WE'RE CHANGING THE GAME

Martina Meckova

Martina is a social-profit leader with over twenty years of experience in strategic fundraising, business development, operations management, marketing, governance, and special events. She joined Beedie Luminaries from the Vancouver Police Foundation where she led the implementation of important initiatives that resulted in the organization’s growth from $2 million to $20 million in assets. Martina was instrumental in launching the Vancouver Police Cadets, an award-winning youth program that continues to change the lives of hundreds of aspiring high school students from challenging backgrounds.

Before joining the Vancouver Police Foundation, Martina was the Executive Director of Cystic Fibrosis Canada – BC, Senior Manager of Communications for the YMCA of Greater Vancouver, and Senior Account Director of Spectrum Marketing Corporation. She also holds an MBA from Queen’s University. Martina’s personal experience of being a new immigrant and a beneficiary of scholarship funding herself solidifies her strong commitment to our mission. She sees her role as a unique opportunity to pay it forward and inspire others to achieve their dreams.

Ryan Beedie

Ryan Beedie oversees one of the most successful industrial and residential property development companies in Western Canada. Born and raised in Burnaby, BC, Ryan’s passion for real estate was ignited early on, learning about the family business at the dinner table from his father Keith, who founded the company in 1954. Ryan joined the company in 1993 and became President in 2001. By 2018, the company had diversified activities while exemplifying its community-driven principle, Built For Good.

With a personal commitment of $50 million, Beedie Luminaries is Ryan’s biggest philanthropic endeavour to date. It furthers his belief that you have a responsibility to give back to the community where you live and work. A philanthropist at heart, Ryan has donated or committed more than $35 million in the past decade to organizations such as Ronald McDonald House, BC Children’s Hospital, Beedie School of Business, YWCA, BC Institute of Technology, and Vancouver Police Foundation, to name a few. Ryan holds an MBA in real estate from the University of British Columbia and an undergraduate degree from Simon Fraser University. He resides in Vancouver and shares his love of music with his wife Cindy and their three children.

Ann Bolton

Ann holds a Bachelor of Education degree and a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology. Ann has held several leadership positions for the Vancouver School Board, including Counselling Department Head and Summer School Principal. She has worked with many community partners, including the Cinderella Project, Big Sisters, Firefighters Challenge, Kelty Mental Health, YWCA, and the Boys and Girls Club. In addition to co-editing an anti-racism manual, she has been a co-editor of the Vancouver Counsellor Newsletter and has attended an International Conference for Counsellors in Scotland, at St. Andrews University.

Ann has a special interest in acculturation issues, which was the focus of her master’s thesis. She also strives to take a pro-active approach to help students to prepare and navigate their post-secondary transition. She has over thirty years of experience working with adolescents and is passionate about supporting students to build personal and academic resilience, overcome barriers to success and achieve their goals.

Paula Salloum

Paula joined Beedie Luminaries in February of 2019 with over 30 years of experience in diverse administrative and organizational roles, working in the fields of law, insurance, office management, hospitality, and fund development.

In her role as the Program Development Coordinator, Paula works with the Executive Director to build and maintain relationships with essential partners, including community groups, educators, post-secondary institutions, and corporate partners to ensure that the program and processes roll out smoothly and evolve & grow as needed.

Previously, Paula worked for the owner and founder of Rocky Mountaineer and his family office, where she was also exposed to the philanthropic activities and many charity events and programs. From this experience, she had found her passion for the social profit sector and decided to join the Vancouver Police Foundation. In her role as the Executive and Development Coordinator, she assisted the Executive Director in the growth, program development and grants distribution.

Paula is excited to support this inspiring and meaningful scholarship program.

Heather McCaw

Heather is pleased to have re-joined her alma mater, the University of British Columbia, to lead its Development and Alumni Relations program after serving for three years as the Vice-President of Advancement at the University of Alberta. As UBC’s Vice-President, Heather is responsible for development and alumni staff and programming across the university’s two campuses. Throughout her career, she has been involved in several major campaigns and co-directed UBC’s successful Start an Evolution Campaign, which raised over $1.6 billion from 2008 to 2015.

In addition to over 20 years of experience in the post-secondary sector, Heather was vice-president of two associated consulting companies, Give Canada Fundraising Corporation and Spectrum Marketing Corporation. These organizations specialize in securing strategic business partnerships and multimillion-dollar donations on behalf of non-profit clients that have included the United Way of the Lower Mainland, the Rick Hansen Foundation, the universities of Calgary and Victoria, and the Toronto Rehab Foundation. Heather’s volunteer activities have focused on social services and disability resources.

