Profile
Mitsa Ouroumis describes her strongest professional quality as a practical approach balanced with empathy to both immediate and long-term organizational goals. As director for human resources at the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council (OMVIC), she works through issues that rarely have a single right answer, weighing people, policy, risk, and fairness against each other. “The ability to combine empathy with sound professional judgment has served me well throughout my career,” she says.
Practicality shapes how she handles work challenges like balancing day-to-day priorities against work that pays off over the longer term. “I think it’s important to not only respond quickly when something comes up but also not lose sight of the bigger picture,” she says. Ouroumis manages complex situations by prioritizing based on impact and urgency, guided by empathy, common sense, and what is best for the organization long-term.
What she believes sets her apart is her ability to balance big-picture thinking with genuine care for people, looking beyond immediate issues to consider the broader impact on employees, culture, and the organization. “I don’t see leadership as standing apart from others but more about creating trust, contributing, and helping people and organizations make progress,” she says.
Ouroumis counts the biggest achievement of her career as helping build workplaces where people feel supported, valued, and able to do their best work, and points to OMVIC’s recent Great Place to Work certification as concrete proof. “I’m very proud of this; it reflects our staff’s opinion and sentiment about the organization,” she says. She adds that consistently listening to employees and making conscious decisions to support them is what makes strong HR practices land.
As a woman in HR, Ouroumis shares that she faced barriers that were not always obvious at first, including assumptions about leadership style and having to prove herself more than once. “That’s part of why I care about building workplaces where other women have fair opportunities and don’t have to clear the same hurdles,” she adds.
Being named as one of HRD Canada’s Elite Women for 2026 means more to her than personal recognition. “It’s a chance to show other women what’s possible in their own careers. Leadership takes many forms, and careers rarely follow a straight line.”
OMVIC’s own leadership numbers make Ouroumis’ case for her, with women holding half the executive team, including both the chief executive officer and the chief administrative officer posts and more than half of other management roles. For Ouroumis, it is proof of what deliberate intentionality can achieve. She wants that same standard applied industry-wide and argues that progress depends not only on recognizing talent but also on building environments where women are actively encouraged and supported.
Above all, Ouroumis wants to be remembered for making a real difference for the people she worked with, as “someone who cared, listened, acted with integrity, and helped build a fair, supportive environment where people could succeed.” That work rarely gets noticed in the moment, she adds, but it shapes people’s day to day far more than it gets credit for.
65 Overlea Blvd, East York, ON M4H 1P1
647 327 6709
mitsa.ouroumis@omvic.on.ca
linkedin.com/in/mitsa-ouroumis
omvic.on.ca
Mitsa Ouroumis
Director, Human Resources
Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council
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Bio
Milestones
1991–2006
2007–2015
2015–2020
2020–2023
2023–present
Built a strong foundation in compensation, total rewards, job evaluation, pay equity, executive compensation, and HR consulting through roles with Aon (formerly Hewitt) and TELUS
Supported large-scale compensation programs and organizational effectiveness initiatives
1991–2006
Expanded HR expertise as a Human Resources Generalist with alphabroder Canada Corp., leading employee relations, training, benefits administration, recognition, engagement, and management development initiatives
2007–2015
Strengthened strategic HR leadership through HR Business Partner roles with Home Trust Company and Data Communications Management (DCM), partnering with senior leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, talent management, compensation, recruitment, and change
2015–2020
Led HR across corporate, distribution centre, and retail operations as Human Resources Manager at Mastermind Toys, overseeing compensation, performance management, recruitment, workplace investigations, benefits, and health and safety
2020–2023
Leading the modernization of HR practices as Director of Human Resources at OMVIC, including a comprehensive compensation review, new HRIS implementation, employee engagement and retention initiatives, and HR support for approximately 180 employees across Ontario
2023–present
Milestones
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