Trustees

National Trustees

Oliver Kent, President

Oliver Kent has been a trustee of CPAWS since 2006, and was national Treasurer until being elected as President in 2009. He was previously Treasurer of the Ottawa Valley chapter.

Oliver spent most of his 35-year professional career as a partner in the management consulting practice of Price Waterhouse, which became part of PricewaterhouseCoopers and was later acquired by IBM. He provided advice to federal, provincial and municipal governments and Crown corporations across Canada on business, operational and technology strategy; program management; and the implementation of change. He also had local and national leadership responsibilities for consulting in the public sector.

When he retired from IBM in 2008, Oliver returned to graduate school and will shortly be completing an MA in Economics focusing on resource and environmental economics.

Oliver has been an outdoor enthusiast for five decades. He has enjoyed canoeing, backpacking, cycling, cross-country skiing, and running in every province and territory of Canada. He spent Christmas of 2008 climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with his daughter. His wife, Martine Jaworski, is a paediatrician focusing on learning and behavioural issues. Together, they have three adult children.

Sherri Watson, Past President

Sherri is a committed environmentalist who has worked in the environment field for over 25 years, primarily in Environment Canada, as a senior manager on pollution control and prevention in industry sectors. Now retired, she directs her energies to conservation of wilderness and wildlife protection, goals that are well matched in CPAWS’ vision to protect at least 50%.of Canada’s remaining public wilderness.

Sherri has been a part of CPAWS since 1999 on joining the Ottawa Valley Chapter Board, where she served 2 years as Chapter Chair and 5 years as National trustee chapter representative. In 2006, Sherri was elected as a National trustee at large and became President of CPAWS National Board of Trustees. Her term as President ended in 2009, but she is now Chair of the Governance Committee and the Harkin Award Committee.

Sherri has degrees in nursing from the University of Western Ontario and in earth and environmental science from York University, a diploma on management development from the Harvard Graduate School for Business, and a certificate as lead environmental auditor. She is an avid hiker and since her association with CPAWS, this city girl has taken up kayaking and camping and looks forward to more wilderness adventures.

Julie Davidson, Vice President (British Columbia)

Julie has a strong passion for the outdoors and wild places, coupled with experience in environmental project funding and board leadership which led her to become a volunteer on the CPAWS-BC board. She has twenty years' experience in the human resources field, most recently board-related in the not-for-profit business sector. Julie worked with Mountain Equipment Coop’s board through ten years of rapid growth. As a recent graduate from Simon Fraser University, she is embarking on a new path in social policy issues.

Julie is experienced in strategic planning and board leadership, and she will bring good communication and dialogue skills to the board. She has a good understanding of CPAWS governance issues, and will be a judicious advocate for a strong CPAWS. She is committed to working towards a unified organization and an integrated national conservation plan, which will be achieved through a strong community-based structure and dynamic board leadership.

Now with adult children, Julie and her husband are exploring a new chapter in their lives; they have recently moved to BC’s Sunshine Coast, where they look forward to pursuing their artistic and outdoor passions.

David Wright, Secretary (Manitoba)

Dave is a litigation lawyer in private practice in Winnipeg. As much as he loves his work as a lawyer, he often yearns to be on a river. A member of the board of the CPAWS Manitoba chapter since 2003 and a National Trustee since 2004, Dave has extensive experience with a variety of NGOs, in both board and senior staff positions. With degrees in law and business administration, and a heart for their opposites, he is firmly committed to the work and vision of CPAWS.

Tim Gray, Chair , Conservation Committee of the Board (Ontario)

Tim Gray is the Program Director for the Ivey Foundation, a private environmental and arts granting agency in Toronto. Tim has a MSc. in Botany/Environmental Studies from the University of Toronto. Previous to his work at the Ivey Foundation Tim worked for the national office of CPAWS, both as Director of Boreal Programs and as National Conservation Director. While serving in these roles he developed and implemented cross-organizational conservation campaigns and sat on the Boreal Leadership Council.

Tim got his start in conservation work as the executive director of CPAWS-Wildlands League, where he served from 1990 until 2003. Other current Board commitments include membership on the University of Toronto's Faculty of Forestry Advisory Board, the Minister's Council on Forest Sector Competitiveness (Ontario), the Ontario Provincial Forest Policy Committee, and the Boards of Directors of the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

Marianne Alto-Bond, Treasurer (British Columbia)

Marianne has a lifelong passion for wild spaces. With her parents, she spent 12 years traveling the Americas, camping in hundreds of parks and wilderness areas. That experience set the stage for a life of community and political activism dedicated to creating a better world in which her sons may live.

