).
When Katie isn’t working, she’s playing volleyball or rock climbing and running her not-for-profit soap company funding much needed water infrastructure in Zambia.
Cathy Chen
Cathy is passionate about clean energy, trade, and sustainable finance, which was the focus of her graduate program at Columbia University. Cathy has worked at multiple levels of government, most recently at the United Nations Headquarters as a liaison for the International Renewable Energy Agency. Her goal is to enhance the global position of Canada’s clean energy sector and channel financing towards sustainable initiatives. She has convened both high-level and community dialogues, making her a skilled orator and event planner.
After living abroad, Cathy is excited to return to Canada to work on international energy collaboration and hopes to increase the global visibility of the Ottawa-Gatineau region through the Global Shapers Community.
Kara Eusebio
Kara is the Partnerships Manager for Bayview Yards and Invest Ottawa, Ottawa’s entrepreneurship hub and lead economic development agency. In this role, Kara leads and directs all corporate partnership business development, partner activation and engagement, and stakeholder relationship management. She works with tech and other industry leaders to develop programs that serve the innovation and business community and progress Ottawa’s innovation agenda. Kara combines a unique, multi-sectoral mix of finance, public policy, and international business development experience. She has extensive professional and academic experience in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Myanmar.
An active volunteer, Kara currently serves as a policy advisor for the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada, as founder and chair of the Young Professionals Advisory Board at Cornerstone Housing for Women, and as co-coordinator for the Connect-A-Kid Mentorship Program at The Children’s Bridge.
Kara earned a Master of Public Administration from American University and a Bachelor of Arts in international affairs from The George Washington University.
Baies Haqani
Baies is a young professional in the Ottawa region. He is a part of the Communications and Education Teams at Canada C3, a Signature Canada 150 Project housed under Students on Ice. A recent graduate in Human Kinetics from the University of Ottawa, he worked in a world-renowned environmental physiology laboratory throughout his undergrad and has contributed to numerous publications.
Baies dedicates much of his time to community engagement at the local, provincial and national scales through his work bodies such as the Ottawa Youth Engagement Committee, the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities, and Motivate Canada. Ultimately, he strives to build on the strengths and experiences of his community so that no one is left behind.
Joanne Pitkin
Joanne is currently Communications Manager for the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI). Before joining CADSI, Joanne was an Account Director at Fleishman-Hillard’s Ottawa office, providing strategic communications and public affairs counsel to a broad range of clients. Her professional experience involves various roles in federal departments including the Privy Council Office, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Public Works and Government Services Canada and Natural Resources Canada.
She is Co-Chair of the Ottawa Chapter of Equal Voice, a charitable body with a mission to elect more women in Canada, and Vice-Chair for the Canadian Advocacy Network, an organization dedicated to providing pro-bono public affairs counsel for non-profit and charity organizations. Joanne is listed as one of PR in Canada’s Top 30 Under 30, and Women in Defence and Security (WiDS) and Esprit de Corps Magazine’s Top 20 Women in Defence.
Christian Robillard
“Don’t just go into the world and do well, but go out into the world and do good” These words have guided Christian in his pursuits after working and benefiting from the services of the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club.
Attending Carleton University, Christian kept true to that promise. Through his voluntary efforts Christian has worked with organizations, large and small, to raise funds; volunteer hours; and mobilize talent to better his community around him. Christian’s efforts resulted in fundraising close to a million dollars for numerous causes, and investing thousands of volunteer hours into the community. This involvement was recognized by Rideau Hall in 2015 when Christian was awarded the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers for his work helping to build a stronger, more caring nation.
Christian now works with The Sponsorship Collective, a boutique marketing firm that works to build in-house capacity for non profits and charities in corporate sponsorship. Christian helps these organizations build in house capacity through technical training, and, most importantly, implementing strategies that work to create meaningful and long-term partnerships between businesses and the third sector. Christian is also completing his masters degree in philanthropy and nonprofit leadership at Carleton University.
Rashid Timbilla
Rashid is a passionate advocate for youth issues. As an Ottawa native, he has dedicated his time towards volunteering to help the city’s at-risk youth population, racialized and minority groups and other charitable causes. As a member of Project FLY — Future Leaders in Youth, Rashid gave numerous workshops to youth on the benefits of post-secondary education, financial literacy and soft skills.
A recent uOttawa alumnus, Rashid actively engaged in sports and in 2014 became captain of the University of Ottawa football team. He studied Political Science and Public Administration. Currently, he is completing his Juris Doctor at the University of Ottawa and helping to resettle incoming refugees through his studies.
Kathleen Walsh
Kathleen is driven by a passion for social innovation and finding ways to make policy more efficient, inclusive, and evidence-based. She serves as Evidence for Democracy’s Director of Policy, and was previously the organization’s Interim Executive Director. Kathleen has devoted her time and career to a number of non-profit organizations including Nobel Women’s Initiative, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Rideau Institute, Equal Voice, and Famous 5 Ottawa.
Kathleen has a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management from Carleton University’s Arthur Kroeger College, and a Masters of Science in Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she specialized in gender and international development.
Past Ottawa Hub Projects
2017 Shape North America Summit: Shape NA, co-hosted with the Toronto Hub, was a 5-day summit that brought Global Shapers from around the world to Canada during our nation’s 150th anniversary of confederation. We hosted top government, industry, and civil sector leaders and discussed solutions to global issues and trends, highlighting Canada’s important role on the world stage.
myCanada150 Photo Exhibit: As Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary of Confederation, we were proud to showcase Canada’s commitment to pluralism with a week-long outdoor photo exhibit along downtown Sparks Street in the heart of the nation’s capital. The myCanada150 Photo Exhibit was launched on June 27, 2017 — Canada Multiculturalism Day and ran through Canada Day, attracting thousands of visitors from across Canada.
Shaping Davos: The World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community pioneered Shaping Davos, a game-changing concept to bring the world to the WEF’s 2015 Davos Annual Meeting , and Davos to the world. The Ottawa Hub was selected as one of 40 cities globally to host a local event, which the Hub followed up with a virtual broadcast to Davos-Klosters via satellite with CBC Power & Politics host Evan Solomon from CBC’s Ottawa studio.
The Power of Tri-Sector Leadership: The Ottawa Hub was proud to partner with the Young Diplomats of Canada to host a breakout session titled “The Power of Tri-Sector Leadership’’ as part of the One Young World Summit. This session, which took place at the Embassy of the United States to Canada, featured a speech followed by a question and answer session with the US Ambassador to Canada, Mr. Bruce Heyman, as well as case studies discussions with Canadian tri-sector leaders.
About the Global Shapers Community
The Global Shapers Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, is a network of city-based Hubs developed and led by young leaders between 20 and 30 years old who want to develop their leadership potential towards serving society.
For more information on the Ottawa Hub, its current projects, and future recruitment opportunities, please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and our official website.
