CAVA was formed in 2012 by Elayne Whitfield-Parr and Pam Ivey.

Elayne Whitfield-Parr is the proud owner of Executive Assistance Business Solutions Inc., which was established in September of 2000.  Along with being co-founder of the Canadian Virtual Assistant Connection (CVAC) with Janice Byer in 2001, Elayne is a certified MVA, a Certified Canadian Virtual Assistant (CCVA) and a member of the elite PREVA (Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant) network and co-author of How to Build a Successful Virtual Assistant Business.  She was also nominated for the prestigious Thomas Leonard International Virtual Assistant of Distinction Award in 2008 & 2013 as well as RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Canadian Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award nominee in 2013.

Elayne is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and holds a BA in the area of Administrative and Commercial Studies.  She has worked in administration and management since the late ‘80s mostly in the high tech (software) industry.  Elayne has coached and advised many new VAs, is a Mentor with the Ontario Odyssey program and speaks publicly on many subjects including starting a VA business and how to get the most out of a VA relationship.

In 2001, Pam Ivey started her VA business, Visual Persuasions Canada. In 2007, Pam, now of the Pam Ivey Group of Companies, purchased the Canadian Virtual Assistant Network (CVAN) in order to further her goal of greatly increasing the awareness of the Virtual Assistant industry in Canada. Already a high profile industry advocate, Pam is also co-founder of the Coaches, Authors, Speakers Professional Assistants Association (CASPAA), and REVA Institute, founder of REA University and the VA Training Academy, creator and trainer of the Virtual Assistant Business Success Blueprint and the Professional Real Estate Assistant Certification Program, and is a speaker, author, coach and mentor. Pam is Certified in Small Business Management (entrepreneurship), and is a Certified Marketing Professional.

Pam is at the forefront of creating industry associations, and has hosted hundreds of teleclasses on a variety of topics for VAs and freelancers, has helped promote many VA groups like the MIVA (Michigan Virtual Assistants), VA Classroom, VA Networking, and has attended numerous live industry conferences, often as a speaker or keynote. She is thrilled to have been nominated for the RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Canadian Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

In 2012 Pam and Elayne decided to combine the resources and member base of CVAN and CVAC in order to offer the most comprehensive benefits and to harness the strength of their numbers to shape and benefit the Virtual Assistant industry in Canada and around the globe.