About Us
Zera Café is a not-for-profit meal service with a mission to employ neurodiverse young adults. In January 2022, after 3 years of operating, Zera Café moved into a modern larger kitchen in Cummings Square, became MK Certified, and hired a professional support and leadership team. This team and additional space created a structure to support our neurodiverse staff and our growth.
Our ready-to-eat menu focuses on modern Israeli cuisine that is delicious, innovative, and vegetable-focused. We also now cater for events and meetings in schools, synagogues, and other agencies.
Zera means seed in Hebrew, which reflects the essence of this vision – inclusion, and diversity in hiring people who grow and flourish as valued employees and community members.
Board of Directors
Meet Zera Café’s dynamic & passionate team of directors.
Carrie Mazoff
President
Carrie Goldstein Mazoff has extensive experience in management positions in not-for-profit organizations, including the Miriam Foundation center for innovation, with the mission of implementing bold strategies to help people with autism and intellectual disabilities.
Sylvie Amar
Vice President
Sylvie Amar is the mother of a young adult with a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD). She is an actuarial scientist who has served on the board of directors of various community organizations tasked with encouraging legacy gifting.
Randy Schwartz
Treasurer
Randy Schwartz is an experienced Chartered Professional Accountant who has served on the board of Agence Ometz and JEM Workshop and was the Financial Director at the Cummings Center.
Kathryne Rose Cohen
Secretary
Kathryne Rose Cohen owned and operated Desserts Mousse, a dessert catering business for 15 years. Kathryne sits on the board of the free Hebrew Free Loan Association of Montreal and brings her business and culinary acumen.
Dan Vigderhaus
Industry Expert
Dan Vigderhaus, president of Eventure and Q-Zn, a virtual kitchen enterprise has extensive experience in event planning, catering, and professional kitchen construction. Dan has spearheaded many fundraising efforts including charity poker tournaments that raised funds for the Myriam Foundation and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. Dan has also helped raise funds for cancer research as one of the early creators of the Strangers in the Night event as well as the virtual All That Jazz event that benefitted the Jewish General Hospital.
Eve Rochman
Founding Director
Eve Rochman, a graduate of McGill University’s Health and Social Services Management program, founded and directs Zera Café. As any entrepreneur who starts a new venture from scratch, she has worn every hat and juggles many parts of the operations.