OUR BOARD

Robert’s diverse executive leadership career spans over 35 years and includes experience in the private equity, ocean technology, marine biotechnology, nutritional ingredient, and food retailing industries. He is the managing director of Cuna del Mar, an impact investment fund focused on global food security and healthy oceans. In addition to his CFNS responsibilities, he is also Chair of Natural Products Canada Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, member of the Canadian Ocean Technology Supercluster Board of Directors, associate at Ocean Stream’s Creative Destruction Lab, and serves on the Advisory Board of Dalhousie University’s School of Management.

Alana has been active in business for over 30-years, primarily working in hotel and event management. She now helps small business owners through her work with CBDC Northern Opportunities for Business Limited.  An active volunteer, she was a founding member of the Green Meetings Industry Council Canadian Chapter; a founding member and past president of the Atlantic Chapter of Meeting Professionals International; a member of the Truro Brand Leadership Committee, the Truro Heritage Advisory Committee, and the Events Truro Colchester committee; and the past president and current executive secretary of the Rotary Club of Truro.

Angie is a proud Mi’kmaw woman and member of Eskasoni First Nation. A practicing lawyer whose career has been primarily focused on the inclusion of traditional knowledge and modern science, she has worked with the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq (CMM) since 2011. In 2019, Angie became the CMM’s Associate Executive Director, making her the first woman to hold this position in the organization’s history.  Angeline sits as an advisor for the Assembly of Nova Scotia Chiefs’, Dalhousie’s Board of Governors, Dalhousie’s Faculty of Management External Advisory Board, the National Indigenous Fisheries Institute Board of Directors, Natural Resource Canada’s Departmental Audit Committee, and the Indigenous Centre of Cumulative Effects Management Board of Directors.

Anne-Marie has worked in the community sector for more than 20 years, supporting organizations and networks in their efforts to build stronger, more resilient and more connected communities. An award-winning media trainer and a former print journalist who still loves newspapers, she spent 15 years working as a consultant and staff member for Community Foundations of Canada, including Vice President of Public Engagement, playing a key role in the launch of programs such Vital Signs, Smart & Caring Communities and the 150Alliance as well as the movement’s first national awareness campaign. An active volunteer and co-founder of ASPEN (the Asperger’s Syndrome Parents Empowerment Network), Anne-Marie is the director of partnerships for The North Grove.

Barbara is the former CEO of The Maritimes Energy Association, and the former vice president of AIMS, a public policy think tank based in Atlantic Canada. In 2017, she was appointed by the Government of Canada to the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, the joint federal-provincial regulatory agency for the offshore oil and gas industry. An active volunteer, she has served on numerous boards, including the Board of Governors of Mount Saint Vincent University, chair of the Board of Sport Nova Scotia, president and chair of Sail Nova Scotia, and a member of the Boards of Sail Canada, Scotian Windfields and ScotianWEB.

Dennice began her career in banking as a junior clerk, rising through RBC’s human resources, corporate banking and independent business to become regional president of Manitoba, Nunavut and North-western Ontario, before retiring as senior vp and ombudsman for the organization’s employees and customers world-wide.Volunteering throughout her career and in retirement, she has sat on hospital, university, college, Aboriginal, government, cultural institutions and community and non-profit boards and is the Past Chair of CFNS. In recognition of her community activities, she was awarded the Eagle Feather by the Aboriginal Council of Winnipeg, Woman of the Year by the Winnipeg YWCA and Honourary Citizen of Winnipeg. She is also a Member of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and Platinum Jubilee medals and received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Mount Saint Vincent University.    

Erika has been working in community development for over 15 years and is the president and CEO of New Dawn Enterprises. With New Dawn, Erika has led many meaningful community projects including the opening of the Cape Breton Island Centre for Immigration; the development of Pine Tree Park, the region’s first net-zero solar community; and the purchase, renovation and revisioning of the Holy Angels High School property, now the Eltuek Arts Centre and New Dawn Centre for Social Innovation. In addition to her work with New Dawn and CFNS, she has served on the boards of the Social Enterprise Network of Nova Scotia, ACAP Cape Breton, and is presently a director with the Highland Arts Theatre and Community Foundations of Nova Scotia.

