Mithila Karnik, Championing Diversity and Community Engagement in Port Coquitlam

Mithila Karnik is an active resident of Port Coquitlam who has significantly contributed to the community since moving to Canada in 2016. She moved to Port Coquitlam in 2018 and ran for Port Coquitlam City Council in 2022, bringing with her a passion for community building and a strong focus on diversity and inclusion.

Cathy Cena – Local Journalism Initiative

Mithila has a background in admissions at the Vancouver Film School and previously worked as an Artist Manager for over a decade in Bollywood. This experience honed her ability to connect with people, a skill she hopes to use to strengthen her community.

Mithila is deeply involved in advocating for peer-to-peer programs and community engagement, especially for new mothers and young families, being a new mother herself in 2020. She is committed to enhancing the sense of inclusivity in Port Coquitlam and addressing important local issues such as affordable housing and infrastructure improvements. Additionally, Mithila is an active participant in Port Coquitlam's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Roundtable Advisory, and she has organized several large-scale community events in the Tri-Cities area​.

Mithila is also the co-founder of Level Up, a networking group which focuses of bringing together new immigrants to Canada who live here in the Tri-Cities and mentors already living in the Tri-Cities who can help them with their transition.

As an immigrant from India Mithila says that the concept of volunteering for the community is a relatively new concept for her. None-the-less Mithila sees volunteering as a valuable method of making connections in the community and is happy that she is able to raise her daughter in an environment where there are so many opportunities to do so.