TFO Canada delivers its trade information, advice and contact services through a team of Canadian-based project professionals and a network of over 40 Associates from around the globe: experts in a wide range of trade-related activities, including sector-specialists for the Canadian import market, trade trainers, and product development and marketing advisors.
TFO Canada’s staff members (listed below) are located at our Ottawa headquarters and in regional offices in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. To contact a staff member by e-mail, please address it to info@tfocanada.ca and indicate the name of the staff member in the subject line.
OTTAWA HEADQUARTERS
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Steve Tipman leads the organization in fulfilling its mission of improving lives through international trade. Directing the successful execution of TFO Canada’s business plans, Steve is responsible for overall administration, strategic management, and reporting to the Board of Directors. With over 22 years of senior management experience in both the private and non-profit sectors, Steve has spent much of his career working in the areas of international trade and development. He spent eight years working at Livingston International, a trade services company focused on customs brokerage and compliance. He also served as a Vice President with CARE Canada and President and CEO of Volunteer Canada. He is a member of the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) School of Management Sciences International Program and sits on Oceans Global Canada Lab Expert Advisory Group. Actively involved with Cooperation Canada, Steve is also a member of its Civil Society Policy Advisory Group, which is co-chaired with Global Affairs Canada and VIDEA. Steve holds an International Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Ottawa and is fluently bilingual in both French and English
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Marysabel Gonzalez has over twenty years of experience working in international trade, she joined TFO Canada in 2008 and has advanced in her career, taking on new responsibilities and challenged within the organization. As Program Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, she leads the implementation of different programs in the region and as Program Director for Trade Support Services, Marysabel is responsible for developing and leading the execution of TFO Canada’s Canadian market trade information services.
Prior to joining TFO Canada, Marysabel worked as a business development manager in the high-tech sector at Invest Ottawa. She has also worked as a diplomat, in the Economic and Commercial section of the Embassy of Venezuela in Canada, where she became very familiar with TFO Canada and its services. Marysabel holds a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and a master’s in international Trade from Carleton University.
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Zaki Munshi joined TFO Canada in March 2014 as Project Manager for Asia & Middle East. Since July 2019, Zaki has assumed the responsibility of Program Director-Asia. Working closely with TFO Canada’s roster of associates (trade specialists) and project management staff, he oversees planning, implementation and ongoing communications with donors/partners for TFO Canada’s projects/programs in Asia and Middle East. Zaki also works with TFO Canada’s Executive Director in developing/managing strategic partnerships and new project/program development opportunities with Canadian and international NGOs, think-tanks and business/networking associations, public/private sector donors/funders and other international country-based and multi-lateral development organizations in Asia and Middle East.
Prior to joining TFO Canada, Zaki worked as a Project Manager in International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank Group managing advisory projects in the areas of Corporate Governance, Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) banking, Financial Infrastructure and Micro-finance. He has lived and worked in a number of countries, including Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Pacific Islands. Zaki is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from University of Texas at Austin, USA and an MBA in Finance from Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Kristin Marinacci joined TFO Canada as the Program Director for Africa in September 2021. Kristin is responsible for providing leadership in the implementation of a multi-region program aimed at increasing the number of women exporters from developing countries involved in international trade. She also provides strategic oversight to the Ottawa-based team who work hand in hand with trade support institutions in Africa to facilitate more inclusive economic growth.
Kristin has a background in urban planning and has more than 25 years of project/program management experience in the international development field in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Kristin brings practical experience to the team in institution strengthening having worked with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for over 20 years. Areas of expertise include local governance, organizational effectiveness, multi-stakeholder engagement/public participation, good governance, strategic planning, performance measurement, and capacity building.
