BizKids Board of Directors
Tina has a master’s degree in Political-Social Science and International Relations, background in multimedia production & non profit sector.
Tina Balachandran
Tina is a storyteller, facilitator, social worker, and an immigrant from India. Compassion, integrity, and service are her core values.
Tina has a master’s degree in Political-Social Science and International Relations. She has over two decades of experience in content & creative multimedia production in television broadcasting. Her passion for social innovation and community development is inspired from her to work with children, youth, and women in the not-for-profit sector. She has spearheaded award-winning projects and campaigns and was instrumental in creating pathbreaking television programming content for both sectors she associated with; media and not-for-profits.
Tina has actively and intentionally engaged in various services and programs for immigrant women, refugees, and newcomers to Canada in the capacity of facilitation, volunteering, and mentoring with organizations like the Local immigrant partnerships, Burnaby Intercultural Planning Table, PIRS, MINERVA & Women Economic Council. Tina constantly explores innovative and sustainable ways to collaborate within the community to make meaningful connections supporting newcomers’ settlement journeys. Tina is a strong ally of anti-oppression, equity, diversity and inclusion.
Tina is currently working as a manager for the Surrey Local Immigration Partnership. She is cofounder of an IWI- An Immigrant Women Initiative. She hosts a podcast series titled Voices of Immigrant Women, centering stories and resilience of immigrant women.
Robbin is a Certified Parent Coach, author, podcaster and speaker and also has a background in marketing, public relations, & event planning
Robbin McManne
Robbin is a Certified Parent Coach, author, podcaster and speaker. She works with parents from all over the world to help them build more connection and find more joy and cooperation in their parenting.
Robbin is a parenting expert and consultant for the international, personal development app, LiveMORE and sits on the Expert Panel for Newsweek Magazine where she contributes to and writes articles related to parenting for the publication. Robbin also has a background in marketing and public relations, training, and event planning.
Robbin’s work focuses on building and strengthening the parent child relationship so that children grow up with resilience, confidence and strong emotional intelligence. She works with parents to help them understand their own emotions and frustrations in parenting, so they can help build their children’s sense of self without losing themselves in the process!
Robbin’s book, “The Yelling Cure – How to stress less and get your kids to cooperate without threats & punishments” has been read by parents all over the world with 300,000 copies sold to date. She also runs an award winning podcast, Parenting our Future, and is ranked in the top one percent of all podcasts globally.
Robbin divides her time working with her clients, speaking at events and spending time with her two teen boys and husband.
Zoë has a decade of experience as a Port Moody City Councillor, Library Trustee and currently holds the seat of SD43 School Board Trustee.
Zoe Royer
Zoë has a decade of experience as a Port Moody City Councillor, Library Trustee and currently holds the seat of SD43 School Board Trustee.
In 2016 she took the leap, following a successful career of 22 years in healthcare, to open a commercial art gallery in Port Moody. She also founded and chaired KaBoom! the Port Moody Art Explosion and co-founded The Shuffle, Port Moody’s Art Walk.
She has Chaired and Vice-Chaired many of Port Moody’s civic committees; Arts and Culture, Community Advisory and Planning (CPAC), Community Care, Economic Development, Finance, Heritage Commission, Land Use, Senior’s Focus, and Transportation.
She was the City’s representative for Metro Vancouver’s Climate Action Committee, Coquitlam’s School District 43 Childcare, Port Moody Fire Department, and Affordable Housing task forces, as well as the Fraser Health Municipal Regional Committee, the Youth Focus Committee, Municipal Insurance Association of BC, TriCities Chamber of Commerce, Golden Spike Days Society, the Port Moody Arts Centre Society Board, Advisory Design Panel, E-COMM 9-1-1.
As a panelist for Young Women’s Civic Leaders, Canadian Women Voters Congress, and a supporter of the Tri-City Women’s Conference, Zoe shares her experience and expertise to mentor women into leadership roles and to actively participate in our democracy.
