Board of Directors
President of Board, Digital Moment
Board Trustee, Canadian Museum of History
Mahalia is President of the Board of Directors and was elected to the Board in 2018. Mahalia is a story-teller at heart and has spent many years as a producer, including work at CBC and NFB. She is very vocal and active in promoting the importance of gender equity, inclusion and belonging, and next generation talent. Here’s a recent interview with Mahalia on PNR podcast.
Mahalia has been instrumental in helping build the Board of Directors to be reflective of Canada’s diversity and to support Digital Moment’s mission.
In 2022, Mahalia was awarded the Canadian Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (CEDI) Chair of the Board Award by WXN for her work at Digital Moment. She is also a Board Trustee Board at The Canadian Museum of History.
Co-founder, Quebec Indigenous Science Fair
Jean-François was elected to the Board of Directors in 2020 to represent and support Digital Moment in STEM education, Indigenous community relationships, and Francophonie. Jean-François is a Wendat from Wendake. He is a founding member of the Québec Aboriginal Science and Engineering Association, the Expo-Science Autochtone, and works as an Industrial Technology Advisor for the Industrial Research Assistance Program of National Research Council Canada.
In 2013, Jean-François was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his dedication in promoting science and engineering to First Nation’s youth.
Director, Special Initiatives, Office of the Vice President Academic George Brown College
Elaine Lam was elected to the Board of Directors in 2020 to represent and support Digital Moment in Education and in Board governance. Elaine’s first career job was a secondary school teacher (2003), and is now in her current position as Chief, Partnerships and Education Research at The Conference Board of Canada. Elaine is based in Toronto, Ontario and she has a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature with a minor in Math (Queen's University); a Bachelors of Education , English & Math (Queen's University); a Masters in Education (Oxford University); and a PhD in Education Studies (Oxford & Bath Universities). She has also completed her ICD.D designation (Rotman School of Management), which is the certification in board governance.
Elaine is on the Risk Committee (regular review of DM’s risk and mitigation plans), the Audit Committee (regular review of finances), and she is the main Board contact for DM’s safeguarding policy.
In other voluntary roles, Elaine is a member of the national advisory committee for the Prime Minister’s Teaching Awards, and a member of the International Women's Forum and The Banff Forum.
Retired
(former Vice President, Finance Improvements and Controls, Bell Canada)
Maura O’Shea spent over 24 years at Bell Canada, most recently as Vice President, of Finance Improvements and Controls where she had responsibility to implement systems and processes as well as deliver transformational change within the finance organization through cross-functional collaboration, sound governance and risk management. She supported a team of over 270 people with accountabilities ranging from shared accounting services, SAP Level 1a support, project support, compliance, non-core billing and depreciation reporting.
Maura retired from her full-time career in 2021 and started to volunteer in the community, soon joining Digital Moment’s Board of Directors, and contributing her expertise as Treasurer and member of the Audit Committee and the Risk Committee.
Maura earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Accountant, and is a Member of the Board of the Examiner of CPA Canada. She was also a member of CPA Canada’s Information Management and Technology Committee from 2012 -2019 and was chair from 2017-2019.
Founder at FBP Capital
François Bernard Poulin joined the Board of Directors in 2020 and is a member of the Fundraising Committee and the Strategy Committee.
François Bernard graduated Law from the Université Laval and started to practice Securities and Mergers and Acquisitions at Fasken law firm in Montreal. Following, he continued his education in Master of Laws (LLM) at The London School of Economics and Political Science (with Merit) with a concentration in financial and capital markets, as well as management and finance (2006).
François Bernard has spent the past 20 years working in venture capital and finance, between London (UK) and Montreal (Canada) with clients from around the world. He has worked with businesses where not only the focus was increasingly on ESG standards and impact, both from an investment perspective but also with AAA investors.
Partner and Director of Sourcing & Talent Acquisition, Sourcinc
With a master’s degree in negotiation and international business, David started his career in IT consulting in Paris, France and continued to gain international experience in Europe, Mexico, and the U.S.
In Canada, he moved to the recruitment side of business working for TEKsystems Canada and Ludia Games. In 2015 he joined Sourcinc where he is now Partner and Director of Sourcing and Talent Acquisition. As a Board member since 2022, David brings his expertise in strategy, industry trends and employment skills, to Digital Moment.
He is also a member of the Fundraising Committee and the Strategy Committee. Self-taught in digital literacy, and new dad of a little girl, he values the importance of digital education for the youngest.
Young Director, Fora: Network for Change
Selen Öncüloğlu is one of the 35 emerging leaders in Canada who is currently working as the Product and Communications Lead at the Center for Democracy Research in Turkey. She co-founded Referandom, a policy-oriented social platform that summarizes parliaments, reaching over 5 million people monthly.
Previously she worked as the public relations director at European Youth Parliament Turkey, focusing on creating equal outreach and organizing conferences in the disadvantaged parts of the country. Selen specializes in political technologies, minority representation in parliamentary settings, and electoral systems. She has attended various conferences across Europe, debating the pressing issues of the European region. Selen's Bachelor's degree is focused in Political Science and Economics from the University of Toronto.
She was raised in Turkey by two loving parents, but she currently lives in Canada. Selen recently started serving as a board member at Digital Moment. She enjoys working out, taking care of her plants, and reading poems in her free time. Her favorite poets include Mary Oliver, İlhan Berk, and Pablo Neruda.
