Chan Hon Goh (Arts)

Arriving in Vancouver from Beijing in 1977, Chan Hon Goh had to learn English and adjust to a completely new culture. Her parents, who set up a ballet academy in Vancouver, did not want Chan to follow in their footsteps and become a dancer. Consequently, she trained as a concert pianist for 11 years.

Chan, however, saw herself as a ballerina and danced by herself to any music she could find. It was Sir Anton Dolin, a legendary British dancer/choreographer, who pointed out Chan’s potential as a ballet dancer. But even then, life was not easy for Chan and she had to prove herself again and again to succeed in a western art form. At age 15, she insisted on entering the Prix de Lausanne, the most important competition in the world for young dancers, where she won the Prix de Lausanne prize.

Today, Chan Hon Goh is a principal dancer of The National Ballet of Canada and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet (Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.). She joined the Corps de Ballet of The National Ballet of Canada in 1988 and rapidly progressed to Second Soloist in 1990, First Soloist in 1992 and Principal Dancer in 1994. She frequently appears as a guest artist with dance companies worldwide, produces full programs of dance and also teaches master classes.
 

Chan has established the Chan Hon Goh Scholarship Fund to nurture and support talented dancers. She involves herself with the community by supporting a range of Toronto-based not-for-profit organizations and for the past 10 years, has been an Honorary Advisor to the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto.

Chan has co-authored her autobiography ‘Beyond the Dance’ that has been nominated for several book awards. She and her husband own and operate a dance supply company ‘Principal by Chan Hon Goh™’ - the only Canadian company to manufacture products for dancers designed by dancers.


Sabra Desai (Community Service)

Raised in apartheid South Africa, Sabra Desai proved her mettle after arriving in Canada at the age of 20 and being told that a university education was not for her. This was Toronto in 1970. Unwilling to accept this decision, Sabra persisted in researching options and learned about the programs for mature students offered by the University of Toronto.

Studying part-time while working to support herself, Sabra received a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree and went on to complete her Masters.

Sabra has worked in the social services sector in various positions and for the past 12 years, been a faculty member at Humber College teaching Sociology, Social Psychology and Counselling. She is an avid activist/educator experienced in issues related to skin colour racism and equity in Canada and overseas. She has authored research on issues of immigrant settlement, hidden in-equity in employment opportunities and education.
 

Sabra was part of a group of women who, together with the Peel Social Planning Council, initiated the first shelter - Interim Place - for women and children facing violence. She is a founding member of the South Asian Women’s Centre and a past chair of the Cross Cultural Communications Centre and vice chair of Women in Transition. She initiated the Critical Incident Response Effort with the Federation of Muslim Women to cope with the fallout from the events of 9/11.

During summer vacations and a sabbatical, Sabra worked with individuals infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and is currently helping to establish a holistic health and education program in South Africa.

Sabra received the Distinguished Faculty Award from the Humber Institute for Technology and Advanced Learning and the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence Award in 2004. She was awarded the South African Women for Women’s Human Rights Award in 2002.


David N. Tavares (Entrepreneurship)

David Tavares’ family came to Canada in 1966 to escape the political climate of Portugal. Nineteen-year-old David, who had been working for Portugal Telecom for a short time, recognized that in Canada his first and foremost challenge was to master the English language. After completing a three-month fulltime English course, David’s goal was to work for the largest Canadian telephone company.

However, he was unable to complete his application in English and was told by the company that he was not suitable. Nevertheless David persisted and eventually got hired to install telephone lines.

It was not long before David discovered that opportunities in Canada were limitless. After working for a few years, he realized his desire to be an entrepreneur. He and his brother started a transport company but closed the successful business after three years, when David discovered the incredible potential in the furniture manufacturing industry. This venture was also successful with 36 employees working on the assembly line.
 

However, when David learned about the new CRTC regulation ending the monopoly of Canadian phone companies, his passion for telecommunications resurfaced. He quickly took advantage of this opportunity, upgraded his knowledge of new technologies and started a telecommunications business.

Today, David Tavares owns GlobeStar Systems, which operates from a 65,000 square feet complex in Toronto, has offices in Montreal and Calgary and earns $50 million annually in sales. The company manufactures and designs unique software applications for wireless integration solutions.

The most innovative of their applications is ConnexALL, a modular software program that integrates a wide range of communication resources to any system and gives the user the ability to access real time data anywhere in the office, on the road or out of the country.

David’s community involvement reflects the respect he has for the freedom of the Canadian democratic society. He supports various political campaigns at the federal, provincial and municipal level. The Federation of Portuguese Canadian Business and Professionals presented David with the Business Achievement Award in 2003.


