Meet our team
VCST is run by a dedicated board of directors and project-based teams.
Álvaro Moreno – Project Manager
Álvaro has more than 25 years of experience running a wide diversity of community change projects and programs, both in Canada and overseas. Areas of experience and interests include participatory action research, planning and evaluation, human rights, democratic development, social and community economic development, environmental education, refugees, and anti-racism education. Álvaro has an MSc in Rural Sociology from the University of Alberta (1990) and a BSc in Agricultural Engineering from the University of El Salvador (1984).
Melinda Quintero – Project Manager
Melinda is a career editor with nearly 20 years of experience in the tourism industry. As project manager for VCST, she writes and edits the majority of the organization’s public reports, website content, and professional development curriculum. Alongside Álvaro, Melinda manages VCST’s programs from grant ideation and writing, to project implementation and reporting. She is also an associate faculty member at Royal Roads University in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, where she applies an intersectional social justice perspective to tourism studies.
Ana Maria Pavon – President
Ana is an experienced and committed professional with over 30 years of dedicated work focusing on immigrants, refugees, non-accompanied minors, and vulnerable populations in Spain and Canada.
Her background spans human rights law and faculty positions in postgraduate studies at the University of Valencia, and she holds master’s degrees in mediation and counselling psychology. Currently serving as a senior registered clinical counsellor, supervisor, and trainer at VICCIR (Vancouver Island Counselling Center for Immigrants and Refugees), Ana Maria specializes in mental health, trauma and resilience, cultural sensitivity, and advocacy, particularly for individuals and families experiencing complex trauma and torture survivors.
Outside her professional roles, she actively engages in community building, projects, platforms and spaces to promote peace and unity in diversity. She volunteers for Restorative Justice Victoria (RJV), serves on the board of PROMIS (Professionals of the World for Social Integration), and participates in multifaith dialogue.
Ken Agar-Newman – Treasurer
Ken brings with him many years professional experience working as a Registered Nurse. His passion for human rights stems in part from when he traveled overland from London to New Delhi at age eighteen.
He is one of the founding members of VCST and has been involved with a number of projects of relevance to stopping torture including: supporting Article 10 of the United Nations Convention Against Torture in relation to the education of nurses and others; supporting a coherent and clear voice by the nursing profession against specific cases of torture; and establishing a body to ensure oversight in connection with universal standards of nursing (medical) practice related to torture prevention and whistle blowing.
Luis G. Aguirre – Member at Large
Luis G. Aguirre is a nonprofit and public-sector leader with experience across Canada, Mexico, and with organizations established in Europe and the United States as well. His work has focused on governance, strategic planning, trauma-informed leadership, community development, equity-based human resources, and cross-sector partnerships that advance dignity, inclusion, and systemic change.
He currently serves as Executive Director of the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society and co-directs the Victoria Social Innovation Centre. Through his volunteer work with the Victoria Coalition for Survivors of Torture, he seeks to support collaborative initiatives for advocacy, fundraising, and community response for people who have suffered torture, forced displacement, and other forms of systemic violence and trauma.
Luis holds a Master of Arts in Global Leadership from Royal Roads University and an MBA from IPADE Business School. His leadership has been recognized with the King Charles III Coronation Medal, the Royal Roads University Founders’ Award, and the Eve’s Global Leadership Learner Award.
Outside of work, Luis enjoys spending time with his family walking the trails and beaches of beautiful Victoria and BC, with gratitude and respect for the unceded territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən Peoples. He is also an avid reader, film enthusiast, and lifelong music lover.
Alejandra Lara-Espinosa
Alejandra Lara-Espinosa is the Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) Coordinator at Cowichan Intercultural Society and also coordinates the organization’s Sponsorship Agreement Holder (SAH) program. Through her work with the LIP initiative, Alejandra collaborates with local governments, service providers, and community organizations across the Cowichan Valley to strengthen newcomer integration and community planning.
