Conchita Sanchez – President
Conchita Sanchez graduated from National University in Bogota, Colombia, and has been working as a Financial Advisor for the last 30 years.
Conchita has helped many families to fulfill their financial dreams, providing excellent advice with their Retirement Planning, Insurance needs and Education Saving for a better future for their children.
In 1991, Conchita established “The Canadian Colombian Children Organization”, a Charitable not-for- profit Organization, to provide a brighter future for the orphaned children in Colombia. Being able to make a difference in these children’s lives has been a very rewarding experience for her.
Her life’s role model has been Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Humility, hard work and sacrifice for needy and homeless is her passion in life. Conchita along with her husband, Juan Pablo Sanchez and their four children, John, María del Rosario, Javier and Anne Marie have been helping this organization since the beginning.
Claudia Falquez-Warkentin – Vicepresident (Barrister & Solicitor)
University of Western Ontario-Faculty of Law (1995)
Law Society of Upper Canada (1999)
Universidad del Norte, Faculty of Law, Colombia, South America (1989).
Claudia is a Colombian accredited lawyer who has successfully completed her Canadian Law Degree and the Ontario Legal Bar Admission Examinations to become a fully licensed Barrister and Solicitor in Ontario. Claudia has been a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada since 1999.
Claudia’s practice focuses on the areas of Family Litigation, Divorces, Matrimonial and Separation Agreements, Wills & Estates Law, as well as Non-Profit and Charity law. Claudia combines effective legal advise with common sense and pragmatism in the resolution of legal problems.
Claudia combines the focus of her practice with other fields of law such as Bankruptcy Law and Corporate Law.
Claudia is a Mediator and is member of the Family Collaborative Practice Association in Toronto.
A deep believer in that one must give back to the community that serves us, Claudia has been an active participant as a volunteer through venues such as the Canadian Colombian Children Organization; the Canadian Colombian Professional Association (London): London Chapter; the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre; Bethany Circle and Sunfest Arts and Cultures.
German Saavedra – Treasurer
German Saavedra is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA Colombia), with more than 25 years of accounting experience. He served in different renowned accounting firms, such as: Deloitte & Touche, Coopers & Lybrand, and in Canada at Newman Sversky Chartered Accountants, and SB Partners. He is currently an associate partner of Kapadia LLP Chartered Accountants. Through the years German has maintained valuable relations at high level with lawyers, government regulators, auditors and board of directors.
Board Members
Maria Sanchez-Keane M.Div.,MBA
An international consultant, trainer and facilitator since 1994, as well as having over ten years of senior management experience in the non profit sector, Maria’s areas of expertise include strategic planning, organizational development and program evaluation.
In today’s context of a rapidly changing environment, she has designed, facilitated and managed a wide variety of processes for communities and organizations to increase their capacity and serve more effectively. As well, with her strong facilitation skills, she has worked with groups experiencing challenges including conflict and assisted in creating high performance work groups.
Maria’s organizational background has given her clients the ability to develop strong implementation plans with clear performance measures geared toward effectively evaluating the success of initiatives undertaken. She has worked with various sized groups, from teams of three to organizations with over eight hundred employees. She has facilitated hundreds of retreats, conferences, workshops and organizational processes.
Maria’s business approach is marked by the philosophy of creating working communities which are empowered to generate and implement strong strategic solutions.
Her educational background includes a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Divinity as well as other degrees, diplomas and certifications.
She is Principal of the Centre for Organizational Effectiveness Inc.
Olga Grant
Olga was born in Colombia, South America and came to live in Canada in 1965. Since then she has resided in several cities in Quebec and Ontario and has lived in Mississauga since 1978.
Her Sales experience goes back to 1984 when she worked in the travel industry and was a manager of a Whole Sale Tour Company. After working for fifteen years in this client oriented sales position Olga decided to pursue the career that she desired for a long time and became a licensed Real Estate Representative.
Olga’s efforts have been rewarded through the sales achievements she has obtained and in 2005 was the recipient of the Royal LePage President’s Gold Award.
Throughout her career she has gained a wide knowledge of the Greater Toronto Area having assisted her clients in buying and/or selling their homes from Hamilton in the west, Ajax in the east and Newmarket in the North.
Olga is a very dynamic and compassionate individual. She is a member of the Casa Cultural Colombiana, the Canadian Colombian Professionals Association and the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization which helps orphan children with education, food and shelter in her beloved Country.
Given Olga’s complete fluency in English and Spanish along with her active participation within the community she has gained the ability and understanding to help her clients with their real estate needs.
Professional integrity, commitment, patience and care are always foremost in her thoughts and actions while doing what she loves best – helping people.
