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Our Place Society
919 Pandora Avenue
Victoria, BC V8V 3P4
©2023 Our Place Society. Website design by Caorda
Registered Canadian Charity 82709 8344 RR0001
Board of Directors & Advisory Cabinet
Our Place has a volunteer Board of Directors that is dedicated to the governance and future vision of the organization.
The Board’s directors contribute to the society through their passion, dedication, experience and business acumen.
Our Place’s governance board is responsible primarily for:
- Developing, leading and guiding the organizational vision and strategic priorities;
- Providing guidance, oversight and evaluation of the organization’s executive director; and,
- Ensuring organizational compliance with fiscal and legal responsibilities
If you are interested in joining the Board of Directors, please review the Recruitment Process below.
Margo Goodhand, Chair
Margo believes that love, community and hope can transform lives, and that Our Place provides all that and more. Prior to moving to Victoria in 2016, Margo was editor-in-chief of the Winnipeg Free Press and then the Edmonton Journal. She is the author of Runaway Wives and Rogue Feminists, a history of the women’s shelter movement, and currently on a federal advisory board for the CRA; the vice-president of the Michener Award Foundation; and co-founder of the local Giller Light fundraiser for literacy. Her past board experience includes the Winnipeg Art Gallery; John Dafoe Foundation; National Newspaper Board of Governors and the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council. She was a founding member of Winnipeg’s Homelessness Task Force.
Email: chair@ourplacesociety.com
Catharine Read, Vice Chair
Catharine Read values Our Place Society’s pursuit of nourishment, hope and belonging for individuals and the community of the Our Place Family. The Society’s values and principles govern the delivery of its many, much needed programs and services. It has demonstrated the ability to adapt and expand programs and services, engage skilled and caring staff and volunteers, and thrive in the face of the COVID-19 challenges. Catharine has worked for governments and in the private sector. She has been Chair of an independent tribunal, Deputy Minister and Assistant Deputy Minister for the BC government (10 years) and for the Yukon government (10 years). As a consultant, she has worked for First Nation organizations, including negotiations, governance advice and treaty implementation. Catharine is also on the Board of James Bay Community Project and she has a master’s degree in economics from Queen’s University.
Allan Saunders, Past Chair
Allan believes Our Place is a valuable and meaningful source of hope and transformation in Victoria. From 1999 to 2016, Allan was Lead Minister at First-Metropolitan United Church, which has a long association with Our Place. He encouraged the congregation’s ongoing relationship with Our Place, including the overnight shelter, volunteers for a monthly meal and helping host community events such as a mayors forum. The church also has been involved in other community outreach, including the “Out of the Rain” shelter program for street youth. His earlier years of ministry were in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Community involvement there included addictions work, a domestic violence support program and refugee sponsorship. Allan studied for his master’s degree at Emmanuel College, Toronto School of Theology (University of Toronto), which later presented him with an honorary D.D.
Patricia Walker, Treasurer
Patricia says that seeing the Society’s values of hope, belonging and unconditional love in action confirmed her desire to become part of Our Place. She is encouraged to see how we, as individuals, can make a difference to members of our community who are often ignored and forgotten. Retired since 2016, Patricia’s career has been spent in the area of finance and accounting, including 26 years as the District of Oak Bay’s Municipal Treasurer (now called Director of Financial Services).
Lauree Austin, Secretary
Lauree is new to the board at Our Place and looks forward to contributing to a community with such a positive outlook. She is inspired by those who have worked hard to create a space that welcomes those in need and offers such support and hope. She is particularly hopeful to see Our Place undertaking such programs as the Therapeutic Recovery Community. Lauree is confident such a program will benefit those seeking to change from an addiction driven lifestyle.
Greg Conner, Director
Greg believes that by embracing hope and instilling belonging, we can create paths for those who have lost their way, and journeys towards self-empowerment and recovery. Greg leads with compassion and heart, and through his awareness of individual potential, inspires others to achieve positive change by recognizing their true personal value. He shares a passion with Our Place for addressing the challenges faced by our most vulnerable members of society. With over 25 years’ experience in human resources, currently as the Vice President, People & Culture at E-Comm 9-1-1, and with a strong focus on people development, Greg leverages his professional expertise in his community contributions.
Charla Huber, MA, CIHCM
Charla Huber is an Indigenous Relations and Communications consultant. She has a strong background working in both the affordable housing and non-profit sector and has a passion for Indigenous Relations. Charla has a master’s degree in professional communications and has completed a fully funded research project on Indigenous ways of communicating so employers can better support Indigenous employees. Charla writes a weekly column in the Times Colonist newspaper that often highlights Indigenous issues. She works as associate faculty at Royal Roads University. Charla is the Human Resources Committee Chair of the Victoria-Esquimalt Police Board and President of the BC Association of Police Boards. Charla’s family is from Fort Chipewyan, Alta., and she has both First Nations and Inuit roots.
