About Us

Nick loves making great things bigger and is fascinated by public policy and community building. A graduate of the Ivey Business School at Western University, he currently serves as an associate at two venture capital firms – True North Fund and BreakawayGrowth Fund. A former actor at Kanata Theatre, Bell High School and in the Ottawa Fringe Festival, Nicholas launched his own company Trivial Theatre while at school in London, Ontario. He likes to be involved wherever he can bring value, whether it’s strategy, fundraising or operations.

Susan is passionate about dialogue and in creating new spaces for people to learn and collaborate on topics they care about. Susan is a federal public servant based at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. She has had the privilege of hosting radio programs on CKCU FM in Ottawa since 1999. She has worked with Community Mediation Ottawa and the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution to help people and groups strengthen their capacity to talk through and learn from their differences. In 2014, she co-founded Ottawa (de)tours, a social enterprise with a mandate to help people explore and discuss all things Ottawa.

Riyaz is a skilled program manager with nearly 10 years of experience in the not-for-profit sector strategically designing, implementing, and evaluating impactful programs that build capacity and drive change. Her work is informed by a deep commitment to innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning, inspiring teams to achieve meaningful results. Originally from Ottawa, Riyaz has been lucky to have also lived in Montreal, Vancouver, Waterloo and Haiti. With a Masters degree in Peace and Conflict Studies, Riyaz is a peacebuilder at heart, believing in the transformative power of dialogue and communication to bridge divides and connect communities.

Dan Monafu is an Ottawa-based community builder, serial small business owner, and federal public servant. At the local community level, Dan has started a number of initiatives, including: Soup Ottawa, a participatory micro-grant event held seasonally which, over a half decade, has brought together more than 2,500 people to fund worthwhile community-benefit projects; Ottawa (de)tours, which used the walking tour model to invite Canadians to critically think about complex issues shaping Canada; and Ottawa Civic Tech, a community group of individuals working to strengthen civics and who think policy, technology and inspiration can solve tough problems and make communities better. Dan also serves on a number of Board of Director roles, including with Matthew House Ottawa and CSArt Ottawa.

Sharif Virani is an environmental scientist with a rebellious right-brain. He has a background in media and technology and has had experience working on creative and engaging advocacy campaigns at the government, industry and non-profit levels. His past experience in e-commerce, SME growth marketing, public advocacy/education and corporate relations, has developed into a capacity for evolving plans and campaigns aimed at achieving measurable results in the tri-sectoral implementation of targeted digital and social media strategies.

More recently he has refocused his career towards development focused specifically on projects/initiatives designed for measurable maximum social impact and geared towards more effective, sustainable and affordable solutions for the intended end-users. 

Sharon Diamond is passionate about supporting the community where she lives, works, and raises her family. For the last two decades, Sharon has been working in Ottawa’s non-profit sector, holding roles in fundraising, events and community development within a wide range of organizations including the Soloway Jewish Community Centre, United Way Eastern Ontario, Ottawa Arts Council, Jewish National Fund of Canada, and currently with the Ottawa Board of Trade.

As a volunteer, Sharon has dedicated her time on granting committees, helping with food banks, and community-based events. Through her extensive experience, Sharon has seen firsthand how important collaboration and partnerships are to address obstacles and overcome barriers and knows that the biggest changes come from the ground-up.

Esther is a long time Ottawa resident current working in sustainability funding with a passion for cities, placemaking, and civic engagement. With a Master’s in Carbon Management, they bring a deep understanding of climate solutions and urban sustainability to their work, helping organizations secure the resources they need to build more resilient and inclusive communities.

With volunteer experience on Parliament Hill and a background in political science, Esther is committed to democratic engagement and policy that reflects the needs of local communities. Based in Ottawa, they are particularly driven to celebrate the city’s diverse neighbourhoods and connect citizens through collaborative, place-based initiatives that strengthen civic pride and participation.