Joe is a seasoned entrepreneur and angel investor with a marketing agency, Code Ninjas franchise and other active endeavours
Joe Deobald
Joe is a seasoned entrepreneur and angel investor who has made a name for himself in the business world by driving growth for companies through innovative marketing strategies and growth processes. He has received several accolades for his contributions, including the BIV Forty Under 40 award, as well as numerous Culture and Marketing awards.
Having run his own marketing agency for 12 years, Joe has decided to step back from day-to-day operations to focus on new challenges, including opening a Code Ninjas Franchise with his wife Rachel, taking on the role of Content Director at AlgaeCal, a supplement company that specializes in helping people increase bone density and combat bone loss and becoming a father.
As an entrepreneur and investor, Joe is always looking for ways to innovate and create value. He is committed to using his skills and knowledge to help companies grow and achieve their goals, while making a positive impact on people’s lives.
Victoria’s defining M.O. is her ability to translate a host of ideas and concepts into a unified vision that drives action. She is relentless and thorough in the execution of strategies to drive impactful results.
Victoria is the Executive Vice President at Conversion, the world’s leading CRO agency who uses a unique blend of a/b testing, UX research, and personalization to improve their clients’ websites and businesses. She leads all the major functions of the business in North America, ensuring alignment and seamless operations across the company to successfully achieve its vision.
Victoria’s experience stems in building out thoughtful operating systems and experiences that enhance organizational culture and enable organizations to scale, and achieve their goals.
Victoria is also a mother, wife and has been an incredible contributor to Build a Biz Kids as a Board Member since 2019.
The BizKids Team
Alexis has used her graphic design expertise to designed many of BizKids graphic design components for their programs & marketing
Alexis Livingston
Alexis has been refining her design skills over the years working with many different businesses in a variety of industries to create both beautiful, and effective, graphic design elements to help build their brands and share their messaging. She has enjoyed bringing her talent to the Build a Biz Kids team and designed many of their graphic design components for their BizKids programming and marketing materials.
Dawid is a dedicated Video Producer, channeling his passion into developing Educational Videos for BizKids programming.
Dawid Joks
Dawid is a dedicated Video Producer, channeling his passion into developing Educational Videos for BizKids programming. Dawid has been developing his craft in multiple components of video production for many years and worked with clients in a number of industries.
AJ edits and contributes the animated clips in all of our Educational Videos in each BizKids program.
AJ Varela
AJ is a creative based in Canada. She continues her freelance journey in media while balancing her passion for entrepreneurship and content creation. She works with our Curriculum Development Team and edits and contributes the animated clips in all of our Educational Videos in each BizKids Program. AJ also currently works as a Live Artist at Respawn Entertainment that includes creating images for their store, creating live art from existing assets and collaborating with the UI/UX and MTX teams on new and existing features.
Obsessed with all things digital, Ayo is a media deep-diver that loves to get into what makes content work.
Ayo Supangco
Obsessed with all things digital, Ayo is a media deep-diver that loves to get into what makes content work. He manages all paid digital marketing accounts & Analytic data for Build a Biz Kids and has taken on management roles leading a team of graphic designers and content writers. He is also the Social Media and Content Lead for Magnolia Marketing Communications and has worked as a postproduction supervisor for two feature films, various branded content, and constantly hits targets in an efficient and timely manner. Ayo’s experience working as a university faculty for media production allowed him to practice collaborative workflows and making data-driven decisions.
Leah Coss is on a mission to change the way we value and educate humans in society. With the evolution of Artificial Intelligence, Technology and Robotics, Leah believes that our roles as humans, and the skills we require to feel successful and fulfilled, have radically changed, but our outdated biases and judgements of one another have not. This contradiction is having a detrimental impact on our own feelings of self worth and limiting our true potential to be happy.
For businesses and organizations, it is creating higher employee turnover, a loss in client loyalty, and ultimately, a loss in momentum, money and growth.
Leah is the Founder and Co-Founder of growing organizations such as Build a Biz Kids, BBK Network, The Fuel Academy and Your Current Future. Utilizing her extensive background in franchise systems and her ongoing research in essential soft skill development & mindset, her organizations are actively developing advanced learning methodologies and resources for individuals and organizations.
“Once we shift our mindset to see our own true value as an individual, we will be able to see that in others as well and flourish together as a harmonious society.”