The VMBC Team

Jennifer Almeida

Jennifer Almeida, founder of the Victoria Multicultural Business Connector, has been living in Victoria for the past 12 years. Originally from Malaysia, her work experience spans over several countries: Malaysia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland.

Jennifer consults in the marketing and event management industries, and manages telecommunication and energy businesses. Newcomers have gravitated towards her for answers, directions and solutions to their businesses. These interactions culminated into the catalyst for starting the Victoria Multicultural Business Connector (VMBC).

Evgenia Pavlenko

 

Evgenia is passionate about stories, media, and art. She is the creative mind that manages VMBC’s social events and social media.

Originating from Khabarovsk, Russia’s Far Eastern Capital, Evgenia developed a unique perspective of the world in-between both eastern and western cultures. From a combination of her experiences in both Russia and Canada and her academic studies, Evgenia aspires to create impactful stories and reach out to marginalized groups.

Evgenia earned her Bachelor of Professional Communications at Royal Roads University. She has managed administration and social media for various professional and personal projects and currently works in the non-profit sector supporting immigrants settle successfully in Canada. Her experience enables her to continue to provide effective social and online support to the VMBC Team.

Yossi Boeno

Yossi Boeno is an entrepreneur with extensive experience in various sectors including, but not limited to, bubble gum manufacturing, document digitizing and management, residential and commercial international real estate, and e-commerce.

Yossi has managed many operations, most noteworthy having increased the value of Frutsi Bubble Gum Factory by 200% within two years. As CEO of DataSafe, a pioneering Document Management company in Turkey, Yossi established and completed its successful acquisition, and then moved on to another e-commerce startup with successful results.

Yossi currently lives in Victoria with his family and is building up a precision agriculture company among many other potential ventures.

Stefanie Burkert

Stefanie is an experienced traveller. She left her home in Berlin, Germany to travel the Pacific Northwest in September 2017 and decided to stay on Vancouver Island, as it is one of the most unique spots she has ever been to. After two years on this beautiful island, she moved back to Germany in the summer of 2019. Stefanie now works as the coordinator of the graduate school IMPRS-gBGC at the Max-Planck Institute of Biogeochemistry in Jena, Germany. Stefanie continues in a supportive role to help VMBC online from Germany to market and manage social media for VMBC’s monthly mixers.

Stefanie has a Diploma in technical translation and a Master of Science in Science Marketing and enjoys creating a positive (working) environment for her community.

Acknowledgements

Geny Yam (April 2017 – February 2020)

Geny brought diverse cultures together to build relationships based on understanding and respect in VMBC. Geny provided vital support to VMBC through her great public speaking skills opening for many of the events and introducing countless speakers.

Victoria Tkachenko (October 2016 – June 2019)

Victoria was the driving force behind VMBC’s marketing. Her rich experiences, diverse background and passion to learn and understand ethnic groups added value to the VMBC Team by leading online marketing and promotion streams.

Robert Volkwyn (October 2016 – March 2018)

Robert, a skunkworks specialist who thrives on solving complex problems, helped establish the very beginnings of VMBC and fully supported its early infrastructure from networking data to people.

Harry Tamacas Perla (October 2016 – October 2018)

Harry understood the value of the Victoria Multicultural Business Connector and connected VMBC with The Atrium office space provided by Regus. Harry’s drive and energy tied in nicely in engaging like-minded people in Victoria.