Board of Directors Page

Board of Directors

Yuill Herbert

Yuill Herbert is a founding director with Sustainability Solutions Group (SSG). Yuill has worked on sustainability consulting projects in the spheres of community planning, sustainability assessments and green buildings. Major projects include the development of an open source model to evaluate the climate change impacts of municipal plans, the development of a carbon neutral course for Cascadia Green Building Council and a sustainability assessment for Concordia University.Yuill also helped introduce the LEED for Homes rating system in Canada. He has advised municipal, provincial and federal governments on policies related to sustainability and is active in sustainable development research.

Valerie Behan-Pelletier

Dr. Valerie Behan-Pelletier is a Research Scientist in Biodiversity in the Environment Program at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She is an expert on systematics and biodiversity of soil mites in ecosystems globally, and has a broad research interest in biodiversity and ecology of arthropods in soil and canopy habitats. She is currently engaged in major research initiatives on ancient forest canopy biodiversity in British Columbia, on tall-grass prairie soil biodiversity in the USA, and on arthropod biodiversity of tropical rainforest in Costa Rica. Dr. Behan-Pelletier teaches on mites at the Acarology Summer Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and has recently advised Ph.D. and postdoctoral students from Canada, USA, Norway and China. She is a member of the UNEP Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) Soil and Sediment Subcommittee exploring the interrelationships and interdependence of soil, freshwater and marine sediments. She is a member of the Advisory Committee for the IBOY sponsored Global Litter Invertebrate Decomposition Experiment, comparing plant litter decomposition and the contribution of invertebrates to this process in 35 countries. Valerie has been a recipient of Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship, is a past member of NSERC’s GSC on Evolution and Ecology, and is a recent member of the Scientific Committee of the Biological Survey of Canada. She is a graduate of University College Dublin, Ireland and McGill University, Montreal.

Dr. Pille Bunnell

Dr. Pille Bunnell is a systems ecologist who has specialised in the integration and explanation of complex concerns for domain specialists, policy makers, students, and the public. She acted as the Director of Environmental Literacy with an international consulting firm (ESSA Technologies Ltd.) where she conducted integrative projects on Adaptive Environmental Management with concerns ranging from fisheries, to land use management and climate change. Pille designed and co-authored the first State of Environment report for BC, and developed public school curricula on ecology. Over the last decade she has shifted her focus to cybernetics, and has been writing papers and books concerning the nature of complex systems and human cognition, and the practical applications of this to the multifaceted relations between humans and the biosphere. She has taught at the University of British Columbia and is currently teaching at Royal Roads. After six years as President and Past President of the American Society of Cybernetics, she remains active with the society in organizing conferences and acting as editor of Cybernetics and Human Knowing as well as Constructivist Foundations.

Leanne Cadden

Leanne Cadden is a BC-based artist that was born in 1977 in Vernon BC and spent her younger years painting under the guidance of her Great Grandmother, Di Varley. She continued her education at the University of Victoria, entering the Bachelor of Commerce program and majoring in Entrepreneurship. She successfully launched her Debut Solo Art Show in June 2002 at the Crystal Gardens and began running her own 3,000 sq ft Downtown Studio and Gallery in Victoria BC. She was chosen as a finalist for “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” at the Downtown Victoria Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. Her recent 2004 career highlights include producing exclusive print runs for the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas, The Courtnall Celebrity Classic and the 56th Annual Emmy Awards hosted on ABC television network. Alongside her passion for painting, Leanne spends many hours with her mini lop-eared bunny Mopsey at her cottage and riding her motorcycle at any moment she can.

Laura Chapman

Laura Chapman is the President of Isuma Consulting Inc. The company's mission is to develop strategies for effective governance, policies and programs through its five business lines - knowledge transfer, community engagement, planning and development, communications and marketing, and organizational change. Laura has thirty years of experience in policy and research in the Government of Canada, much of it as a senior official. As Executive Director, Policy Research Initiative (PRI) at the Privy Coucil Office, she created and led a unique organization to strenghthen Canada's policy research capacity. Under her leadership, the PRI examined emerging issues related to Sustainable Development, North American Linkages, and Social Cohesion and created a network of almost 10,000 people in Canada and internationally. Laura also conceived and published both a series of books on emerging policy trends edited by outstanding academics, and Canada's first policy research journal which included issues on, Sustainable Development, Social Capital, the New Economy, and North American Integration. She also created Canada's first policy research awards, involving leading Canadian journalists, researchers and community representatives.

