Meet the dedicated leaders behind Women Leaders of Tomorrow — a diverse group of professionals united by a shared commitment to education, equity, and empowering Afghan women and girls.
Hailey Graham
Chair
H. Hailey Graham (she/her) is a family law lawyer practicing in downtown Vancouver. Hailey holds a degree in political science from UBC and graduated from UBC’s Allard School of Law. While in school, Hailey was actively involved in various campus projects, including as the president of the Politicalcience Student Association, as a facilitator at UBC’s Institute for Future Legislators, and helping to establish UBC’s chapter of Equal Voice. Currently, Hailey volunteers with Access Pro Bono and chairs the Emerging Family Lawyers Forum. She is a mom to a teenager, an avid reader, and an enthusiastic feminist.
Najia Haneefi
President
Najia has 3 + years of Research and Administrative experience at Carleton University. She has 10+ years of experience in executing sponsored International Development projects from proposal development to implementation and award closeout in the areas of Education, Human rights, Gender Equality, and Child Protection. She has also decades of experience in fundraising and event management for Non-Profit Organizations. Najia is well versed in developing curriculum and delivering training on gender equality and development topics.
She holds a Master’s degree in Education, Leadership, Evaluation, Curriculum and Policy Studies from the University of Ottawa, Canada in 2015-2016. Additionally, Najia also holds Honors degree in International Development and Globalization with Minor in Women’s Studies from the University of Ottawa, Canada 2011-2015.
Annie Ohana is a nationally recognized anti oppression curriculum specialist, public school educator, and Indigenous Department Head in the Surrey School District. She is also a community organizer for both local and international organizations, building solidarity based empowerment through identity that work to transform systems.
Candice Hartwell
Treasurer/Director of Finance
Candice is an award-winning accountant, Partner of VEER Business Advisors, and the volunteer Treasurer/Director of Finance for Women Leaders of Tomorrow. Her focus at VEER is on sell-side advisory for small- to medium-sized business owners. Alongside her team, she helps business owners identify and manage the unique strategic, financial, emotional and structural implications of business transitions in a wide array of industries, working with business owners to ensure an amazing exit from their business. Previously, Candice worked as a commercial lender at the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Candice holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree (Honours) from the Sauder School of Business and is a Chartered Professional Accountant, earning the Certified Management Accountant’s Silver Medal for British Columbia in 2015.
She is the former President of Vancouver’s Association of Women in Finance, former President and Co-Founder of the Risk Management Association of the Fraser Valley, and a passionate volunteer presenter for Small Business BC and CPA Canada’s Financial Literacy programs. She also currently volunteers as Director of Finance for Women Leaders of Tomorrow, dedicated to helping young Afghan women find education opportunities in Canada.
Dr. Roslyn Kunin was educated in Quebec and Ontario, finishing her studies with a Ph.D. in economics from the University of British Columbia. The University of Victoria andUniversity Canada West have each granted her the degree of Honorary Doctor of Laws. She has been awarded the Crystal Ball Award by the Association of Professional Economists, the Woman of Distinction Award by the YWCA and a Canada 125 medal for service to Canada and is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia.
Dr. Kunin has served the community in many positions including Chair of WorkSafe BC, Chair of the Vancouver Stock Exchange, Director of the Business Development Bank of Canada, Governor of the University of British Columbia, Director of the Canada West Foundation and member of the National Statistics Council. In her career, Dr. Kunin has worked in the private sector, written a weekly newspaper column, taught at several Canadian universities including Simon Fraser and UBC and served twenty years as Regional Economist for the federal government in B.C. and Yukon. She is in private practice as a consulting economist.
Friba Rezayee is the founder and the Executive Director of Women Leaders of Tomorrow and its leadership in sports project GOAL (Girls of Afghanistan Lead). She was born and raised in Kabul, Afghanistan. At the age of 18, she made history by competing in Judo at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens as Afghanistan’s first ever female Olympic athlete.
Friba’s participation in the Olympics brought Afghanistan back to the world stage in sports after the fall of the Taliban. She inspired hundreds of other Afghan girls to join different sports, in a sports revolution for Afghan female athletes.
Friba has resided in Vancouver, Canada since 2011 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
Friba has been an outspoken and passionate advocate for women and girls’ education, gender equality, human rights, and women’s rights in Afghanistan and worldwide from an early age to present.
President and Managing Partner of Vallar Partners Principal of Marian Ngo Consulting Founding Executive Director of the Salish Sea Indigenous Guardians Association (SSIGA)
A solutions-driven negotiator and strategic planner, Marian Ngo seeks innovative and progressive approaches to successfully deliver major projects, programs, initiatives, and policies.
She specializes in problem-solving and is adaptable to constantly changing environments yet always focused on her objectives. If the status quo does not allow for addressing needs, she collaborates with all parties to develop a partnership and a viable plan.
· Being part of the core team that negotiated the first-ever Indigenous-issued environmental certificate (Squamish Nation)
· Developing and presenting a plan for creating the electric drive rate for LNG in collaboration with the provincial government.
· Contributing to a team that worked on a solution for taxation concerning Fabricated Industrial Steel Components (FISC).
· Assisting in establishing the Salish Sea Indigenous Guardians Association (SSIGA), an Indigenous-led organization focused on data-driven solutions for meaningful participation and informed decision-making by Nations regarding environmental assessments and policy.
· Aiding in creating a referral office for a lower mainland municipality and establishing processes for delivering projects related to municipal infrastructure.
Marian has been recognized as one of Business in Vancouver’s 40 Under 40. She serves on the board of directors for Bard on the Beach, is a member of the International Women’s Forum, and mentors with Dress for Success. Before working in LNG, she worked in various federal Ministries in Ottawa, advising Cabinet Ministers and department staff. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University with a Political Science major and a Sociology minor.
Jaclyn Mansfield is a Litigation lawyer. With a background in commerce and economics, she brings a practical and business focused approach to Women Leaders of Tomorrow
