MEET THE TEAM
Michal Lavi: Executive Director / Chair
After working as a geologist, Michal joined her Partner Aviv Fried and started Sidewalk Citizen Bakery and Park Restaurant.
In January 2016, Michal started Tzavta - a monthly cultural dinner salon for an intimate meal and conversation. To date, Tzavta held 60 salons and collaborated with many art organizations, public and academic institutions locally and nationally. Michal has also curated, Layla Lavan, a series of late nights talks on Ethics and Morality in collaboration with Calgary Institute for the Humanities as well as Chardonnay with A Cube of Ice, a collaboration with WISE Planet, celebrating women in science.
Nadia Murad: Board Member
Human rights activist and recipient of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, Nadia Murad is a leading advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. Her New York Times bestselling memoir, The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State, is a harrowing account of the genocide against the Yazidi ethno-religious minority in Iraq and Nadia’s imprisonment by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).
Nadia was named one of Time Magazine's 12 Women of the Year in 2024.
Dr. Luanne Freer: Board Member
Dr. Freer is a recently retired board certified emergency physician who served over 25 years as medical director for Yellowstone National Park, and is the past president of the Wilderness Medical Society. She discovered her path to personal fulfillment by combining her medical practice with her passion for the mountains and her desire to serve those less fortunate. In 2003 she founded Everest ER, the highest hospital in the world (5350m) that celebrates its 21st season on Mt Everest in 2024, using funds collected from ill and injured foreigners to subsidize free health care for Nepali people.
In 2015, propelled by grief at the loss of her dear friend Wongchhu Sherpa, she began working with a Nepali non profit to construct a hospital in his remote boyhood village. The Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital hospital opened in 2020 and was expanded in 2022; it serves 600 patients per month, providing primary and urgent care and maternity services as well as health education for the local community. https://www.himalayanyokpufoundation.org/ Retirement affords her the opportunity to join Odems World Foundation.
Lourdes Juan: Vice Chair
Lourdes is an entrepreneur and Urban Planner, and TedX speaker, with a Masters in Environmental Design, who has founded a diverse array of organizations including Hive Developments, Knead Technologies, Leftovers Foundation, Fresh Routes, and Soma Spa.
An award winning entrepreneur, she has been recognized as Top 40 Under 40 in Avenue Magazine, received the Culbert Family Philanthropy Award from the United Way, awarded the L’Oreal Paris’ Women of Worth Award, is a Distinguished Graduate and a UCalgary Arch Award recipient, and received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee medal. Her community advocacy is vast and includes serving on numerous local and national boards related to urban planning and design, food security, affordable housing, and impact investment
Lourdes is a mom to a toddler who inspires her to continue to work towards building a brighter future for Calgary.
Maggie Rabinovitz: Secretary
Maggie is a commercial and real estate lawyer currently practicing in the healthcare sector. She is passionate about advocating to help those whose voices need to be amplified. Maggie serves as the Vice-Chair of the HomeSpace Society, an organization dedicated to providing affordable housing to combat homelessness. She brings a wealth of knowledge to Odem’s World Foundation with her strong background in corporate governance, risk assessment and compliance. She is an ardent supporter of the Tzavta Salons and is committed to bringing this compelling concept of education, inspiration, and community to a larger stage. Maggie calls Calgary her home after living and travelling abroad and feels privileged to raise her young family here.
Naomi Potter: Treasurer
Since 2012, Naomi Potter has been the Director/Curator of Esker Foundation in Calgary. In 2003, Potter was awarded a yearlong Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst (DAAD) artist residency in Istanbul, and from 2003 to 2007 was co-director of the international artist residency program at CESTA in the Czech Republic. In 2015 was a guest of both the Australian Arts Council and British Council International Curatorial Visit programs, and has been a jury member for numerous Canadian art awards and jury’s including: The Hnatyshyn Foundation (2022); a member of the Curatorial Selection Committee for Venice 2019; Gershon Iskowitz Prize (2019); BMO 1st Art! Selection Committee (2017/18); SSNAP (2017); Sobey Art Award (2016); and the RBC Canadian Painting Competition (2014). She currently sits on the Board of the Calgary Institute of the Humanities, University of Calgary, and the Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Outstanding Artist Program Committee for the Banff Centre. Potter holds a BFA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and an MFA in sculpture from Concordia University, Montreal.
Christina Frangou: Board Member
For more than two decades, Christina Frangou has worked as an independent journalist covering health, gender and social issues. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, Chatelaine, Canadian Geographic and more.
She has been recognized with some of Canada’s most prestigious awards for print journalism, including a National Newspaper Award and four National Magazine Awards for feature writing. In 2022, she received the Landsberg Award, which was given jointly by the Canadian Women’s Foundation and the Canadian Journalism Foundation for her work shedding light on women’s equality issues.
Christina teaches journalism at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Laleh Behjat: Board Member
Dr. Laleh Behjat is a professor at the Department of Electrical and Software Engineering at the University of Calgary and the NSERC Prairie Chair for Women in Science and Engineering. She has many research interests including making computers faster and less power hungry, making engineering education more inclusive and innovative, and designing sustainable systems with a social justice lens. Laleh is passionate about increasing the status of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and removing systemic barriers. She is leading a change leadership program WISE planet with the mission to envision and build a just, equitable, diverse and inclusive society.
Neeraj Gupta: Board Member
Neeraj Gupta is the founder of Lawcubator and FormulateIP as well as an angel investor. Neeraj holds a bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Metallurgical and Material Sciences and a master’s from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden, in Scientific Computing and Mathematics. He is a PGPX in General Management from UCLA Anderson School of Management.