Board of Trustees

Victoria Sheppard (President)

Victoria Sheppard is founding president of CMETrust. Victoria’s academic background in Marine & Freshwater Biology (BSc) and Environmental Studies (MES) took her to Nairobi, Kenya, in 2005 on a Canadian International Development Agency internship at the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) headquarters there. During her year working with UNEP she volunteered weekly in Mathare Valley Slum. Before returning to Canada, she asked her Kenya friends what she might be able to do from home to continue helping Mathare’s youth. They responded that they had always wanted to start a foundation to provide secondary school scholarships to students from the slum…

CMETrust was born from these discussions in September 2006, a partnership between Kenyan and Canadian friends. Victoria returned to Kenya in December 2007 for a visit and to examine the impact of CMETrust’s inaugural year on the ground in Mathare – she was deeply encouraged by what she saw and heard! Victoria currently lives in Ottawa where she works as a Marine Protected Areas Policy Analyst with Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

Victoria returned again to Kenya in January 2011, during which time she visited CMETrust scholars at Wang’apala Boys High School in western Kenya, participated in McGill University’s Canadian Field Studies In Africa program annual visit to Mathare slum with CMETrust and the Mathare Roots Youth Group, met with the parents/guardians of CMETrust scholars and the CMETrust alumni in Mathare, and enjoyed celebrating CMETrust’s 5th Anniversary with our growing CMETrust family in Nairobi – short video diaries of Victoria’s wonderful visit can be viewed at YouTube.com/CMETrust. Link to video.

Heather Arnold (Treasurer)

Heather Arnold is a founding member of the Board of Trustees, and the Treasurer of CMETrust. She became involved in the Trust in 2006 after returning from Nairobi where she participated in a CIDA internship at the United Nations Environment Programme. She was inspired by her time in Nairobi to give back to the community there. Heather now lives in Ottawa where she works at Environment Canada in international environmental policy.

Afiya Chown

Afiya Chown is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of CMETrust, and has acted as Secretary since its inception. With an English B.A. and publishing background, Afiya loves to read and strongly believes in the power of education. CMETrust’s mandate is a perfect fit with this belief and Afiya jumped at the opportunity to volunteer when Victoria first announced her intention to start the Trust. Afiya works as a style expert for Canadian print and television and is the founder and Creative Director of the fashion site The Style House.ca. Afiya currently lives in Toronto with her husband Aaron and son Felix.

Shari DeCaire

Shari DeCaire – I have been involved with CMETrust since its inception, and am one of the founding members of the Board of Trustees. After graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2001 with an Honours Degree in Sociology I entered into the social service field, and have been working in that vein ever since. I became interested in working with the Trust through Victoria Sheppard (CMETrust President) and have been committed to the cause ever since.

I live in Kitchener, Ontario and have recently begun a Kitchener/Waterloo Chapter of the Trust with several committed volunteers. We had our first event in June 2009 called “Cheers for Children” and we were able to raise enough funds for several scholarships.

I look forward to spending some time in Mathare and so giving me further depth of purpose as I continue to work towards helping to make education more attainable and accessible for the children of Mathare.

Megan Deeks

Megan Deeks is a graduate of Queen’s University; she has a BAH in Dramatic Arts and Women’s Studies. She is soon to enter into the world of finance with CIBC Wood Gundy in their private investing sector. Deeks has a background in fundraising and event planning, as well as in performance art – at many of Toronto’s popular theatres. She currently performs with an all-female sketch troupe called She Said What. Megan feels very strongly about making education attainable for those for whom it isn’t, and she is elated to dig deeper into the CMETrust as a newly elected board member. Deeks is determined to make her mark on what she feels is the future of tomorrow.

Ori Mandowsky

Ori Mandowsky graduated from the University of Western Ontario with both an Honors Business Administration (HBA) degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business and an LL.B. from Western’s Law School. After graduating, Ori was a corporate/commercial lawyer with a major downtown Toronto law firm. He currently works as a corporate development analyst for a Toronto investment management firm.

Alison Hughes (Secretary)

Allison Hughes is a graduate of York University; she has a BFA in dance and an MA in Applied Linguistics. She currently works at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre as Registrar. She has a background in both educational administration and the non-profit sector, with work at York University as well as the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. Hughes spent a year teaching English in South Korea and also studied dance for a semester in the United Kingdom. She believes strongly in education as a tool for social change and is happy to have worked with CMETrust since its inception.

