Immigrant Advisory Council

In addition to BIPT members, the work of this Local Immigration Partnership is supported by an Immigrant Advisory Council. The Council provides feedback on the BIPT and its work, shares and promotes promising practices and research, serves as a resource for community service providers and reaches out to ethno-specific communities to share committee information and encourage participation in its work.

The council is comprised of immigrants who live and/or work in Burnaby. Members are selected by the BIPT membership for a two-year term.  Appointed council members have the experience, knowledge, abilities, and skills related to immigrant integration to support BIPT and are non-biased.

The Advisory currently has eight members, representing eight countries of origin. The Council has two co-chairs selected by the membership and its work is guided and supported by the BIPT’s Project Coordinators and the Executive Assistant. The Council meets every two months.

Read more about the members of our Immigrant Advisory Council below. If you are interested in joining the council, please click the below link to complete the application form. If you have any questions, please email Ana Maria at abustamante@burnabyfamilylife.org. APPLY NOW

Meet Our Council Members

  • Country of origin: Palestine and Jordan

    Languages Spoken: Arabic

    Brief Bio:

    I am a trained lawyer with a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Jordan. Of Palestinian origin, I grew up in Jordan and immigrated to Burnaby with my family in 2006. I have experience in customer service, community engagement, social services, advocacy, and spreading awareness through social media. I’ve been working as a community-based support worker for over a decade, focused on violence prevention. I support racialized families, particularly Arabic-speaking immigrant and refugee women dealing with past or ongoing domestic violence. I am passionate about developing resources and delivering services that combat violence against women. I like to cook, travel, and connect with others. I have strong communication skills and enjoy working with a diversity of communities.

  • Country of origin: Columbia

    Languages Spoken: Spanish

    Brief Bio:

  • Country of origin: Syria

    Languages Spoken: Armenian, Arabic

    Brief Bio:

    A professional individual, with 5+ years of experience as a Settlement Worker in Schools (SWIS). Four years of extensive local and overseas community volunteering experience with ethno-cultural minority community. Experience of supporting immigrants and refugee families with diverse cultural backgrounds. Possessing working knowledge of settlement, employment, language and healthcare resources.10+ years of university lecturing experience with excellent communication and group facilitation skills.

    Education:

    • Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering (University of Aleppo/Syria)

    • Education Assistant Diploma (Burnaby Continuing Education)

  • Country of origin: China

    Languages Spoken: Cantonese, Mandarin

    Brief Bio:

    It is a great pleasure and honor for me to continue to be an active member of the Immigrant Advisory Council for BIPT since I joined the committee in late 2014.

    As a new immigrant landing in Canada in mid-2014, I have settled down in Burnaby and started a new journey with my family in this beautiful city that we call home ever since. Similar to other new immigrants, there were no short of challenges living in a new country, but I have made huge accomplishments in my life thanks to my endeavors and other people’s very kind help. Not only have I changed career and advanced in the supply chain industry, but I have also obtained my first professional certification as CPIM after completing supply chain and project management courses at BCIT. In the meantime, I am blessed to be a father of two lovely children, both of who were born in Burnaby.

    Having benefited a lot from this wonderful city, I have been giving back to the local community as a committee member, mentor and volunteer. I will continue to do so to make Burnaby a better place for immigrants and local people. I am proud to have contributed to Burnaby’s success today, and I am looking forward to being a part of Burnaby’s future success.

  • Country of origin: Afghanistan

    Languages Spoken: Farsi and Pashto

    Brief Bio:

    As a member of Immigrant Advisory Council and Case Manager at ISSofBC, Dr. Hakim Asher has had a vibrant career as a research fellow with two distinguished universities, George Washington and American, a journalist, Government spokesperson, a political activist, and advocate for freedom of speech and press as well as a public figure and public policy expert. Prior to coming to George Washington and American University, Dr. Asher served as the Executive Director of the Government Media and Information Center of Afghanistan (GMIC), a position that he was appointed to by President Hamid Karzai, making him one of the most influential government spokespersons in Afghanistan. At GMIC, he led a staff of more than 140 that included the Office of the Presidential Spokesperson, and he founded a rigorous continuing education program under which GMIC conducted hundreds of classes in media, communication, and public policy.

