Board of Directors

Following a successful executive career with brands such as Mattamy Homes, Palliser Furniture, and Fidelity Investments, Paul founded Sapien Capital, an executive search and human capital consulting group serving entrepreneurial, scale-up, private, and family businesses. Paul’s role includes serving as a professional board and ownership advisor with global expertise in governance, operations, and human capital challenges. His talents include organizational change, executive & board recruitment, board operations, designing compensation systems, acquiring and retaining people in turbulent markets, and managing mergers and transformations.
 
An ICD-certified director, Paul is also the former Vice-Chair of WaterTAP (Ontario’s water technology accelerator) and is currently a director of Hamilton Health Sciences and has served as director of AI software firm Daisy Intelligence, board member of heavy-equipment manufacturer Proceco, governor of the University of Guelph, and director for NFPs including Jane Goodall Institute, West Park Healthcare, and affordable housing lender Home Ownership Alternatives.
 
Paul also serves growth firms as an advisor with MaRS Discovery District and Haltech (Regional Innovation Centres), and has instructed in the strategic human resource program at Toronto Metropolitan University. In his private governance practice, Paul has served as Board Secretary for both Maple Reinders Construction (a national general contractor) and OpenWorm Foundation (a global artificial intelligence & digital modelling enterprise), as well as governance expert for advisory and institutional boards.

Koosha Golmohammadi has over 12 years’ experience in operational advanced analytics and driving business value. Koosha holds a PhD in computer science from the University of Alberta as well as an M.Sc. and a B.Sc. in software engineering. Throughout his career, Koosha has worked in different capacities as an analytics leader, consultant and data scientist leading several teams and project portfolios and leveraging data analytics. His experience and expertise ultimately led to his current role as director of advanced analytics at Manulife John Hancock.

As a lifelong learner, Koosha is passionate about supporting teachers and learners. He has contributed to initiatives with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), including the teacher in-service program, teaching engineering concepts to elementary students. In addition, he served as chair of computers and communication of IEEE Northern Canada Section from 2012 to 2017 and co-founded the Data Social Club, a non-profit to promote data science, in 2017.

Yasir Mirza is a member of Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada with over 15 years of experience in public practice and both public and private industries. Presently, he is the director of global accounting policy, group finance, for Manulife. Throughout his career, Yasir has managed financial functions including accounting policy, auditing, controls and governance. He is also a member of professional accounting and auditing bodies in the United States and the United Kingdom. In addition, Yasir has worked in statutory and management reporting and contributed to many strategic initiatives. As a board member, Yasir will contribute his expertise in financial management, policy interpretation and regulations to support the AlphaPlus mission.

Andrew Vaughan is an experienced criminal lawyer practicing in the GTA and a long-term member on Legal Aid Ontario’s Extremely Serious Criminal Matters Panel. Andrew holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Calgary and received his law degree at Queen’s University.
Throughout his career, Andrew has mentored students and early-career lawyers to navigate workplace culture and demands while working as a firm manager himself. Throughout Andrew’s career, he has contributed to many charitable organizations. This includes serving as a member of the board of directors at Humewood House, a not-for-profit organization providing housing and support to youthful single mothers and vulnerable young pregnant women.

As a board member, Andrew intends to lend his well-rounded legal expertise, advocacy skills and passion for adult education to support AlphaPlus in achieving its mission.

Alan has been the executive director of AlphaPlus since 2015, but his involvement with the organization dates to its founding. He was one of the original staff members who migrated from George Brown College and from the Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library to support the Ontario fledgling adult education library that ultimately became AlphaPlus.
 
In a wide range of roles, Alan has spearheaded changes at AlphaPlus to address the evolving needs of literacy learners and practitioners. His agile approach to strategic planning and continuous improvement has kept AlphaPlus relevant, accessible, accountable and inventive.
 
As a leader in the literacy field with comprehensive knowledge of the affordances and limitations of educational and administrative uses of technology, Alan advances an understanding of information literacy and blended learning that moves the field forward.
 
As a leader of AlphaPlus in its capacity as an Ontario LBS support organization, Alan guides our work with adult learning programs to understand, research, plan and integrate emerging digital tools to meet the needs of staff and learners effectively and creatively.
 
And as a leader within AlphaPlus, Alan has created an imaginative workspace. He encourages professional learning and exploration that empowers the staff to experiment and innovate, and he embraces every opportunity to forge fresh partnerships that may lead to collaborative initiatives with other organizations.