our board of directors

Our Board of Directors believe that everyone deserves a safe and affordable home. They ensure we can continue to empower families and individuals across northern Alberta by overseeing organizational governance.

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Dr. Ann-Marie Reddy, President & CEO
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Shiva Dean, Chair
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Andy England, Vice Chair
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Aileen Campbell, Treasurer
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Nancy Domijan, Secretary
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Carolynne Heron, Past Chair
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Todd Gilchrist, Director
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Catherine Keill, Director
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Joseph Doucet, Director
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Elizabeth Coker-Farrell, Director​
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Hollis Lai, Director
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Dunsi Strohschein, Director
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Michael Beard, Director
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Julie Afanasiff, Director
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12944 3966 RR0001

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780-479-3566
habitat@hfh.org

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Dr. Ann-Marie Reddy, President & CEO

Dr. Ann-Marie Reddy is a life-long learner with a passion for education. Graduating from the University of Winnipeg in 2001 with a BA, she went on to complete her MBA in 2009 and defended by dissertation in 2014, and graduated with distinction with a Doctorate of Business, specializing in Strategy and Innovation. With over 25 years experience working in multiple roles in the financial industry across Canada with Lloyds Bank, HSBC, CIBC, First Canadian Title, and Genworth Canada, she transitioned into the entertainment and conference industry as Vice President of Business Development for Northlands. From there she moved to Lions Gate Marketing as Vice President Western Canada and is now proud to be part of the Habitat for Humanity Edmonton family as their President and CEO.

Shiva Dean, Chair

Shiva is an accomplished business leader with a strong background in international business. He has lived and worked in Singapore, Dubai and Oman, where he led regional teams for a global Fortune 100 company. Shiva has a wide range of experience across a number of industry sectors, including supply chain logistics, energy (nuclear, oil and gas, renewables, carbon capture and sequestration, entertainment, and hospitality. He is experienced in overseeing businesses that range from new start-ups to those generating over $240 million per year in revenue.

 

Shiva has a combined honours degree from Western University and has attended executive training programs from both the Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the Columbia Business School in New York City. He holds an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and currently serves as President of the board for the Friends of the Northern Alberta International Children’s Festival, as a board director with Habitat for Humanity Edmonton and holds a federally appointed position on the Board of the Nanaimo Port Authority.

Andy England, Vice Chair

Andy recently retired after a 44 year career with a major Alberta based financial institution.  His last role was Senior Vice President – Credit wherein he was responsible for the credit policies, practices and performance of a $45 billion loan portfolio that included consumer loans and mortgages, small business, commercial and corporate loans.  He brings to the board an extensive background in finance, risk and strategic planning; along with a strong understanding of the not for profit sector through his past experience chairing and participating in the Board of the Christmas Bureau of Edmonton.  The next act of his life will include some consulting work in his areas of expertise, education, giving back to the community through participating in other not for profit boards, a little travel, and above and beyond all – spending time with his grandchildren.  Andy sought out this opportunity as it fit his desire to work with a not for profit organization that focused on housing and elevating those that would benefit from a “helping hand.”

Aileen Campbelll, Treasurer

Aileen Campbell has an extensive background in finance and treasury, tax planning, estate planning, budgeting, and financial reporting. She was involved in various strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions and has an in-depth experience in complex corporate reorganization and financing for large real estate development projects. She has a Master of Business Administration and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Currently, she is the Senior Vice President, Finance at Luxus Properties Group, a privately-owned real estate development corporation and has various operations in Canada, United States and Europe. Prior to joining Luxus, she was with Maclab Properties Group (MPG) for five years as their Senior Vice President of Finance.  She was the Chief Financial Officer at Landrex, a privately-owned land developer based in St. Albert for ten years. She held other senior management roles within various companies including Chevron, Cameron and Finning International.  She also has several years of international experience in business process re-engineering, complex ERP system implementations and public accounting experience.

In her spare time, she is involved in various charitable organizations in Edmonton and is active in her local community. She was with ABC Head Start Society for six years as their Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee. She also serves as board member at Alberta Recycling Management Authority since 2022. Aileen and her husband, Andrew live an active lifestyle and loves to cycle and hike up the mountains. She also loves to garden, grow organic vegetables, travel, and read.

