Sampada Kukade
Vice President, External Relations & Development
Sampada Kukade is the Vice President of External Relations & Development at Skills for Change, a national nonprofit serving more than 20,000 newcomers, refugees, and underserved community members annually. A senior executive with over 20 years of experience in public policy, government relations, and organizational leadership, she recently served as Interim Co-Chief Executive Officer — sharing co-equal executive authority across the organization and its staff, jointly accountable to the Board of Directors for organizational performance, financial stewardship, governance, and strategic execution.
As Vice President, Sampada leads fund development, strategic government relations, policy, and communications — advancing partnerships across federal, provincial, municipal, corporate, and philanthropic sectors. Her work has generated significant growth in programs and funding and in brand reach and engagement, positioning Skills for Change as a national thought leader in equitable workforce integration.
A 2026 graduate of Maytree's Policy School, Sampada brings a systems-level lens to policy and advocacy, and is a public speaker in spaces including the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and Pathways to Prosperity, on workforce integration, AI, advocacy, and strategic partnerships. She serves as Board Secretary with the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) and holds advisory roles with the Conference Board of Canada and the Institute for Work & Health.
Above all, Sampada's greatest joy is her family. Her role as a mother grounds her leadership and fuels her commitment to building a more equitable future for the next generation.
Meet Our Other Leaders
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Emily Kovacs
Chief Executive Officer
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Sampada Kukade
Vice President, External Relations and Development
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Nidhi Khanna
Vice President, Program Operations
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Dr. Shawn Newman
Director, Research & Program Design
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James Solomon
Director, Finance
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Neale Harrison
Director, People and Culture
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Katrina Estey
Director, Program Operations
