Martine Breuillaud
Executive director
Martine is the founder of Alaya. She has worked in France and Quebec as a production manager and director for several broadcasters. She traveled across Quebec, Canada, as well as Amerindian and Inuit communities dear to her heart. Several countries are also on her roadmap. She has developed a particular attachment to Nepal, a country she visits regularly. Her first trip in 2009 was an opportunity to participate in women’s trek in the Jumla region.
She returns to Nepal to direct her documentary “Femmes des montagnes” (Women of the Mountains). Her job allows her to give a voice to those who never thought they would one day be heard.
For several years now, she accompanies trekking groups along with Nepalese teams and focuses her commitments towards eco-responsible actions by raising awareness in the communities she visits.
Board of Directors
Suzanne Morneau
President
Suzanne Morneau is a professor, and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) graduate. She worked for nearly 25 years with adults and immigrants at the Montreal School Board.
Originally from Abitibi, where great outdoors rhyme with activities, she enjoys cycling, swimming and canoeing. Her taste for travel and discussion allowed her to initiate a trip with the participation of Vosgiens and the Franco Quebecois Office.
Suzanne supports humanitarian causes since many years. Her visits to Cuba, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand and Madagascar raised her awareness of children’s issues and rights, as well as orphan diseases. His great-nephew himself has Phelan-McDermid Syndrome.
She joined Alaya Foundation for its values of sharing, and organized a fundraiser for the children of Nepal in October 2018.
Sophie Quemeneur, M.Sc., C.Adm.
Vice-President
Sophie Quemeneur grew up and studied in Europe and Australia during her youth. She is a member of the Canadian Forces since 2005. During her spare time, she volunteered in various organisations such as Beauport Rotary Club, SAHB, and ville de Québec. In 2008, she created the Navti Canada Foundation with three classmates. Navti developed four international cooperation programs in the Province of Bui, Cameroon; fair trade (coffee coop), French as Second Language (FSL) teaching curriculum (primary and secondary school), HIV/AIDS prevention, and child sponsorship. Since that time, Sophie developed a marked interest in social entrepreneurship, communications, as well as community and HR responsible development.
Sophie is a Laval University graduate (B.A., Economics and Politics, 2008; M.Sc. Organizations Management and Development, 2013). She is an active member of Alaya Foundation since its inception in 2015.
Line Cloutier
Secretary
Living on the edge of a forest since childhood, Line was introduced to the flora, fauna and the environment, which led her to study horticulture at the Institut de technologie agroalimentaire de St-Hyacinthe.
Subsequently, she went to work in Western Canada to perfect her knowledge, and travels became an important part of her life. Back in Quebec, she started a landscaping and IT consulting business, which led her to develop a clientele across the world.
However, it is her work in the St-Henri and Pointe St-Charles districts of Montreal that marks a turning point in her life. Indeed, Line had to develop collective gardens and environmental projects to help the most deprived, in collaboration with various organizations, always in connection with food autonomy.
Now retired, she joins the Alaya Foundation for its values and for the desire to help and share her knowledge.
Linda Fortier
Treasurer
Linda Fortier loves adventure. Endowed with an unusual strength of mind, she takes on challenges such as marathons, triathlons, hikes in high mountains, and 6-month bike trips. She is a UQAM graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in psychosocial intervention, arts and outdoors. Linda has been accompanying hikers for 30 years for Rando Plein Air. Her work in intervention and her travels around the globe made her see the world differently. Mother of 3 children and daycare manager for 8 years, children have always been her great inspiration.
Linda discovered Nepal in 2009 during a humanitarian trek, and her heart remained in the Himalayas. Since then, she returns there once a year. As manager and advisor of the “Atmosphere” outdoor clothing department, she continues to live her passion by acting through the Alaya Foundation.
France Brûlé
Administrator
After working for over 15 years at Laval University in Quebec City and 32 years at Polytechnique Montreal as a student advisor, it was the pandemic that finally forced me to consider my retirement.
I am also a hiker. Life has offered me the opportunity to discover magnificent trails: from the Camino de Santiago (Spain, France, Portugal) to Mont Blanc, passing through Patagonia, Iceland and Annapurna, I am a free spirit who contemplates the great outdoors.
I sincerely believe that as we get older, we must continue to be socially involved in projects that correspond to our aspirations. I know that Action makes me happy!
Whether in Nepal or Canada, the mission of the Alaya Foundation brings us together to open up to others and help each other. For me, it is a privilege to join this team. This is a mission that inspires me and that I endorse globally.
Jo-Anne Ménard Mackowiak
Administrator
Jo-Anne was President and CEO of various engineering companies in the field of risk prevention and management until 2018. During her career, she was also part of various boards of directors. She remains active in a Canadian investment company member of the (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).
Supporting human transformation, Jo-Anne is also a certified coach of the SICPNL and a mentor in global health. Active, committed and passionate of the outdoors, she knows the components of a healthy, active and full life.
She has the support and well-being of human beings at heart as well as respect for their ecosystems.
Nadia Morency
Administrator
Nadia Morency has a background in interior design, architecture. After studying environmental design at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Nadia put on her backpack to travel and discover the world. It was in 2009 that she had the chance to set foot on Nepalese soil with a humanitarian trek project with the 3Sisters. These three women are changing the face of trekking in Nepal. In a man’s world, they give a place to women. Combining the pleasure of trekking with a humanitarian project has been a most enriching experience.
In Quebec, Nadia works mainly with real estate developers. She focuses on the concept of interiors, and on elements essential to the marketing of new eco-responsible residential projects. She and her husband run a business they founded in 2002. For her, whether here or in Nepal, the basic concepts of architecture remain the same. They must harmonize with the environment and match the lifestyle. Alaya Foundation’s project in Nepal is related to humanitarian assistance as well as architecture fundamentals.
Raymonde Paiement
Administrator
Raymonde Paiement is retired, very athletic and passionate about traveling. She considers herself privileged to be a board member of Alaya Foundation, and to collaborate with a team dedicated to populations affected by natural disasters.
She fell in love with Nepal several years ago as well as for the Nepalese due to their great human values and beliefs.
Willing to actively involve, she develops new ideas and funding methods with the purpose of helping populations in need.
Solange Ouimet
Administrator
Solange is a training documentation technician and graduate of Cegep Sainte-Thérèse who worked for several years at Ville de Laval library service. She is retired since 2009.
Since her retirement, she found herself on different Santiago de Compostela (St. Jacques de Compostelle) pilgrim routes in Spain, Portugal, and France. For her, walking means freedom, getting away from the everyday; an opportunity to meet people, unexpected encounters such as nature, but mostly yourself. When you come back, you are no longer the same...
This year, the route has brought Solange to Nepal, a great life experience for her. You wonder who helped whom?
Chloé Fortier-Devin
Webmaster
Chloé is responsible for updating the foundation’s website. She completed a Bachelor in Fine Arts, photography. Her artistic projects are linked to the theme of family memory, and question the value of objects that surround us. She is an imagery technician and works along with college students and professors.
Chloé was a hiking guide for eight years, and has lead groups to discover landscapes of Quebec and around the world. The beauty of the Nepalese people and sceneries were presented to her through her mother, Linda Fortier, as well as through Martine Breuillaud’s work.
Sensitive to the condition of women in Nepal, Chloé has used her talents to further Alaya’s cause since June 2018, by managing the information and the visual aspect of the website.