Surranna Sandy is the Chief Executive Officer of Skills for Change (SfC), a registered charity and nonprofit multi-service agency in Toronto, Ontario serving 14,000 Immigrants and Refugees annually. Prior to becoming the CEO of SfC, Surranna enjoyed a successful career as President and Founder of Surcorp Group, a Career Management firm with offices in Toronto and Ottawa. Having the first-hand perspective of an Immigrant in a new country, Surranna found her calling in advocating for and advancing the needs of immigrants and refugees as a volunteer and board member in the settlement sector.
In 2012, Surranna elected to resign from her firm and accept the invitation to serve as Skills for Change’s CEO, turning her advocacy of ensuring that Immigrant and Refugee has a fair chance to realize and fulfill their potential into her life’s vocation. Under her leadership, Skills for Change has grown from 5 locations in GTA to 10 locations in GTA and Southwestern Ontario serving over 15,000 clients per year. Surranna has led Skills for Change in expanding its programs and services from serving primarily internationally educated professionals to also serving Immigrant Women, Youth, Entrepreneurs and Seniors.
Surranna has a Master of Arts in Leadership and Management from Anglia Ruskin University, an MBA in Human Resources Management from the University of Wales, an Hons Bachelor of Arts in Leadership and Management from Northumbria University, a Diploma in Human Resources Management, and a Certificate in HR Management.
Surranna was awarded the Government of Canada’s Canada 150 Outstanding Neighbour award. This award is in recognition of her community service, as CEO of Skills for Change.
She is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Workforce Innovation Group and is a Board Member of First Work, Ontario’s Youth Employment Assistant Centers. She is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Ontario Nonprofit Network’s Decent Work for Women project and serves as Steering Committee Member for the Consortium of Agencies Serving Immigrants. She is a member of the City of Toronto’s Partnership & Accountability Circle (“PAC”) for The Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-black Racism.