Board of Directors | Knowledge.ca

Board of Directors

Maurine Karagianis

Chair

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2022.

Maurine Karagianis served three terms in elected office as an MLA from 2005 to 2017, taking on a variety of Opposition portfolios including Transportation and Children and Families. In January 2011, Ms. Karagianis was elected as Opposition Caucus Whip and served in that role until 2017. She retired from provincial politics in May 2017 and is currently keeping bees and working with the non-profit sector. She is presently a Board member of the Victoria Women’s Transition House.
Prior to serving as an MLA, Ms. Karagianis was elected as a municipal councillor in Esquimalt in 1996, and re-elected in 1999 and again in 2002. During that time, she also served for five years as the CRD Arts Chair. Starting in 1998, Ms. Karagianis served three years with the provincial government as assistant to three NDP cabinet ministers – in the Social Services ministry and then in Transportation and Highways. From 2001 to 2005, she ran a consulting company working with non-profit organizations and First Nations to create seniors housing in BC. Prior to 2001, Ms. Karagianis was an entrepreneur, opening her own retail fashion store, operating a wholesale venture and a successful import/export business. She was also a co-founder of the Sunshine Folkfest in Powell River, BC.

Sukhvinder Chouhan

Vice Chair

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2023.

Sukhvinder (Sukhi) Chouhan, CPA, CA, CAFM, Director of Chouhan Accounting Ltd., with an office in Kamloops, BC. He is dedicated to helping First Nation communities and their for-profit entities to achieve success and provide meaningful employment to the members.

Sukhi has been part of the First Nation teams in various different capacities for the past 10 year to establish a deep understanding of culture and history. He has held many roles such as CFO, Financial Controller, Finance and Audit committee member and Board of Director.

Currently, appointed as a Board of Director with AFOA BC, Knowledge Network and Upper Nicola Indian Band Development Corp and appointed as Finance and Audit Committee member for Penticton Indian Band. As part of his practice, he provides accounting and tax and business consulting services to corporate and personal clients such as capital financing, accounts payable, taxation issues, revenue sharing, and negotiations.

Sukhi was designated a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) in 2008 with KPMG. In 2015, he became a Certified Aboriginal Financial Manager (CAFM).

Sarf Ahmed

Appointed for a two-year term ending December 31, 2024.

Sarf Ahmed brings extensive experience of leading large and diverse public sector organizations where he has been involved in strategic planning, financial and corporate management, procurement, facilities management and strategic human resources.

He is a Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal recipient with a distinguished career in the BC Public Service spanning 26 years, including five years as an Associate Deputy Minister. A position from which he retired in 2018. Prior to joining the BC Public Service, Sarf worked in the accounting profession and private industry for 15 years.

Currently, he is also an independent management consultant and a member of the Board of Land Title & Survey Authority of BC (LTSA), a publicly accountable statutory corporation responsible for delivering reliable land-related registries, survey systems and information.

Sarf is a chartered accountant and lives in Victoria, BC.

Satwinder Kaur Bains

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2022.

Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains is the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley and an Associate Professor in Social Cultural Media Studies, College of Arts. Dr. Bains’ critical analysis of India’s multilingual policy and planning has fueled her interest to study the impact of language, culture and identity on South Asian Canadian migration, settlement, and integration. Her research includes and intersects cross-cultural education with a focus on anti-racist curriculum implementation; race, racism, and ethnicity; identity politics; Sikh feminist ideology; migration and the South Asian Canadian Diaspora and Punjabi Canadian cultural historiography.

Dr. Bains has served as a Commissioner on the Agricultural Land Commission, as a Director of the Fraser Basin Council, as a Bencher on the Law Society of British Columbia and as a member of the Farm Industry Review Board for British Columbia. She has served on numerous Boards locally, nationally, and internationally and received recognition for her commitment to social justice, preservation of histories and cultural knowledge, women’s rights, service and research. She lives in Abbotsford and with her partner Parm and three children she also helps support an international farming operation, shipping blueberries around the world.

Selwyn Jacob

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2022.

For over three decades, award-winning filmmaker Selwyn Jacob has been telling stories about the lives and experiences of Black Canadians, Indigenous peoples and other often underrepresented communities. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Jacob came to Canada in 1968. He holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta (1970) and an MSc in Film Education from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (1975).

Early in his career -1976 to 1981 - Jacob worked as a teacher, and as a school principal with the Lac La Biche School Division in Northern Alberta. He also taught for two years with Edmonton Public School Board before joining Alberta Education as a Media Consultant from 1983 to 1995.

As an independent filmmaker he directed We Remember Amber Valley (1984), about the Black community that existed near Lac La Biche, AB; Carol’s Mirror (NFB - 1991) which won six international awards; and Gemini award-winning The Road Taken (1996), about the Black sleeping car porters of the Canadian railroad.

In 1997 Jacob Joined the National Film Board of Canada as part of the Special Mandate Team for Cultural Diversity. Based at the Pacific and Yukon Studio in Vancouver, he went on to produce over fifty films. During 23 years at the NFB, he produced a wide range of documentaries including Charles Officer's Leo- and Emmy-award-winning Mighty Jerome (2010) and Mina Shum’s feature documentary Ninth Floor, about the Sir George Williams Riot of 1969. The 2015 film was selected to TIFF’s annual Top Ten list of the best Canadian films of the year. His most recent films - Holy Angels (2017), Because We Are Girls (2019), and Now Is The Time (2019), were also award-winning, and screened at numerous national and international film festivals.