César A Mejia
César was born in Sevilla, Colombia and has been in Canada since 2000. Cesar is a Systems Engineer (Hons) from the Manizales University Autonoma and holds an MBA degree from the University of the Sabana.
César has been working with the University of Toronto since 2002 and is currently the Associate Registrar, Systems, Scheduling & Examinations at the Office of the Registrar in the Mississauga Campus. Prior to join UofT, Cesar worked with the “Federación de Cafeteros” in Colombia.
César joined the board of the CCCO in 2017.
A proud father of one son, César also enjoys camping, biking, fishing and photography.
Doris Vidal-Buckley
I love, what I do best, helping people.
Prior to coming to Canada from Colombia Doris was member of the Parent School Board for several years, and worked as ESL Teacher at Abraham Lincoln School.
Later in life, sponsored by Seguros La Andina in Colombia, (representative of The Royal Insurance, England) Doris attained Broker credentials and founded Organizacion de Seguros El Roble Ltd, for 10 years, she successfully dealt with international insurance companies by working and advising Colombian corporations and built a reputation for El Roble. Doris left this opportunity to follow her beloved husband, Boris Buckley, who was transferred to work in Canada.
Her education includes: York University Glendon College – York University Multi – Languages Corporation Interpreters’ workshop Certificate. Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration: ILSAT Certification, Language Interpreting Spanish/English. Mohawk College: Spanish-English Language Interpreter Certificate. Sheridan College: Ontario Management Development (OMDP) Supervisory Certificate. Sheridan College: Business Administration, Marketing & Sales. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana: Languages.
Doris recently retired from Statistics Canada where she worked since 2000. In her role, she was responsible for gathering confidential information on a variety of topics that, in turn, benefitted all Canadians. She had a rewarding role that spanned twenty-one years.
Doris is the proud mother of three children, three grandchildren and three great-grand-children.
CCCO Volunteer for the past 30 years.
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” Henry Ford
Silvia Ganalopoulos
Prior to becoming a Real Estate Agent (21 yrs), I worked as an Administrator at the University of Toronto for 29 years, managed the family Clothing Business and co-ordinated a Homestay program for International students.
I have also donated my time acting as a Chairperson for Fun Raising endeavors (Hospitals, Community, Private School TFS and Brazilian Ball – Ambassador). Most importantly devoted my time to raising my family.
I believe in working hard, staying in touch and giving my best to support Organizations like Canadian Colombian Children Organization
W. Alejandro (Alex) Munoz
Alex was born in Toronto, Canada. His family has Colombian roots and he was raised in a Colombian household, which he seeks to preserve and pass down to his own children.
Alex is Senior Legal Counsel with the Toronto District School Board (“TDSB”). Before joining TDSB, Alex was a sole practitioner, as well as a Partner in a boutique litigation firm. Alex’s legal career has mainly focused on criminal, administrative and regulatory matters, primarily in the education law context. Alex has appeared as counsel in Courts and Tribunals across Ontario, including the Court of Appeal.
Alex is the editor of the Annotated Ontario Education Act, and has a Certificate in Education Law from Osgoode Hall Professional Development. He is a former Executive Board Member of the Canadian Hispanic Bar Association, current School Parent Council member and a volunteer soccer coach.
Oscar Torres
Oscar Torres is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Licensed Public Accountant (LPA), originally from Colombia. After Oscar came to Canada permanently at the turn of the century he earned his Bachelors of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) from Ryerson University, catapulting himself into a career in finance with determination and a strong work ethic.
Early in his professional career, Oscar worked in the investment industry before finding his passion in public accounting. Oscar joined Bateman MacKay LLP, a full-service mid-market Chartered Public Accounting firm in the West Greater Toronto Area, in 2012 and quickly worked his way to being named Partner in 2016. At Bateman MacKay, Oscar works with his clients to deliver optimal long-term solutions that help clients grow their businesses to their full potential. He leans on his experience and expertise to build trust and foster lifelong relationships. Oscar works extensively with business owners from the Spanish community, newcomers to Canada, and international companies, imparting knowledge to help them thrive.
In addition to offering his clients a wide range of accounting, assurance, taxation, and business advisory services, mentorship is integral to Oscar. He shares his experiences and wisdom with Canadian and international students at multiple institutions, including Ryerson University and Seneca College. He is a registered mentor with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, supporting and advising students pursuing their CPA designation.
With young daughters at home, Oscar describes himself as a family guy. In his downtime, he enjoys travelling, reading, fishing, and attempting to play golf
The Canadian Colombian Children's Organization 