Leadership & Core Faculty
Like wolves, we are stronger together. Clinic RMTs and additional instructors will be added here as we collect photos and bios.
Instructors You Will Learn From
Karim Kanji
Founder · Dean, Faculty of Holistic Medicine · Head Instructor · RMT
Karim leads academic and clinical education, supervises faculty, and still teaches the core massage curriculum to in-class and online students. With more than 30 years of experience, he is the originator of NAKH's blend of Western clinical science and Eastern healing traditions: reflexology, aromatherapy, acupressure, and energy balancing taught inside a flowing full-body routine he has refined for decades.
The college began after his son was born with special needs and conventional care was not giving the family the answers they needed. Karim studied holistic massage in Hamilton, Ontario, combined that training with his NAIT technical background, and built a school so other people could learn the same methods that helped his family. He has been nominated for the Dr. Rogers Prize for Excellence in Complementary and Alternative Medicine and has served on the boards of the Natural Health Practitioners of Canada and the Alberta Regional Massage Therapy Association (ARMTA).
His certifications include electronics, computer programming, aircraft maintenance, audio/video production, reflexology, aromatherapy, massage therapy, and disaster management through the Justice Institute of British Columbia. Students know him as a teacher who can look at a body, explain what it is saying, and still keep the work inside a clinical, ethical scope of practice.
Aliana Kanji
Chief Operating Officer · Director of Curriculum and Marketing · Instructor
Aliana manages day-to-day operations, academic programming, and marketing. She designs curriculum and teaches the school's business, pathology, pharmacology, and business marketing courses. She also offers life coaching and psychoanalytic therapy through the wellness clinic.
She holds a B.Sc. in Neuroscience and Business from Dalhousie University (2020) and a Bachelor of Commerce in Legal Studies and Psychology from MacEwan University (2024), plus certifications in holistic nutrition, life coaching, and conflict resolution. After years in large universities, she built NAKH's student experience to be faster, more human, and less bureaucratic: if a change would help students learn, she and Hussain can often implement it the same week.
Carli Krogen
Instructor · Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant · Holistic Postpartum Practitioner
Carli is passionate about advancing holistic practitioner education and women's health literacy. She is a Certified Holistic Nutrition Consultant, instructor, and Holistic Postpartum Practitioner with more than ten years of experience supporting pregnant women, new mothers, and people navigating fertility. She completed her certification with the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition in 2019. Her training includes yoga teacher training, mindful eating, and practical herbalism, with ongoing advanced herbal studies.
She has taught since 2020 and currently instructs Women's Wellness and Hormones as well as Self Care for Practitioners. She also contributes to curriculum development. In her private practice, Nourish with Carli, she supports clients through nutrition, herbal supports, nervous system regulation, and mindful lifestyle practices. Her teaching centers on compassionate, client-centered care and practitioner sustainability.
Nevin Kanji
Co-Founder · Assistant Provost · Manager of Student Finances and Admissions
Nevin is the person most students meet first. She interviews applicants, walks through the student contract point by point, helps with student loans, and keeps the college compliant and organized. She has stood beside Karim for more than 30 years and, for a long stretch, was the person keeping the whole operation running.
She brings more than a decade of finance experience as a Financial Services Representative and Credit Assistant at TD Canada Trust, including personal and commercial advising. She also worked as a career consultant helping people after corporate downsizing. Students often say she will spend an entire day getting a loan application through if that is what it takes. The three pillars she wants every applicant to hear: integrity, honesty, and transparency. You are not a number here.
Hussain Kanji
Chief Technology Officer · Director of Strategy
Hussain oversees IT infrastructure, systems, and technology strategy for the college and clinic. He runs the Microsoft Teams learning environment used by hybrid students, keeps files compliant with Alberta Education, and handles security and servers. He does not design the academic curriculum, but he builds and maintains the platform students actually learn on.
When an online student said camera and sound quality were poor, he bought and installed a new camera and audio system that same day. That is typical. He has studied at Concordia University of Edmonton and NAIT, and has been fully immersed in the family business since 2016.
Nerissa Kanji
Director of Student Relations · Clinic Manager
Nerissa oversees student support, clinic scheduling, wellness initiatives, and student engagement. She plans events, manages student programs, and is often the first point of contact when a student needs a schedule change or a problem solved. She also helps with clinic promotions and packages.
She holds a B.A. in Criminology from Simon Fraser University (2016), where she was on the Dean's and President's Honour Roll, and spent 15 years in hospitality including event coordination. She is a mom, an avid event planner, and an animal rescue advocate. Her goal is a student culture that feels thorough, organized, and human.