Board of Directors & Staff

Click here for Past Board Members

Current Board

President

Janet Amsden, M.A.

Janet is a retired teacher and author of Grizzly Pete and the Ghosts (Annick Press, 2002).  She is married to artist Steve Amsden and is a proud grandmother helping her grown daughters, Jessie and Jackie. Interested in working toward sustainable communities, her current goal is building connections between like-minded members of the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows community. Janet joined the Board in the late 1990s.

Vice President

Jack Emberly

Jack describes himself primarily as a story teller. The "telling" of tales that make him think has been a lifelong passion. His interests include the well-being of the planet and the life that inhabits it (especially fish). He was one of the original directors of the CEED Centre in the 80s. Jack recently retired from a long career in teaching, mostly in the area of special education, but  occasionally gives workshops to teachers and other groups. Jack has been an eduction newspaper columnist. He has produced a CD of stories related to school life, one book, and is working on another.

Secretary (TBA Nov 2010)

Treasurer

Jolanta Ornowska

Trustee

Chum Richardson

A lifetime resident of the Ridge Meadows area, Chum has worked in the RCAF, shake & shingle and lumber sawmills and in the logging, trucking, farming, fishing and railroad industries over a career spanning five decades. Currently retired, his interests as a director are focused on the environment and global warming. "There used to be more snow in the summer on the Golden Ears than there now is in the winter." Chum joined in 2004.

Geoff Mantel

Geoff joined the Board in Spring 2008, bringing an interest in rational transit development and urban planning among other issues. As a software developer and enterprise architect, his analytical abilities and large skill set are put to good use by the Society.

Gerry Pinel

Shortly after joining the Board in early 2009, Gerry spearheaded the CEED Centre's close look at climate change solutions, which eventually led us to establish a "transition town initiative" for our three local communities. A new retiree in 2010, Gerry is president of the Boiling Point Action Network on Climate Change.

Richard McWhinney

Richard began studying the natural sciences in rural Saskatchewan before learning formal science in Regina, Saskatoon and Vancouver. He rounded out his education with practical experience in construction and civil engineering spiced with evening courses in anthropology, ecology and geology. A Maple Ridge resident since 1972, he works in engineering technology and construction management. He has volunteered with horse clubs, sports and scouts organizations, and sat on the Parks and Recreation Commission, Agricultural Fair committees, neighbourhood associations and solid waste management committees. Richard has run for public office and is interested in conservation, land use, population growth and zoning issues. He joined the Board in October 2010.

Staff

Executive Director

Christian Cowley, MBA

Christian began managing the CEED Centre in August 2004 after an 18-year career in investor relations and Japanese translation. He founded and led two companies--a translation agency and a building products purchasing agency. He also worked briefly as a community developer in the food security program of a health authority. Christian is presently a Vice Chair of the Maple Ridge Agricultural Advisory Committee and spokesperson for the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Environmental Council. Christian was a director of Tonari Gumi, a social services agency for the Japanese Canadian community in the Lower Mainland, for six years. He also served for one year on the certification committee of the BC Association for Regenerative Agriculture, an organic certification organization. Christian is interested in environmentally oriented community development in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. He raises poultry and bees.