    Before joining GMIC, Dr. Asher was the primary spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior of Afghanistan. As Director of the Directorate of Media and Public Relations at the Ministry, Dr. Asher found himself on the front line of communicating intricate policies and positions to Afghan and international media. On any given day, he provided multiple interviews to reporters on a broad range of subjects involving the Afghan National Police and its various divisions while acting as the senior media advisor to the Minister and his deputies.

    Dr. Asher is also a journalist who, during Operation Enduring Freedom, worked with The New York Times and NBC News. His coverage of the war in Afghanistan often brought him into hostile and dangerous locations. The experience ignited a desire to write, prompting him to found a weekly newspaper that focused on pressing political issues in Afghanistan, the broader region and in the world.

    Dr. Asher earned his M.D. from Kabul Medical University and holds a B.A. in political science from India and a Masters in International Public Policy from School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He is also an alumnus of the Department of State’s prestigious International Visitor Leadership Program. From 2012-2013 he was a fellow at The George Washington University, where he delivered lectures on issues related to the media and south Asia. From 2013-2014 He was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law at American University supported by the American University School of International Service, Washington College of Law, School of Communications and School of Public Affairs.

    As a guest lecturer, Dr. Asher has delivered lectures, participated in conferences and panels, and brown bag discussions. His lectures, discussions and researches focused on a range of topics.

  • Country of origin: China

    Languages Spoken: English, Mandarin

    Brief Bio:

    Lana Wei is the project coordinator of S.U.C.C.E.S.S.’s Employment and Entrepreneurship Services division. She has previously worked for the Immigrant Women Entrepreneurship Program and WorkBC Self-Employment Program at S.U.C.C.E.S.S. As an immigrant and a global citizen, she holds strong belief in interculturalism and engages herself in fostering equal opportunities for all to realize their full potential.

  • Country of origin: Ukraine

    Languages Spoken: English, Russian and Hebrew

    Brief Bio:

    I was born in Ukraine, but immigrated to Israel when I was a teenager and lived there for 17 years. Then immigrated to Canada in 2012. I am a Registered Social Worker with more than 10 years of experience working with immigrants. I love to help others using my skills and knowledge.

  • Country of origin: Indonesia

    Spoken Languages: Indonesian and English

    Short Bio:

    I landed in Canada 14 years ago bringing international work experience from Hong Kong, USA and Indonesia. Since graduating from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, I have always worked in areas related to people development. Here are the highlights of my skills and experience:

    • 5+ years of full-cycle recruitment experience focused on assisting multi-barrier talents & foreign workers with recruitment services, employment needs and hiring requirements.

    • 12 + years' of international consulting work experience as a professional Career Employment Counselor with experience working in an innovative team-based environment. Proficient in Career Counseling theory and application including initial assessment, transferable skills analysis, values and interests inventories, and assignment based counseling methods. Proficient in sourcing the best talent via various channels, internet, community outreach to identify and attract the best talent.

    Currently I work as an Employment Consultant and concurrently as a Job Developer & Wage Subsidy Advisor at Work Burnaby Edmonds. My clients are multi barriers from various nationalities. My primary role is to help them achieve sustainable employment through various interventions such as Job Development, Wage Subsidy services and Occupational Skill Training. I want to share my experience and knowledge with the community so that I can contribute to building a productive community.

  • Country of origin: Malaysia

    Languages Spoken: English, Tamil and Malay

  • Country of origin: India

    Languages Spoken: Tamil, English

    Brief Bio:

    Periystel immigrated to Canada at thirteen years old with her family. She witnessed her parents face the same struggles that many immigrants go through. The biggest struggle for her was watching her parents’ extensive education and international work experience dismissed for their lack of Canadian credentials and work experience. As a result, Periystel has developed a burning passion to help newcomers to Canada find their way and settle into their new home. She especially wants to help older immigrant families with their transition into Canadian life. Her dream is to one day collaborate and be involved in creating and implementing government policies aimed at helping older immigrants find their place in the Canadian economy in a meaningful way.

