Canada has been shaped by people who came from all over the world to build this country. WOW offers a platform for us to celebrate this history and the future it will help…

Alex Munter, Chair of the OLIP Council and President and CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre
In our city’s history, immigrants have always played an important role. They build our economic prosperity, diversify our culture, contribute to our social vitality.

Jim Watson
Mayor of Ottawa
The work and expertise that OLIP brings to our community is so important as it helps us to build bridges and break down silos.  I look forward to our continued work together. 

Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa
All the WOW events that I went to were great – WOW does give a sense of a community trying to improve its attraction and retention!

Caroline Andrew
Professor, University of Ottawa
My nomination is an indication that our hard work in building Canada is recognized. All we do is to serve the community in return for embracing us when we needed it.  

Mehdi Mahdavi
Ottawa Immigrant Entrepreneurship Awards Nominee
We are very pleased to have done the “Opportunity Cost of Not Investing in Interpretation” report – it is so important to have clarity on these challenges and…

Hindia Mohamoud, Director, OLIP
The OLIP Council is committed to leadership.  In only a few years, we have a common vision and priorities, and are up to the task of implementing the Ottawa Immigration Strategy.

Salimatou Diallo
OLIP Council Vice Chair, Assemblée de la francophonie de l'Ontario
The WOW seminar on immigrant women’s nutrition and health was a step in the right direction towards closing the gap between academic researchers and service providers.

Josephine Etowa
Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa
The Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre is so happy to have joined the OLIP Health and Wellbeing Sector Table. It is clear that OLIP cares about immigrants and refugees and…

Wendy Tang, Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre
I was happy to see integration to Algonquin territory and indigenous culture related programming in 2014 WOW. Please continue to involve local Aboriginal organisations and…

Linda Manning
WOW 2014 participant, Senior Fellow, University of Ottawa

Meet the WOW 2014 Chairs

Louisa_web_2090Louisa Taylor is an award-winning journalist and communications consultant recognized for her reporting on immigration, health, community and international development. Born and raised in Ottawa, Louisa has also lived in Toronto, Montreal and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Her work has appeared in the Ottawa Citizen, the Toronto Star, The Economist and NewCanadianMedia.ca. A passionate community catalyst, Louisa can often be found organizing events around her favourite themes of storytelling, diversity and innovation. She is one of the co-founders and co-ordinators of The Travers Debates, a popular fundraiser on Parliament Hill that brings journalists and politicians together to support a foreign reporting fellowship. More recently, Louisa created Datafest Ottawa, Canada’s first hackathon on migration issues, an exciting weekend of creative collaboration between journalists, settlement workers, researchers, web developers and software engineers.

Louisa says: “I was honoured and excited to be invited to co-chair Welcoming Ottawa Week. It’s a fantastic opportunity to bring old and new Canadians together to celebrate what we have in Ottawa, and look ahead to the great city we’re building.”

 

SarahOatCHUOA translator by trade, Kenyan-born Sarah Onyango is a well-known fixture on Ottawa’s community media scene. She hosts the monthly African cultural program Fontonfrom, on Rogers TV Cable 22 – Ottawa as well as the weekly radio programs, Black on Black and Afrika Revisited on CHUO 89.1FM (University of Ottawa community radio). She is very active in the Black community in Ottawa, and has done a great deal to promote its people, organizations, causes and events. To make it easier for the Black community to stay connected, Sarah created a website called BlackOttawa411 which has become a virtual community “hub” of sorts. In addition to volunteering as a radio and television host and producer, Sarah has emceed and helped organize various community events as well as diplomatic functions. Sarah is also a board member of Black History Ottawa, where she is responsible for public relations and outreach activities. Since 2008, Sarah has also been a member of the United Way/Centraide Ottawa Community Builder Award Recognition team.

Sarah says: “I am thrilled and proud to have been asked to be a 2014 Welcoming Ottawa Week co-chair! This community-building initiative provides an ideal platform for Canada’s capital city to show off one of its most precious resources: its people! What a fabulous way to celebrate the many diverse immigrant experiences and contributions that make Ottawa such a dynamic city!”