Our team - LPP | Faculty of Law

Administration

Christiane Saad, Director

Christiane Saad has been the Director of the University of Ottawa's Law Practice Program (LPP) since May 2018. She received her Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from the French Common Law Program and her Licence en Droit (LL.L.) from the University of Ottawa. She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Urban Planning from the University of Montreal.

Ms. Saad has been a member of the Ontario Bar since 2017. She is also a member of the Ontario Attorney General's Advisory Committee on Access to Justice in French, the Association des juristes d'expression française de l'Ontario (Chair of the Access to Justice Committee), the Canadian Bar Association/Ontario Bar Association (Law Futures Committee, Official Languages Committee, Practice Management Section, among others) and the County of Carleton Law Association. She also serves on several community non-profit boards.

Élodie Dezard, Assistant

Élodie Dezard studied law in Quebec and in Paris. She holds a master's degree in business law from the Université Panthéon-Assas and a certificate in civil law from the Université de Montréal. Before joining PPD, she worked as an interpreter for an administrative tribunal and as a substitute teacher for various school boards in the Outaouais region. She joined the PPD team in November 2019.

Quetsia Longendja Bongolo, Legal Project Manager

Ms. Quetsia Longendja Bongolo has been the Legal Project Lead for the Law Practice Program since June 2024. She holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal and criminological law from the university of Kinshasa, as well as a College Diploma in Public Relations from La Cité. Her academic and professional career reflects a particular interest in criminal law, public relations, project management, and entrepreneurship. She has also expanded her skill set by obtaining various certificates in areas such as social media and project management.

Focusing on the promotion and protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, she is actively involved in the political arena, convinced of their crucial importance in shaping public policy. She also sits on various boards of directors.

George Gao, Legal Project Manager

De Zhong (George) Gao trained as a criminal lawyer. He has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 2023. He studied political science at McGill University (2013) and civil law at Université de Montréal (2017). He is also completing a Master's degree in applied criminology, penology and management at the University of Cambridge in England.

He worked as a judicial assistant at the Federal Court (2023-2024). He has also worked as a civil servant for Employment and Social Development Canada and Parks Canada. Mr. Gao is fluent in French, English, German, Spanish, Mandarin and Welsh. He has a working knowledge of Croatian and Latin.