Stephen Huddart

Stephen Huddart is the Program Director of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation in Montreal. The Foundation's granting derives from a mandate to fund national initiatives that engage people in building resilient communities – and among others includes programs in environmental and arts-infused education, technical assistance for community economic development, university-based community service learning and community leadership. Prior to joining the Foundation, he worked as an educator and program developer specializing inhuman/animal issues – including a food certification and labeling program,animal-assisted therapy, and humane education in schools. His private sector experience includes co-founding the Alma Street Café - a community-based natural foods restaurant and jazz venue in Vancouver, and running a triple-bottom-line music and publishing company in association with children's folksinger Raffi. He is married with three children, two cats and a dog, and has a Masters degree in management from McGill University.

Ela Kinowska

Ela Kinowska was born and raised in Poland Ela immigrated to Canada in 1990. Since her arrival in Canada, she has focused her career on two paths: civil service and photography. As a civil servant she has dedicated her work to the environment and international development, Ela’s assignments included Environment Canada, Foreign Affairs Canada and currently Natural Resources Canada. Ela speaks seven languages and has lived in four countries; she traveled extensively across Europe, Latin America and Africa. As a photographer she has participated in 22 shows in Canada and Europe, her photography has a human focus aiming at documenting the challenges of the present, reflecting on the past and bringing hope for the future; a sample of her images can be viewed at www.elaphoto.com. Ela lives in Ottawa with her husband Ryszard and two children, Sonia and Alexander.

Jim MacNeill

Jim MacNeill, O.C., D.Sc., LL.D. Until recently Chairman of the World Bank’s Independent Inspection Panel in Washington D.C, Dr. MacNeill is a member of the Caspian Development Advisory Panel and Chairman Emeritus of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in Winnipeg. He is a member of several boards including the Woods Hole Research Center, Woods Hole, Mass., and the Wuppertal Institute on Climate and Energy Policy in Germany, and founding member of the Jury for the Volvo Environment Prize. Earlier, he was the Secretary General of the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Commission), the Director of Environment for OECD, and the Canadian Ambassador and Commissioner General responsible for the UN Conference on Human Settlements. He was a founding member of the Japanese Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and the China Council. He served as a member of the High Level Advisory Group established by the Secretary General of OECD to advise on the future of that organization. He enjoys nearly four decades of experience as a policy advisor to leaders of governments, industry and international organizations in the fields of energy, natural resources, management, environment and sustainable development. He is an author, speaker, international negotiator, member of several boards, and recipient of many honors and distinctions, national and international.

C. Scott Findlay

C. Scott Findlay is Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Ottawa, Director of the University's Institute of Environment, and Research Associate at the Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. In April 2005, he was appointed to the Science Advisory Board of the International Joint Commission, and in May 2008 to the Challenge Advisory Panel under the federal Chemical Management Plan. His main research interests concern the quantification of risks posed to ecosystem structure and function by human activities, the notion of scientific weight of evidence in administrative decision-making generally and science-informed policy in particular, integration of traditional and western scientific knowledge, and the role of Darwinian evolution in tumourigenesis and the therapeutic response of cancer.

Peggy Taillon

Peggy Taillon has led the Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD), Canada’s longest established social policy and research organization, through an unprecedented period of renewal since 2008. Peggy is also a Private Consultant who specializes in Health and Social systems development. She also advises and works with all levels of Government. A passionate advocate for equality and social justice, Peggy and her team at CCSD organized the inaugural Canadian Social Forum in Calgary in 2009 and most recently they are leading the national fight to restore Canada's long form census an essential tool for social development. Immediately prior to CCSD, Peggy served as the Senior Vice-President at The Ottawa Hospital, and was previously Executive Director of Ontario's Mental Health Implementation Task Force. Today Peggy's diverse voluntary roles include the International Initiatives for Mental Health and Disability Leadership, the Inner City Health Project, Vice Chair of the Ontario Accessibility Secretariat Advisory Council and the Co-Chair of the Canadian Council on the Social Determinants of Health under the Public Health Agency of Canada, a member of the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council and the Service System Advisory Council of The Mental Health Commission of Canada. Peggy founded HERA Mission of Canada that undertakes many development projects empowering women and children in Western Kenya. She is the recipient of CTV Amazing People of the Year 2012. Originally from the small northern Ontario town of South Porcupine, Peggy was educated in Toronto and Ottawa and holds degrees in Social Work and Law, as well as advanced diplomas in mediation and negotiation. Peggy is most proud of her role as an adoring mother of her beautiful young son, Devlin.