Curtis Kinal, Director, Retail Operations

Curtis has over two decades of retail and service experience, 17 years in the home improvement and building materials industry. Curtis enjoys building effective teams and ensuring that customers, donors, and volunteers know that they are appreciated. He has served at Habitat Edmonton since 2013.

Nancy Domijan, Secretary

Nancy Domijan is a people-oriented leader with 20 years of experience in municipal government, directing large teams in the areas of land development engineering, land use planning and safety codes, while supporting employee development and promoting a positive and inclusive culture. As the Director of Planning and Development Services with Parkland County, Nancy is responsible for overseeing the decision-making on various planning applications, including statutory plans, rezonings, subdivisions, development permits and safety codes permits.  In addition to obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Alberta in 2004, Nancy earned a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from Royal Roads University in 2022.

Nancy recently joined Habitat for Humanity Edmonton’s Board of Directors and previously held a Board Director position with the Safety Codes Council, where she also participated on the Human Resources and Compensation Committee. She was also a 9-year member of the City of Spruce Grove’s Subdivision and Development Appeal Board.

Nancy has a passion for travelling and enjoys taking trips whenever she can with her husband and son. 

Carolynne Heron, Past Chair

Carolynne Heron has just announced her new appointment at AltaML, a leading North American applied AI company driven to elevate human potential, as their Vice President of People and Facilities, responsible for initiating high quality people programs and initiatives to support employee growth, wellbeing, and overall success as AltaML expands across North America. 

Born and raised in Edmonton, a Bachelor of Commerce undergrad from the University of Alberta, Carolynne is an experienced and impactful leader with over 15 years in human resource management. 

Carolynne is a recognized leader in the community, and currently serves as Board Chair of Habitat for Humanity Edmonton’s Board of Directors. A former recipient of Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40, Carolynne is also the past chair of The Support Network, and previously held Director positions with the Canadian Mental Health Association Edmonton, Winnifred Stewart Society, Immigrant Access Fund, and Birth to Three Society. Recently married, Rob and his three kids have welcomed Carolynne into the Heron Family and their active lake life in West Cove, Lac Ste. Anne.

Todd Gilchrist, Director

Todd Gilchrist is a skilled executive with more than 30 years of experience in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Todd’s current role as Vice-President, University Services and Finance with the University of Alberta encompasses Finance, Procurement & Resource Planning, Human Resources, Health, Safety and Environment, Information Technology, Performance Analytics and Institutional Research, and Internal Audit and Enterprise Risk Management.

In addition, he currently serves as Board Trustee, Audit Committee Chair and Sponsor Board Chair with the Universities Academic Pension Plan (UAPP); Board Director with the Public Sector Pension Plan (PSPP); Board Director and Finance & Audit Committee Chair of the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources of Alberta (CPHR AB); Board Director and Governance & Human Resources Committee Chair with Habitat for Humanity Edmonton; Chair of the Board of Directors with the Capital Region of Alberta United Way; and, Board Director with the Canadian Association of University Business Officers. 

Todd is a graduate of the Rotman School of Management and the Institute of Corporate Directors (Directors Education Program). He holds a Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resources Management and a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching, both from Royal Roads University. He is designated as an ICD.D by the Institute of Corporate Directors, and accredited as a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) and a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP).

Catherine Keill, Director

Catherine Keill has more than 25 years of experience in strategic communications, public relations, government relations and policy development in private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. Catherine has been at the helm of Keill & Company Inc. since 1999 and her client work spans across the strategic communications spectrum from speechwriting, to market lead for product launches, to change management and issue management, to government and media relations training. She has built Keill’s diverse body of work based on her extensive experience. She has been a member of several not-for-profit boards and she continues to be a committed member of Alberta’s volunteer community giving of her time to causes close to her heart. Currently, Catherine is a University of Alberta Senator, Vice Chair of Shadow Theatre, Stakeholder Relations Committee Chair for Special Olympics Alberta, a Board member for Habitat for Humanity Edmonton, and a committed Rotarian. Catherine has a B.A. in English and Communications, an M.A. in Communications and Technology. She has received a certificate in Project Management and completed her Management Essentials certificate through Alberta School of Business Executive Education, including Change Management Bootcamp. She has most recently received a training certificate in public participation and engagement through IAP2. She loves her husband and son, enjoys her time with her corgi, and relaxes reading whatever book she has handy and learning new painting and sketching skills. She is also bilingual in French (but needs a lot of practice). Her next personal challenge is to learn American Sign Language.

