Programs Manager, CityHive
Rowan is a talented facilitator, organizer and overall ‘do-er.’ She is deeply passionate about experiential education, civic engagement, dialogue, and democracy in action. During BA in Communication from Simon Fraser University, she spent over a year and a half researching the role of youth (ages 13-30) within our democratic processes — navigating the tensions between intense activism and lack of voter turnout. Rowan loves being reminded of the innovative and inspiring ways that young people shape our communities and develop solutions to seemingly impossible problems. Born and raised in what is commonly known as East Vancouver, Rowan has lived most of her life on these unceded lands. As a sixth-generation Canadian settler she is constantly navigating and deepening her understanding of power, privilege, land and place. Rowan enjoys combing through the racks at local thrift stores, at-home yoga, and getting absorbed by good books.
Executive Director and Co-Founder, CityHive
Veronika is an engagement innovator, community builder and sustainability strategist. A lifelong Vancouverite, she is passionate about creating more sustainable, liveable cities and amplifying the meaningful engagement of citizens, particularly youth, in addressing urban challenges.
Veronika completed her BSc in Global Resource Systems at UBC, with a specialization in Urban Sustainability, Policy and Planning. Her experience includes working in Sustainability Education Facilitation with Metro Vancouver, Student Sustainability Engagement at UBC, and in Environmental Assessment with Environment and Climate Change Canada, and as a Director at Co-Design Engage, which leads participatory design processes in city planning. She was awarded as a Top 25 Under 25 Environmentalist in Canada in 2015, has delivered a TEDxYouth talk on Urban Sustainability and was a Social Innovation Fellow at RADIUS SFU. Veronika is currently a Commissioner on the Vancouver City Planning Commission and Board Member for CityStudio Vancouver. Veronika is an outdoor enthusiast and can often be found zipping around the city on her bike.
Executive Director, Winch Institute
Neil is the Executive Director of the Winch Institute and has over 25 years of experience volunteering on, and managing campaigns at the Federal, Provincial and Local Government level. The Winch Institute is a non-profit that provides training and campaign services for local government candidates. Over the last 8 years Winch has provided campaign services to over a hundred candidates and training to over 200 campaign volunteers. In the 2022 BC Local Government elections Winch provided services to 41 candidates, of which 33 were elected, including four new mayors.
Partner, Allevato Quail & Roy
After founding AQR Law in 2014, Carmela remains connected with the firm as Senior Counsel.
Carmela has been a leader in BC’s labour movement for over thirty years. She has served as a member of the BC Labour Relations Board, a Vancouver School Board Trustee, and Vice-President of the BC Federation of Labour. She was the Secretary-Business Manager and lead negotiator for the Hospital Employees Union in the 1990s, during which time the union achieved groundbreaking advances in pay equity. She was also formerly in-house counsel to the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the BC Teachers’ Federation.
Carmela is a part-time instructor at BCIT where she teaches courses in Employment Law and Business Law. She is a provincially-certified adult educator and brings her passion for adult education to her legal work and union training. Carmela has trained hundreds of union reps, shop stewards, leaders, and activists in topics including disability accommodation, grievance arbitration, the duty of fair representation, and bargaining.
Carmela served as the regional vice-president for the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers, is a member of CUPE Local 50, and an honourary member of HEU. Carmela is also a member of the Passenger Transportation Board.
Carmela enjoys boating, relaxing on Gambier Island, spending time with her grandchildren, and walking in Pacific Spirit Park.
President, BC Teachers’ Federation
Clint Johnston started his first term as President of the BC Teachers’ Federation on July 1, 2022. Prior to that, Clint served as a Vice-President for six years. He is currently one of the Federation’s lead negotiators in the current round of collective bargaining and has previous experience bargaining at the local and national levels.
Prior to his provincial union work, Clint served as President of the Chilliwack Teachers’ Association for three years. Nationally, Johnston has served multiple consecutive terms as a Vice-President of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) since first elected at the 2017 CTF Annual General Meeting.
Johnston turned to a career in education after losing a hand in a devastating workplace accident at 23-years-old. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Human Kinetics and Education from the University of British Columbia. He spent the first five years of his teaching career in England before returning home to Chilliwack to work in a variety of elementary teaching roles for the next several years before being elected to his local executive.
Johnston and his wife, Holly, are the proud parents of five children—three of whom are still in BC’s K–12 public education system.
One of Johnston’s personal priorities is to continue raising awareness about BC’s critical teacher shortage and taking the necessary steps to address this pervasive issue that disproportionately affects students with diverse learning needs.
