Board of Directors

Pronouns: He/ Him/ His

anthonyazar1@gmail.com

Anthony works at the intersection of people, process and technology. He is BC born and raised and is fortunate to live and work on the traditional and unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. He is a life-long learner and recently graduated with master’s in management analytics and is excited to be driving the evolution of HR into a more numbers/analytics-based practice. Volunteering in the not-for-profit sector is a part of his calling and he has served on other LGBTQ boards and as a facilitator at the Vantage Point for topics in board governance, management and human resources.

Pronouns: She/ Her/ Hers

astha.dalakoti@gmail.com

Astha is an international development professional, a queer feminist, an immigrant of colour, and a person with cultural roots in India, China and Canada. She holds a MA in Public Policy from the University of British Columbia, and a BA in Psychology from McGill University.

With 10+ years of global experience (in India, China, Thailand, Ethiopia and Kenya), Astha specializes in strategic planning and monitoring, donor relations, communication and advocacy, and program management. She is a collaborator at heart, and enjoys working with people from all walks of life to uphold a shared vision of social justice and human rights. Fluent in English and Mandarin, Astha also provides translation and interpretation services.

Pronouns: She/They

evie.yvr@gmail.com

Evie Mandel loves green spaces, ancient trees and ocean shores. She started coming out over 50 years ago, and is a queer, non-binary, Jewish feminist, and an old dyke who was once a baby butch. Her grandparents came to the Canadian prairies from Eastern Europe over a century ago, leaving her with a sense of history and the movement of peoples. She grew up in Edmonton on Treaty 6 territory, a gathering place for many nations including Cree, Blackfoot, Métis, Dene, Anishinaabe, and Inuit peoples. After many years travelling and working internationally, she is now grateful to live in Vancouver, on the traditional and stolen lands of the Coast Salish peoples. In the 70s and 80s, Evie organized Take Back the Night marches, edited a lesbian magazine called Diversity and worked as a bookseller. She has worked internationally for the World Health Organization and other parts of the United Nations, as well as locally for UBC, managing budgets, developing policy, and implementing new systems. She still thinks a good spreadsheet is a thing of beauty.

Pronouns: She/ Her/ Hers

rowanasm@gmail.com

Rowan is a lawyer with a JD in Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Law from UCLA and an LLM in Media Law from Queen Mary, University of London.  Rowan has a long history of volunteer work with non-profits, including Random Acts, the Continuing Legal Education Society of BC, CoRe Conflict Resolution Society, Atira Women’s Resource Society, and the International OCD Foundation. Rowan lives and works on the traditional and ancestral lands of the sc̓əwaθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen First Nation).

Pronouns: He/ Him/ His

stephen.menon@thetrevorproject.org

Stephen currently is the Chief Clinical operations officer at the Trevor Project, responsible for leading our Crisis Service programs (Lifeline, Digital and 988), internal learning and development, volunteer recruitment and experience, and continuous improvement. The team consists of over 500 employees and contractors. Stephen joined The Trevor project in August 2022.

Stephen is a seasoned product professional in the  conversational AI, FinTech and financial services industry. Stephen was the SVP of Product and Design at Finn AI where he led Product management, Product marketing  and product design functions, Stephen joined Finn AI in Late 2017, as a sole contributor in product and lead building out both the product function and helped in the creation of Finn AI’s two core SaaS product offerings. Stephen also worked at Thinkific, a leading provider of digital course and community learning products, where he was a  product leader 

Previous to Finn AI Stephen spent over 12 years of working experience in various lines of business within banking, Stephen formerly served as VP of Operations at MBNA (acquired by Bank of America) and SVP of Marketing and Product. He later moved to TD Bank as AVP responsible for consumer card products, including the launch of Aeroplan.

Stephen currently serves on the board of Qmunity – British Columbia’s Queer, Trans and Two spirit resource center, he previously served on the board of The 519, Toronto’s queer community center and Raincity housing, one of the largest providers of shelter, temporary and permanent housing in British Columbia.

Pronouns: She/ Her/ Hers

Nicola spent her youth feeling disconnected, because she was never taught what it meant to be trans. As an adult, she discovered who she was by attending, and volunteering at Vancouver Pride events. She spent six years on the Board of Directors at Vancouver Pride, giving back to an organization that helped her find the freedom to live authentically. Today, she is heavily involved in social justice advocacy work, driven by the motto’s “be the change you want to see in the world,” and “be the person you needed when you were younger.” With that in mind, she is thrilled to be a Board Director for QMUNITY, an organization that provides the kinds of support she needed. She is a Social Justice Ambassador, runs a construction company, creates art, volunteers for a variety of organizations, and loves outdoor activities. She hopes to use her wide range of interests, knowledge, and skills to provide value, and unique perspectives, to QMUNITY.

Pronouns: He/ Him/ His

Kevin lives and works on the unceded, traditional and present land of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). Currently, he is the Senior Director, Indigenous Health at the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA). Prior to this role, Kevin supported pandemic response efforts with the Public Health Agency of Canada and led public health policy analysis and development as the Director, Strategic Policy with the First Nations Health Authority. He has also held senior policy positions with the federal government in areas such as regional economic development and community infrastructure. Kevin holds a master of public administration from the University of Victoria and a bachelor of arts from Simon Fraser University. He also sits on the Board of the Vancouver Public Library.