Thrift Store Resources in Ottawa

Namratha initially worked as UI Developer for a Digital Marketing company and moved on to be a front-end developer in financial and HR based platforms. Later, pursued PG Diploma in Cegep de la Gaspésie et des Iles and joined HelpSeeker on February 16 2022 as a frontend developer.

Jenny joined HelpSeeker in November 2022, with 10 years of research and analysis experience in community and academic research. She has worked on multiple projects that support marginalized populations, including persons with disabilities and persons experiencing homelessness. Jenny believes that research is a powerful tool to help instigate social change. Jenny has a Bachelor and Masters of Arts in Sociology from the University of Calgary. In her spare time, you’ll find Jenny running – she tries to run at least one marathon a year! You may have also seen a young Jenny on the Buck Shot Show!

Pam joined HelpSeeker in 2020, bringing with her valuable Human Resource work experience in both the public and private sectors. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and, in combination with her HR background, has had countless opportunities to make an impact in the daily work life of others. Pam is originally from Saskatchewan and her career brought her to Alberta in 2005, then she and her family returned to their home province in the summer of 2021. Working from her home office in Regina, Pam is proud to be HelpSeeker’s first Saskatchewan employee! She is excited to be a part of a growing company with limitless possibilities for success!

Krishna lives in Toronto and joined the team in October 2022.

Rida works as a UI Designer. She brings her experience from working for Immigration Canada as a User Experience Designer in an Agile team assisting in the digitization of Immigration Canada’s services. A Master of Information graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Communication Studies, Rida is passionate about accessible and inclusive design. She has an overall experience of over 2 years in different design and research roles. She’s super excited to be part of HelpSeeker’s mission of harnessing tech innovation for the greater social good.

Elizabeth joined Helpseeker in 2021, where they are establishing an in-house UX practice and framework and heading up the internal UX/UI initiative. At Helpseeker, their work involves defining, driving and executing UX strategy, UX research, UX/UI design and UX copy. They have a combined background in philosophy, publishing, optimization and conversions, UX and user-centric product management (UX strategy, content planning, UX copy, user advocacy and UXD). They are passionate about understanding problems and building solutions!

Kim launched her graphic design career in 2016, shortly after graduating from Medicine Hat College with her Bachelor of Applied Arts Degree in Visual Communications. She has remained a part of a global movement of designers who are leveraging technology and co-workspaces to grow and expand on their industry. Kim is passionate about her work with HelpSeeker and design work based in the social and human sector. She has brought her creative knowledge into many community projects, working to bring visual interest into information based knowledge.

Josie joined HelpSeeker in May 2019 with work experience as a dietitian and educator, in long-term care, hospital, elementary school, and post-secondary settings in Ontario and Alberta. She is proud to be a part of this inspiring team of passionate innovators making waves and creating change in communities across Canada!

Camilo is a political scientist with a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the University of Calgary. He has more than 5 years of experience in social research and policy analysis in diverse topics such as immigration, development, gender, integration, among others. He is currently the co-chair of Immigrant Advisory Table (IAT) of the City of Calgary and a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Colombian – Canadian Professionals of Alberta (ACCPA).

Bhavana graduated from Vignan University, India. Initially she started her career as a Cloud Engineer and later continued to work as a DevOps Engineer on different platforms and technologies. Bhavana joined HelpSeeker Technologies in March 2022 as a DevOps Engineer and she is proud to be a part of the Innovation team. In her free time she enjoys traveling, going hiking and spending time with family & friends.

Vadim has been a software developer since the first day of graduation from Vilnius University, where he received a degree in applied mathematics. Throughout his life, he has worked in different organizations and companies, all kinds of different projects, and has always enjoyed his work. Another passion for Vadim is hiking and nature photography.

Poly Greenberg is from Newmarket, Ontario. Poly joined the HelpSeeker Technologies team as a backend developer in Apr 2021. She has 6 years of experience with different software platforms and databases with a focus on .Net. In her spare time, Poly enjoys the outdoors and spending time with her family.

Harman is a highly professional and passionate individual, working at HelpSeeker as part of the Innovation team. He has a proven track record of creating impact by delivering projects with excellence. He is well versed with various automation tools, CICD pipelines, programming languages, which he is utilizing at HelpSeeker, to create extraordinary digital solutions for the world’s social challenges.

Elvis-Philip graduated from the University of Ottawa, in 2010, with a Bachelor of Computer Science and Software Engineering. He has over ten years of experience as a performance tester, in both back-end and front-end development, DevOps and full-stack. Elvis-Philip enjoys team sports, the outdoors, video games and cooking. In his free time, Elvis-Philip composes songs, which are available on all platforms.

Danielle is excited to utilize her background in customer service and data analysis as well as her fluency in French to help make a difference with HelpSeeker.

Prior to working at HelpSeeker Danielle spent 10 years in early childhood where she owned and operated a successful childcare business with a focus on developing minds and social skills. Danielle has completed her Medical Office Assistant/Unit Clerk Certificate and has also received a certificate in Accounting. She has learned through volunteering her time and skills that she is most fulfilled where she is able to be of use and help to others.

Ryan brings a wealth of experience from the retail/wholesale sector as he has over 15 years of experience in supply chain and corporate account sales. Ryan has his bachelor’s degree in Management from the University of Lethbridge, with a Major in Commerce. Since 2010, Ryan has been a dedicated volunteer on various amateur sports boards in and around the City of Airdrie.

