Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust

BOARD

 

Mary Dubé

 

A founding board member of the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust, and now serving another term after some time off, Mary Dube is typical of the spirit behind the creation of regional Land Trusts. Like many who take action on local and social justice issues at the grass roots level, getting involved leads to more. Environmental issues have always been a passion for Mary, and that's not just due to her proximity to the moraine with a hobby farm in Uxbridge Township for the past 15 years. Believing that we are privileged to be able to stand up, speak out and take action, she is an engaged idealist who wants to leave the world a better place - because citizens working together can make a positive, lasting difference.

 

Ralph Fernando

 

Ralph Fernando is Vice President, Corporate Support and Chief Financial Officer of Toronto East General Hospital (TEGH). He has been with TEGH for over ten years, prior to which he worked in Alberta for 19 years, also in the healthcare sector. Ralph has accounting designation from Britain and Canada and a Master's degree from University of Lancaster in Britain.

 

Born in Sri Lanka, Ralph has lived and worked in several countries before immigrating to Canada. Ralph has an interest in environmental issues which has led him to get more involved through volunteering service organizations.

 

David Finnie

 

In his personal time, David enjoys spending time with his family and two dogs at their cottage in Muskoka or in the ravine park systems in Toronto, where he sees the impact of a healthy Oak Ridges Moraine.

 

 

John King

 

John is Chief Operating Officer at Aon Reed Stenhouse Inc., Canada's leading insurance brokerage and risk management firm and a subsidiary of Aon Corporation, the largest Risk and Human Capital firm in the world. He is responsible for the strategic direction and delivery of operations, finance, IT, and business continuity, as well as the oversight of the overall business operations and adherence to plans.  Prior to joining Aon, John held executive-level roles within the banking and financial services outsourcing industries and has extensive experience in building, re-engineering and directing “best-of-class” operations and information technology platforms and managing business and product lines.

 

John has a BA from Huron College at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario and an MBA from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, N.S. He has completed the Directors Education Program offered by the Institute of Canadian Directors and has director experience in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. He also has a Canadian Risk Management designation. John, his wife and their two boys live in Whitchurch-Stouffville on the Oak Ridges Moraine.

 

Abhi Mukherjee

 

Abhi Mukherjee CA, CPA, ACA is an experienced finance professional with over 15 years work experience with various organizations including; Tier-1 manufacturing companies, an international bank in India, and a national airline of a middle-east Asian country as the Finance Manager. Abhi immigrated to Canada in 2004 with his wife and daughter, established his roots in Canada by working for a "Big Four" accounting firm. He is currently a Finance Controller at a US multinational company in the eye healthcare industry and sits on the Board of the Company's legal entity in Canada.

 

Abhi is representative of the face of diversity in Canada and feels at home here. He has participated in various charity drives through his employers. Abhi is a welcome addition to the Board of the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust where he will serve as Treasurer.

 

Ann Rexe

 

Ann Rexe MCIP RPP is a retired municipal planner. Her background includes working on Environmental Assessments with Toronto Water, sub/watershed studies with the City of Scarborough. She was a municipal planner in Ontario for 34 years. For many years while living in Peterborough, she enjoyed the landscape of the eastern portion of the Oak Ridges Moraine. Ann is active with the Ontario Genealogical Society. She has been a committee and Board member with the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust since 2004.

 

Frank Shaw

 

Frank has been a long standing volunteer and member of the ORMLT Land and Stewardship Committee since 2001. He previously sat on the ORMLT Board from 2003 to 2008 and returns to the Board in 2011 after a two year break. In the past he has served the ORMLT as a Volunteer, Board Member, Secretary, Land and Stewardship Chair, Planning and Partnership Chair and Vice-President.

 

With a Bachelor in Science in Honours Biology, Frank has over 40 years of professional experience in resources management with organizations including the Ministries of Natural Resources, Environment, Tourism and Municipal Affairs. Frank has also served as senior executive manager for the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority, St. Lawrence Parks Commission and Niagara Escarpment Commission. Since his retirement in 2001, Frank has been a volunteer management consultant to various conservation and community groups in both Pennsylvania, USA and Ontario, Canada.

 

Proud of his United Empire Loyalist ancestry, Frank is joint owner / manager of the family century farm in Norfolk County and a managed heritage forest on the Bruce Peninsula. He resides with his wife Susan in Aurora and as much as possible on the farm near Simcoe Ontario.

 

Bob Shepherd

 

Born in North London, UK, Bob immigrated to Canada with his wife in 1960 settling in Toronto. After several years working in Western Canada as a branch manager for an office equipment company, Bob returned to Toronto to take up a senior marketing position with Philips Electronics. He spent 3 years as the President of Hugin Cash Registers in Canada before establishing his own small business distributing point of sale systems which he ran successfully for over 20 years. In 1972 Bob moved to Uxbridge with his wife and four children. Bob was elected to Council in Uxbridge Township in 2003 and then ran successfully for Mayor in 2006.

