ALEX BEIM – URUGUAY
BUSINESS ENTREPRENEUR CATEGORY
Born in Uruguay, artist Alex Beim has lived and worked in Vancouver for more than 20 years. Always an entrepreneur, he started his first business at the age of 18 as a graphic designer in Montevideo. When he made the move to Canada years later, he didn’t know a word of English, but with some tenacity and resourcefulness, he found work almost immediately in advertising. Starting out as a designer, Beim eventually became an Associate Creative for a major Canadian advertising company. With no formal higher education, he is essentially a self-made man.
At 35, Beim took a giant leap and started his own business, Tangible Interaction, following his true passion in life. Since 2006, he has translated his love for coming up with whimsical ideas and figuring out how to make them a reality into the creation of dozens of interactive artworks. Thanks to Tangible, he has travelled the world, creating magical moments for millions of people.
CATEGORY PRESENTED BY 
CHAFIKA EDDINE – BRAZIL
WALDO BRIÑO CATEGORY
Chafika’s volunteering efforts include six years as a Director of the Board for the Peruvian Canadian Chamber of Commerce and two years as the Executive Director for Western Canada. She is one of the founders of the Global Change for Children Foundation and has been previously involved with several fundraising initiatives focused on children’s education and health in Latin America and elsewhere. She has a legal background in addition to certifications as project management professional and corporate social responsibility practitioner and has a Master’s degree in Community Development from the University of Victoria. She has managed international projects in a dozen countries in Latin America to promote best practices and continuous improvement in areas such as sustainability and governance. Her multicultural experience has honed her commitment to excellence in building relationships and shaped her profile as a connector and an accomplished sustainability ambassador. She was born in Brazil and lived in several other countries including Peru, Bolivia and Panama.
Chafika has helped to raise about $300,000 for the Global Change for Children Foundation. She is making a great contribution to the business community by encouraging Western Canada in engaging with the Peruvian Canadian Chamber of Commerce. Her great contribution though is connecting people and creating opportunities for them to build new networks, in addition to engaging more and more people to volunteer with her. Chafika is a respected voice and advocate of Human Rights and Business ethics and was a guest speaker and presenter at Uvic, UBC, Ryerson University, Ministry of Energy and Mines of British Columbia, PRIA/UNESCO and several international conferences in Canada, USA and Peru.
CATEGORY PRESENTED BY 
INSPIREHEALTH – CANADA
NON-LATINO MAKING AN IMPACT CATEGORY
InspireHealth is a not-for-profit health care organization, providing supportive cancer care for individuals living with cancer and their families. All of our services are completely free and include consultations with exercise therapists, dieticians, medical doctors, clinical counsellors and more!
All of the programs that we offer at InspireHealth are offered free to all participants. This is made possible in part by our many volunteers, who are involved in many components of our programs and classes. Some of the tasks filled by our volunteers are:
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- Preparing a healthy lunch and snacks for attendees of the LIFE Program;
- Setup and take down for programs and classes;
- Fundraising activities;
- Database assistance and maintenance;
- Office tasks such as phone calls.
Total volunteer hours approximate 5000/year.