Sereen Alkhayyat

You might think after living in four countries throughout the Middle East, another move would be easy. But immigrating to Canada came with new challenges for Sereen Alkhayyat, a former banker who was accustomed to a busy social life before she and her family left Dubai in 2010. “We didn't know anyone in Canada,” she recalls, thinking back to the isolation she felt during her first year in Vaughan, Ontario. After a year in Canada, the family moved to London for her husband’s career, and Sereen sought inspiration in her favourite Winston Churchill quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
With that as her slogan, Sereen set out to make life better for her family – she and her husband have four children – and those around her in London.
Still home then with infant twins, Sereen offered to help friends with fundraising, joined a networking group and started a gift-basket franchise. In 2015, after the twins started school, she began volunteering with the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre, helping Syrian refugees get settled. In 2016, she did the United Way stair climb with the “From Migration to Integration” team.
Fluent in English and Arabic, Sereen is a certified interpreter.
Being Canadian is a “privilege, an honour,” says Sereen, who has dual citizenship – Canadian and Jordanian. She hopes to instill pride in her children, and brings them to Jordan each summer to visit family.
Sereen urges other newcomers to learn English and get involved in the community, saying that is what helped her achieve the life she now enjoys.
Grateful to all those who helped her feel at home in London, she urges all Londoners to welcome newcomers.
“If we work together we can make London safer and stronger,” says Sereen.

---

---