    Periystel graduated from Simon Fraser University in 2021 with her undergraduate degree, double majoring in History and Political Science along with an African Studies Certificate. She looks forward to meaningfully contribute to the lives of new immigrants, so that they may not only live in Canada but thrive.

  • Country of origin: Columbia

    Languages Spoken: Spanish

    Brief Bio:

    I have a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a Master in Business Administration. Life brings different paths for us, I accepted to have a family which has been my priority than my career. There are no regrets for this amazing choice because overall family is the most important one. I have been participating in many local activities with my family. We love this green city of Burnaby which offers diverse geography places to enjoy all year round, mountains, lakes, many parks and a beach.

    I can understand all the challenges that we face when we come to a new country, stress, disappointments, isolation, and depression. We left everything behind; our family, our friends, and our country to start a new life .You are not alone as we have many immigrant supporting programs right here at our neighborhood in Burnaby.

    I decided to give back to Canada and help many immigrants to start with the right foot and succeed in all areas of their lives.

  • Country of origin: India

    Languages Spoken: English, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil

    Bio: Swapna is a grants management professional specialising in Community Health & Disaster Recovery domains.

    She studied Business & Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and as an entrepreneur, she ran businesses in Healthcare, Marketing & Recruitment for 10 years in the UK and India. She is also a Social Worker and an ILO-certified PMP who has worked with donor agencies like The Danish International Development Assistance, CRY, The Ford Foundation and The Canadian Red Cross, to advance health and social equity in South Asia, UK and Canada.

    Swapna brings a scientific temper to her work and her fortes are Vision, Strategy & Innovation. Rooted in Design Thinking and guided by the values of Well-being & Greater Good, she uses methodologies like Adaptive Management, Results-based Management and Empirical Research to drive innovation & excellence. Pro bono, Swapna has been an advocate of gender equity; an educator in Parenting & Mental health; a coach for entrepreneurs in Branding & Business Models; and a member of several community networks.

    Swapna is an admirer of intellectual courage and wants to remain an inspired critical thinker all her life. She can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/swapnaantony/

  • Sreshta has a Master's degree in Economics and in Business Administration (from University Of New Brunswick). She is a successful working professional in the financial services sector for over 13 years in Canada and over 18 years in her country of origin. Sreshta has been passionate about creating an accepting and welcoming local community by working towards proactively inspiring residents to come together to protect their neighbourhood from criminal activity. Sreshta has actively volunteered for the city of Mississauga and received several awards before moving to British Columbia 5 years ago.

    Sreshta believes that immigrant experience is enhanced by community involvement, to create a sense of belongingness, to motivate immigrants to continue to stay in Canada. Besides the fact that most immigrants have challenges in finding a footing in the new country when they leave behind everything; especially those valuable relationships that have been built over the years to start a new life in Canada, it is vital that immigrants have strong community connections to settle down in Canada.

    Sreshta is very excited to be part of the Immigrant Advisory Council for BIPT, to contribute in making Burnaby a warm and welcoming great place for immigrants to live, work and succeed in creating their communities.

    She can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sreshtarout/

  • Country of origin: Taiwan

    Languages Spoken: Mandarin, Taiwanese

    Brief Bio:

    I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Taiwan, a Diploma in Hotel Management from Switzerland, and an MBA from the University of Victoria.

    For the past fifteen years I have worked for TELUS Communications in both marketing and customer solutions and currently lead a team of customer service representatives in the Burnaby call centre. Prior to this, I was the director of sales and marketing at a five-star hotel in Taipei.

    Canada is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms touched me deeply when I first considered immigrating, due to the inclusiveness of all peoples who call Canada home.

    I chose Burnaby as my home, as it is centrally located within Metro Vancouver, with easy access to neighbouring cities.

    Burnaby is a very welcoming and inclusive community for everyone to live in. My vision for the city is that it is inclusive for all, not only immigrants and refugees.