Frank is a certified fund-raising executive (CFRE) with 35 years’ experience in non-profit/charitable organization administration, including executive director of the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) Foundation, where he established the Foundation’s Planned Giving Program and lead the team raising $33M to support student aid during their first provincial fundraising campaign. Frank has volunteered with the boards of national organizations representing the charitable sector, including the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education, the Association of Fundraising Professionals – Foundation of Philanthropy, and the NSCC Foundation Board.

Glenn is an author, speaker and nationally recognized financial educator, specializing in lifestyle and charitable tax planning.  A certified financial planner (CFP) working with Assante Capital Management, he has developed strategies allowing entrepreneurs, professionals and retirees to redirect their “social capital,” also known as taxes, to philanthropic organizations. Motivated by a desire to make an impact in the community, Glenn enjoys advising individuals and families on how to plan and live their joyful retirement, the principles of which he addresses in his second book, Retire Abundantly.

Lana is a registered practicing clinical social worker with over 25 years of experience in the fields of addiction, mental health, and emergency medicine, working across cultures and with various client populations. She has presented at national and international conferences on cultural competency in mental health and addictions and trauma-informed race-based models of healthcare. An expert in conflict resolution on issues of systemic and anti-Black racism in the workplace, she is also recognized for her work in developing models for the provision of social and culturally competent assessments of African Nova Scotian clients involved in the criminal justice system. Lana volunteers with the Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative, is an active member of the African Nova Scotian Access to Justice Judicial Committee, and is chair of the African United Baptist Association – Social Justice Committee.

Louise is an award-winning activist, author, playwright, and African Nova Scotian community leader with over thirty years’ experience in the health care field. Her work addressing environmental racism and impacts of climate change on the Black community of Shelburne began in 2014 and she founded the South End Environmental Injustice Society (SEED) in 2016. Louise has worked with the Black Loyalist Heritage Society; the RCMP Black and Racially Visible Advisory Committee; Environmental Noxiousness and Racial Inequalities Community Health (ENRICH) Project; the Black Women’s Health Project for McMaster University’s National Research Project and Dalhousie University’s School of Nursing; and was a member of the Shelburne Community Health Board. Louise is also co-chair of the African Nova Scotian Community Coalition.

Mary graduated from St. Francis Xavier University with a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in accounting, and has diplomas in chartered financial planning, elder planning counselling, and the Canadian Securities Course. Along with her late husband Peter, Mary established the Yarmouth Area Community Fund, of which they were co-chairs. Active in the community, a few of her volunteer involvements include director of finance of the Diocese of Yarmouth, member of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth Finance Council, treasurer of the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives, chair of the Yarmouth Public Library and Museum, and treasurer with Sunset Terrace, a boarding home for seniors. A lifelong volunteer, Mary has been recognised with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers and was inducted into St. Francis Xavier University’s Hall of Honour in 2009.

Michel spent 19 years as a member of the Nova Scotia Legislature for the riding of Richmond and later Cape Breton-Richmond, with various cabinet assignments, including acting Minister of Justice, Attorney General and Deputy Premier; ministerial portfolios for Energy, Trade, Acadian Affairs and Francophonie, Economic and Rural Development, Tourism, and the Environment; and Government House Leader. He currently serves as counsel with Cox & Palmer, where he leads a government relations practice, as well as a law practice focused on fisheries, mining, energy, and natural resources.

Monita is a principal with WBLI, where she practices in the audit and assurance area, serving a wide variety of clients including manufacturers, contractors, medical professionals, the service sector and non-profit organizations. Monita is also involved in the firm’s quality control and professional development initiatives. She has been involved with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of NS (ICANS) as a professional standards reviewer, responsible for reviewing the client work of practicing members to ensure they meet the institute’s professional requirements.

Stephanie has over 27 years’ management experience leading organizations from the hospitality, distributorship sales, beauty, media/broadcast, and finance industries, along with national and international business consulting. In her current role as founder and CEO of The Blue Door Group, co-founder of 40 Cups of Coffee Ltd., and recent tenure as interim CEO of CFNS, Stephanie brings extensive expertise in the development of corporate cultures that generate growth, employee retention and customer service in organizations. With a background in coaching and mentoring business professionals, Stephanie has a focus on building organizations that are profitable while being people-centered and making a difference in their communities.