Fallon Lindsay, Director
Fallon Lindsay is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over ten years of experience across diverse industries including construction, property management, commercial real estate and health services retail. Fallon graduated from the University of Victoria with a Bachelors Degree in Economics and Business. Carrying on with her education she completed her Chartered Professional Designation (CPA, CGA) and The Certified Human Resource Professional (CPHR) designation. Fallon is actively involved in the volunteer community and has served on the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary Board as Treasurer and Chair, and is on the Board of Directors of HeroWork Canada. She also mentors CPA candidates through the CPA BC mentorship program.
Cairine MacDonald, Director
Cairine is excited to see Our Place commit to therapeutic communities, having seen the transformative power at work in San Patrignano, Baldy Hughes and Guthrie House. She has twenty years of senior leadership experience in business and government. As Deputy Minister of Employment and Income Assistance / Housing and Social Development, she actively engaged with issues of homelessness in the Vancouver DTES, the province-wide Homelessness Intervention Project and the Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness and provided oversight for BC Housing and CLBC.
Scott McGregor, Director
Scott brings over 28 years of policing experience working with the most vulnerable in our communities. As a former Senior Manager of the VicPD Community Services Division, Scott gained tremendous insight into the complexities of homelessness, mental health and addiction and developed strong and collaborative working relationships with housing, shelter and other service providers (including those with lived experience) to find practical solutions. Scott believes that everyone has a place in our community and deserves a fighting chance to make positive change in their lives.
Trevor Murphy, Director
Trevor’s professional experience ranges from working to develop and establish small businesses to managing complex services, financials and initiatives for Fortune 100 global corporations. Today, Trevor is an independent consultant specializing in technology transformation, management, sales, organizational management and governance. Throughout his life, Trevor has engaged with community-based charitable organizations, holding the belief that change starts at home, and that all small incremental societal improvements contribute to our collective wellbeing.
Mano L Sandhu, Director
A trained professional in managing human resources, finance, program management, and policy development, Mano retired as a senior manager from the Ministry of Children and Family Development of British Columbia. Since retirement, Mano has been volunteering with several community organizations, including District of Saanich on a Governance Review, India Canada Cultural Association (ICCA); Hospise, Khalsa Divan Society; Gordon Point Estates Residents Association; Integra Support Services and other community ventures.
Chad Stewart, Director
Chad Stewart has been an active volunteer with Our Place Society for the last six years. He also worked with marginalized communities in Victoria while he was a student at the University of Victoria. Today, Chad serves as the Manager of Commission Operations for the British Columbia Electoral Boundaries Commission. Chad acts as a key resource to the Commission’s operations in order to support the foundations of democracy in B.C. as the commission works to provide a final report to the Legislature . Prior to this, Chad worked as the General Manager of Operations with CivicInfo BC. Chad holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Victoria in Political Science in addition to two Undergraduate degrees.
Advisory Cabinet
Along with our Board of Directors, Our Place has added a strategic advisory group of volunteers who act as ambassadors with the purpose of helping raise philanthropic donations and community profile for the organization. The advisory cabinet consists of:
Angela Bassage, former VP International, McDonald’s Corporation
Ian Batey, Executive Director, Police Victim Services of BC
Trudi Brown, KC, Lawyer with Brown, Henderson, Melbye
Colin Gilroy, Realtor, VictoriaHomesNow/Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty
Pete Jando, Branch Manager and Director, Odlum Brown Ltd
Kyle Loree, Director, IT Infrastructure and Security at JEA
Peter Powell, former Burns Fry Vice Chairman (now retired)
Terry Scandrett, Chair of the Foundation for the Victoria Symphony
Mike Shannon, Executive in Residence, Coast Capital Savings Innovation Centre, UVic
Maureen Shaw, Member of the Canadian Hall of Fame of Occupational Health and Safety professionals
John Wilson, Past Chair, Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce/Owner of Wilson’s Transportation Group
Missing from Photos:
Lee King, Director of Vancouver Island Operations, Lookout Society
Jennifer Vornbrock, Executive Director, UVic Dept of Community and Government Relations
Recruitment Process
The Our Place Society Board of Directors are elected by the members of the society at the Annual General Meeting each September. Nominations are open to any member of the society who is in good standing and whose expression of interest to stand for election has been submitted to the Chair of the Board Recruitment Committee no later than July 31; nominations from the floor will not be accepted.
In their expression of interest, candidates are asked to state why they would like to serve on the Our Place Society Board and accompany their expression of interest with their CV.
Candidates will be interviewed by the Board recruitment committee to determine if their skills and experience match those identified by the Board as needed for the coming year. The Board strives for a diversity of experience and backgrounds and may make recommendations to the membership of which candidates they feel are best positioned to serve the Society to ensure the Board is representative and capable of carrying out the functions of a governance board.