About Us
BridgeIS puts public benefit before private profit.
BridgeIS is owned by Social Enterprise for Canada, a registered, not-for-profit Canadian charity. Social Enterprise for Canada has been meeting the needs of newcomers and delivering services for the Government of Ontario and Canada since 1982. This affiliation has earned BridgeIS a high level of community and government trust.
The BridgeIS team is compassionate, dedicated and experienced.
Meet the Team
Patricia Cousins
Corporate Executive Officer
Ms. Cousins developed, structured and launched Social Enterprise for Canada, the first blended business and benevolent service organization of its type in Canada. Ms. Cousins is the Chief Executive Officer of both the charity, SEC, and the social purpose enterprises under the Bridge brand. She currently sits as Co-Chair of the York South Simcoe Training & Adjustment Board and is Chair of the Region of York Community Planning Council.
Naveen Aggarwal
Senior Director of Business Development
Naveen brings over 30 years of diverse experience within the technology spectrum encompassing Hardware, Software, Services, and vertical industries including Pharma, Manufacturing, Finance, Telecom, Government, and Retail across Canada and the U.S. He has held senior-level positions with leading international companies including TIBCO Software (General Manager - Global Telecom Line of Business), Sun Microsystems, Netscape, and Nortel in the areas of technology development, sales, marketing, and corporate management. He also successfully transitioned the above-mentioned skills to the Venture Capital arena. Most recently Naveen was COO and VP of Business Development at Predictum and Hiflylabs. Naveen has degrees in Neurophysiology and Mathematics/Computer Science from the University of Toronto.
Ian Cowie
Lead Immigration Consultant
As an experienced Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, Mr. Cowie provides immigration related support throughout the SEC partnership, and is a contributing advisor in the development of new immigration related pathways for Bridge IS.
Eric Chen
Director of Finance
Mr. Chen has been working in the financial field for more than 14 years. He is responsible for the financial controllership of both the Charity and social purpose businesses. Mr. Chen holds both Chartered Professional Account and Chartered General Accountant designations.
Ajlal Haider
Director of IT
Mr. Haider is an Information Technology Engineer, Network Designer and a Software developer. He has 13 years’ experience in working with various technologies and aspects of IT including Data Centres, Virtualization, Voice & Video collaboration, Networking/ Connectivity and Storage. Mr. Haider holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and several professional certifications for Cisco, VMware and Microsoft.
Ian Ritchie
Senior Director of Access Services
Ian is originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario and has spent the last 28 years working in the non profit community services sector in Ontario. He is passionate about giving back to community and spends his free time volunteering with community agencies and enjoys spending time in his garden.
Vivian Wang
Director of Accreditation Qualification Services
Vivian has a background in finance, partnership building, and career counseling. She has more than 15 years of experience in accreditation information service and is PLAR and portfolio advanced level practitioner. She has a passion for advocating for internationally trained professionals to fast-track their career goals. Vivian is actively participating in social events and conferences, and giving public speeches on how to get professional recognition to IEPs. She and her team were also invited by community partners for accreditation information sessions and portfolio development sessions.