Our Mission
Our mission is to develop a high quality of strong Black-Canadian/Caribbean virtual assistant leaders. We strive to provide support, education and mentorship to a growing field of the new virtual pivot of remote workplaces and advocate for the inclusion of diversity in administrative staff treatment.
Our Vision
Our vision is to reach a large number of virtual assistants across Canada and the Caribbean communities and to create a strong network of accessible resources and education through downloadable templates, live education and mentorship from virtual business leaders.
Our Values
Create – Create representation opportunities and business tools for VA’s to access at any time.
Educate – Educate VA’s and incoming VA clients on the importance of creating sustainable administrative practices and support through the legalities that exist to protect VA’s and the business owners providing proposal opportunities.
Advocate – Advocacy on the creation of laws and practices that benefit the protection of VA’s that identify as a visible minority and access to mandatory training of Anti-Black Racism and diversity inclusion of BIPOC persons that currently run a virtual assistant business.
Elevate – Elevate VA’s to make the right pivot into expanding business opportunities and partnerships through the BCGVA network.
The most in demand VA skills in 2021 are: Social media management, email marketing and project management
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Founder/President: Sasha Rodriguez
As a serial entrepreneur and author of “Let’s Talk Virtual – Ebook”, Sasha is changing the way Black-Canadian/Caribbean businesses conduct their business operations by pouring life into the vision of “the new” virtual office. The Black Canadian Guild of Virtual Assistants is a stamp of the future and Sasha believes that the visibility of Black-virtual talent needs to be highlighted – in a new way.
Last year, Sasha was laid off from her dream job and decided to pave her own way in the legal administrative field. During a pandemic, where many people were faced with making choices to be eonomically stable, Sasha chose to create her dream job and provide other Black women and men the opportunity to work from home and contribute to Black economics in their respective skillsets, simultaneously.
Sasha is an experienced law clerk with over 13 years in both the private and Ontario public sector. Sasha offers certification in Court Support and extensive work experience in administration. Working with some of the most prestigious law firms across the GTA , she offers expertise on various executive support methodologies and has become an expert in developing virtual pivots for businesses. Sasha has the knowledge that offers excellent leadership in leading her suucessful VA business, Virtually Noire the dynamic team of the BCGVA!
Apart from possessing a strong legal and business background, Sasha has also undertaken several initiatives to benefit the society. This includes her service as Executive Director of the Black Virtual Legal Access Hub, her commitment to various non-profit organizations over the years, as well her ongoing community charity.
Sasha’s passion to making a difference has recently led to her creating The Black Canadian Guild of Virtual Assistants. As the President and pioneer of this membership, which is the first of its kind. This platform is a space for Black Virtual Assistants to develop their skills and grow as professionals.
In the ever-changing world, the one thing that remains consistent is that Sasha will continue to strive through her innovation and expertise, to ensure that members are provided with opportunities for advancement, reaching business targets and obtaining overall success. With this being said, there will be more great things ahead from Sasha as she spearheads these amazing projects that benefits Black VA’s gloabally.
Alyssa Maharaj: CPD Director
Alyssa is a project management powerhouse and a well educated professional providing strategies on VA professional development. She brings her well-rounded skills and possesses a wide range of administrative experience.
Alyssa is creative, organized, goal-oriented, assertive and brings extensive administrative skills to the team. With over 6 years in medical and general administration, Alyssa provides strong leadership skills and methodologies that contributes to leading new opportunites to educate our members in respective VA fields.
With a background in marketing and communications, Alyssa has taken the Virtually Noire team to the next level and is ready to continue to contribute to the professional development of the BCGVA community.
Shania Sylvester: IT/Membership Director
Shania Sylvester is a thriving IT professional and continues to break barriers with her problem solving and analytical skills in technology and social media methods.
Shania is our resident IT specialist and provides our members with the access they need to business tools and resources provided by the BCGVA.
Her skills take our team to consistently new and innovative levels in technology advancements and her methodologies and professional development is constantly growing in the new wave of remote support.
Shania is a young talent and has acquired the knowledge and skills in becoming a leader in her respective regions of Grenada & Canada.
With her technical and customer service skills, Shania has a bright future with the BCGVA and continues to be an asset to our team. There is more ahead for Shania and we are proud to hone her incubation of success.
A Stanford University study found that hiring VAs online could cut attrition rates in half
Borderless Mentorship & Training
