Ratna Omidvar becomes TRIEC’s first Emerita Chair, TD’s Manjit Singh becomes Chair of the Board

Ratna Omidvar becomes TRIEC’s first Emerita Chair this week.  

This specially created role acknowledges Ratna’s continued connection to TRIEC, as well as her outstanding contribution in the field of immigrant employment. As Emerita Chair, she remains a voting member of the board.

Ratna, who was TRIEC’s founding Executive Director, is also launching the Ryerson Maytree Global Diversity Exchange, a new initiative based at Ryerson University. She said: –

“Since we created TRIEC, we have seen many immigrants in the GTA achieve prosperity, but there is still much more to do. The issue of immigrant employment will always be of personal importance to me, and as Emeritus Chair I will continue my active commitment to TRIEC’s work. Organizational leadership needs to experience development and renewal in order to thrive, and as such I am delighted to be handing over the role of Chair to Manjit Singh”.

Manjit Singh, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Canadian Retail, TD Bank Group, is succeeding Ratna as Chair of the TRIEC Board of Directors. “TD is a long-standing supporter of TRIEC’s mission to create greater opportunity for new Canadians, so they may fully participate in the growth and success of our city,” he said. “I’m delighted to take on this leadership role and bring my own experience and efforts to this very important work.”

Joining Manjit as he begins his tenure are three more new Directors: Sheldon Leiba, President and CEO of the Mississauga Board of Trade, Joan Andrew, Distinguished Public Servant in Residence at Ryerson University and Allison Pond, Executive Director at ACCES Employment. They replace outgoing members Mario Calla of COSTI Immigrant Services, Sanish Samuel from the York University Foundation, Naomi Alboim of Queen’s University and Shelley White from the United Way of Peel Region.

TRIEC Executive Director Margaret Eaton said of the changes:-

“Ratna’s leadership of TRIEC has been exceptional, and I’m so pleased that she will be continuing her work with us. We welcome Manjit and our three new Board members and we look forward to an exciting time ahead for the organization. With all these new roles in place, we’ll be bringing our work to scale, reaching new audiences and supporting GTA employers to make the most of all the skills and experience our region’s immigrants have to offer.”

 See the full list of our board members.