Marianne has spent 20 years facilitating social, legal, organizational and economic change for communities, small business, non-profits and governments. She has designed, organized and animated a broad range of unique, client-centered initiatives. Her approach balances competing interests, using innovation, mediation and conciliation to achieve outcomes that serve all parties.

Marianne has been a leader in local, provincial and national organizations, from her younger son’s school Parent Advisory Committees to the National Action Committee on the Status of Women and the New Democratic Party of Canada. Most recently, her terms as national Treasurer of Canada’s NDP saw that organization reach its strongest financial position ever, growing its fundraising capacity and member services while committing to fiscally responsible oversight that repaid significant election campaign debts well ahead of schedule. She will bring facilitation, communication, financial stewardship and leadership skills to the CPAWS Board, and would consider it a privilege to serve as a CPAWS Trustee.

Marianne has a degree in Law from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Science in Geography from the University of Victoria, where she studied Natural Resource Management with (then Professor) CPAWS Trustee Emeritus Philip Dearden. She continues to walk in the wild, and has never lost her wonder of wilderness.

Alan Appleby (Ontario)

Alan G. Appleby has broad experience over the past 38 years in both government and the consulting field. He has worked in a wide variety of cultural and geographic settings and with a broad range of associates on many aspects of environment and resources management.

He brings 20 years of experience in government in both Saskatchewan (16 years) and Ontario (4 years) in environment and natural resources management, land use planning, parks management and environmental assessment. He also has 18 years consulting experience across Canada and in the United States in many aspects of environmental affairs from pollution monitoring to wilderness

preservation. In that time, he has worked extensively with First Nations, Aboriginal and community groups across northern Saskatchewan, and with the ranching and agricultural community in the prairies and southern Ontario.

He was involved with the Saskatchewan chapter of CPAWS for many years until he recently moved to Ontario.

“I believe that there are ways to explore, discover and develop in this world without destroying humanity or the environment. I hope the work I do will contribute to that ideal.”

Susan Ellis (Prairies)

Susan has enjoyed a career of consulting to profit and not-for-profit organizations on an amazing array of human and organizational effectiveness projects. Her background includes an M.A./A.B.S., adult education and a mixture of business administration. She has served on a number of boards and was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee medal in 2002 for her various leadership and community contributions. Born and raised in Edmonton, AB she now lives in Calgary. Working for the health of important ecosystems, is a natural step for Susan, as she has always had an affinity for the great outdoors. Canoeing the Churchill River from Saskatchewan border to border was one of her most memorable trips.

Lorne Johnson (Ontario)

Lorne is a recognized leader in the environmental community who has spent much of his career forging collaborative solutions to longstanding sustainability challenges. He is known and respected across government, natural resource industries and the ENGO community as an energetic, personable and innovative problem solver who gets things done.

David Lang (Ontario)

David Lang ,BA,BEd, MEd, lives on a farm an hour north of the city of Toronto with his wife of 34 years. He is currently retired after careers in agriculture and education. He maintains many contacts in the business community through his involvement in various investments. David is a life long canoeist and cruising sailor with a passion for wilderness adventure and preservation. The summer of 2009 was spent cycling from Vancouver to Toronto with an old friend. He became a director of the Wildlands League in 1991, a position he has proudly maintained to the present. He served as secretary of the League for many years, and as its president since 2004. For the past few years he has also served as an elected trustee on the national board, and as a member of the executive committee.

Stephen Mayor (Northern Alberta)

Stephen Mayor is currently a board director for CPAWS NAB. He previously served as a board member and vice-chair for CPAWS NL. Stephen is also currently a PhD student at the University of Alberta, studying ecology. His research investigates large scale biodiversity changes in response to human impacts (oil/gas, forestry/agriculture) across boreal Alberta, and to a lesser extent, across all of boreal Canada. His MSc research focused on caribou habitat selection in Newfoundland. He has been awarded numerous research grants and scholarships, and has published in top ecological journals.

Stephen’s love for wilderness began with canoeing and backcountry travel. He has paddled multi-week trips in Yukon, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland, previously leading expeditions for vulnerable youth.

Stephen began his ENGO work with student organizations at Trent University and Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he served as vice-president and president, respectively. He also helped found the Northeast Avalon group of the Sierra Club of Canada, and was a member of the Trout Pond Habitat Caucus, working to prevent dumping of mine tailings into fish bearing waters.

