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From left to right: Mark Zaino, Kim Taylor, Paul Landry, Iain Butler, Lisa Matthews, Allison Guld, Diane Edlund, Bruce Shepherd, Keri Steele. Not pictured, Bob Paddon, Dr. David Kennedy, Kent Burnham.
Board of Directors
Local community members are elected to govern the NOHS board.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the role of the Board at North Okanagan Hospice Society (NOHS)?
The purpose of the Board of Directors, on behalf of the residents of the North Okanagan, is to ensure that NOHS:
- Achieves appropriate results for appropriate persons at an appropriate cost
- Manages the risks of the organization
- Plans for the long-term future of the organization
Who serves on the Board of Directors
NOHS presently has eight elected voting Board members (volunteers). The Past President is appointed as a voting Director. The Executive Director is appointed as a non-voting Director.
Board Officers: President, Vice President, Past President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
What are the standing committees of the Board
Finance: The purpose of the Finance Committee is to assist the board in fulfilling the financial oversight responsibilities of the board and the financial responsibilities of the ED. The committee serves as the channel of communication between the board and finance staff, external auditors, and other financial institutions.
Governance:Â The Governance Committee is responsible for the good governance of the NOHS, including reviewing and updating governance policies and bylaws and overseeing board nominations, elections, evaluations, and training. Â Â
Human Resources and Executive Director Performance and Compensation Committee: The purpose of the Human Resources and Executive Director Performance and Compensation Committee is to make annual recommendations to the board regarding the ED’s performance evaluation and compensation package and to consult on human resources issues as requested by the ED or the board.
What is the time commitment of a Board member
- Average of 10 hours per month including Board meetings, committee meetings, and meeting preparation
- Six (6) scheduled Board meetings per year, 2.5 hours per meeting
- AGM & partial-day Board retreat annually
- Board members serve two (2) year terms to a maximum of six (6) years
Do Board members receive compensation for their work?
- Board members are not compensated for their work on the Board
- Board members are reimbursed for authorized expenses incurred during the performance of their work
- The Board of Directors appoints a Nominating Committee to recruit new Board members
- The Board identifies the number of new Directors required and the skills and experience needed to complement the current Board members
- An advertisement seeking new Directors is placed in newspapers of the communities served by NOHS in the spring of each year
- The Nominating Committee reviews the applications and determines a list of potential Directors
- Potential Directors are interviewed
- The Nominating Committee recommends candidates to the Board of Directors
- Nominees attend an orientation session
- The Nominating Committee presents the nominees at the Annual General Meeting (AGM)
- Members of NOHS elect the Directors
- Directors are elected for a two (2) year term and serve a maximum of three (3) terms
How do I contact a member of the Board to find out more information
For more information, please contact Paul Landry, President at [email protected].
Paul Landry
President
Paul has lived in Ottawa, Regina and the Lower Mainland and, as of 2018, is now pleased to be a resident of Coldstream.
Prior to retirement from full-time work in 2011, he worked in both the public and private sectors in research, senior management and executive positions in the transportation and traffic safety sectors. During his career, he served variously as a member, co-chair or chair on numerous national, provincial and local boards, task forces and committees providing advice and direction on public policies, standards and programs. Post-retirement, Paul spent a few part-time years in the employee benefits industry as well as serving two terms on the Port of Vancouver Board of Directors. His most recent engagement was as a commissioner on the Greater Vancouver Mobility Pricing Independent Commission in 2017 and 2018.
Paul is enjoying his new life in the North Okanagan and is honoured to have been elected to the NOHS Board in 2019 as a Director, Vice President in 2020 and now serves as President in 2021.
Bruce Shepherd
Vice President
Bruce is a Financial Advisor for the investment firm, Edward Jones in Vernon.Â
Prior to his 24 plus years in the investment markets, he worked in Toronto and Montreal in product procurement and marketing capacities for a national retail chain.
For the past 24 years, he has been an active participant in the greater Vernon community, serving on multiple boards in a volunteer capacity. He is also an active member of the Kalamalka Rotary Club which practices service above self.
His family has experienced firsthand the benefits of NOHS and he welcomes the opportunity to protect and enhance those services for the North Okanagan. He joined the Board in 2020 as Secretary and now serves as Vice President in 2021.
David Kennedy
Past President
Dave Kennedy is a retired doctor who started his professional career in Kimberley, BC in 1980 as a family doctor, followed by 20 years in Ontario training and practicing anesthesiology and critical care.Â
He and his family returned to BC, arriving in Vernon in 2004. Dave has served on a hospital board and on committees of a health profession regulatory college in BC. He is married with two grown children and very much enjoys living in Vernon.
Dave is pleased to serve on the NOHS Board, which he joined in 2015. He was a Director until 2017, the Vice President in 2018, President in 2020 and now serves as Past President in 2021.