Frank Cohn – Member at Large
Frank Cohn is the CEO of the Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture (VAST). With 20 years of experience in community development, he has taught at various universities and colleges, delivering guest lectures and field instruction. Frank’s training expertise spans multiple languages, and he has positively impacted over 10,000 youth in rural and urban areas across Latin America and Asia. He has also successfully managed international travel exchanges for more than 1,000 young individuals. Notably, Frank spearheaded the establishment and leadership of Global Potential, an organization that empowered 4,000 youths from low-income communities in five countries over nine years. Frank has collaborated with NGOs such as Cool Culture and the YMCA and has provided consulting and advisory services to non-profit organizations. His commendable contributions have earned him recognition as the New Yorker of the Week and the recipient of the Emerging Social Worker Award. Frank holds a BA in Literature and Philosophy from UBC and an MS in Social Work from Columbia University.
Muna Zaidalkilani – Vice President
Muna is currently the Co-Chair of the Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture (VAST) and has recently advanced from Executive Coordinator to Vice President at the Victoria Coalition for Survivors of Torture (VCST). In the past two years she joined two research teams, one at the University of British Columbia and another at Victoria University, focusing on the mental health of refugees and newcomers. Muna specializes in trauma-informed crisis settlement support and anti-violence work. She assists refugees who are survivors of war, torture, abuse, gender-based violence, and persecution, including cases related to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC). Muna has worked for several years as a Resettlement Assistance Program Counsellor and Crisis Settlement Worker, contributing to one of the largest refugee resettlement movements in Canadian history—Operation Syrian Refugee (OSR)—at the Immigration Services Society of BC. She was also part of the Violence Prevention Team at MOSAIC, where she also supported refugee and newcomer victims of crime and gender-based violence within Canada.
Mark Welch
Mark Welch is a retired nurse who has worked in the UK, Australia, and Canada, primarily in mental health teaching, research and service development. He has undergraduate degrees in Political Sociology and Nursing, and post-graduate qualifications in Nursing. He has worked with the WHO in Copenhagen and directly with refugee populations in Thailand and Palestine.
Majd Hawily – Voices Against Hate Project Evaluator
Majd designs simple, effective data and evaluation frameworks at the intersection of research, education, and community. Backed by a fully funded post-graduate background in psychology, she has spent years studying how people process information, learn, and navigate complex systems. Her practical project experience spans rigorous research in human memory, cross-cultural healthcare access, and immigrant and newcomer integration. By pairing quantitative metrics with real community stories, she shows exactly what is working on the ground. As an evaluation consultant for VCST, Majd uses this experience to build clear, participatory frameworks that help institutions better serve and connect with diverse populations.
Daqo Abdulle – Volunteer Research Coordinator
Daqo’s greatest passion is in communication and capacity-building, particularly through delivering training, leading workshops, and engaging with individuals. She has experience in facilitating a variety of sessions for diverse audiences, finding the work to be both meaningful and impactful. She also has valuable experience in writing and research.
Peter Golden – Board Member Emeritus
Peter worked as a dedicated lawyer for over twenty years in Victoria with an emphasis on immigration and refugee law. He is remembered as a leader and a fierce and loyal advocate for people fleeing hardship and danger. In addition to volunteering for various local organizations Peter travelled abroad to promote international human rights. He also worked as an independent election observer in Mexico and El Salvador. Peter is a founding member of VCST.
Sarra Abd Alla
Sara is a public health researcher with more than nine years of experience in research and project administration. She holds a MBBS in Medicine and Surgery from the Faculty of Medicine at the Russian State Medical University. Sara also holds a master’s degree in public health and community medicine from the University of Khartoum, Sudan. Recently, she got her certificate in business administration from the University of Victoria. Sara recently worked remotely as a research assistant at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ontario Tech University, scooping reviews for a project on people with serious mental illness. While working in Sudan and finishing the residency in a rural state suffering from civil war, she had the opportunity to work with survivors of torture and violence, especially with children and women.
Kathryn Collins – Secretary
From a young age, Kathryn has been passionate about human rights and helping those around her. This desire to lend a helping hand lead her to a career in health care. For the last four years, she has worked within the hospital sector as a regulated pharmacy technician, focusing on sterile product preparations. Since becoming involved with VCST, Kathryn is now looking to further her education and shift into the legal field. Her goal is to focus on giving a voice to marginalized groups and break the stigma surrounding immigration and mental health.