Joseph Doucet, Director

Dr. Joseph Doucet is a Professor in the Alberta School of Business. He served as Dean and Vice-Provost of the University of Alberta’s College of Social Sciences and Humanities (2021-2023) and Dean of the Alberta School of Business (2012-2021).

His professional interests are in energy and regulatory economics and policy. He has provided policy advice and analysis to government departments, regulatory agencies and private sector entities in the energy sector.

Dr. Doucet’s community involvement includes serving on the boards of Emissions Reduction Alberta, la Fondation Franco-Albertaine and the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, as well as the CD Howe Institute – Energy and Resources Policy Council and the Edmonton Mayor’s Task Force on Poverty Elimination.

Elizabeth Coker-Farrell, Director

Dr. Elizabeth Coker-Farrell is an Assistant Professor at the Concordia University of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She obtained her first degree in Computer Sciences from the University of Jos in Nigeria. She then went on to complete her master’s degree in Organizational Management, as well as her PhD in Business Administration, at Cyprus International University.

Dr. Coker-Farrell’s research focus is on population and organizational human resources, and her future research interests include developing a healthy working population in Alberta, and focusing on health and safe workplace, mental health, and other correlated variables. She has presented her research findings at several conferences, and has publications in peer-reviewed journals, social science citation index journals, and IEEE. 

Elizabeth is compassionate and passionate about community development; hence, her involvement in many communities and organizations’ volunteer services.

 

 

Hollis Lai, Director

Hollis is rooted in academia and innovation. Hollis serves as an Associate Professor, Director of Learning Sciences of the MD Program, and Director of Innovation and Quality Improvement of the School of Dentistry at the University of Alberta. His research focuses on developing intelligent and data-centric solutions across the learning and oral health domains. He developed a method for generating test items used internationally and an array of assessment software used here at the University of Alberta. He has served on technical and national committees for medical education, dental education, and government. Hollis has serve as a member of the Community Advisory Council and is a recent recipient of Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40. He holds a PhD in Psychometrics and an MBA from the University of Alberta. 

 

Dr. Dunsi Strohschein, Director

Dr. Dunsi Strohschein is a Nigerian-Canadian who is passionate about working closely with individuals to build healthy communities locally and globally. Drawing on her background in critical ethnography, she works to bring multiple voices from the community to the policy table by representing voices that otherwise might be absent. Dunsi is energized by community empowerment alongside others to utilize community-based research in shaping policy discourse through evidence-based research, storytelling, and public dialogue. She has a PhD in Public Health with emphasis on Health Policy and Management and is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Public Health University of Alberta. In the community, Dunsi wears many hats: the Founder of HourAfrica.com, Principal at J&D Strohschein Consulting Inc., Board Director at Habitat for Humanity Edmonton, and a University of Alberta Senator.

She has over 20 years of experience working in diverse corporate and academic environments (Oil & Gas, Banking, Academia, Healthcare, and the social sector). Her passion for research has earned her several academic awards and invitations to present her work on the global stage (Europe, Africa, and North America). Her favorite pastimes include time with family and friends, gardening, listening to music, singing, dancing, reading, cooking super-flavorful healthy meals, travelling, and spending time in nature.

Michael Beard, Director

Michael Beard is a practicing lawyer in Edmonton and a Partner in the Corporate Commercial group of Dentons Canada LLP. He advises clients on a broad range of corporate commercial matters, including corporate governance and transactional matters. Within his practice, Michael focuses on mergers and acquisitions, navigating through reorganizations and share and asset purchase transactions (including in the life sciences sector).

Michael has been actively involved in the non-profit community of Edmonton, and was previously the Chair of the Board for a local community-based agency servicing people of all ages and background and focused on capacity-building.   

Michael holds both a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelors of Science from the University of Alberta. In his free time, Michael keeps himself busy by chasing around his twin boys.

Julie Afanasiff, Director

Julie’s background is in corporate finance, accounting and corporate transactions. She is currently a partner at Sequeira Partners where she assists clients with merger, acquisition, divestiture and restructuring transactions. Prior to joining Sequeira Partners, Julie worked on business development opportunities as a valuation specialist at a publicly traded power generation company and executed M&A transactions at Ernst & Young. Julie has been an active member of the community including serving as the Treasurer and Chairwoman of the Audit and Finance Committee of a large arts organization. Julie holds a B.Com. from the University of Alberta and is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator.
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