Solid. Experienced. Ready.

I’ve worked at the intersection of governance, finance, strategy, communication and service delivery. I’ve overseen budgets, contracts, compliance, risk management, human resources and organizational planning, including reporting to boards, executives, government funders, clients, stakeholders, and community partners. I’ve worked with executives and community leaders and with people working in survival trades, living on the street, fleeing violence, and navigating complex health. 

So, you know who I am, but what makes me think I can do the job? Deep and broad experience with a strong commitment to evidence-based decision making. And I didn't just pop out of nowhere.

There’s a gap on Council between social equity and governance and economic advocacy. I bridge that.

I’ve worked on the Downtown Eastside and with the Fortune 500.

My Executive MBA and more than three decades of leadership across business and the non-profit sector have prepared me to make thoughtful, evidence-based decisions on complex issues, without losing site of humanity or the things that make Nanaimo feel like home. 

Financial Governance

• Executive MBA with training in governance, finance and strategic decision-making

• Budget oversight

• Financial planning, resource allocation and operations expeti ice 

• Experience with fiduciary responsibility and accountability.

Risk and Compliance

Have successfully overseen:

• legal and regulatory compliance

• contracts

• organizational policies

• safety

• risk management

• service accountability

• funder reporting 

Human Resources Governance

Experience overseeing:

• recruitment

• contractors

• staff

• training

• performance expectations

• organizational policies

• WorkSafe, contract, insurance, and legal compliance 

Strategic Governance

Experience making decisions that balance:

• financial sustainability

• service delivery

• human impacts

• privacy 

• long-term organizational goals rather than short-term reactions

Stakeholder Governance

Working with multiple stakeholders including:

• executives

• staff

• government funders

• professionals

• community organizations

• board members

• families

• volunteers

• students

• parent and caregiver groups

• advocates

• clients  

Accountability

Experience with:

• reporting

• transparency

• measuring outcomes

• ensuring public and funder resources are used responsibly

• public communication 

• media interviews

• participating on panels

• teaching and facilitating 

• community engagement

City of Nanaimo Engagement

• Presented to Council on Cable Bay: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DSSN2TvBS/?mibextid=wwXIfr

• Advocated for changes to parking at Maffeo Sutton Park 

• Advocated for changes at Loudon Park, including saving the tree canopy, joining with community groups (including those with conflicting views) to collaborate, providing feedback on accessibility and the needs of community members, including a community meeting room. The new design includes a rooftop deck open to the public for events, a bookable community room for approximately 90 people, universal washrooms open to the public, playground upgrades, and community storage and accessing for flatwater and RC boating. The process also involved collaborating with the deputy CAO, director, planners, architects and contractors.  

• Worked with the City and CAO to change how how home-based business information is handled and published by the City’s information system, so that it better aligns with privacy law

Selected Governance Experience Examples

• Actively serve on the Nanaimo Chamber’s Community Impact Committee, which provides advocacy recommendations to the Chamber's Board of Directors, offers sector support, raises advocacy issues at local, regional, and national levels to support social order, community safety, and responsible tax allocation, and provides policy feedback to the Chamber CEO and Board of Directors

• Analyzed documents, tax returns and identity papers to evaluate companies for a national diverse supplier and procurement certifier 

• Made policy recommendations for businesses and individuals as part of a national taskforce reviewing banking, financial services and economic abuse frameworks 

• Developed and implemented recruitment and retention programming for workers in trades, technology, finance, and law enforcement. 

• Applied legal and policy analysis and tools to shift individual and systemic access in public education, disability services, child care, social services, intimate partner violence, PWD, income assistance, family maintenance enforcement, and other services. 

• Served as executive director overseeing large provincial funding initiatives, with responsibility for following policy, legal, WorkSafe, tax, employment, safety plan and other frameworks — and balanced governance responsibilities with operational realities for five years

• Developed launch and distribution plans for complex technologies, including in banking, treasury management, engineering, enterprise software, gaming, energy, and food processing

• Researched and wrote a whitepaper on the technology framework for First Nations Technology Council of BC

• Founded a non-profit and recruited a volunteer board for a non-profit that contracts to the province, CLBC and other funders to deliver youth services

• Served on the first taskforce for BCEdAccess Society, applying legal and policy frameworks to improve access to public services and better support economic infrastructure 

• Worked on governance and bylaws for ADHD Advocacy Society of BC and other non-profit organizations. 

• Co-founded a non-profit for a Nanaimo community newspaper at age 18, changing how VIU funded campus media. Almost 35 years later, the Society still stands. 

• Applied the then-new human rights code and the first Privacy Act as part of work at VIU through communications and a Student Services audit 

• Taught business and technology for SFU and UBC, including applications under business, intellectual property and consumer law  

• Managed intellectual property assets for multiple organizations, overseeing trademark and copyright registration, prior-use evidence, database searches, brand protection, licensing considerations, and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown requests—balancing legal, operational, reputational, and business risks while protecting organizational assets.

• Re-wrote guidelines for policy interpretation for Immigration Canada, using Bill C-86, a high-profile federal policy and legislative initiatives related to Canada’s immigration and refugee system

• Worked for Canada Post Nanaimo to audit and count misdeliveries and re-directs 

• Developed and revised courses for BC Hydro’s Comptroller’s Division, a finance department 

• Communicated agriculture and agri-food policy and program goals 

• Communicated NAIA sports results for a major university’s Athletics department and liaised with international and Canadian media and athletes

• Worked on the national communication plan for a for a high-profile federal policy and legislative initiatives related to Canada’s immigration and refugee system, including collecting and implementing input from the federal government, legal teams, the Immigration and Refugee Board, and UN High Commission for Refugees

• Developed and wrote a whitepaper on changes to the Canadian banking industry, including forecasting the emergence of non-banks

• Developed and wrote a whitepaper on telecommunications convergence and its impact on financial services 

• Edited digitized mining maps to comply with resource extraction guidelines 

• Developed a plan that secured seed capital for a food processing plant designed to extend shelf life for food for street involved and low income people, while addressing food spoilage and diverting landfill 

• Long history of leadership and volunteering in Nanaimo. I’m the kind of person who got the All-Round Cord in Guides, got picked for the flag Colour Party because I knew the protocols, and won a softball award for knowing the most rules and technicalities — but still played hard and got along with folks.