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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Meet the BCGVA Executive Team
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.
Director of Operations: Adanna Jones
Adanna holds a BA in Communication Studies as well as an MBA specializing in Marketing Management. Adanna has gained many years of experience in customer service, education and communications and marketing and with that quickly become a leader with our team.
The BCGVA was innovatively built under the project managment of Adanna and her efforts in envisioning what the new way of professional development looks like for our members.
As a diligent administrative professional who strives for excellence, Adanna has made strives in education elements fofr the BCGVA. She is an excellent team player and leads with a desire to constantly expand her knowledge and skills.
With Adanna’s experience in office based environments and performing executive administrative duties, project management and brand development, she has gained a solid foundation which will allow her to continuously grow with the BCGVA.
Anisha Roy-Saunders: Communications Manager and Regional Director of Trinidad & Tobago
Anisha is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in all administrative tasks, inclusive of administrative operations management. Anisha brings her analytical and leadership skills to the BCGVA members and provides extensive consultation, experience and education in leading the communications department of the BCGVA in the Trinidad & Tobago and Canadian regions.
Anisha is conscientious and self-motivated with a continuous drive to learn and grow. Whether individually or as part of a team, she is as an excellent leader and we are proud of her leadership role on the executive team.
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