Kent Burnham
Director
Kent is a Partner at Nixon Wenger LLP and is the head of the Civil Litigation practice group.Â
Kent practices a wide range of civil litigation with an emphasis on construction, contract, employment and land disputes. His professional and civic interests include membership in the Southern Interior Construction Association; the BC Arbitration and Mediation Institute; former member of the Executive and Board of Governors of the Trial Lawyer Association of B.C; Commercial Arbitrator; and Coach of youth basketball. Kent became a Director of the NOHS Board in 2019.
Iain Butler
Director
Iain is a Chartered Accountant with over 25 years commercial experience.Â
For the last 14 years he has worked for Kal Tire, currently as Vice President, Finance for their Domestic and International Mining Division.
He moved from the UK to Vernon in 2006 and loves living in the Okanagan.
Iain has had several close friends benefit from the care and compassion from the staff at the North Okanagan Hospice House and is excited and proud to serve on the Board of Directors starting in 2021.
Kim Taylor
Director
Kim became interested in palliative care while co-facilitating grief support groups as a volunteer and was inspired to get involved.Â
She began working on palliative care projects for organizations such as the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association and the BC Learning Centre for Palliative Care. Kim brings broad experience in health care to the NOHS Board, through her early career as an audiologist and later senior roles in health care management, planning and operations. Kim is currently the Executive Director of the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians.
Kim has lived in Vernon with her husband since 2015. She joined the NOHS Board in 2019.
Allison Guld
Director
Allison has more than 30 years of strategic, operational and HR management experience.Â
Honed in high tech organizations in Vancouver and Calgary. She led a global talent acquisition team for a digital marketing agency with offices in Canada, the US, UK and Europe. In 2015 she co-founded AnswerBar, an HR software as a service application providing HR service to clients in Canada and the US. Allison is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, university programs and HR events with a focus on HR technology, sensitivity and respect in the workplace.
Allison grew up in Coldstream, enjoying the outdoors and recreation lifestyle which has carried through to still being an avid cyclist, hiker and skier. She has a degree in Industrial Relations Manager (BComm) from the University of British Columbia, is a Certified Professional Consultant (Recruitment) and was a registered CPHR for 20 years. She has twin boys who also graduated from UBC – both in engineering and one recently in law. While she grew up in BC, she has travelled extensively in Europe, the South Pacific, SE Asia, Peru and North America. Allison and her husband Carl, who is a consulting hydrogeologist, own a 10-acre farm in Lavington where they raise Rambouillet sheep.
Bob Paddon
Director
Bob was born and raised in St. Thomas, Ontario. He attended the University of Western Ontario in London, before moving west to Peace River, Alberta early in his journalism career.Â
Next stop for him was Edmonton where he helped Interprovincial Pipeline (now Enbridge) establish its public affairs department. He also served in the provincial government helping to establish the hazardous waste management system. He moved to Vancouver in 1991 where he worked with BC Hydro and with Metro Vancouver where he was a member of the team that established the region’s transportation authority: TransLink. He retired from TransLink in 2015 and moved to Vernon in 2017. He continues to work part time as a public affairs consultant.
Throughout his career he has contributed to the governance of professional and non-profit associations. He has on served on local, national and international boards and has been chair of Canadian Public Relations Society Edmonton, the Evergreen Cultural Society (Coquitlam, B.C.), the Communications + Public Relations Foundation, the Canadian Urban Transit Association and the National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board’s Strategic Management Committee (Washington, D.C.).Â
Diane Edlund
Director
Diane is an independent strategist, educator and quality improvement consultant with over 20 years of health sector experience.
She has designed and facilitated several courses for McMaster University including Project Management in Healthcare and Understanding the Canadian Healthcare System. She has had the privilege of leading strategy work for palliative care and surgical services, developed resources and tools for persons and family caregivers, co-designed engagement evaluation surveys and websites, and connected different healthcare organizations working on similar initiatives.  She currently participates on several steering committees for Interior Health and BC Cancer and is working on pan-Canadian programs with Partnerships Against Cancer and Healthcare Excellence Canada.
Diane and her husband live on the westside of Okanagan Lake in an area recovering from the 2021 wildfire. She is looking forward to serving the needs of people with palliative conditions and their families through the NOHS Board.
Keri Steele
Director
Keri is a retired Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) who spent 22 years working in the private sector in forestry, aerospace and completed her career at Kal Tire.
She has an extensive human resources background, and her main areas of focus were labour relations, compensation, disability management, benefits, performance management and policy and procedure.
Keri moved back to Vernon in 2005 to raise her two sons and enjoy the Okanagan lifestyle.Â
Keri’s passion is working with people and solving organizational and leadership challenges. She joined the NOHS in 2022 and is looking forward to supporting the NOHS and giving back to the community.
Mark Zaino
Director
Mark is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience in both public practice and industry.Â
He currently owns and runs Zaino CFO, a small firm offering CFO services to business. Mark was raised in Vernon, and after a short stint in University returned to raise his family here with his wife Summer. He continues to be active in the community through volunteering his time as a youth basketball coach. Growing up in Vernon he has seen many people utilize the services of Hospice and understands the importance of the care provided to both patients and families. He is excited to join the Board of Directors starting in 2022.