Melissa joined HelpSeeker in the Summer of 2020. She brings Administration knowledge from years of managing offices and staff in 24/7 Flood & Fire Mitigation (Disaster Relief). Throughout her career, she helped hundreds of people in various communities across all provinces get through devastating times. During her school years she made a difference within the community by volunteering at multiple functions and local school events. Mellissa is thrilled to be part of our growing organization. In her free time she enjoys spending time outdoors, camping with her family and friends.

Dehao (Dee) is a data analyst with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics and has also has completed the post-Baccalaureate diploma of data science and analytics at the University of Calgary. He has strong proficiency in data analytical programming such as Python, R and data visualization tools such as Tableau. He also has experience working in the Canadian financial industry. Dee supports the team with data wrangling, building and modifying models, and analyzing the hidden patterns behind data by creating visualizations and applying machine learning algorithms.

Archana joined HelpSeeker Technologies in April 2021. She works as a Data Engineer focussing on data wrangling, creating data flows and pipelines and setting up and building the HelpSeeker Database. A Data Science graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Archana is passionate about databases and has an overall experience of over 2 years in Data Engineering and Business Intelligence.

Arthur joined the team as the Manager, Accounting & Finance, in September 2022!

Nicole has been involved in various capacities at HelpSeeker where currently her role, Manager of Systems Mapping, oversees the daily operations of systems mapping activities including data entry and customer service for the HelpSeeker platform. Nicole has her bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a diploma in ECCE from Mount Royal University with a special interest in social inequality, urban poverty and research. Since 2007, Nicole has been a vital member of her community at an operational level and an active member of the Golden Key International Honour Society since 2016.

Pragash joined the HelpSeeker team in March 2021. He has a Master’s degree in Computer Communications from Carleton University. Pragash began his career as a Software Developer at Nortel, and with his hard work and dedication slowly moved up to become a Software Engineering Manager at Ciena. Throughout his career, he has played multiple roles: Scrum Master, Senior Architect, Software Development Manager. He has vast experience in the Software Development Life Cycle and deep knowledge and understanding of different programming languages such as C#, Java, Python, Javascript. His admirable passion for Agile methodologies and Project Management has led him to pursue training to obtain certifications for both of the principles.

Carille Mendoza is a VP of Product at HelpSeeker whose work is focused on creating products that meet user needs and establishing product practices and frameworks within the organization. Prior to HelpSeeker, she worked at ATB Ventures as a Software Developer where she gained experience in Digital Id, Social Robotics, and all parts of the Product Development Lifecycle. She joined HelpSeeker because she wants to use her skills and interests to participate in systemic social change. Carille has also been known to be an advocate for chicken nuggets and robotic pets.

Jillian is a deep listener, a mindful designer, and a forward thinker. She holds a degree in Information Design from Mount Royal University and has experience working on consulting, information strategy, research, and creative innovation teams. Jillian is passionate about working towards systems change through designing experiences that are meaningful, educational, and empowering. She is intentionally curious, and recognizes that information design is not only about solutions, but also an act that requires awareness, intent, learning, and wonder.

Matt joined the HelpSeeker team in Nov 2020 with a background in driving innovation in the public sector and a heavy focus in healthcare. Matt has deep experience in driving innovation forward and developing commercialization strategies for these products. Previous to his work in AI/ML, Matt worked in commercialization and innovation in Toronto for Sinai Health System. Matt has obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Victoria and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business.

Over the last decade, Jesse has dedicated her career to creating social change within and across public, private and charitable sectors. As the Government of Canada’s technical advisor for Point-in-Time Homeless Counts, Jesse supported more than 60 communities, between 2016 – 2018, to create enumeration strategies that met their unique, local needs. She has also co-authored several important publications on homelessness, including the first State of Homelessness in Canada, and a seminal study on youth homelessness in the Greater Toronto Region. In the private sector, she’s created and implemented social purpose programs for companies like Starbucks, Petro-Canada, and Home Depot, to effect change in areas such as education, youth, food insecurity, mental health, employment, and caregiving.

Travis is the Co-Founder and Co-President of HelpSeeker Technologies, where our team works at the intersection of social and technological innovation. We deliver digital solutions for the world’s social challenges to accelerate the change needed to achieve equitable wellbeing for all. Travis’ background is in systems organizational leadership in social systems, with a specialization in child and youth development. He has a Masters in Education, with a focus on digital transformation and is a licensed teacher with the Alberta Teachers Association. Before co-founding HelpSeeker, he led school-based mental health interventions for children experiencing trauma as well as smart learning initiatives to digitize educational settings for the 21st-century learner. As a school administrator and teacher, he spent over a decade with the Calgary Board of Education in a variety of service delivery and leadership roles.

Alina is the Co-Founder/Co-President of HelpSeeker Technologies – a social technology and innovation Alberta-based B-Corp, founded in 2018. Her background is as a social scientist with a specialization in systems planning and integration, and as a funder and social policy expert. She’s had the opportunity to work in systems change efforts on homelessness and affordable housing, domestic violence, poverty, mental health, and addictions throughout her career. Alina’s drive and passion for her work are grounded in her lived experience of the social issues she continues to challenge in her professional work. She is a Fellow at The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary. Her most recent interest is in putting new technologies to use in reforming the design and delivery of social safety nets.