Our Team

Laurie Sing has managed numerous career development programs over the past 15 years and has been with Mentoring Connections since its inception in 2008.

Although Laurie has had a lifelong interest in education and counselling, her move into career services happened almost by accident after her employer’s corporate head office moved to the far-off land of Ontario. Laurie has a very low tolerance for sub-zero winter weather, so decided that the Ontario choice wasn’t on the table. Instead, she found a tiny ad in the newspaper asking for someone with teaching, counselling, and administrative experience (as well as a car), all of which she possessed. Surprisingly, that tiny job posting turned into a great job, and since then, Laurie has been helping people find work and move into careers that are truly meaningful to them. Like herself, she would like everyone to get paid to work at something they actually enjoy! 

Jericho Bundac  works as a Marketing and Mentoring Outreach Consultant for the Mentoring Connections program. He immigrated to Canada seventeen years ago and what he loves most about working for this program is that he gets to provide help to immigrants.

Jericho enjoys playing sports like basketball and soccer in his spare time. When he can’t play sports and be active, he likes to be inactive and cook. His specialty is a lemon and herb roasted chicken served with roasted vegetables and dill mashed potatoes. Mmmmm….

Catherine Rana is a Marketing and Mentoring Outreach Consultant at Mentoring Connections. Catherine has a B.Com in Marketing and has a strong interest in community development and labour relations. She spends her days at ISSofBC developing communications strategies, recruiting volunteer mentors for new immigrants and establishing community partnerships.

Prior to ISSofBC, Catherine was the Advertising Manager at Discorder, an independent music publication in Vancouver. This combined her love of alternative media and indie music into one lovely package. When she’s not asking you to be a Mentoring Connections mentor, Catherine enjoys skiing, playing the drums, soccer and vegetable gardening. Ask her about music or soccer, and she will not stop talking.

 Romanda Simpson is a Mentoring Coordinator which has her facilitating training sessions, developing workshops, organizing events and monitoring mentoring matches. Romanda has a BA in Sociology/Anthropology and a Certificate in Sustainable Community Development and is passionate about the environment and creating a livable community.

In her spare time, Romanda can be found hiking through BC’s incredible outdoors, sailing or finding interesting and exciting activities to do with her friends and family. She is a life-long traveler, a pastime she wishes she could make into a full time job. Having been through a multitude of countries seeking new adventures, including her most recent accomplishment of driving a 1 L vehicle from London to Mongolia to raise money for Mongolian charities, she is now trying to figure out how and when she can climb Mt Kilimanjaro.

Ana Marie Caday is a Mentoring Coordinator and constantly offers valuable insights to mentors and mentees during their career-focused mentorships. Ana Marie has dabbled in interior design, photography, biology, folk music and most recently counseling. Her work at ISSofBC has allowed her to interact with very interesting people from various cultures and backgrounds, which nourishes her natural curiousity for cultures and individuals’ unique experiences.

A native of the Philippines, her adventurous spirit led her here in 2000. Initially destined for the land known by many as Winterpeg, she made the uncharacteristically smart decision to stay in Vancouver to be reunited with her family. Aside from the natural beauty that this city possesses, its people also encourage giving back to the community, which she highly values.

 Meri Ghazaryan is a Mentoring Coordinator at Mentoring Connections. She immigrated to Canada a year and a half ago from Armenia. Meri has a B.A. in Political Science and English language and is a recent HR graduate from Ashton College in Vancouver. She loves working with people from different countries, as she feels that each story adds to the spectrum of diversity in Canadian culture.  Meri sees how impactful guidance and encouragement from a career mentor can be in the life of a new immigrant.

Meri enjoys writing poetry and was a semifinalist in the online International Poetry Competition. She is good at telling stories, sharing her experiences and playing with kids, who possess so much energy and light – Vitamin D not required!

Kristina Thongrivong is the Mentoring Outreach Assistant at Mentoring Connections. Bio coming soon!