Board of Directors

Don Thurston (Chair)
President, Selkirk Portfolio Management Inc.

Mary Lynne Forestell, CA (Treasurer)
Senior Director, Information Technology, Bell Canada

Tristan Allan (Elected Director)
Engineering Student, University of Alberta

Louis Dorval
Director of Special Projects, Meltwater

Courtney Edwards (Elected Director)
Teaching Education Student, University of Ottawa

Jacques Gérin, P.Eng
Former Chair, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Catherine Karakatsanis, P. Eng., M.E.Sc., FEC
Executive Vice President, Morrison Hershfield Group Inc.

Grégoire Poirier Richer (Elected Director)
Development Engineer, General Electric

George Roter
Co-Founder and CEO, EWB

Brian Schofield
Retired Director, McKinsey & Co.

Shayne Smith, P.Eng
President, Tetra Tech WEI Inc.

For futher information on EWB's National Board of Directors, please review the EWB Board Blog.

 

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Don Thurston, P.Eng, EWB Chair - President, Selkirk Portfolio Management Inc.

Don's professional experience is broad. He has held technical, managerial, and executive positions in a variety of businesses, ranging from consulting engineering to, at present, wealth management. In between he has worked in the forest products, chemicals, technology, manufacturing, and energy sectors. He has also served on the boards of publically traded oil and gas producers and continues in this role for privately held companies.

Don graduated with a B.Sc. in chemical engineering from the University of Alberta and with an MBA from Queen's University.

After several years as a partner of a major Calgary-based investment firm, he founded Selkirk Portfolio Management in 1996, where he continues to serve as president. He is also active in a number of not-for-profit organizations. These include: The Calgary Foundation; Momentum; Engineers Without Borders, and; Honens International Piano Competition.

He is a Fellow of Engineers Canada and an Honoured Alumunus of the University of Alberta.

Don is a a member of APEGGA and the Calgary chapter of the CFA Society.

Mary Lynne Forestell, CA, Treasurer - Senior Director, Information Technology, Bell Canada

Mary Lynne is Senior Director, Information Technology for Bell Canada, based in Toronto. She has held several positions including External Reporting, Planning and Analysis at both Bell Canada and Bell Mobility, and Controller at Bell Sympatico. Prior to joining Bell in 1995, Mary Lynne held various finance roles in the real estate industry focusing on commercial development, construction and property management.

Mary Lynne is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and received her CA in 1990 while working at Price Waterhouse Coopers. She holds an honours degree in business administration from Sir Wilfrid Laurier University.

Tristan Allan - Engineering Student, University of Alberta.

Tristan is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in electrical nano-engineering and has been involved in EWB since his first year of studies at the University of Alberta. Previously, he has also worked as a Technical Advisor at Hicks Intellectual Property Law.

Tristan has played a variety of roles in the University of Alberta chapter of EWB including communications representative on the chapter executive. He is a recipient of the Canadian Millennium Excellence Award and was elected to the board of directors in January 2010.

Louis Dorval - Director of Special Projects, Meltwater

Louis joined EWB in late 2000 as the first treasurer of the McGill University chapter. He co-chaired the first EWB National Conference and co-founded and led the Scala Program in the Philippines. In 2005, upon completing his mechanical engineering degree, he moved to Ghana, first as a volunteer, then as EWB’s first overseas-based staff, and eventually as EWB’s Director of West Africa Programs.

In 2009, Louis enrolled in the Oxford University MBA program as a Skoll Scholar, from which he graduated with distinction. He recently started working for Meltwater’s CEO office as Director of Special Projects where he is responsible for product leadership and strategic partnerships. Among other awards, Louis received the Global Knowledge Partnership youth award (2003), the McGill University Gretta Chambers leadership award (2004), and the Gordon Global Fellowship in 2007.

Courtney Edwards - Teaching Education Student, University of Ottawa

Courtney is a Teacher Education student at the University of Ottawa, and has completed her Master of Applied Science and Bachelor of Engineering at Carleton University. She has been actively involved with EWB since 2005, serving in a variety of roles at the Carleton chapter including as a Junior Fellow and two terms as chapter president. Courtney has served two years on EWB's Youth Engagement Team, taking on the role of Team Lead for 2010-2011.  She is the Director of Content for the 2012 National Conference.

In addition to work with EWB, Courtney volunteers in her community in various capacities, including as a high school classroom volunteer and a nursery worker. She is a recipient of the Ontario College of Teachers Joseph W. Atkinson Scholarship for Excellence in Teacher Education, the Canadian Millennium Excellence Award, the Carleton Kipling Award, and the Carleton Board of Governors Award for Outstanding Community Achievement.

