John Ko
Executive Vice-President
John Ko is the Executive Vice President, responsible for ongoing business development efforts for MBAs Without Borders. John has worked extensively in international development including most recently at World Vision, where he was the National Manager. He was responsible for overseeing various marketing and advocacy programs in Canada, including youth engagement, volunteer management, and corporate partnerships.
John also holds a computer engineering degree from University of Waterloo and he has spent over 8 years in global high tech sectors ranging from wireless telecommunications to enterprise applications.
Throughout his career, John has gained in-depth experiences from various developing countries including Tanzania, Pakistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
John can be reached at: john.ko@mbaswithoutborders.org.
Omar Yaqub
Director of Innovation
MBA – University of Alberta
Omar has worked in Nigeria, Tanzania, and Canada at the intersection of business, innovation, and development. He pitched, built, and maintained the first adult education campaign to use Nollywood (the world’s third largest film industry), researched new malaria fighting technologies, and independently built a network of 30+ NGOs, private enterprises, and charities.
Omar earned his MBA from the University of Alberta, with a specialization in technology commercialization. Before this he completed his BSc in Computing Science. He is currently following social entrepreneurship, and multi-disciplinary results based approaches to development.
Omar was the third MBA sent abroad by MBAs Without Borders and is presently responsible for helping MWB leverage new technology, build their web presence, and grow in new ways.
Omar can be reached at omar.yaqub@mbaswithoutborders.org.
Catherine Awad
Editor-in-Chief, M&D Magazine
Catherine is Editor-in-Chief for MWB’s magazine Managing & Developing (M&D). Currently pursuing the MBA at McGill University, Catherine holds an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and her professional background is in B2B marketing in the telecommunications industry. At a start-up high-tech firm, Catherine held the roles of product manager and marketing communications specialist where she focused on branding, public relations and creating customer co-marketing programs.
A passionate traveler, Catherine is fluent in English, French, Arabic and Spanish. She took part in McGill’s Canada-Brazil exchange program and also volunteered with the NGO Coptic Orphans in a high-poverty area of Egypt.
Catherine can be reached at catherine.awad@mbaswithoutborders.org.
Yarema Luciw
Director, Special Projects
Yarema obtained his MBA from the DeGroote School of Business and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario. Yarema is based in Ottawa, Canada.
Yarema has conducted consulting projects in Hungary, Mexico and Ukraine for multinational corporations and international financing organizations such as the United Nations and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development. Yarema’s expertise focus on managing business processes, public sector performance improvement and financing alternative energy projects.
Yarema can be reached at yarema.luciw@mbaswithoutborders.org.
Tal Dehtiar
Director, Operations
Tal Dehtiar received his MBA from DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University and has a BA in Communications from the University of Western Ontario. Tal has a diverse background which includes previous work in the Healthcare and Mining industry in Canada. He has worked on a number of international projects as well, prior to starting MBAs Without Borders, including launching an agri-business to support rural communities in Belize, creating a small-scale volunteer program in Costa Rica and starting-up and producing a radio show in Singapore.
Tal has traveled, worked, studied or lived in over 50 countries and speaks English, Russian, Hebrew and Spanish. He is a recipient of the 2004 Ontario Global Trader Award, 2005 Arch Award, was nominated for the 2005 YMCA Peace Award and Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2005 and 2006. Just recently Tal was named one of the Youth Action Fellows for 2007.
Tal can be reached at: tal.dehtiar@mbaswithoutborders.org.
Sarah Axelson
Director, Recruitment & Business Development
Sarah Axelson graduated with her MBA from the DeGroote School of Business in 2004. Sarah is currently the Associate Brand Manager for CDM and Thins at Cadbury North America. Before that she was working in a Sales and Marketing capacity at Janssen-Ortho Pharmaceuticals in Toronto. Her passion for travel and international development led to her joining the MWB team in the Fall of 2007. Since then, her role continues to grow as she explores new Business Development and Marketing opportunities, while helping recruit new MBA’s for projects abroad.
Sarah can be reached at sarah.axelson@mbaswithoutborders.org.
Dave Schlosser
Director, Finance
Dave Schlosser is based in Toronto. He obtained his MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from the University of Windsor and a BA in Math and Economics from York University. Dave is currently working towards his CMA designation in Canada. Dave has gained experience in Retail Management, Banking, Marketing, and is currently working as a Business Analyst for a leading Canadian manufacturer in the consumer packaged goods industry. Dave’s expertise focuses on financial budgeting and reporting, developing strategic pricing strategies, and the management of customer profitability.
Dave can be reached at: dave.schlosser@mbaswithoutborders.org.
Scott Drover
Manager, Planning & Development
Scott Drover joined MBAs Without Borders in the spring of 2008 to develop and manage a public engagement campaign designed to build awareness of MWB and the role of business in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. In addition, he is also responsible for increasing MWB’s presence in the corporate world through building new strategic partnerships with the private sector.
Scott earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick and is nearing the completion of his MBA at the DeGroote School of Business. He has also spent time studying and working in France. Prior to joining MWB Scott worked for several years in the financial services industry with a number of different institutions.
Scott can be reached at: scott.drover@mbaswithoutborders.org.