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Mursalin Chowdhury joined TFO Canada as the Director of Finance and Administration in Sep 2023, and is responsible in leading the financial management of the organization and all the projects that includes financial systems and reporting, accounting, budgeting, and program administrative support. Mursalin has worked before with TFO Canada between March 2016 to July 2020, first as the Accounting Manager, then as the Finance Director. During his time with TFO Canada, he was a valued leader and instrumental in securing both Global Affairs Canada (GAC)-funded projects, Making Trade Work for Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lesotho, Uganda, Madagascar and Ethiopia (SMO-LUME) and Women In Trade for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth (WITISG). He also offered strong support to our Program team in the delivery of a number of successful projects, including GAC’s Canadian Market Access Services (CMAS) project, the Tim Horton’s Coffee Partnership, Export Launchpad – Senegal, and ITC’s SheTrades Commonwealth to name a few.
Mursalin is a Canadian Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA). Over the last 25 years, he held progressively important leadership roles in Accounting and Finance and obtained a great deal of experience in International Development having worked for organizations such as Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists, CARE, OXFAM and Transparency International.
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Danielle Mulligan has been with TFO Canada since 1986! As Office Manager, she is responsible for office affairs and dealing with local suppliers. Danielle maintains TFO Canada’s online database of Canadian importers and developing country exporters and keeps them informed by sending regular e-publications. Danielle also maintains the records for the TFO Canada Associate roster and supports accounting procedures including invoicing and payments, travel claims, and commitment files.
Prior to joining TFO Canada, Danielle worked for two Ottawa-based private insurance companies as a Group Claim Processor for medical and dental benefits.
Patrick Ntunga Mico, Project Manager, Africa
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Patrick N. Mico is responsible for the design, day-to-day implementation and monitoring of projects within Africa region.
Patrick has extensive experience in women’s economic empowerment, project management, Gender responsive budgeting, engaging men in GBV prevention and response, gender audit and gender mainstreaming from different countries in Africa and in Canada as well. This includes working as a Program Manager at Best Legacy Foundation. He also worked on different projects related to women’s economic empowerment and rights in collaboration with different development partners such as RWAMREC, PROMUNDO, the Rwanda Gender Monitoring Office, the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion of Rwanda (MIGEPROF), UN Women, UNFPA, Sida, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), International Conference for the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and East African Community (EAC) .
Patrick speaks four languages including French and English. He has different degrees and international certificates including, but not limited to, a master’s in social studies, gender and development, a specialisation in gender, Statistics (Stockholm 2018) certificate of specialisation in gender auditing (ILO 2010), a Certificate of gender mainstreaming in project management (Japan 2006) and a Certificate in gender mainstreaming from the Canadian International Development Agency.
Mahmud Hossain brings over 15 years of progressive professional experience in international development. He has strong project management, research and analytical skills. Mahmud expertise’s are in international development, particularly in the areas of Market system development, Value chain, and livelihood development, climate resilience, private sector engagement. He has project management experience in Asia: Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Tibetan Autonomous Region (China); East Africa: Tanzania; and Canada. Mahmud has managed large complex programs funded by USAID, DANIDA, SIDA, Irish-AID, SDC, UKAID/DFID and Global Affairs Canada (GAC). Mahmud has expertise in project design, implementation, value chain development, market-based project portfolio, M4P in East Africa Region and Asia. He has an MBA from East West University in Bangladesh along with professional certifications as Chartered Professional Marketer (CPM) from Asia Pacific Marketing Federation and member of Chartered Institute of Marketing Management Ontario (CIMMO). He has also trained from CBI (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands-2008 & 2009) on “Export Promotion from Developing Countries to EU” in Rotterdam. And Making Market Works for the Poor (M4P) from Glasgow by Spring Field Center in 2005. Mahmud is fluent in English, Bengali, Hindi and Swahili.
Mahmud is coordinating projects for Jordan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand and Cambodia as a Project Manager of TFO Canada since January 2020.
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Olivier Musafiri is the Project Manager for Africa. In his role, he is responsible for the design, implementation, monitoring and reporting for trade-related activities in the region.
