Hala Bissada

Hospitality and Tourism Management ’91
Event Producer and Fundraiser

One of Canada’s foremost event fundraisers, Hala Bissada established her award-winning firm, Hala Events and Communications, in 2004, where she is president and CEO. Previously, she was chief development officer for the Children’s Aid Foundation, where she significantly increased revenue and executed high-profile events such as the Teddy Bear Affair and the Golf Classic. A Certified Fund Raising Executive and board member of the Association of Fund Raising Professionals, she also spent five years with the Sick Kids Foundation, the fundraising arm of Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, where she managed its 10th annual telethon and the Wishing Well, Ontario’s first mega-hospital lottery. A sought-after speaker, she is also a part-time instructor at Ryerson, where she has developed a Special Event Certificate program.