Raymond J. Plourde (Nova Scotia)

Ray’s career in the ENGO and the private sector has primarily been in the areas of wilderness conservation advocacy, government and stakeholder relations, media and marketing. In particular, he has been active, both professionally and as a volunteer in ENGO work in the area of wilderness conservation in Nova Scotia.

As the Wilderness Coordinator for the Ecology Action Centre for the last six years and a Director of the Nova Scotia Salmon Association for over a dozen, he has had the opportunity to play a leading role in a number of successful conservation campaigns in Nova Scotia. As the leader of the Nova Scotia Public Lands Coalition (www.publicland.ca) he developed significant experience in grassroots conservation campaign planning and execution. He acted, in turn, as strategist, organizer, advocate, spokesman, fundraiser and lobbyist regarding wilderness conservation and inland fisheries issues.

In his professional career prior to joining the Ecology Action Centre, Ray worked in the communications field, including creative concept development, production management in various media, and broadcasting.

He is very familiar with CPAWS, having worked over the last six years with local CPAWS staff, board members and volunteers on a number of successful campaigns. His organization and CPAWS are currently planning a Big Wild trip together into their latest wilderness area target – Ship Harbour Long Lake.

Wayne Sawchuk (Northern BC)

A lifelong resident of northern British Columbia, Wayne Sawchuk has worked as a logger, trapper, sawmill worker and wilderness guide, and has become renowned for his work as a conservationist, author and photographer who has fought to protect the country he once logged. He owns and operates a trap line in the remote wilderness of Canada’s northern Rockies, and is a sought after speaker on issues of conservation and wilderness protection.

In January 2009, Wayne was made a Fellow of the Explorers Club, a prestigious honour given to a very few individuals around the world who promote new field science and discovery. Wayne’s appointment recognizes the many expeditions of scientists and artists he has led into what is now known as the Muskwa-Kechika area of the Rockies.

Wayne began working on environmental issues in 1990 and was a key player in the land use planning process that brought resource industry, environmental, outfitting, trapping and First Nations interests together with government to develop policies that led to the creation of the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area. This innovative land use planning and management model has attracted the attention of conservationists and governments around the world.

Evan Sorestad (Saskatchewan)

Evan Sorestad has been a CPAWS supporter and volunteer for 20 years, holding various roles as a volunteer from Chapter Board member to national trustee. Evan holds a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan and is a member of the Saskatchewan and Alberta Law Societies. He is currently employed as an Industrial Relations Director with Federated Co-operatives Ltd. in Saskatoon, SK and has experience in collective bargaining, and has been counsel for both

arbitration and mediation sessions. Evan has extensive experience with Human Resources issues, and has practiced exclusively in the area of employment law for 10 years.

Evan volunteers for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society because he believes that wilderness has an inherent value and deserves to be protected, and wants to contribute to this goal.

Tracey Williams (Northwest Territories)

Tracey’s varied background and career have provided her with skills in conservation and resource management, strategic planning, fund-raising, election campaigning, facilitating leadership and local governance meetings, working with diverse partners (including ENGOs, Aboriginal groups, governments and industry) and facilitating many disparate groups to reach consensus. Much of her recent work has been in the context of northern mineral exploration and mining. All of this expertise will be beneficial to the National Board.

Tracey has extensive experience working with various ENGOs and Aboriginal communities on conservation, land use planning, and protected areas planning initiatives.

Tracey is also an avid whitewater canoeist, has organized numerous canoe expeditions in the NWT and Nunavut, has hiking experience throughout the world, and has extensive on-the-land bush skills. Tracey is a member of the CPAWS-NWT board and lives with her husband and young son in Lutsel K’e, Northwest Territories.

Peigi Wilson (Ontario)

Peigi bring16 years of experience dedicated to national and international environmental law and policy with a focus in past ten years on Aboriginal rights. She worked for several years with the Assembly of First Nations, including as the Director of Environmental Stewardship, where she drafted many policy briefs and represented the AFN nationally and internationally on environment issues.

As a consultant, she assisted Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation in negotiation, communications, and legal strategy, aiding in the peaceful resolution of uranium exploration dispute. She also worked with the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq, the Union of Nova Scotia Indians and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency to amend the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

Internationally, she provided advice to UNEP and various developing countries, and was commissioned by the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity to prepare the Composite Report On The Status And Trends Regarding The Knowledge, Innovations And Practices Of Indigenous And Local Communities Regional Report: North America, in 2003 and 2007.

She is a Director of the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources, and has been on the board of the Greater Bobs and Crow Lake Association where she organized development of a lake management plan.

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