Meet Rekha. She is the Manager of the Family Services Department, including the Family Resource Network Hub, at CIWA.

Rekha joined CIWA as a Program Coordinator for Bridging the Gap for Foreign Trained Accountants program. She was drawn to CIWA after arriving in Calgary as she is passionate about women’s empowerment. She has now been working with CIWA for over 12 years.

“I really love my job as I get to support the most vulnerable families in Calgary through intervention and prevention services. Be it a new mom with post-partum depression, a youth trying to find the identity, an isolated senior or a family dealing with abuse and domestic violence. I am very passionate about women empowerment and particularly championing the prevention of domestic, family, gender-based violence and cross-cultural parenting issues faced by immigrant families.”

Rekha believes that one of the biggest barriers immigrant women are facing today relates to being recognized as an equal human being across the board and that these barriers are multiplied for immigrant women. CIWA is a leader in this area. CIWA champions the empowerment of immigrant women by offering various customized and gender specific programs and services that enables them to equitably access the supports they need to overcome employment, settlement, language and cultural barriers they face. These services support and encourage immigrant women on their journey to become contributing members of Canadian society. CIWA continually responds to emerging needs of immigrant women and girls by developing innovative programs, establishing meaningful partnerships, and leading the delivery of outcome-based gender-specific settlement services.

“I very much enjoy working collaboratively with the law enforcement and social services systems to share the culturally sensitive insights and contribute meaningfully in advancing the integration of immigrant families in a new country and culture. Seeing the clients and their family benefitting from the services, taking charge of their lives independently and also helping others through their experience, is really powerful.”

Rekha finds immigrant women to be very humble, empathic and grounded, while being a powerhouse of strength, courage and resiliency at the same time. As an immigrant, she is very proud of her own cultural heritage, values and traditions. Rekha is a peace loving person who believes in servant leadership. She feels blessed to have a spiritual foundation based on the philosophy her guru Pramukh Swami Maharaj – “In the joy of others, lies our own. In the progress of others, rests our own. Know this to be the key to peace and happiness.”

Rekha moved to Canada to pursue a better quality of life and a brighter future for her kids. She speaks Hindi, English, Gujarati, and Punjabi. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family, being in nature, listening to spiritual discourses and volunteering.

To learn more about the services we provide to support immigrant parents and families, click here.