Member of the OCF Grants Committee and Impact Investment Committee
Policy and Programs Strategist, Anti-Racism Task Force – Deputy Minister’s Office, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Yumi joined the federal public service in 2016, where she has contributed her critical thinking, creative problem-solving, and a human-centred approach to make public policy more relevant for the diverse people and communities it serves. She has worked on social, economic, and humanitarian policy as well as grants and contributions, and currently serves on the special task force on anti-racism.
She came to this work after her accomplished career as a collaborative leader in the nonprofit sector, where she developed expertise on equity, inclusion, and diversity. She has worked on several of Ottawa’s most complex challenges, including at Refugee 613 where she brought together diverse stakeholders to mobilize Ottawa’s response to the Syrian Refugee crisis.
Yumi was a key leader in the development of the Equity and Inclusion Lens for the City of Ottawa, a nationally recognized guide on how to integrate inclusive thinking into municipal public service. She has promoted gender and cultural diversity within the banking industry, and led Equity Ottawa, a cross-sectoral initiative to help public and non-profit institutions become more welcoming for newcomers.
At the Community Foundation she serves as the Vice-Chair of the Grants Committee and a member of the Impact Investment Committee, and formerly on the Investment Committee. Her contributions to other boards/committees include, among others: Pan-Canadian Advisory Board for Women’s Worlds 2011 Global Conference, the Ottawa Police’s Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project’s Advisory Committee, and Board Director and Treasurer for Women’s Initiatives for Safer Environments.
Yumi is a co-author and editor of the book Resilience and Triumph: Immigrant Women Tell Their Stories featuring life stories of women who have migrated to Canada since the 1960s, which has been used as a textbook for university courses, and a new audiobook is forthcoming in 2021.
She holds Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Carleton University and the University of British Columbia.