The two organizations that comprise Coast Opportunity Funds share a common Board of Directors which manages the affairs of the organizations and reports annually to the members.
Cindy Boyko is on the Council of the Haida Nation and is a Director on the Secretariat of the Haida Nation Board. She co-chairs the Archipelago Management Board, working with Government of Canada representatives to cooperatively manage the southern part of Haida Gwaii, the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site.
Beverley Briscoe is a Chartered Accountant with extensive industry experience in the transportation and industrial equipment sectors, the principal of Briscoe Management, and a director of Goldcorp, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, B.C. Rail Co., the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Vancouver and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs.
Cameron Brown is a member of the Heiltsuk First Nation and a management consultant specializing in aboriginal management and economic development and education. Prior to establishing his consulting practice in 2000, he served as the National Director, Aboriginal Banking (Toronto) for the CIBC. Cameron was a professor at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, in the Native Management and Economic Development Program.
Merv Child is a lawyer specializing in administrative law, aboriginal rights, land and resource management, band governance, economic development and treaty negotiations, and acts as a senior advisor to the Nanwakolas Council, a Campbell River-based society of eight First Nations addressing land and resource use issues and related economic development opportunities.
Harold Leighton is the Elected Chief of the Metlakatla First Nation. He has served his community for more than 25 years, including as Band Administrator, treaty negotiator, and CEO of the Metlakatla Development Corporation. He has also acted as President of the North Coast Tribal Council for six years and served on a wide variety of business and non-profit boards.
Thomas Olsen is an owner and President of Triumph Timber and the Olsen Management Group, which has subsidiaries in logging, road building, and marine transportation, and has worked in cooperative ventures with First Nation communities to build sustainable infrastructure and long-term employment for communities on the North Coast of British Columbia. He is a member of the Working Round Table on Forestry, and has served as a Director of the TLA since 1999.
Paul Richardson is President of Renewal2 and vice-president at both Renewal Partners Co. and the Endswell Foundation. In his work with Renewal2 and Renewal Partners, he is responsible for analyzing new investment opportunities in mission aligned businesses. At Endswell, Paul works with organizations receiving conservation grants. Paul has represented a consortium of international philanthropic foundations and private investors in multi-level discussions on conservation financing for the region.
Merran Smith is the Director of the Climate Program at ForestEthics. She formerly spent a decade as a leader in the campaign to protect the ecological integrity of Canada's Great Bear Rainforest, which raised $120 million in public and private funds to ensure that the ecological gains in the Great Bear Rainforest are coupled with sustainable economic growth for First Nation coastal communities. She serves on the boards of the Driftwood Foundation and Rights Action Canada.
Don Wright is the President of the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining BCIT in March 2008, he has been a university professor, senior government official and private sector executive. His government service included positions as deputy minister of finance, forests, economic development, and education in the Saskatchewan and B.C. governments. From 1997 to 2001, Don was Vice-president of Forestry, Environment and Corporate Affairs with Weldwood of Canada. Between 2004 and 2008 Don provided advice to public and private sector clients through his firm, Analytica Consulting.
Email the Chair:
chair@coastfunds.ca