When her family moved to Canada in 2011, Mary Anne Velayo has 20-plus years of entrepreneurial experience working in distribution of consumer goods and pharmaceutical products and has proven track record in the fields of enterprise development, finance, and marketing. She earned her bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Business Management as well as her master’s degree in Education.

As a charter member of the Rotary Club Vancouver Mountainview (RCVM) since 2017, Mary Anne served as Club Administration Chair in 2018, has led major fundraisers and became Club President in 2019-2020. During her term as Club President, RCVM was given Rotary Citation (Gold level) and won D5040 Highest Number of New Members sharing the achievement with another club. She is a Paul Harris Fellow +5 and recently joined the esteemed Paul Harris Society. 

Mary Anne has also been engaged in community services and newcomers’ settlement assistance and been extensively involved in helping non-profit organizations and community groups especially the Filipino community. 

A fellow Rotarian described Mary Anne as having “...a way of touching people’s lives, always putting other people’s needs before her. She is the club’s go-to person and patiently shares her knowledge to club members. She is crucial is establishing RCVM and getting it to where it is now. She works diligently and is not afraid to face any situation because she uses the Rotary’s 4 Way Test to guide her decisions. Her commitment and passion in Rotary are her strength as she serves as Assistant Governor for District 5040 in the next three years.” 

Mary Anne has three children working in their own professions. The eldest, Isabel, works in marketing communications agency and a soon-to-be mother. Veronica, the second child, is a civil engineering graduate from UBC currently an assistant project manager. Both daughters are based in Toronto. The only son and youngest, Jayvee, also graduated from UBC as a mechanical engineer.