BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Christopher E. Gora
Co-Chair
Christopher practices intellectual property and corporate law, primarily in the areas of alternative energy, internet/software and privacy for Miller Titerle LLP. He is a member of BC Technology Social Venture Partners, a philanthropic foundation employing a "venture capital" approach to supporting positive social change in the community.
Heather Tremain, B.A. March, LEED Accredited Professional
Co-Chair
Heather is currently the Principal of Urban Fabric.
Heather is leader who has dedicated her career to advancing sustainability issues within the built environment. Her current consulting work is focused on urban sustainability strategies related to transportation, climate change and planning issues.
She was recently awarded a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University, which recognizes leaders in design and the built environment and affords them a year of independent study. Her research explored effective climate change policy at the municipal and regional levels.
As co-founder and CEO of reSource Rethinking Building, Heather acted as the sustainability advisor on numerous local projects including: Vancouver’s first ‘green’ market housing project, the creation of ‘green’ building guidelines for the UniverCity community (a 15,000 member community under development on Burnaby Mountain), and the development of environmental strategies for the Southeast False Creek area.
Heather engaged in extensive policy and strategy work to promote the adoption of sustainable policies at the municipal, provincial and federal levels.
In addition to her consulting work she led the development of The Verdant, a green and affordable townhouse project, which pioneered an innovative approach to green building finance. Verdant has won a number of awards including the Urban Development Institute awards for Innovation in Sustainability and Innovation in Affordable Housing and a national award from CMHC for Best Practices in Affordable Housing.
Heather is the co-creator of Healthy Home, a 39-part television series that is intended to create consumer demand for healthy and sustainable buildings. The series is available in over 60 million homes around the world.In the community, Heather is a past director of the Cascadia Region Green Building Council and past President of the Board of the Tradeworks Training Society, and Co-Chair of Vancity’s Community Foundation.
In 2009 she was a Visiting Fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge Massachusetts.
Mark Shieh
Secretary
Mark is Founder and Director of Take Root. Take Root is a network of companies passionate about using real estate to do good through developing urban projects, managing properties, and investing in place making ventures.
Mark began his exploration of commerce and culture as an Imagineer with Disney, developing new theme park experiences. Later, he was the Director of User Research at ECCO Design in New York leading new product development for Fortune 500 clients.
He has a BS in Engineering and an MS in Engineering Management, both from Stanford University. He was a Mayfield Entrepreneurship Fellow and has served on the Vancouver City Planning Commission. He also currently serves on the board of ther Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery.
Heather O Hara
Treasurer
Heather O’Hara, Executive Director of the Potluck Café Society since 2006, is a passionate advocate for social enterprise as a successful means to community economic development in the DTES. Through her work at Potluck, Heather leads a team of 31 staff, which includes 15 DTES community staff with multiple barriers to employment. Heather’s entrepreneurial drive has assured Potluck’s success as a leader in social enterprise.
Beyond her work at the Potluck Café Society, Heather is committed to giving back to the community. Her own entrepreneurial venture Miss Filly, is a line of t-shirts and products for girls and women who are crazy about horses and also supports initiatives that nurture those connections between women and horses. Miss Filly donates a portion of its sales to support girls and women through initiatives such as BC Young Rider Scholarships, equestrian clubs and non-profits, and sponsoring at risk girls to attend local horse camps.
Heather’s educational background includes an MBA, a BA in International Relations and Native Studies and a degree in Environmental Studies all acquired at the University of Manitoba. She currently lives with her two beagles Spot and Cy in Richmond, BC, in order to be close enough for daily rides with her horse Lucas.
Steve Williams
Steve is Director of Corporate Social Responsibility, Global Technology Donations at SAP and is Senior David Suzuki Ambassador with the David Suzuki Foundation. With broad experience in software development, product management and product marketing, Steve brings his strong background in technology and combines it with real world business experience and specialized market training. He is interested in the introductino of new technologies to the market and ensuring success with customers within established companies or startups. He has an MBA from Simon Fraser University and a BA in Political Science from the University of Western Ontario.
Carol Madson
Carol has been an active member of the inner city community for many years. She is the Manager of Pathways Information Centre in the Four Corners Community Economic and Business Development Building in the downtown eastside of Vancouver. She previously held the position as Director of Bridging the Divides - A Community Economic Development Information Communication Technology Rural Participatory Action Research Pilot Project based in Northern Vancouver Island and Trail, British Columbia. She was the BC Regional Representative for the Community Economic Development Technical Assistance Program for three years.
Carol Madsen has been an instructor with the Centre for Sustainable Community Development since 2002. She holds a MSc in Community Economic Development from the Graduate School of Business of Southern New Hampshire University (1997), a Bachelor of Social Work from McGill University (1991), and a Bachelors Degree in International Development Studies from the University of Toronto (1987).
Other experience includes work with the Montreal Community Loan Association and several community-based, CED and International development organizations. She is active on several community boards including the Canadian CED Network, Network of East Vancouver Community Organizations and the Network of Innercity Community Services Society. Previously teaching experience includes posts at Concordia University’s Community Economic Development program and the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia.
Hendrik Hoekema
Past Board Chair
Hendrik is the Coordinator/Administrator and a Literature/Writing Instructor with the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University (SFU) Prison Education Programs. His other projects include work with the SFU Native Education Programs. In 1985, he founded Vancouver Eastside Educational Enrichment Society (VEEES). He acts as Executive Director and Contract Manager at VEEES, which oversees the following employment programs: jobSTART, PACE2, newSTART, and newCHAPTER.