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Meet your Alumni Council Members
Mirela Topchieva (she/her)
COUNCIL MEMBER
Mirela is a government relations and advocacy coordinator for Cerebral Palsy Alberta, advocating for people with disabilities and effecting change in policies and perspectives to be more inclusive and adaptive. She engages stakeholders from academia, government, non-profit and the private sector.
Mirela has a deep appreciation for culture, languages and diversity as Canada is the fourth country she has lived in. She finds purpose through building community, continuous education and engaging with policy to make the world a more welcoming place.
Mirela holds a Bachelor of Arts — Policy Studies (2021) from MRU. As a student, she served as President of the Policy Studies Students Society, and for SAMRU as a student representative and as Assistant Vice President Academic.
Outside of work, you can find Mirela baking, spending quality time with her friends and family, and travelling to new destinations.
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Tia Hagen
PRESIDENT, MRUAA
CHAIR, ALUMNI COUNCIL
Tia (she/her) is the Director of Brand Communications at ATB Financial, leading the external communications team and the communications surrounding ATB's ESG work.
Mercedes Brown
VICE PRESIDENT, MRUAA
VICE-CHAIR, ALUMNI COUNCIL
Mercedes (she/her) is a practicing nurse clinician, a mentor in the Harry G Schaefer Mentorship program and is the 2014 recipient of an Outstanding Alumni Award.
Bunmi Afolabi
Chair, Nominating & Appointments Committee
An experienced leader and inquisitive learner, Bunmi (she/her) is currently an HR Manager at GoodMorning.com.
Eric Bennett
COUNCIL MEMBER
Eric (he/him) is an experienced financial services professional and Senior Wealth Advisor with ScotiaMcLeod/Scotia Wealth Management.
DAWN BURKE
COUNCIL MEMBER
Dawn (she/her) is a Business and Policy Planner for Parks and Open Spaces at the City of Calgary. She has had a varied career spanning industries and loves giving back to the community.
JOSHUA DAHM
COUNCIL MEMBER
Joshua (he/him) is an HR Advisor at Elk Valley Resources and is a dedicated MRU alum, mentor and advocate for student success.
Bronson Ha
COUNCIL MEMBER
Bronson is experienced in consulting in Canada and overseas and currently works as a project management analyst and public relations consultant.
Arielle Land
COUNCIL MEMBER
Arielle (she/her) is a professional with a background in strategic marketing and a track record in B2B tech, SaaS, and B2C environments.
Lauren Steeves
COUNCIL MEMBER
Lauren (she/her) is an experienced communications professional and is currently a Senior Marketing and Communications Strategist at the Haskayne School of Business.
ALEXANDRA SWISTON
COUNCIL MEMBER
Alexandra (she/her) works as an Account Manager with TEKsystems — one of the largest global IT staffing and services organizations responsible for accelerating business transformation.