Heba Mahmoud

Written By Nneka Allen, CFRE, COC, PCC

Heba Mahmoud is a mission-driven professional, committed to creating an inclusive, diverse, and equitable professional sector that welcomes and engages underrepresented communities.  She has spent the last fourteen years working with membership associations.  

Heba serves as the senior manager of diversity initiatives at the Consumer Technology Association, where she is responsible for building and implementing initiatives to advance inclusion in the tech ecosystem.  Previously, Heba worked at the Association of Fundraising Professionals where she took the lead in launching the Women’s Impact Initiative, a program committed to creating an impact by breaking down workplace barriers.

Heba holds a Bachelor’s of International Business and Marketing from Howard University and her Master’s of Business Management from Strayer University.    Heba is also a scholar in the 2018-2020 class of the American Society of Association Executives’ Diversity Executive Leadership Program.  She is passionate about youth engagement and actively volunteers with several D.C. area groups.

Nneka Allen, CFRE, COC, PCC

Nneka Allen identifies as a Black woman and Momma, descended from those who traversed the Underground Railroad. Her African ancestors endured the Transatlantic Slave Trade, building North America through free and forced labour. This legacy connects her to the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island, specifically the Cherokee and Lumbee tribes.

As a lover of justice, Nneka has inspired philanthropy as a Fundraising Executive in the charitable sector for over 25 years. She is the founder of the Black Canadian Fundraisers' Collective, a community that nurtures the well-being of Canadian Black fundraisers and supports the fundraising capacity of B3 organizations. She is a celebrated author and co-editor of a bi-national book that showcases the personal stories of 15 Black leaders in the charitable sector, titled Collecting Courage: Joy, Pain, Freedom, Love. During the 2022/23 academic year, Nneka took on the role of one of the inaugural Scholars-in-Residence for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the University of British Columbia.

Nneka is a relationship builder, stone-catcher, freedom fighter, storyteller, and leadership coach. At the helm of The Empathy Agency Inc., she passionately guides clients towards finding hope, purpose, and justice in their relationship with themselves, others, and the Earth. Her mission centres on nurturing wholeness and honouring humanity by harnessing the power of empathy.

https://www.theempathyagency.ca/
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