Laura Macchione

Laura Macchione is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of CMETrust. Laura has an academic background in International Development (BA) and holds a postgraduate certification in International Project Management. Laura’s interest in international development issues was first sparked during a volunteer trip to a children’s orphanage in Honduras at age 14. Since that time, Laura has volunteered and worked with a number of not-for-profit organizations in Toronto, Honduras, South Africa and Uganda. While working in Uganda in 2008-2009, on a Canadian International Development Agency Internship, Laura traveled to Nairobi to visit the Mathare Valley Slum. Seeing Mathare firsthand and meeting the Trust scholars and Kenyan agents reconfirmed to Laura that the CMETrust is truly making a lasting impact in the lives of deserving, bright young people from Mathare through the opportunity of education. Laura is currently planning to move back to East Africa to continue her work in International Project Management.

Megan McCoy

Megan McCoy is a founding member of the Board of Trustees of CMETrust. Having spent the last ten years working in theatre, television and film, Megan is currently a Director and Story Editor with Frantic Films.

In the summer of 2008, in an effort to expand CMETrust’s network through outreach, Megan set out with volunteers Owen Sheppard (filmmaker) and Melanie van de Water to make a short documentary film
that would follow-up with scholarship recipients and illustrate their progress. On her visit to Mathare, Megan was able to meet the Kenyan agents, visit Mathare and the primary schools that many of the CMETrust scholarsattended, and travel to Western Kenya to each of the boarding schools where CMET scholars are enrolled. The trip was an extraordinary one for Megan and the overall experience has reinforced her commitment to the Trust and its objectives. She sincerely hopes that it’s a trip that each and every one of the CMETrust board members gets to take at some point.

Consuelo Van Beek

Consuelo van Beek is a CMETrust Board member and the Ottawa Chapter Co-chair. Consuelo’s academic background is in Local Economic Development (M.A.E.S) and Economics & Geography (B.Sc). After completing a CIDA internship in the Philippines and travelling to a number of developing countries in South East Asia and South America, Consuelo was drawn to the work of the CMETrust – volunteering for an organization that provides high school scholarships for children in need was an easy sell! Consuelo currently lives in Ottawa and works for Natural Resources Canada as a Policy Analyst.

Amy White

Amy White’s academic experiences include a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Guelph and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Edinburgh. Amy lives in Toronto where she works as a teacher for the Toronto District School Board. She believes deeply in the value of education and is committed to learning, literacy and education!

During the 2009 and 2010 academic school year, Amy was on a sabbatical where she volunteered at a local school in South Africa and then traveled through Southern and Eastern Africa. The last week of her eight month adventure culminated with a visit to Mathare in Nairobi, Kenya. There Amy had the opportunity to meet with students who had benefited from the academic scholarships raised by an organization she had long worked on and promoted – the Canadian Mathare Education Trust. She also met with grateful parents and guardians, our dedicated and spirited Kenyan Agents, Charles, Benedict and Titus and other community advocates and supporters. Amy witnessed first hand that Mathare, although greatly affected by various hardships, is a community made up of kids who love to learn and parents who want the absolute best for their children. Amy was truly touched and astounded by the tremendous gratitude for CMETrust that was shown. Amy is already dreaming about another trip to Mathare.

Selina Young

Selina Young’s involvement with CMETrust began while she was working as a Policy Analyst at Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa, Ontario. She was looking for a new volunteer opportunity and as she feels strongly about the importance of education, CMETrust was a perfect fit. The passion of the CMETrust volunteers and Trustees and the positive impact CMETrust is having in Mathare inspire Selina to continue to volunteer and to take on new challenges, including becoming the Toronto Chapter Volunteer Coordinator.

Selina Young holds a Master degree in Environmental Studies and a BSc. in Environmental Toxicology. Selina recently joined the Drinking Water Management Division of the Ontario Ministry of Environment as a Senior Advisor in the Project Planning and Reporting Section. Selina has also worked for the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and for Environment Canada at Canada Centre for Inland Waters where she conducted water quality research on Lake Ontario. Selina is keen to travel to Mathare in the near future to meet CMETrust’s scholars and agents and see the impact CMETrust is having in Mathare firsthand.

Kathie Oginsky

CMETrust welcomed Ottawa Chapter Co-Chair Kathie Oginsky to its Board in May 2011.

Kathie joined the CMETrust Ottawa chapter in 2008. She has been involved as a volunteer, Volunteer Coordinator, Coordinator of the 2009-10 Mathare in Focus traveling photo exhibit, co-Chair for the 2010 Mathare in Focus calendar and photo launch, and now as one of CMETrust Ottawa chapter’s co-Chairs.

Kathie lived in Nairobi in 2003-04 and joined CMETrust as a way to stay connected to Kenya from Canada. Kathie is especially passionate about girls’ education and using photography to share stories that can promote cross-cultural learning and understanding.

Kathie works in the Africa Branch of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and, in her spare time, enjoys roller skating, running and planning her next trip to Kenya.