Our Team
FOUNDER AND PRINCIPAL LAWYER
Mante Molepo
Mante is the Founder and Principal Lawyer of Molepo Law PC. She works with organizations navigating periods of change and crisis—addressing complex challenges in governance, risk oversight, stakeholder engagement, and organizational culture. Mante brings more than two decades of experience across government, non-profit, and corporate sectors.
Mante spent the first part of her career in the federal public service where she negotiate some of Canada’s most ambitious Free Trade Agreements, including the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) and bilateral agreements with Asian and European countries. She also practiced international transportation law and aviation law at a federal tribunal, providing legal advice to the President and tribunal members.
From 2022-2023, Mante served as the Innovator in Residence for the Ontario Bar Association. She developed a Career Accelerator program to provide Indigenous, Black and other racialized lawyers with professional knowledge and skills to advance their participation in three emerging areas of law: Artificial Intelligence, ESG, and Fintech.
With a passion for governments, Mante has served as an Executive in Residence with the Institute of Corporate Governance. An award winning leader, Mante sits on the Board of Governors of the Ottawa Hospital, the Residence Corporation, and the Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund (LEAF). She is former Director of Amnesty International Canada, the Parkdale Food Centre and Parents for Diversity.
THERAPY, PSYCHIATRY, COACHING
Victoria
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
LEGAL EXPERT
Dr. Rachel Zellars
Dr. Rachel Zellars, MA, JD, PhD, is a legal scholar and national expert on institutional accountability, governance systems, and public‑sector leadership. Her research examines how historical and structural inequities shape contemporary governance frameworks, organizational culture, and the effectiveness of oversight and recourse mechanisms within public institutions.
She has led influential national research projects, including the landmark Study on the Black Executive Community in the Federal Public Service, which shaped a government‑wide response plan for leadership equity and systemic accountability. As the inaugural Jocelyne Bourgon Visiting Fellow at the Canada School of Public Service, she conducted foundational research on merit, institutional design, and the historical exclusion of Black Canadians from federal leadership.
Dr. Zellar’s work offers evidence‑based insights for strengthening procedural fairness, organizational trust, and governance effectiveness across complex institutions. As a consultant, she supports boards, executives, and public‑sector leaders in designing systems that embed accountability, psychological safety, and equity into decision‑making and oversight. An award‑winning educator, she has been recognized for excellence in teaching, research, and leadership.
AI GOVERNANCE
Somto Mbelu
Somto Mbelu has a background in philosophy with a focus on ethics, and he recently completed a PhD in AI Ethics at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands. He works at the intersection of AI ethics, policy, digital health, governance, compliance, risk, finance and business, bridging research and practice to shape technology that truly serves society. His work focuses on making AI fair, accountable, and inclusive, translating these principles into practical governance frameworks, policy strategies, and responsible design approaches. He is the founder of the Ottawa Responsible AI Hub and the convener of Canada’s foremost AI ethics summit, the Ottawa Responsible AI Summit.