Judy spent 31 years in the federal public service, where she had the opportunity to work on many different areas of public policy that affect the lives of Canadians. Judy was very fortunate to have the privilege to spend four years at Canadian Policy Research Networks, doing research on public engagement and leading national dialogues with randomly recruited citizens on a variety of public policy issues. All this work helped to shape Judy’s strong belief that respectful, meaningful dialogue that engages people with different perspectives results in better public policies and programs and is necessary to get stronger communities.

Aaron Burry is a bilingual executive who brings a diverse background leading organizations of all sizes in the private, health and municipal sectors.  Through periods of significant growth, financial challenges, complex change, and transformation, he has shown great strength in leading organizations to new heights. His career has been spent focusing on turning objectives into successful results by building forward-thinking, responsive, client-driven, transparent and financially-sustainable organizations. As a long-time supporter of Synapcity, he passionately believes in the value of city-building and civic involvement, and of making Ottawa a city of highly engaged residents.

An experienced leader of teams with a demonstrated history of growing social innovation programs and engaging diverse thinkers and doers, Laine Johnson is currently the Director of Tenant and Community Engagement at the Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation and is running for City Council in College Ward. Laine holds a Master of Philanthropy and Non-Profit Leadership from Carleton University and is a loyal Ottawa resident with a killer work ethic and unparalleled passion for organizational health and development in the non-profit sector.

Born and raised in Ottawa, Stephane has grown roots in this city he loves and where he’s chosen to settle with a family of his own. He first came to Synapcity with a background in ethics and philosophy and an experience in civic education, consulting for various projects in Ottawa and across Canada. Stephane specializes in civic literacy, curriculum design, public engagement and community resilience, and has been volunteering on many initiatives at the community level. A great thinker, he enjoys a good debate, especially if it relates to “the commons” or placemaking.

Ken Victor has had a varied career in both education and organizational development. He taught English for five years in Syracuse University‘s degree-granting prison education program. He worked with Outward Bound for fifteen years in the U.S. and Canada, where he directed its Professional Development Program. That experience led Ken to a corporate career in leadership development, learning design & facilitation, and team effectiveness. His passion for civic engagement was sparked by his years as a lead facilitator for Leadership Ottawa. A poet, Ken is the author of the collection We Were Like Everyone Else (Cormorant Books).

Building on her experience as one of Canada’s pioneers in deliberative dialogues in the early 2000s, Judith Maxwell is committed to creating opportunities for unaffiliated citizens to develop their voice on issues important to the well-being of Ottawans. Her own voice has made a difference on a range of social and economic policy issues since the 1970s. She was the Founding President of Canadian Policy Research Networks [CPRN] and Chair of the Economic Council of Canada. She has worked as a consultant and a journalist, and has served on the Board of Directors of several large Canadian companies. Since retiring in 2005, she has been actively volunteering in the Ottawa community.

After 40 years doing urban research to help build inclusive cities for women and girls in all their diversity, Caroline Andrew retired as Director of the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa in 2020. A major contribution of hers was Youth Futures involving the City of Ottawa, Ottawa Community Housing, the Ottawa post-secondary sector and many community agencies. Caroline also implemented the Equity and Inclusion Lens along with the City for all Women Initiative, the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership (OLIP), and was involved in many community boards, including the Community Foundation of Ottawa, the Lowertown Community Resource Centre, the Catholic Centre for Immigrants, and Synapcity. She received the Order of Ottawa in 2013, and the Order of Canada in 2014.

Maureen Appel Molot is a Professor Emeritus and former director of The Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA), at Carleton University in Ottawa Canada. She retired from Carleton at the end of June 2007. She has a BA and MA from McGill University and a PhD. from
the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focused on a number of areas, including the auto industry in North America, Canada-US economic relations, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and Canadian foreign economic policy. She has been fortunate to have held a number of positions in the voluntary sector, among them President of the Ottawa Vaad Ha’Ir, Chair and a 13-year board member of the Community Foundation of Ottawa, and a member of the board of Community Foundations of Canada.