Board Of Directors

Dawn Black is a former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and former three-term Member of Parliament, first elected in 1988.

Ms. Black attained national recognition for her advocacy on behalf of women, families, and the underprivileged. Prior to that, she worked as a sales representative for the Poul Moellar Agency and as an accounting clerk for the Vancouver Art Gallery and Traveller’s Insurance. Active in her community, Ms. Black volunteers for the Stephan Lewis Foundation and sits as a board member of the Broadbent Institute. She has worked with several international organizations such as UN Development Programme, the National Democratic Institute, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. She was also board member of the Legal Services Society. Ms. Black graduated from Fairview Commercial High.

Penny Wilson has more than 30 years of experience in senior marketing and executive leadership roles in the technology industry including Hootsuite CMO, Juniper Networks CMO, Macromedia CMO, Alias|Wavefront President and Merrill Lynch.

Ms. Wilson has a proven track record of delivering business growth and establishing market dominance through high performance teams and a strong customer focus. Penny enjoys spending her free time with family and friends, running, hiking and skiing.

Joel McKay is the CEO of the Northern Development Initiative Trust, a $300 million-dollar regional development corporation focused on stimulating economic growth in Northern British Columbia.

Mr. McKay joined Northern Development in June 2012, where he handled the Trust’s communications and marketing, economic research, and analysis. Prior to that, he was assignment editor at Business in Vancouver Newspaper and a journalist specializing in BC’s natural resource industries. Joel is editor of the Don Rennie Award-winning Small Town P.R. Playbook, a Jack Webster award winning journalist, and an alumnus of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference. In 2016, Kwantlen Polytechnic University honoured him with a Distinguished Alumni award. Active in his community, he is the former Chair of Media Relations for the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George and volunteers with the Rocky Mountain Rangers Association. Mr. McKay holds a Bachelor of Applied Journalism from Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Nicole Vaugeois is the Associate Vice President of Research at Vancouver Island University (VIU).

Dr. Vaugeois held the BC Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development from 2008-2017 and she was the Director of the World Leisure Center of Excellence in Sustainability and Innovation. She is currently a Director for the BC Rural Center and held former Directorships with the Travel and Tourism Research Association (Canada Chapter), Innovation Island, BC Rural Network, Tourism Vancouver Island and the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation. Dr. Vaugeois has had an active career as tourism researcher and her expertise has provided important insights for a range of stakeholders involved in tourism.

Sheila Bouman brings close to 20 years of experience helping organizations transform to have a higher impact. In her recent role as CEO of viaSport, Sheila worked with partners across sectors and government to champion changes so that more British Columbians can benefit from sport.

Partnering with business and community leaders to plan and implement innovative and positive change has been core to Sheila’s professional and volunteer work for over twenty-five years. Prior to viaSport, she worked with executive teams as a consultant and was then an executive for Cogeco Peer 1, a global technology company. She has also served as Chair of the Minister’s Tourism Engagement Council, an elected School Trustee, and President of the BC Organization Development Network. Her volunteer work continues today with a focus to advance gender equity in multiple sectors, through organizations like We for She, BC Tech, and Minerva.  Sheila graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education, and is also a certified Executive Coach. Her work today is with High Impact Lab, helping leaders and their teams increase their impact on employees, shareholders and community.  For fun Sheila is in the mountain as much as possible and exploring BC’s coast with her family.

Amy Blakeney is the CFO of Sun Peaks Resort, a four-season tourist destination and the second largest ski area in Canada.

Amy joined Sun Peaks Resort in August 2015, where she is responsible for the management of the resort and its associated mountain, real estate and hotel operations.  Prior to joining Sun Peaks, she was the Vice President, Finance with a major real estate development company in Halifax. She has over 20 years of public and private sector experience in senior financial roles in commercial real estate, insurance, healthcare, and tourism. Amy and her young family live in the community of Sun Peaks and are avid skiers and mountain bikers.  Amy is a member of Financial Executives International and is a member of the Board of Tourism Sun Peaks.  Ms. Blakeney is a Chartered Professional Accountant, receiving her CGA designation in 2001, and holds a Master of Business Administration from St. Mary’s University.

Randy has over 40 years of experience in the travel, tourism and marine business. He is President of the Harbour Air Group, and has been for over 20 years, overseeing the operations and business development of the company.

Randy was born and raised in Victoria and has over 40 years of experience in the travel, tourism and marine business. Randy began his career on the dock at the Oak Bay Marina, where his passion for the industry moved him through the ranks of management and into the position of President of the Oak Bay Marine Group. Now the President of the Harbour Air Group, for over 20 years, Randy has overseen the operations and business development of the company that welcomes more than 500,000 passengers annually. Randy continues to work, live and play in Victoria with his wife and 2 young children who all share his passion for the outdoors and the Island community.

Manoj Jasra is the Chief Marketing & Digital Officer at Northland Properties Group. Northland has assets across Hotels, Restaurants, Resorts, Sports and Construction in Canada, the US, UK and Ireland.

Manoj has been in the marketing and digital vertical for nearly 20 years across several sectors including Airlines, Telecommunications, Hospitality and Food & Beverage.  Prior to Northland, he was leading large/matrixed teams as the Head of Digital at WestJet and Vice President Digital & Customer Experience at Shaw Communications.

Lori is CEO of SPAL General Constructors Inc, a company wholly owned by the Tsleil-Waututh Nation that manages partnerships in the construction industry.

Lori Simcox is a lead in Indigenous engagement, negotiating local involvement and successfully securing multi-million dollar contracts throughout British Columbia with over 30 prime industry leaders. Ms. Simcox is on the Executive Board for the Indigenous Tourism Association of BC as Treasurer, serves as a Lieutenant Governor in Council appointee to the board of Royal Roads University and sits on the Board of the BC Construction Roundtable. Further work in community economic development involves participation on an application review committee for Pacific Integrated Commercial Fisheries Initiative (PICFI) for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Ms. Simcox has made several presentations at leadership and economic development conferences including the National Aboriginal Business Opportunities Conference. She has been involved in several interviews and articles in Western Investor, Business in Vancouver and the Vancouver Sun, and BC Business Magazine. Lori Simcox has a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and an MBA from Royal Roads University. She is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) with the Canadian Association of Management Consultants. An independent consultant, Ms. Simcox has led several consulting projects for the Federal government, worked on projects for small business and works as a management consultant in several sectors of First Nation economic development. As a member of the Tr'ondek Hwech'in First Nation, Lori sits on the Board of Northern Vision Development LP on behalf of her community's Trust.