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.

Laird M. Miller is the Group CFO, Managing Director Family Office for Brandt C. Louie. Active in his community, Mr. Miller serves as a Member on Minister's Council on Tourism and is a past board member and Member of the Audit Committee of Tourism British Columbia. He served as a Volunteer Mentor in the Leaders of Tomorrow program at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. Mr. Miller received his Chartered Accountant designation from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia. He holds a bachelor of science in forestry and a masters of business from the University of Toronto.

Al Raine is in his fourth term as mayor of Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality. Mr. Raine has managed successful resort lodge properties in both Sun Peaks and Whistler. Mr. Raine was the provincial co-ordinator of Ski Development in the late 1970s, authored the original provincial Commercial Alpine Ski Policy and conducted numerous ski resort assessments, including a review of the British Columbia Heli-ski industry. Earlier, Mr. Raine was the head coach and program director of the Canadian National Ski Team from 1968 to 1973. Active in the tourism community, Mr. Raine is a former chairman and director of both Tourism Sun Peaks and Tourism Whistler.

Penny Wilson is chief marketing officer at Hootsuite, the most widely used social media management platform. She leads the company's global marketing, growth and customer support organizations, driving market leadership, brand awareness, demand generation, and the creation of memorable customer experiences.Ms. Wilson has more than 30 years of experience in senior marketing and executive leadership roles at Juniper Networks, Macromedia, Alias|Wavefront and Merrill Lynch. Ms. Wilson 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). She formerly held an Endowed Chair position as the BC Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development at VIU and was the Director of Strategic Initiatives for the World Leisure Centre of Excellence in Sustainability and Innovation. Active in her community, Ms. Vaugeois is currently a board member of the Travel and Tourism Research Association (Canadian Chapter), the BC Rural Network and Innovation Island. She formerly served on the Board of Tourism Vancouver Island and held an appointment to BC's Tourism Research Taskforce. Ms. Vaugeois holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta, a Master of Arts in Tourism Planning from CHN The Netherlands, and a PhD from Michigan State University.