Ian Chisholm

Originally from Saskatchewan, Ian is a social entrepreneur and pioneer in the field of executive development. From 2000 to 2004, Ian served as the first CEO of the Columba 1400 Community and International Leadership Centre on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Columba 1400 was created to develop the leadership potential of young people from tough socio-economic realities across the UK. He has since served as the Centre’s first Fellow, assisting operational outreach in both Australia and South Africa.

Before his time in Europe, Ian served as the Director of Programs for Operation Enterprise, a division of American Management Association International headquartered in New York City, USA. There he played an integral role in pioneering an initiative to bring young talent from inner-city USA to experience a regime of formal leadership development.

Kris Magnusson, Ph.D.

Dr. Magnusson has served as Dean of the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University since 2009. During that time, he also served two terms as the Chair of the Association of BC Deans of Education, was co-chair of the BC Advisory Group on Provincial Assessment, led the development of the ACDE Accord on Internationalization in Education, and was co-chair of the SFU Aboriginal Reconciliation Council.

Kris’ academic work is in the area of counselling psychology and career development. He was the recipient of the Province of Alberta Career Development Award of Excellence and the 2006 recipient of the Stu Conger Award for Leadership in Career Development. Kris is also a co-founder of the Canadian Research Working Group for Evidence-Based Practice. Before joining SFU, Kris was a junior high school teacher, a college counsellor, and a faculty member in counselling psychology at the Universities of Calgary and Lethbridge.

Laurie Clarke

Laurie is a senior executive leader in health, education and social service sectors with over three decades of progressive experience as the leader of fundraising and non-profit organizations. She has served as a chief spokesperson in all areas relating to fund development, donor cultivation, stewardship, and government relations and advocacy, and has extensive experience in board cultivation, development and governance.

As CEO of the BC Women’s Hospital Foundation and member of the hospital executive, the Vice President of Development at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, and many other executive leadership roles, Laurie possesses a unique combination of strategic leadership and organizational effectiveness expertise in high-growth environments.

Laurie has served on numerous non-profit boards, campaign cabinets and as a member of the Burnaby Board of Trade. Currently, Laurie is a Fundraising Strategist and Consultant and serves on the national board of the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

Peg Tyre

Peg is a bestselling author, award-winning journalist (The Atlantic, The New York Times, Smithsonian, The New York Times Magazine) and op-ed contributor to the New York Times. She is also Director of Strategy at the Edwin Gould Foundation Accelerator, a residential incubator in New York City that transforms small, education-related nonprofits into larger, sustainable organizations with a profound and lasting impact. She also serves as a senior advisor to several other New York-based foundations and philanthropists and is a hands-on coach, mentor and head of strategic partnerships for Quill.org, a non-profit ed-tech company that provides low-income students with classic writing instruction—free. In the last two years, Quill.org has grown from having 20,000 to one-million users.

Her books, journalism and work in the philanthropic and non-profit sector have focused on social mobility and equity in education and the workforce. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, novelist and television writer Peter Blauner. She is an avid hiker and has climbed mountains all over the world. Her next trip is not certain, but she has a big photo of Patagonia next to her computer screen at work.

Tim Cormode

Tim leads an organization that lives by its values, inspires philanthropy, and strives to have real impact in the communities in which Power To Be operates. Initially supporting young adults with disabilities at a summer camp as a teenager, Tim’s passion for the outdoors and supporting others led to a leadership program at Yamnuska Mountaineering School in Canmore, Alberta. This is where the inspiration came to help youth and families living with barriers climb their own mountains. With the help of a small government grant in 1998, the Power To Be adventure began and has grown to reach more than 10,000 participants and their families.

Tim is a recipient of the For Kid’s Sake Award giving by Today’s Parent magazine. In 2009, Tim received the Community Leader of the Year award for Vancouver Island. In 2010, he was awarded the Business Person of The Year for Victoria and was shortlisted as one of Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneurs of the year. His greatest accolade came in 2011 when he received the British Columbia Community Achievement Award from the Lieutenant Governor of BC.

Deeply committed to leaving the world a better place for this family and others, Tim connects people to causes that matter and inspires change in the world around him.

Brian Silzer

On June 30, 2009, after a successful 41 year career dedicated to the administration of higher education in Canada, Brian James Silzer retired as the Associate Vice-President (Enrolment Services) and Registrar of the University of British Columbia. Mr. Silzer was formerly Associate Vice President and Registrar at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta from 1984 to 2002. At a major, research intensive university, the AVP/Registrar plays a major role in assisting the university to achieve key strategic initiatives, in part through the effective deployment of the staff resources contained in its Enrolment Services/Registrar’s Office operational units.