Dimitrios G. Oreopoulos (Science and Technology)

Dimitrios Oreopoulos was raised in Athens, Greece where he studied medicine and attained his MD degree and then completed his medical PhD degree in Belfast, Ireland. He arrived in Canada in 1969 to join the Toronto Western Hospital as a Senior Research Fellow and found he had to study and work intensively while struggling with English, a language he had only begun learning at thirty.

Today, Dimitrios Oreopoulos is internationally reputed for simplifying and popularizing the technique of peritoneal dialysis and is the Director of the Peritoneal Dialysis Program at the Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network.

The technique of peritoneal dialysis proposed by Dimitrios, avoids numerous perforations in the abdominal wall and significantly reduces pain and the rate of infections compared with previously used techniques thereby significantly increasing the quality of life. To achieve this, Dimitrios initially manufactured a prosthesis and later modified the soft catheter that allowed patients to treat themselves at home. He is credited internationally as the first doctor to treat children through peritoneal dialysis.
 

In 1998, Dimitrios received the Belding H. Scribner Award from The American Society of Nephrology and in 1994 he received the American Torchbearer Award from the American Kidney Fund.

A published author and editor, Dimitrios is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Humane Health Care International Journal and Peritoneal Dialysis International Journal.

He is actively involved with the Greek community in Toronto and was the president of the Hellenic Home for the Aged for eight years and following that the founder and president of the Greek Orthodox Education in Ontario. Between 1997-2004, he was the President of Athens Villa, a not-for-profit organization that provides safe apartments to low income individuals. He was also a member of the task force on Access to Professions and Trades in Ontario.

And if this were not enough, Dimitrios has found time to publish a children’s book - ‘Timothy’s Journey’.


Eric Acuna (Skills for Change Graduate)

Before arriving in Canada in 1997, Philippines born Eric Acuna had a promising career in his home country where, as a management and industrial engineering graduate, he worked as a Quality Control Manager for a large printing press in Manila.

On arrival, Eric encountered the classic barrier faced by internationally trained professionals - lack of access to employment that matched his training and experience. However, Eric remained undeterred and set about finding a survival job, cleaning floors in a restaurant to pay for his basic necessities. He then began researching to find what type of support was available for newcomers. This led him to Skills for Change.

At Skills for Change, Eric joined the six-week career planning program specifically designed for engineers. Upon completing this program, he was recommended to the agency’s Mentoring for Employment program that matched him to a mentor with an engineering background. Very soon, Eric was hired as a Process Engineer by a leading automobile manufacturing company.
 

For Eric this was only the beginning. He enrolled in night school at Seneca College and after completing the Quality Assurance Program, began to search for employment in his area of expertise – quality control for paper products. He is currently employed as a Quality Coordinator and I.S.O. Management Representative for a paper board manufacturer of tubes and cores for paper, film, fabric and tapes.

Eric has kept a strong connection with Skills for Change. About three years ago, he offered to volunteer and became a ‘mentor’ in the same ‘Mentoring for Employment’ program that had helped him as a mentee. He also volunteers as a pastoral formation officer for the Couples for Christ and supports the CFC-ANCOP, a network that has the mandate to answer the cry of the poor by touching lives, restoring dignity and giving hope.


Edona Besnick Çaku (Youth)

Edona Çaku and her family arrived in Canada in the fall of 2000 from Albania. Fifteen-year old Edona soon adjusted to a new culture, language and school setting and within months achieved an A+ average at the York Memorial Collegiate Institute.

Edona is a high achiever and during the three years she spent in high school, led an active student life participating in extra curricular activities. Her involvement ranged from anti-discrimination and anti-racism clubs to mentoring, tutoring and national student exchange programs. She tutored her peers in French, Italian, mathematics, chemistry and biology and was the founder and co-president of the school’s mathematics club, winning a total of 20 academic awards, scholarships and bursaries.

In 2003, Edona enrolled for the Medical Radiation Science program offered in partnership by the University of Toronto and the Michener Institute. She has continued to pursue her goal of academic excellence and is featured on the Dean’s list that grants entry to the Golden Key International Academic Honour Society.
 

While in university, Edona continues to display leadership and has founded the Friends of Albania Student Association at the University of Toronto. The group’s mandate is to attract students from different backgrounds to undertake humanitarian projects in Albania.

Another of Edona’s remarkable initiatives was to request the Herbert H. Carnegie Future Aces Foundation to support her in sending 4000 books (donated by the Friends of Toronto Reference Library) to a library in Albania.

Edona was also part of the organization and leading team of the Future Aces Youth Leadership Conference. She sits on the board of a charitable organization – Science for Peace.

Edona has worked and volunteered at the Toronto Western Hospital, West Park Health Care Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, United Nations – Toronto Branch and the International Holistic Tourism Education Centre.

Contact Us
( 416 658-3101 ext. 214
* npa@skillsforchange.org