Board of Directors
The Oakville Soccer Club is a not-for-profit organization governed by a volunteer Board of Directors elected by the Club’s membership.
Imdad Ali
President
Imdad has been involved with OSC as a coach and player for much of his life and has a passion for supporting the Oakville community. He was elected as a Director in 2019. Currently, Imdad is Director & Senior Legal Counsel with a major financial institution where he provides regulatory, cybersecurity, and third-party risk advice. He has over 12 years of experience in financial services and has had responsibilities relating to strategic sourcing, technology implementation, outsourcing, incident response, strategy development, and change management. Imdad also has experience interacting with various local/international regulators and implementing large enterprise efficiency-driving projects. He holds an LL.B and completed his LL.M in Negotiation from the University of London.
Email: president@oakvillesoccer.ca
Tanya Pereira
Vice President
Tanya is an accomplished Human Resources Professional with over 16 years of experience in talent management, leadership development, and organizational change in the financial services industry. Currently Senior Director, Organizational Development and Planning at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), Tanya has responsibility for communication, training, and planning for the Operations division and has played a lead role in the development of HOOPP’s 5-year strategic plan. Tanya holds an Executive MBA from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and an Honours Bachelor of Mathematics, with a Minor in Psychology, from the University of Waterloo. Tanya is actively involved with the local school and church community in Oakville and is a player in OSC’s women’s league. She joins OSC, looking to give back to her community and is passionate about leadership development and life-long club membership
Petra Haneberry
Treasurer
Currently, Vice President of Performance Management, RBC Finance, Petra has accountability for senior finance advisory to the Investor & Treasury Services business within RBC. She brings over 22 years of experience in finance, risk management, strategy development, governance, product management, and operations. Previous board experience includes serving as President of the Burlington Masters Swim Club, and she has also been actively involved in fundraising for various children’s charities in the past. She holds a degree from McMaster University and is also a CFA charter holder. She continues to swim competitively and is an active supporter of her children’s chosen sports of soccer and hockey. She is excited to leverage her passion for active, healthy living by giving back to OSC, and ensuring everyone in the Oakville community continues to have the ability to participate, regardless of age or ability.
Shane Gonsalves
Secretary
Shane is currently Managing Director, Government & Public Affairs for the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association. He has nearly a decade of public sector experience, having served as Chief of Staff to the Attorney General of Ontario, Chief of Staff to the Solicitor General of Ontario, and Chief of Staff to the Minister Government & Consumer Services, and Francophone Affairs. He has advised cabinet ministers and Premiers on a variety of complex files including constitutional and human rights issues, justice sector reforms, labour relations and collective bargaining, and government procurement. Shane’s experiences include leading policy development for legislation, stakeholder consultations, crisis communications, and issues management. A lawyer by training, Shane began his career with a large, full-service law firm in Toronto. Shane grew up in Oakville playing soccer for OSC and now coaches his eldest son’s teams. He is a firm believer in the positive influence of team sports on the lives of both children and adults. Shane joined OSC’s Board of Directors in 2019.
Abas Kanu
Director
Abas has been involved with OSC since 2005 as a player and volunteer coach and was elected as an OSC director in 2017. He is a lawyer and currently heads the Compliance group at a leading investment fund. Previously, he was a Director of Compliance at another investment fund, and an Associate General Counsel (Regulatory) at a premier bank, after joining the bank as a senior commercial lawyer. Before moving to in-house positions, he practiced corporate and commercial law at a top-rated national law firm, where he spent 10 years. He holds a Global Professional LLM from the University of Toronto.
Kate Svoboda
Director
Currently Senior Vice President of Client Services at Research Now, a global online market research company, Kate brings over 17 years of market research and global operations management experience. She has experience in process improvement, personnel development, strategic planning, change management, and leading teams through mergers and acquisitions. Kate has previous board experience, most recently serving as a Director on the Market Research and Intelligence Association board from 2015-2017. She has a degree from the University of Guelph and a postgraduate diploma from Georgian College. Kate’s family is very active at OSC – Kate is a player in the women’s league, her husband plays and is a volunteer coach, and both her children play at OSC as well.
Rachna Singhal
Director
Rachna joined the OSC Board of Directors in June 2016. She brings with her nearly 20 years of IT policy, privacy/ security, governance, and business experience. Having served on 3 separate not-for-profit community boards, worked in high-tech, and spent over half of her career in the federal public sector, Rachna has a passion for serving the community and the public. Rachna has led a number of regional and national portfolios, including serving as an advisor to the Deputy and directing a major IT and business transformation project. During her 7 year tenure as a director of the Oakville Parent-Child Centre, she also held positions as Chair and Vice-Chair. There, Rachna led the governance review and changes. Being a mother of two young children, Rachna is extremely passionate about ensuring that each child is given the best possible start, which includes a right to play, learn and grow. Both Rachna’s children play soccer with OSC and she also played growing up and in university.
Alexis Ricordi
Director
Currently Chief Information Officer of KIK Custom Products, a global CPG manufacturing company with operations in Canada, the US, and other international locations, Alexis brings over 25 years of technology and global leadership experience. He was elected as a Director in 2020. Alexis has experience in corporate governance, strategic planning, business & technology transformations, and leading teams through mergers and acquisitions. He has an MBA degree from the Ivey School of Business and a Master’s degree of Six Sigma Black Belt from York University. Alexis is very active at OSC, he is a player and captain in the men’s adult league.
Sandip Sahota
Director
Sandip has been involved with OSC as a volunteer parent coach since moving to Oakville in 2015 and was recently elected as an OSC director in late 2021. He has spent his career within Financial Services at the intersection of Data Management, Analytics and Digital capabilities across Canada and the United States. A lifelong soccer player, Sandip volunteered to coach in New Jersey gaining his credentials along the way and now holds a United States Soccer Federation Coaching License (National C). As the (non-parent) head coach for a Boys Premier-Level travel team, he was responsible for training and game-day coaching activities developing the players through U8 to U18. Over those 11+ years, Sandip’s team competed and won countless state, regional and national tournaments along with the New Jersey National U17 State Championship. After his coaching tenure, Sandip was asked to be the volunteer, non-parent Director of Youth Coaching, and a Board Member for his hometown Chatham United Soccer Club (2012 to 2014). In addition to his soccer volunteerism, he now sits on the advisory board for AltHub, which provides alternative data and analytics to help investment professionals gain an investment edge, and IntroGlobal, whose focus is on developing global companies by creating new markets in North America and Asia.
Christopher Warren
Director
Chris is an experienced nonprofit executive and public affairs professional; impactful and empathetic leader; and integrous governance board member. He is currently Executive Director of Sustainability Leadership, and previously served as Director, Government and Community Relations at Brock University and as a trusted senior policy and stakeholder relations advisor to Ontario’s Ministers of Energy, Infrastructure, and Colleges and Universities and an Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament. With a long-demonstrated history of community service, Chris is a passionate advocate for the positive impacts of non-profit organizations. He currently serves on the boards of the Oakville Soccer Club, the Interamerican Scout Foundation, Toronto Rugby Union and Crusaders Rugby Club, and supports several other organizations in various volunteer roles. He is an enthusiastic Canada Soccer C license-trained coach, coaching in Oakville Soccer Club’s RDP (Boys U14B), SDP (Boys and Girls U7-U12), and House League (Boys U13-U14) programs.