Director of Communications & Advocacy, YWCA Vancouver
Amy Juschka is a strategic communications leader with more than a decade of experience advocating for social change across the charitable and non-governmental sectors. Her communications background has focused on gender equity and human rights and her experience includes leading digital engagement with organizations like the David Suzuki Foundation. As Director of Communications and Advocacy with YWCA Metro Vancouver, Amy oversees marketing communications for one of BC’s largest and most diversified non-profit organizations. She has a Master’s in Journalism from UBC.
Chawathil Council Member
Aaron started from humble beginnings in Downtown Chilliwack. He was raised by an Indigenous single-mother who was born with a disability, where they lived on social assistance in a food unstable household. His mother relied on community resources while Aaron was growing up, this gave him a deep understanding of the value of community.
Today, Aaron Pete is the host of the Bigger Than Me Podcast, a graduate of Peter A. Allard School of Law, and a Native Courtworker. Mr. Pete sits on the Board of Directors with the Chilliwack Cultural Centre and on the Chawathil Economic Development Committee. He also provides presentations on Indigenous Cultural Awareness, where he aims to bridge the divides and make learning about Indigenous topics accessible. In September 2022, he was elected as a council member for his community Chawathil First Nation, which is within the Stó:lō territory.
Councillor, City of Burnaby
Alison is a 2nd generation Chinese settler living on the unceded and unsurrendered lands of the hən̓qəmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples. Alison is the youngest ever Burnaby City Councillor, and was elected on the mandate of climate, housing, and racial justice. Before being elected as a councillor, she has for an MLA, 2 MPs, and for her student union. In 2017, she cycled from Ottawa to Burnaby against the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline while fundraising for the legal fees of the First Nations fighting the project in court.
President, CUPE BC
Karen Ranalletta was elected President of CUPE BC in May 2021 after serving three terms on the Executive Board as General Vice-President. Karen’s involvement began as a member of CUPE 2950, the local representing clerical, library and theatre workers at the University of British Columbia, where she served as president prior to being elected as a CUPE BC officer. Karen has participated in a number of CUPE BC committees through the course of her involvement, including terms as chair of the Universities and Young Workers Committees.
In addition to her role as CUPE BC President, Karen serves as the Regional Vice President – B.C. on the CUPE National Executive Board (NEB). As a member of the NEB, Karen provides a voice for B.C. members within the National Union’s governance structure, which includes serving on the National Safe Union Spaces Working Group and the CUPE National Post-Secondary Task Force.
Karen represents CUPE BC as an Officer (Vice-President) of the BC Federation of Labour, and chairs the Federation’s Health and Safety Committee. She also sits on the Board of Directors for the BC Labour Heritage Centre, an organization dedicated to preserving and championing working people’s history in British Columbia.
Karen is a strong advocate for public libraries, reading and literacy, and outside of her roles in the labour movement, donates her time to support the arts and theatre community in Vancouver.
Public Policy Innovator
Charley is a leader in public interest governance and policy solutions. Charley lead the Columbia Institute for 13 years, establishing the Institute’s Centre for Civic Governance and directing research on public policy issues ranging from K-12 Funding, Understanding Public Private Partnerships, Climate Action, Green Economy and Governance. Most recently, Charley served as Senior Executive Lead at the Province of BC’s Crown Agencies and Board Resourcing Office which provides governance support for Provincial public sector organizations. Charley led the development of the Province’s Governing in the Public Interest Certificate program and brought a strong diversity focus to CABRO’s work. Charley holds a Certificate in Circular Economy from Cambridge Judge School of Business.
Executive Director, Renewable Cities and Fellow, Centre for Dialogue, Simon Fraser University
Alex has two decades of policy and planning experience focused on community climate action with unique expertise in land use and multi-criteria analysis, engagement and knowledge mobilization. He has led multiple award-winning community energy plans recognized for innovative carbon modeling and mapping and implementation readiness. Alex is focused on elegant solutions to complex problems, advancing affordability, economic development, civic infrastructure management, public health, farm and forest protection, resilience to climate impacts while driving deep carbon reductions. His work on local, provincial and national scale projects includes: supporting BC Ministry of Environment to generate community energy and emission inventories for all BC municipalities; serving Federation of Canadian Municipalities to develop their best practice guide for GHG target setting and renew their Climate Protection Program; advising Prime Minister Martin’s Task Force on Cities on the federal role in urban climate action.