Olivier has solid project management experience from different countries in Africa and Canada. This includes working as a Program Manager for UN Women’s regional program where he coordinated bilateral projects between UN Women and the governments of Rwanda, Burundi and DRC on cross border trade, agriculture and value chain initiatives. Recently he has worked as Gender Advisor with Vets without Borders Canada for its programme in Kenya and in South Sudan with the Canadian Midwives Association as a Field Operations Officer.
Olivier has outstanding experience in gender mainstreaming and capacity building, results based monitoring and evaluation with a number of different donors including Global Affairs, USAID, UN agencies, Norway and NEPAD.
Olivier speaks over 5 languages including French and English and holds different degrees for business including “Disruptive Strategy” Executive Education from Harvard Business School.
In his spare time, you will find Olivier having fun with his three young kids playing music and outdoor activities.
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Janin Mendoza joined TFO Canada as the Project Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean in March 2022. Janin is responsible for the design, implementation, and monitoring of projects within LAC region. As project manager for Trade Support Services, Janin is responsible for creating communication materials, conducting research on the Canadian market and the dissemination of trade related information and services on internal and external communication channels.
Janin holds a bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, a master’s in Environmental Management from Simon Bolivar University and a Project Management Diploma and Management Certificate from University of Winnipeg.
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Fatima Zahra is the Project Officer for Asia. She supports the Director and Program Manager in delivering workshops and seminars to partners and stakeholders in Asia. She is responsible for supporting program logistics, data collection, conducting research and overall program support.
Prior to joining TFO Canada, Fatima-Zahra lived and worked in Morocco. She brings with her 12 years of experience (data analysis, portfolio risk management and credit risk management in financial sector) which includes 02+ years experience in project management. Fatima-Zahra holds a State Engineering Diploma (Masters) from National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics in Morocco. In addition to English, she is fluent in Arabic and French. Fatima-Zahra plans to immerse herself in this new position and to acquire the skills and knowledge to successfully get her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in order to make the team as efficient as possible.
Brenda is responsible for the design, day-to-day implementation and monitoring of projects within Africa region.
Prior to joining TFO Canada, Brenda pursued a master’s degree in international development at Sciences Po Paris, through which she specialized in project management and diplomacy. She was trained in project design, implementation and negotiation for humanitarian and development projects. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from McGill University in Montreal. Brenda has experience working with NGOs, international organizations as well as with the private sector. She namely worked for Equitas International Center for Human Rights in Montreal, as well as for the International Economic Forum of the Americas, both in Montreal and in Paris.
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Waleed Bajai joined TFO Canada as Project Accountant in April 2022. He has responsibility for accounts payable/receivables activities and for country-based financial expense tracking, including local partners’ financial reports. He also supports the project management team in day-to-day financial transactions for the projects of the organization. Prior to joining TFO Canada, Waleed was Senior Finance Officer for Oxfam Novib country office, based in Kabul, Afghanistan. Responsible for providing support to the country office and local partners on finance and donor compliance at the field level, he was also a safeguarding focal point and an investigation team member. Before that, he worked as an Accountant and HR Focal Point with Welthungerhilfe (WHH) providing financial support to the program team and local partners on the field. Waleed also worked with International Manufacturing Organization (IMO) as Finance Assistant responsible for daily financial transactions and bookkeeping. Waleed holds Master’s degree specialized in financial management at the Indian School of Business Management and Administration and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Administration from Amir Sher Institute of Higher Education AFG
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Ines Muganyizi joined TFO Canada in November 2022 as Project Officer for Africa. Her role is to support the Director and Program Manager in coordinating trade missions and delivering workshops and seminars to partners and stakeholders in Africa. She is responsible for supporting program logistics, data collection, conducting research and overall program support. Prior to joining TFO Canada, Ines lived and worked in Tanzania in areas of program design, coordination, and implementation, across agriculture and development finance sub-sectors. Ines holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in public policy from Connecticut College (USA) and McGill University (Canada) respectively.
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