Mr. Silzer holds Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Education, and Master of Education degrees from the University of Alberta. His professional interests are in the areas of strategic enrolment management, student information systems, student access to higher education, the quality of the student experience, student assessment and grading, and the alternative delivery of instruction. He is a member and former academic advisor of the Delta Chi Fraternity and an honorary member of the Golden Key International Honour Society. In February, 2010, he was awarded the National Inclusive Education Award for his instrumental role in making post secondary education inclusive of people with developmental disabilities.

David P. Burns, Ph.D.

Dr. Burns is an educational policy scholar at KPU. He has written articles and book chapters on education policy, science education, moral education, education politics, educational technology, and many other topics. You can find his writing in publications such as the Canadian Journal of Higher Education, the Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, University Affairs and Times Higher Education. His work was recently featured in Maclean’s magazine.

David is currently the Vice-Chair of the KPU Senate and a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Educational Studies. He chairs standing committees on curriculum, budget, teaching, and research. Through his student research group, the Kwantlen Educational Policy Incubator, he is currently working on competency-based university admission systems.

Jan Unwin

Ms. Unwin has recently retired from her appointment with both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Advanced Education as the Superintendent of Graduation and Student Transition. Before her appointment in 2014, her career included eighteen years with School District No. 42, Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows, as elementary and secondary schools Principal, Assistant Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent and Superintendent of Schools.

Jan has a passion for student learning and has been part of several innovations to assist in providing students their best chance of success. She believes that our education system should be designed around offering all learners opportunities that provide them with purpose, and passion and set them up for success. Her work with the Ministry is providing many venues for dialogue about all kinds of learning opportunities to ensure smooth transitions for anyone heading on to post-secondary education or the world of work. She is a firm believer that we must provide learners relevant, experiential, engaging opportunities so that they can experience success as they make their way into their next phase of life.

Lisa M. Collins

Ms. Collins provides leadership and strategic direction to a comprehensive student services portfolio, including the Registrar’s Office, Financial Aid, Student Housing, Health and Accessibility Services, Counselling, Student Life and Recreation, Student Judicial Affairs, and Workplace Education. Lisa is also responsible for the Enrolment Planning and Institutional Research offices.

Lisa came to BCIT from the University of Alberta, where for five years she held the position of Vice-Provost and University Registrar, responsible for institutional enrolment management and a broad range of registrarial and enrolment-related student services. Before the University of Alberta, Lisa spent eighteen years at the University of British Columbia in progressively senior administrative roles in academic governance, policy development, and the evolution of student service models.

Lisa holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in French Studies from York University in Toronto and a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia. She also completed the Institute in Management & Leadership in Education at Harvard University and the Certificate in University and College Administration from the University of Manitoba.

Melinda Giampietro

With her expertise, network, enthusiasm, and genuine love for education, Melinda Giampietro has built Options Solutions to be the industry standard in educational consultancies in Canada. Melinda takes great pride in being a lifelong educator with over twenty-five years of experience, and she has helped over 5,000 students find their educational paths in the US, UK and Canada.

Melinda, Options president, is a vibrant and widely respected educational consultant in the fields of academic planning, career counseling, university admissions, and sports recruitment. Melinda believes options are empowering, and she helps students–and their parents–work together towards their educational goals, finding majors, post-secondary institutions and careers that match each student’s unique interests and aspirations.

Melinda holds multiple degrees in education, and she is a graduate of both the Counseling for College Institute and the Harvard Institute on College Admissions. Before she started Options Solutions, she worked as an Advanced Placement (AP) teacher, head of a university counseling department, and a high school principal. She has earned both local and national recognition for her commitment to education.

To provide the best possible service to her clients, Melinda attends regional and national conferences, and to stay current, she travels throughout Canada and the United States visiting universities. She is also a member of numerous educational and college counselor associations leading to a broad and diverse professional network. She is in constant contact with admission teams and the British Columbia Ministry of Education. Melinda loves reading, researching, and sharing information about education, admissions, and career trends with her clients, her staff, and her community.

Melinda has also written articles for and served as an expert on post-secondary issues for the Globe and Mail, CBC Radio, the IB Blog, and Canadian Student Magazine.

Melinda has worked closely with WE Charities since 2014 to raise awareness of women empowerment issues and currently sits on the WE Care Vancouver Circle of Champions board. She has also served on other local education and entrepreneur boards.