Alumni Achievement Awards

Annie Ropar
Bachelor of Business Management ’94
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer, Canada Infrastructure Bank

As Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Ms. Ropar is responsible for the financial oversight of Canada Infrastructure Bank activities, including financial and enterprise risk management, as well as the oversight of corporate functions, including legal, human resources and operations. Ms. Ropar was previously CFO of Aequitas Innovations Inc., which operates the NEO stock exchange. Prior to Aequitas, she held the roles of Managing Director, Business Manager, Global Equities at RBC Capital Markets, and Partner with RBC Capital Partners. Before joining RBC, Ms. Ropar served as Senior Vice President and Group CFO of what was then the Structured Finance division of CIT Group Inc. She is Chair of the Ontario Growth Capital Corporation board of directors and in her community, Ms. Ropar serves as a director on the board of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Foundation and has been an active committee member for the Wellspring Cancer Support Foundation.

Alessandro Munge
Interior Design
Founder, Studio Munge

Alessandro Munge, International Interior Design Association (IIDA), was named the 2018 Designer of the Year at the 39th Annual Interiors Awards Breakfast, presented by Contract in New York. Munge leads the hospitality design firm Studio Munge in Toronto, which has gained increased international recognition for innovative, luxurious hospitality interiors that are consistent in their levels of beauty and detail. The Designer of the Year accolade is Contract magazine’s most significant individual award and is awarded to designers who have already accomplished great work and are on a trajectory to do much more.

Karla Avis-Birch
Civil Engineering ’98
Vice President, GO Stations Capital Delivery, Metrolinx

Karla Avis-Birch moved from Montreal to Toronto to pursue a career in engineering at Ryerson University, and is an alumnus of the National Society of Black Engineers of Canada. She works for GO Transit, where over the past 6 years she has progressed from Project Financial Engineer to Manager, Controls and Standards, culminating in her recent career achievement as Vice President, RER New Stations and Off Corridor Infrastructure — Capital Projects Group. Within this role, Karla leads the development and quality control of design standards, provides oversight and guidance for project controls, is the functional administrator of the project management system, and oversees a business liaison team that includes procurement, realty, and legal. Most recently, she has been appointed by Infrastructure Canada to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority board of directors to  oversee the construction of the Gordie Howe bridge.

Paul Duffy
Applied Computer Science ’89
President, NexTech AR Solutions

Paul Duffy is recognized as an accomplished leader in the domains of Mixed Reality, Holographic technologies and AI. As the creator of the HumaGram™ and inventor of multiple patents for Augmented Reality and Holographic Telepresence, Paul is a serial entrepreneur with 27 years of experience successfully starting, expanding, diversifying and selling technology companies. Currently, he is the President of NexTech AR Solutions. Prior to this role, he was the Co-Founder of ARHT Media Inc. He was also featured in Ryerson’s double anniversary stories website.

Elisa Levi
Food and Nutrition ’01
President, Elevi Consulting

Elisa Levi is a health and food systems consultant. She spent several years working towards improving Indigenous health, working alongside organizations (Cancer Care Ontario, Assembly of First Nations, ONEXONE Foundation, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, the Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada). She is currently enrolled at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine (class 2021), and teaches Indigenous Food Systems at the Ryerson’s Chang School. She is a board member for Edkaagmik Nbiizh Neyaashiinigamiingninwag Edbendaagzijig Trust (in her community), Red Sky Performance, and the Anishnawbe Health Foundation. Her main focus in the latter foundation is fundraising to build the new Anishnawbe Health Centre for Indigenous Peoples in Toronto. She earned a Bachelor of Science (Nutrition and Food) from Ryerson University and a Master of Public Health from Lakehead University. She is a proud Anishinaabe-kwe, mother of two and member of the Chippewas of Nawash in Ontario.

Curtis Oland
Fashion Design ’17
Creative Director

Based in London, United Kingdom, Curtis Oland is a fashion designer and artist originating from the Okanagan Valley of Western Canada. His experience of connecting to his indigenous Lil'Wat heritage, and the teachings of the land, have inspired a carefully curated raw, organic aesthetic. He has since won the Emerging Menswear Designer Award at Toronto Men's Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2017 with his collection "Oyama Lake". He has also been nominated for the Simons Fashion Design Student Award for the 2017 Canadian Art and Fashion Awards Gala. Most recently, Oland has made his London debut at Somerset House for the 2019 International Fashion Showcase where he represented his home country with his latest Autumn/Winter 2019 collection, “Delicate Tissue”. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2011, majoring in Visual Arts (concentration in Sculpture).