Jacques Gérin, P.Eng - Former Chair, International Institute for Sustainable Development

Jacques Gérin, a Civil Engineer with a Master's Degree in Regional Planning, is the former chair of the International Institute for Sustainable Development.

An environmental and sustainable development specialist, he has been a manager and consultant in the fields of natural resource management, economic development and the environment in both the public and private sectors, domestically and internationally.

Formerly with the Government of Canada, he was Vice President of the Canadian International Development Agency, Deputy Minister of Environment Canada and Deputy Minister of Northern Development. Subsequently, he became President of Hatch & Associés Inc.

Jacques is currently the Executive Secretary of an Independent Panel established by the World Bank to oversee the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline project.

Catherine Karakatsanis, P. Eng., M.E.Sc., FEC - Executive Vice President, Morrison Hershfield Group Inc.

Catherine is the Executive Vice President of the Building, Technology and Energy global buisiness unit and a Board member at Morrison Hershfield Group Inc. She has been with Morrison Hershfield since 1989 where she has had a diversified career with extensive engineering and management experince.

Catherine has also been an active volunteer in the engineering community for almost two decades. She was President of Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO) in 2009/2010 and is now Past President of the PEO. She also served on the Board of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPIE) for five years and as OSPIE President and Chair. Catherine currently sits on the Board of Engineers Canada and chairs the University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Engineering Advisory Council.

Grégoire Poirier Richer, Eng - Development Engineer, General Electric

Grégoire has been involved with EWB since the last year of his Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of Sherbrooke, Quebec, in 2004. He was one of the founding members of the University of Sherbrooke chapter, as well as its first President. Greg chose to get involved with EWB because of the organization’s strong commitment to identifying lasting solutions to some of today’s most complex global challenges, such as poverty.

After graduating, Grégoire accepted a position with General Electric's industrial water treatment division on their Commercial Leadership Program. It was also at this time that Greg helped found the Montreal City Network for EWB’s professional members. As he took on the role Fundraising Director for the Montreal 2008 EWB National Conference, he developped a strong interest in communicating EWB's goals and values, especially to the corporate community. For that reason, a lot of his involvement with EWB over the last years have been related to corporate fundraising and CSR.

Grégoire has been an elected member of the Board since January 2010. He also sits on the Development Committee and is Vice-Chair.

George Roter - Co-Founder and Co-CEO, EWB

George Roter has been recognized as one of Canada’s leaders in the non-profit sector and believes that Canadians are passionate about driving social change. George co-founded Engineers Without Borders (EWB) as a movement of engineers driven to create meaningful and lasting opportunities for Africans by tackling the root causes of why poverty persists. EWB envisions a world where the next generation of Africans will have the same opportunities as Canadians today. George continues to serve as CEO and EWB has earned its place as one of Canada’s most respected international development organizations.

George is a frequent speaker at conferences and events across North America. He was has been awarded the Young Leaders Award from the Public Policy Forum (2007) and has been named as one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 (2005). He was awarded a prestigious Action Canada Fellowship (2004) on public policy, in addition to other EWB related awards from the Canadian Bureau for International Education (2002), and the University of Waterloo (2000). He has been featured by Time magazine as one of Canada’s next generation of social leaders (2001), and has appeared on television, radio and in numerous print publications across the country.

George holds a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Waterloo (1999), a Bachelor of Applied Studies (Honorary) from Seneca College (2009), and an Honorary Doctorate from Queen’s University (2010).

George holds a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Waterloo (1999) and a Bachelor of Applied Studies (Honorary) from Seneca College (2009).

Brian Schofield - Retired Director, McKinsey & Company

Brian Schofield is a member of the McKinsey & Company Advisory Council, having recently retired as a Senior Director. He spent the past seven years with McKinsey in South Africa, helping build their operations. Previously, he established McKinsey's Montreal office.

Brian's engineering roots run deep. He has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia and worked for Alcan prior to joining McKinsey.

Brian is part owner of a citrus farm in Mozambique, which under his leadership has become a successful exporter and model for involving and improving surrounding communities. He is also Chairman of the Advisory Board of African Capital Alliance, a pan-African private equity firm, and serves on the Board of TechnoServe, an international non-governmental organisation that uses technology and management to benefit impoverished rural communities.

Shayne Smith, P.Eng - President, Tetra Tech WEI Inc.

Shayne Smith is the President of Tetra Tech WEI Inc., a multi-disciplinary consulting and engineering firm with operations in Canada, the United States and overseas. Tetra Tech WEI Inc. has been recognized 8 times as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers and has also received the Best Employer for New Canadians award for the past 4 years, The company employs 13,000 people worldwide providing water, environment, and energy services.

Shayne earned his BASc in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo (1988) and is a Professional Engineer. In addition to his role as a board member for EWB, Shayne was also Chair of the Board of Directors of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and until recently, he held a position on the Canadian Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.