 

Patricia Short-Gallé

 

Patricia Short-Gallé is a long time resident of the City of Pickering. Since 2001 and until her retirement as Regional Manager, Green Space & Outreach with Transport Canada in August 2007, Patricia led the federal Green Space initiative to protect approximately 7,500 acres, including the Oak Ridges Moraine portion of the federal holdings in Pickering as Green space for future generations. Patricia was a member of the Duffins Watershed Task Force, the Rouge Watershed Task Force, the Duffins/Carruthers Watershed Resource Group and the Rouge Park Improvement & Heritage Committee.

 

Patricia was appointed by the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority and is a member at large on the Walker Woods & Glenn Major Stewardship Committee focused primarily on the northern portion of Durham Region; and is a member of the Oak Ridges Corridor Park East - Management Plan Public Advisory Committee.

 

In addition to serving as the President of the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust and a member of the Fundraising Committee, Patricia serves on the Board of Governors for the Ontario Land Trust Alliance and is a member on the Board of Trustees for the United Way Ajax, Pickering, Uxbridge and Chair of the Community Investment Cabinet.

 

Tracy Smith

 

Tracy is a former District Manager with the Ministry of Natural Resources, having worked in the natural resources field for the past 30 years. His primary interests have been in the fish and wildlife field and while at MNR, Tracy had responsibilities associated with the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan, the Greenbelt Plan and the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan. He currently lives in Aurora and spends considerable recreational time on the moraine.

 

STAFF

 

Lissa Dwyer, Administrative Assistant

 

Susan Walmer, Executive Director

 

Susan Walmer, formerly a dedicated board member serving as Treasurer with the Land Trust, has also served and worked with Save the Oak Ridges Moraine and is a member of the Oak Ridges Trail Association. A Certified Management Accountant, Sue combines her long-held enthusiasm for community engagement, deep appreciation for Canadian historical context and concern for a healthy environmental future in this challenging position. Past work experiences including Senior Accounting and Finance Manager at American Express ensure that Sue brings the best of corporate sector practices to the non-profit realm.

 

Sue has served as a volunteer in fundraising and other activities with many local, national and international organizations including the Stephen Lewis Foundation, the Southlake Foundation, Heart and Stroke, and is a World Vision supporter. Sue served on the Town of Aurora Environmental Advisory Committee and as the Municipal Energy Conservation Officer. A tireless advocate on many fronts, Sue was the 2008 recipient of Aurora's Citizen of the year Award.

 

PROGRAM CONSULTANTS

 

Judy Gilchrist, Resource Development

 

Judy Gilchrist has worked in the natural and heritage resource communications field for over 30 years. Positions with National and Provincial Parks, a conservation authority, a municipality, an academic-government research centre, non-profit organizations, a foundation and as a communications consultant have resulted in a solid understanding of the workings of many organization types. She has served in executive and board positions with a national association, neighbourhood organizations, school councils and with the Kawartha Heritage Conservancy. In her current role with The Moraine For Life, an Ontario Trillium Foundation funded project, Judy provides communications, fundraising and volunteer management capacity building assistance to the Land Trust, the Oak Ridges Trail Association and Save the Oak Ridges Moraine.

 

Bill McMartin, Stewardship

 

Bill McMartin is a hands-on ecologist driven by a passion for conservation. Since 2005, Bill has written the ecological reports for ORMLT's new property acquisitions and several Management and Stewardship Plans for owned and easement properties. Bill maintains excellent relationships with easement donors through regular annual visits and has facilitated several property improvement projects. In this role he frequently brings other conservation organizations and their programs to the attention of land owners resulting in more robust conservation actions. In his spare time, Bill follows his passion for birding by volunteering for a variety of monitoring programs and by exploring new corners of the world, binoculars in hand.

 

Don Prince, Land Securement

 

Don has worked in the field of land securement for over four decades and  successfully completed 1,000 transactions representing over 15,000 acres of conserved lands, largely through his former role with the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority. The Land Trust currently benefits from his skills and knowledge of land management expertise with landowners on the Oak Ridges Moraine. Don was a founding member of the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust Board of Directors serving for a period of time as Executive Director. In addition to his contracted role with ORMLT, Don serves as a volunteer Director of the Ontario Farmland Trust where he was a founding member and to the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation. Outside of land management activity, Don served for numerous years in church education and building committees as well as many positions in service clubs and hockey leagues.

 

Don's perspectives on land securement are not limited to Ontario. During the summer of 1990 he participated in a fact finding study tour of England, Scotland and Germany, investigating land acquisition techniques, recreational and environmental facilities, land conservation and trail programmes.