Board of Directors

List of 15 items.

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  Michael Skene ’85

  Michael Skene ’85 currently serves as the Chair of the Society Board and lives in Mackenzie Heights with his lovely wife Andie and their son William ’25. Their son James graduated in 2022 and is currently attending SMU in Dallas. Michael also serves as a Trustee of the School Foundation and is a past president of the OBA. After Saints, Michael obtained degrees from UBC (Commerce, Hons.), the University of Toronto (JD), and the University of Cambridge (LLM).  He has practiced commercial litigation, construction, and media law at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP since May 1991. Michael loves music, reading, and travel.
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  Shanni Eckford

  Shanni Eckford is President and CEO of a privately held international real estate investment company. She has extensive experience in capital planning, capital improvement execution, operational budgeting, team management, and creating reporting systems that maximize operational efficiency. Mrs. Eckford completed her BA and Urban Land Economics at UBC and MBA in business strategy at the Sauder School of Business. She and her husband Michael have two sons currently attending St. George’s (’25, ’27). Her sons are the 3rd generation of her family to attend Saints joining their father, uncle, grandfather, and great uncle as Georgians. Mrs. Eckford graduated from Crofton House so has a longstanding connection and understanding of Independent Schooling.
• 

  Joseph Fung '99

  Joseph Fung has worked at the crossroads of business execution and strategic development as an investor, entrepreneur, and operator. Joseph manages and operates Saltagen Ventures, a deep technology venture capital fund house.
  
  

  Joseph is also the founder of Fairchild Canadian Academy, a group of schools focusing on inquiry-based early childhood education in Hong Kong. FCA is a research leader in curricular and professional development with multiple global academic institutions. He is committed to building centres of excellence to empower the ECE community with educational resources and research-backed programs.
  
  

  A notable responsibility includes being appointed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to represent Canada in APEC, along with being the chair of Food Systems & Security and co-chair of Sustainability. Joseph is also the HK ABLAC representative, the HK Canadian Chamber of Commerce innovation chair, the board member of Creative Destruction Labs, and the board director of Versitech University of HK.
  
  

  Outside of work, Joseph enjoys spending time with his daughters and is a certified ski instructor and a rescue and technical scuba diver.
• 

  Rodan Gopaul-Singh '88
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  Karen Grant

  Karen Grant is a proud member of the Musqueam Indian Band and an advocate for the growing relationship between Musqueam and St. Georges.  A proud mother of two St. George's boys, Felix and Owen, Karen is a consistent advocate for the great work of the school community.

   

  Mrs. Grant is currently the Office Manager of the Musqueam Indian Band and a member of the Finance and Admin Committee for her nation. Her time served in these roles is to help achieve the vision of her community; ensuring success for each individual. During her spare-time Karen can be found playing competitive soccer within the Indigenous soccer circuit, and participating in community cultural events. Her family has many ties to leadership roles in Musqueam, and she looks forward to sharing her strong skill set with the St. Georges working group.
• 

  Mike Mackay '04

  Mike is an Old Boy (’04), graduating as a "Lifer", and lives in Vancouver with his wife, Sophia, and their two children, Willa and Theo.
  
  Mike is the president of a local real estate company and believes that to whom much is given, much will be required. He is passionate about serving his community, particularly that of St. George’s School, which has afforded him so much.
  
  

  Some of Mike's most rewarding life experiences have been realized through volunteer opportunities. In addition to St. George’s, he sits on the boards of the Urban Development Institute and Arts Umbrella, and has represented his province and country in rugby.

• Rob McJunkin

  Rob is an experienced senior executive with over 30 years in operational and strategic financial management, including business planning and analysis, management and external reporting, board-level relations, capital raising, acquisitions, and exit events. He has extensive North American and international experience in numerous major industries including resorts, real estate, apparel, telecommunications, and public accounting firms.

   

  He currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Anthem Properties and previously served as the VP Corporate Development, and VP Finance for Intrawest and various other finance-related roles. His early career was with KPMG as a senior accountant and with Deloitte in their Corporate Advisory Services.

   

  Rob holds a B. Comm from UBC and is a CA. He and his wife Kathy Bradwell have one son at St. George's, Connor in the Class of 2020.

