Surrey Connect is pleased to welcome Ramona Kaptyn as a candidate for Surrey Councillor in the 2022 municipal election. We look forward to working with her. Her energy, enthusiasm, and passion for service are refreshing.

RAMONA KAPTYN

• President, White Rock/Surrey Chapter of CARP – A New Vision of Aging for Canada
• Director, CARP National Board – Canada’s largest advocacy association for older adults
• Director: South Surrey/White Rock Chamber of Commerce
• Member: City of White Rock Seniors Advisory Committee
• Member: Steering Committee, Semiahmoo Seniors Planning Table
• BC Representative: Sheraton Parkway Hotel, Suites & Conference Centre

Ramona Kaptyn is a graduate of Ryerson University (Journalism) and the University of Toronto (Education/Political Science).

She is a communications specialist and has worked as a reporter, travel writer, editor, teacher, public information officer for the government of Ontario, hotel managing director, and fundraiser in Canada, Australia, England, Spain, and Asia.

From 2002 to 2008, Ramona worked in international development in Southeast Asian countries to contribute to a more equitable world. Some projects were funded by the former Canadian International Development Organization (CIDA). Two of her most memorable posts were teaching hotel management and first aid in Vietnam, and being an organizational development advisor to four NGOs in Bangladesh where focus was on good governance and micro-credit. Her last overseas job was in Malaysia preparing Grade 12 scholarship students for entry into Canadian universities.

Ramona has also been an executive director, communications director, and fundraiser for a variety of non-profit organizations in Toronto, ON, and was a program coordinator at Sources Community Resource Centres in White Rock, BC where she set up two programs for seniors. As well, she has served as a director or president on a variety of boards, clubs and strata councils including York Central Hospital Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce in Richmond Hill, ON

Travelling is a passion that has taken her to many European countries as well as Myanmar, Nepal, Japan, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Panama, and the former Soviet Union.