2007-2010 Board

Board of Directors, 2007-2010

Click here for the 2010-2013 Board page.

Kelly Bruton (St. John's) Chair: Kelly has been involved with Oxfam since 1994 when she started volunteering at local events. Kelly has been a member of her local Oxfam committee and is presently the Chair of the Board. Kelly is an artist, filmmaker and educator which took her to Botswana in the early 1990s. She has seen Oxfam's work first hand and feels that 'Oxfam gives me hope that a fair, just world is possible.

Blair Redlin (Vancouver) Vice Chair: Blair has served two terms as a Board member. He has also been a member of the B.C. Regional Steering Committee and a local volunteer. A senior administrator in the B.C. public service from 1994 to 2001, Blair has considered it a privilege to work with Oxfam Canada as 'both Oxfam Canada and our global Oxfam International family bring a rights approach to the challenges of development and peace worldwide.

Don MacMillan (Ottawa) Treasurer: Accountant and management consultant.

Alex Nataros (Port Moody, BC) Secretary: According to Alex, 'Oxfam looks at the root causes of poverty and injustice—we're radical and yet solutions-oriented. Whether it's women's rights or unfair trade, Oxfam empowers members with the tools and knowledge needed to effect change and be that difference. Alex,currently a medical student at McGill University, has been volunteering in various ways with Oxfam since high school and was co-founder of the Oxfam Chapter at SFU.

Margaret Hancock (Toronto) Chair Program Committee: Margaret is the executive director of Family Service Toronto. For ten years, Margaret was the Warden of the University of Toronto's Hart House. Prior to Hart House, Margaret served as executive director of Toronto's Choice in Health Clinic. She once served as Ontario Regional Coordinator and then Ontario Education Program Coordinator for Oxfam Canada.

Elizabeth Church (Halifax): Professor, Faculty of Education, Mount St. Vincent University.

Richard (Dick)Evans (Halifax): Past Chair: Dick has served on the board since 1999. He chaired Oxfam Canada's Board from 2002-2007 and served as our representative on the Board of Oxfam International during this time period. Dick retired in July of 2008 from the Law Faculty at Dalhousie University where he had long association with Dalhousie Legal Aid Service. Dick calls Oxfam 'a great organization with great people doing important work in innovative ways.

Rick Juliusson (Vancouver):
After many years working in Africa and North America with community and international development agencies, Rick and his family moved to a rural organic farm. Here he deals with issues such as food security, economic justice, climate change, and gender discrimination (stay-at-home dads face it in a different way). An Oxfam Canada board member since 2007, Rick is honoured to support and learn from Oxfam's unique and profound vision.

Kent Macaulay (Saskatoon): Kent decided to volunteer with Oxfam 'because it considers social and economic justice nationally and internationally to be both the prerequisite and the catalyst for effective development abroad. Currently Kent is employed as the Constituency Assistant to a Member of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly. Also an active member in his community with a particular interest in multiculturalism, gay and lesbian issues, politics and policy development, Kent is 'especially pleased that Oxfam Canada has prioritized women's rights and gender equality in its work.

Marty Venalainen (Toronto): Currently a Student at Law with McMillan LLP, Marty has been volunteering with Oxfam since 2003, both in Australia and Canada. Marty's commitment to international development is rooted in volunteer experiences in Bolivia, Burkina Faso and Cambodia. He volunteers with Oxfam 'because of its excellent reputation for providing disaster relief and development programs. By combining these programs with advocacy for development in Canada and other industrialized countries, Oxfam targets the causes of poverty.

Michelle Sharp (Vancouver): Michelle Sharp is President of Edge Training & Consulting Ltd. She has over thirty years of business consulting experience and a unique combination of skills ranging from technology, people, processes and organizational development. Michelle has been a member and volunteer for Oxfam for over eight yearswho has recently joined the Board as a Member-at-Large. She ison the Finance Committee, IT Steering Committee andon the boardof two other not for profit organizations and also works with the Global Sufficiency Network in the US. She is a passionate philanthropist dedicated to the mission and vision of Oxfam.

Yvonne Stanford (Calgary): Yvonne is a new At Large Director elected by the Board to fill a vacancy. She is an activist on women's rights, peace and social justice issues, with previous leadership roles in the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, Voice of Women, Canadian Peace Alliance, Canadian Mental Health Association, YWCA. She led an Oxfam Human Rights Initiative in Alberta, and has consulted to the NGO community in Calgary on governance, conflict resolution, and programming issues. Yvonne is excited to be working with Oxfam, and honours its strategic plan focusing on women's rights and climate justice.
 

Pat Kipping(Halifax) Staff Representative, Ex Officio:
Pat works in the Oxfam Canada Halifax Regional Office for the Fund Development team.

Robert Fox (Ottawa) Executive Director, Ex Officio: Since his appointment as Executive Director in 2005, Robert Fox has led an ambitious process to renew and refocus Oxfam Canada's work on women's rights and gender justice. Robert has been involved with Oxfam for more than forty years. He travels extensively to visit Oxfam partners and allies in Africa, the Americas and Asia and to lecture and meet with supporters across Canada. He has also worked as Director of Communications for the Canadian Union of Public Employees, and as a consultant for a wide range of anti-poverty groups and social justice organizations.