• Karen Kwan

  Karen Kwan is the Chief People & Culture Officer at Aritzia, a vertically integrated, innovative design house offering Everyday Luxury online and in its boutiques with a team of over 7000 employees, started in Vancouver in 1984.
  
  

  Karen has executive leadership responsibility for all of Aritzia’s Human Resources functions. Her professional vision for success is to foster a high performing, supportive, and engaged culture that enables people — and thereby organizations — to meet their highest potential.  

  
  

  Karen earned a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University, majoring in English and minoring in Sociology. She is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources. She and her husband have two children; their son is at Saints, Class of 2033.

• John Newell

  John Newell is co-founder of Windset Farms and has served as Chief Operating Officer since he and his brother Steven (Class of ’91) founded the company in Abbotsford, BC, in 1996. Windset Farms is one of the largest Controlled Environment Agriculture producers and marketers of sustainably grown greenhouse produce in North America, with operations in British Columbia, California, and Mexico.

   

  John has served on several industry boards including the United Fresh Produce Association and currently serves as a director on the BC Vegetable Marketing Commission. He has a Bachelor of Science (Microbiology ‘92) from the University of British Columbia and lives with his wife Jenny and three children, Johnny (Class of 2017), Kate (York House 2019), and Sophie (York House 2022) in Vancouver.
• 

  Martha Piper
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  Gary Pooni

  In his role as president, Gary drives the firm’s growth and guides major client projects as strategic lead. With over twenty years of planning-related experience, he has spearheaded some of the country's most significant projects throughout Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island, the Sea to Sky corridor, Alberta, and Ontario. His expertise includes strategic guidance, policy planning, and public consultation. Gary was listed as a “change-maker and power player shaping our world” in Vancouver Magazine’s 2022 Power 50 List.

  Gary is also passionate about his community and has been part of several charitable boards including the Vancouver Canucks Alumni Foundation, Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, LiveBIG Society, and PacWest Academy Soccer. Gary also has a family non-profit group that works on several community initiatives annually.
• 

  Christina Brown

  Given Christina’s successful career at Mackenzie Financial, she is an ambassador for how a meaningful mentor can impact the trajectory of one’s career. She is the co-founder of StepInspire, an organization that has since been combined with YESkids.org to inspire inner city youth in Boston to reach beyond their world and imagine what ‘could be’ for their future. Her organization subscribed to the mantra that one person or experience can change the course of an individual’s life — and it did just that.
• 

  Ben Cherniavsky

  Ben Cherniavsky currently sits on the Board of Directors for Toromont Industries, a publicly-traded industrial company in Canada. He is also a member of the Advisory Board for Norland Limited, one of BC’s largest construction contractors. Prior to his current engagements, Ben worked for 22 years as a Managing Director, and Head of Industrials Research at Raymond James Ltd. Ben also worked in public finance as a research analyst for the Ministry of Finance in Ottawa and at the University of Toronto's International Centre for Tax Studies. Ben holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey School of Business and a BA in Economics from the University of Alberta. Ben’s community engagement includes roles as a Director of Saint George’s Foundation Board of Trustees, the Cherniavsky Junior Fund, and the Whistler Tennis Association. Ben also sat on the Board of the Children’s Hearing and Speech Centre of BC from 2013-2020.
• 

  Mark V. Lewis '89

  Mark V. Lewis '89 is a partner at the law firm Bennett Jones LLP and is Co-Head of the firm's National Real Estate Group, where his practice focusses on real estate and infrastructure development. Mark has served on the Foundation's Board since 2017, and has been a member of the Audit & Risk Management and Properties & Facilities Committees. Mark is the current President of BC Rugby (since 2019), a Past President of the Vancouver Rowing Club (2006-2008), and a Board Member of the Urban Development Institute Pacific Region (since 2012). He is also a member of the Campaign Cabinet of the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation. Mark's son Carter graduated from Saints in 2020.
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  Robert Orr

  Robert Orr is a seasoned corporate development strategist with 30+ years of executive and public practice experience. Robert has a BSc in applied mathematics / economics, is a CPA & ASA (Ret.). Currently, he is President & CEO of Life360 Innovations Holdings a private Canadian company developing a first of its kind in the world medical device for men with urinary incontinence. In addition, he has board and advisory roles with a number of technology companies.