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Who are we?

Our Programs

Our program values critical thinking in order to communicate and promote intercultural dialogue, while insuring a climate of respect and tolerance.

Our program is available in several community and school workshops.

Community

Our philosophy

Paix, Amour, Amitié, Liberté (PAAL)

 

(Peace, Love, Friendship, Liberty) These values are the cornerstone of our activities. We consider that interculturality is an asset to be exploited to ensure peaceful coexistence. To get to know and talk to each other, to open up to the world, fearlessly! That is what inhabits us.

Our Mission

Break down intercultural barriers

 

through an environment of dialogue and collaborative activities. Our objective is to stimulate reconciliation between the members of different ethnocultural communities residing in the metropolitan region of Quebec.

PAAL-AGA-01

Get in touch!

To know the price and make a reservation for a workshop, please contact us:



    +1 514 657 3340
    info@paalmtl.org
    Join our Newsletter

    Our impact

    Activity Report

    295

    Workshops/ Events

    12725

    Participants

    Download the annual report

    ( Content available in French )

    Our Team

    Direction

    paal-pilar

    Pilar Hernandez

    Chief Executive/President

    Trained in artwork restoration, Pilar Hernandez has a master’s degree from HEC Montréal in management of cultural enterprises and a diploma from Cégep St-Laurent in cultural mediation. For over fifteen years she has worked in museums and in teaching.

    Pilar understands the challenges of our multi-diverse society and is ready to create projects so that each person finds their place in the world.

    paal-rafael

    Rafael Benitez

    Artistic Director

    With over twenty years of career in Mexico and in Canada, Rafael Benitez is PAAL’s creative brain. With his graphic designing and artistic background, he also has a master’s degree in intercultural mediation from Université de Sherbrooke. Here is his portfolio: rafakir.com

    Rafael uses his artistic talents and his communication skills to create transformative experiences within PAAL’s work.

    Staff

    Parastou Haghi PAAL

    Parastou Haghi

    Artist – Cultural Mediator

     

    Parastou is an illustrator, painter, and cultural mediator who has published around thirty works with various publishers. She holds a master’s degree in Visual and Media Arts from the University of Quebec in Montreal.

    For Parastou, collaborating as part of a team within PAAL, while working on exciting and varied projects, represents a major opportunity. She was captivated by our organization’s values and commitment from the very beginning!

    Carol Vertiz PAAL

    Carol Vertiz

    Cultural Mediator – IDÉ TRAINER

     

    Carol Vertiz Kroetzsch graduated in Psychology in Mexico. She specialized in helping relationships with a humanistic approach, dance therapy, meditation and mindfulness. She has extensive experience in facilitating workshops and developing psychosocial intervention programs aimed at children, women, the elderly, and those with chronic illnesses or homelessness in Mexico.

    Throughout her career, she has focused on promoting mental health and community well-being by integrating creativity and art as means of development, expression, and transformation.

    Diana Benavides PAAL

    Diana Benavides

    Communication and Marketing

     

    Diana Benavides holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design and a master’s degree in Management (Marketing). She is a versatile professional who has worked as a designer, project manager and consultant on customer strategy and digital experience design for startups and large professional services firms. Diana has also been involved in her community as a volunteer interpreter.

    Xueying Wang PAAL

    Xueying Wang

    Facilitator – Direction Assistance

     

    Xueying holds a Master’s degree in Law from the University of Montreal, but her great passion is dancing. Since the age of 3, Xueying has specialized in Chinese folk dance and ballet, even achieving the highest level of the “Certificate of Arts Grade Examination of China”. She has participated in numerous dance and martial arts performances in Montreal and China. In 2013, Xueying won 2nd place in the World Kung Fu Championship in China in two categories, Tai Chi Fan and Tai Chi Chuan. In Montreal, she is a certified Chinese language teacher, working with children and she brings her versatility to our organization.

    Luz Sotelo PAAL

    Luz Maria Sotelo

    Consultant on intercultural education

     

    Luz María holds a master’s degree in education and has also been a high school teacher in Mexico, where she was responsible for creating and organizing cultural activities with students. She specializes in learning workshops, culture, and facilitation. Luz believes that reading and culture open up unexpected worlds and serve as tools for bringing people closer together. Throughout her career, she has dedicated herself to mediation and legal counseling for elderly people in rural areas.

    Administration

    Narriman Buegueret CA PAAL

    Narriman Hafida Bouchahdane

    President of the Board of Directors
    Katia Macias-Valadez CA PAAL

    Katia Macias-Valadez

    Vice-President
    Valerie Boire CA PAAL

    Valérie Boire

    Secretary
    Bernest Durandisse CA PAAL

    Bernest Durandisse

    Treasurer
    Robyn Dalton CA PAAL

    Robyn Dalton

    Administrator
    Jean Levi Ouedreago CA PAAL

    Jean Lévi Ouedreago

    Administrator

    Our Story

    Challenges and Growth

    2015 2015 Established in August 2015, Pilar Hernandez and Rafael Benitez founded the non-profit organization under the name Chilpayates. The very first workshop named Escribir pintando, “write while drawing”, is offered in partnership with the Mexican Consulate in Montreal to highlight the diversity of the different cultures that make up Quebec today through a Mexican tale. Authentic and relatable artistic activity. 2016 2016 The following year, Chilpayates animated 40 workshops for a group of almost 1,000 participants. In addition, the organization published a children's activity book about Mexican culture under the name Chilpalivre to convey authentic Mexican values to its audience. 2017 2017 Having recognized the cultural richness that characterizes the city of Montreal, the company decides to broaden its horizons and offer cultural awareness activities focusing not only on Mexico, but also on various cultures that enrich the multiethnic landscape of the city.

    The organization changed its name to PAAL Partagons le monde (PAAL Share the world) to continue its objective: to encourage participants to become agents of change in their community by promoting respect and inclusion, while raising citizens' awareness of cultural diversity in order to live better together.
    2018 2018 In 2018, PAAL was recognized as a charitable organization and received its first financial support from the Canadian Heritage for the first edition for its Dia de muertos NDG project. The event was very successful, welcoming 850 participants for a period of 6 hours.
    2019 2019 In 2019, PAAL forged a friendship with the Kanien'kehá: ka (Mohawk) Traditional Council, one of the First Nations of North America. This symbolic moment allows collaborations in the form of artistic workshops while promoting the Kanienkehaka culture, such as the Kanienkehaka teachings project. 2020 2020 PAAL organized its first day camp called Des racines aux feuilles (From roots to leaves). The Kanienkehaka Teachings project was also chosen by the city of Montreal as one of its activities for its annual event called Rendez-vous du loisir culturel, Sport et loisir de l'île de Montréal.
    2021 2021 PAAL is expanding its horizons and taking a corporate approach by incorporating a service within the human resources of companies in the metropolis of Montreal. Its involvement in the workplace aims to improve inclusion and dialogue.

    Artistic activities that raise awareness of cultural diversity.

    Your donation make our free activities possible

    Help us break down cultural barriers!

    We need your support in order to accomplish our mission of educating and sensitizing the members of different Montreal communities, and to raise awareness about cultural diversity with hopes to put an end to racism.

    Donate

    Charitable registration number 72939 6697 RR 0001 / Quebec registration number 1172428204