Société pour le développement international
Section Ottawa-Gatineau

SID Ottawa-Gatineau Direction
2011-2012

President

Riccardo Rossi-Ricci

Since 1974 he has been assisting governments worldwide in institutional and decentralized development, humanitarian and peacekeeping roles, mainly within the UN system. More than 10 years in FAO Representations in Benin, Brazil, Togo, Colombia, Senegal and Cape Verde Islands dealing also with rural development, nutritional, wildlife and drought issues.

In the fight against drug, he opened the UN Office in Ecuador and then he coordinated the program in Bolivia. For the European Union he managed an Integrated Rural Development project in Costa Rica, and accomplished consultancies in rural development and drug. He played a key role on the Canadian response to Hurricane Mitch in Central America.

His post-conflict experience includes some 5 years dealing with local interethnic problems in Kosovo and Afghanistan, mainly in youth, health and rural problematics. He has been lecturing at postgraduate level in 5 Colombian Universities. His last field assignment was to reorganize a joint venture between CARE and WWF to preserve nature, while improving the livelihood of local population in 2 archipelagos of Northern Mozambique.

Member of different international development circles, he is the President of the only Canadian Chapter of the Society for International Development. Mr. Rossi-Ricci considers himself a Global Citizen, being an Italian, who, after years in Latin America, in Africa and in the Balkans, decided to settle in the multicultural Canada. A part from the native Italian, he is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. He holds a Master on Agricultural Sciences from the Italian University of Perugia, and a Specialization on International Business Management from the Colombian University Jorge Tadeo Lozano.

 

Vice-President, Membership

Joelle Zeitouny

Joelle Zeitouny is a nutritionist currently working in food and nutrition surveillance at Health Canada. She is passionate about issues related to nutrition and food security at the national, sub-national and international levels. She is a registered dietitian and holds a M.Sc. in Human Nutrition from McGill University and a B.Sc. in Nutrition & Dietetics from the American University of Beirut. She speaks English, French, Arabic and Spanish.

 

Director, Programming

Jaimi Gardner

Jaimi has worked at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre (PPC) for over 2 years as a Project Officer on their Latin American Program. Before joining the PPC, Jaimi worked as the Mental Health Project Coordinator in policy and program development at Director Military Family Services, Department of National Defence.

 

Jaimi's academic career began at the University of Western Ontario, where she completed an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science with a minor in Spanish. She spent the third year of the program studying abroad in Monterrey, México at El Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. After finishing her program, Jaimi obtained a Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) -sponsored international youth internship as a Capacity Builder with the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) World Accord and Mujeres en Acción, in Chimaltenango, Guatemala.

 

After completing her work in Guatemala, Jaimi continued her education by pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Political Science at York University. Jaimi specialized in Security Studies with a focus on the Middle East and Latin America. In addition to her academic work in the field, she has also worked for a variety of NGOs in peace education, conflict resolution, fundraising and international development.

 

Board Secretary

Crystal Chow

Currently a Masters student at Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Master of Infrastructure Protection and International Security, expected graduation April 2012.

Communication Coordinator

Abbas Sumar

Currently International Project Manager & Business Development Specialist Axiom Global Research working with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) conducting research for Indian higher education among other assignments and where he was a former project manager. He has worked with the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE/ADEC); the Canada-Russia Northern Development Partnership Program (CIDA/AUCC); the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU). Previously Abbas was a Legislative Assistant to the Parliament of Canada, a Financial Services Manager BMO-Bank of Montreal and a Credit Analyst with American Express EE (Collectcorp Inc) .

Abbas was educated at Carleton University where he holds an MA, Legal Studies (Distinction) 2007 and a BA Honours, Law & Political Science 2002

Treasurer

Robert Mitchell

Semi-retired, Robert has worked as a development consultant for the last 30 years on a wide range of civil society, bilateral and multilateral programs and in over 25 countries in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. This included 4 years living in Pakistan. He has travelled extensively around Asia and has taught mathematics in Cameroun and Swaziland.

His consulting practice emphasized reaching marginal communities and businesses, strengthening the organizations that work with and for them, and holding government and donor agencies accountable.

He holds degrees in Engineering (Waterloo) and International Affairs (Carleton).

Webmaster

Peter Christensen

Peter Christensen holds a B.A. in Business Administration from University of Southern Denmark. He was born in Denmark but moved to Canada in 2005 and is now living in Ottawa.

Peter has always been interested in the field of international development. He is a passionate traveller and has travelled Europe extensively.

His primary responsibilities are information management and updating and maintaining the SID Ottawa-Gatineau web site.

Members At Large

Prof. Ozay Mehmet, Co-Chair Middle East Group

Prof. Ozay Mehmet is Professor Emeritus, International Affairs/Economics at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University. He has specialized in economic development, with special reference to Asian Tigers, Turkey and Cyprus. He has consulted extensively for the World Bank, ADB, CIDA, UNDP and UN agencies.

Prof. Mehmet is author of 21 academic books and over 100 articles in top academic journals. His books include, Westernizing The Third World (1995) Routledge; Islamic Identity And Development (1990); Towards A Fair Global Labor Market (1999), with Errol Mendes and Robert Sinding, Global Governance, Economy And Law (2003) - with Errol Mendes and ,Sustainability of Micro States: The Case of North Cyprus, University of Utah Press, 2010. Recognition Awards include a book in his honour: Global Governance, Labour Market Dynamics And Social Change, Essays in Honour of Emeritus Professor Ozay Mehmet, edited by B. N. Ghosh, Wisdom House Publications, UK, 2010.

He is the recipient of numerous academic awards in Canada, being honored by international economics associations and universities abroad including an Distinguished Service Award by the Turkish Economics Association, November 2006. Has been the Founding Co-Editor of the Canadian Journal of Development Studies and served as President of the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development.

Dan Ironmonger

Dan studied Computer Engineering at the University of Victoria and subsequently moved to Ottawa to work as a Professional Engineer. He currently holds the role of Co-President for the Ottawa City Network of Engineers Without Borders Canada. His interests include international development and communications.

Robin McClay

In February 2011, Robin McLay joined McGill's Institute for the Study of International Development as
its first Executive Director. Mr McLay came to McGill from the Canada School of Public Service where
he served as its Director of International Partnership Projects and as Regional Director of the Pacific and
Yukon Region.

Before joining the Canada School, Robin McLay was the Director of Research at the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) for more than 5 years. As the Director of Research, he was responsible managing key research relationships and forging new partnerships with other donor agencies, multilateral organizations, universities and think tanks.

Mr McLay has earned a strong reputation for his contributions in the area of evidence-based policy making by developing creative and innovative ways of linking research to policy. He has established strong networks of key international research organizations through his leadership and membership in the International Forum of Research Donors, as a founding member of the Harvard University School of Public Health's Leadership Council and his involvement with academic institutions and think tanks around the world.

Mr McLay also served as CIDA's Director of Democratic Institutions and Conflict from 2001 to 2005. His career in overnment has afforded him the opportunity to work in various parts of the country and to work on projects in more than 25 countries. Before joining government, Mr McLay worked extensively with Canada's First Nations and he spent a umber of years heading up Harvard University's Native American Program - one of Harvard's ten interfaculty initiatives. He pursued his graduate studies at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government as a Fulbright Scholar. He also holds a aster of Science from the London School of Economics and a B.A. from McGill University.

Carolina Palacios

Carolina Palacios is a researcher with experience and interests on issues related to international affairs, development, peacebuilding and security. She was born in Colombia where she obtained her B.A. in Government and International Relations and a postgraduate degree in Armed Conflicts and Peace. She moved to Canada in 2008 and completed a M.A. in Conflict Resolution from the University of Ottawa.

Carolina has worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Inspector General, and the National Commission for Reparation and Reconciliation in Colombia. She has also worked as a consultant for several governmental and private organizations on issues related to security and public policies. In Canada she worked as a consultant for the NGO Human Rights Internet.

She is currently working as a Funding Researcher for CUSO-VSO, where she conducts research and prepares analyses and reports identifying potential partners and funding sources such as international foundations, bilateral and multilateral agencies and private corporations. She also writes concept notes and project proposals to fund the programs that CUSO-VSO supports in developing countries.