Personal honours for Jacob include:

  • Lifetime Achievement Award from Vancouver Film Critics Circle (2020)
  • An Honorary Doctor of Laws from Dalhousie University (2019)
  • Outstanding Achievement Award from Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta (2017)
  • Certificate of Appreciation from City of Vancouver, Black History Month Planning Committee (2015)
  • An Alumni Honour Award from the University of Alberta for community contribution (2013); and
  • The John Ware Award for Black Achievement (1997, Edmonton AB).

Jacob retired from the NFB in June 2019 and spends much of his time mentoring emerging filmmakers.

Doreen Manuel

Appointed for a two-year term ending December 31, 2024

Doreen Manuel (Secwepemc/Ktunaxa), MFA is the sixth child of Grand Chief Dr. George Manuel and spiritual leader Marceline Manuel. Doreen is a residential school survivor. She has a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film Production from UBC. She is an award-winning filmmaker. She is one of the developers of the esteemed Capilano University Indigenous Digital Filmmaking Program and sole owner of Running Wolf Productions.

Doreen holds positions on the: Motion Picture Production Association of BC Equity and Inclusion Committee; Women in Film & TV Equity and Inclusion Lobby Group; Telefilm Indigenous Working Group; Moving Images Distribution Board of Directors; TELUS Storyhive Indigenous Advisory; and IM4 Virtual & Augmented Reality Training Program Matriarch Advisory. She is a Telefilm Talent to Watch partner and a founder and instructor of the esteemed WIFTV Tricksters and Writers feature film screenwriting program for Indigenous women.

Ms. Manuel has an extensive background as a leader working in First Nations education and community development in both rural and urban centres. She has specialized in life skills programming, anti-gang violence, and youth at risk. As an educator, she has developed and led cultural and specialty programs for sexual abuse intervention and prevention, and First Nations recovery from violence and substance abuse. As a program manager she has assisted in the development of training programs for residential school survivor counsellors.

Ms. Manuel has served on the Indian advisory boards of the University of Washington and Idaho State University, Okanagan University College First Nations Advisory, Urban Images for Native Indian Women Board of Directors, the North Western United States Language Preservation Council and is the President of the George Manuel Institute.

Gerry Martin

Gerry Martin

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2022.

For 36 years Gerry Martin and his partner owned Northern Drugs Ltd. a chain of independent drug stores operating in Northwestern B.C. Gerry is a graduate of the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy and has served on the Board of the B.C. Pharmacy Association and is a Past President of the Chain Drug Association of B.C. He was awarded Pharmacy’s Bowl of Hygeia Award for outstanding service to his community. Throughout his business career Gerry has been active in a number of community endeavors both at the local and provincial level. He received a Paul Harris Fellowship for his service in Rotary and is a Governor and Fellow of the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce. Gerry is a past member of the Premier’s Technology Council, was a member of the B.C. Jobs and Investment Board, on the Advisory Council to the B.C. Agenda for Shared Prosperity, is the former Chair of the British Columbia Progress Board, and presently serves on the Resource Works Advisory Council.

Marie Della Mattia

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2023.

Marie Della Mattia has a passion for life-long learning gifted to her from her parents. She's studied everything from early childhood development to bartending to psychology to design. It doesn't take much for her to deep dive into anything she's curious about and she's curious about a lot of things. Ms. Della Mattia has worked for elected people, on issue campaigns, for non-profits and for governments. She's a strategist, a writer, a creative director, a caring coach, an energizing people manager, a sought-after facilitator and a dedicated mentor. For 10 years she ran one of BC's biggest advertising agencies, specializing in issue advertising and behavior change marketing for clients across Canada. She is now semi-retired with her husband in Victoria. They've had a lot of luck and success in their 35-year communications careers but their proudest accomplishment is their daughter, Emily. Thanks to the wonderful educational programming on the Knowledge Network, Emily has a higher emotional intelligence than both her parents, combined.

Eve Munro

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2023.

Eve Munro retired from the practice of law in 2017 after 34 years as a practising lawyer. Most recently her practice focus was in the areas of intellectual property, privacy law, licensing and technology. As a former partner in the national firm Miller Thomson LLP, and prior to that in the Vancouver firm Ferguson Gifford, she also has an extensive background in business and commercial law more generally. She has particular experience in the education and entertainment industries, First Nations schools and educational organizations, and in relation to intellectual property issues as they apply to charities and the not-for-profit sector. She earned her Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of British Columbia.

During her years of practice Ms.Munro volunteered in leadership roles and service positions. For many years she volunteered with the Canadian Bar Association Women Lawyers Forum Mentoring Program for young lawyers and with the YWCA mentorship program for high school students. For more than a decade she acted as leader of the Intellectual Property and Information Technology Practice Group of an international association of lawyers, Multilaw. She currently serves as director of the Jericho Tennis Club and serves on its Governance and Facilities Committees.

Anne O'Shea

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2022.

Anne O'Shea is the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer at Vancouver Island Regional Library, where she leads strategic and operational planning, IT and library collections for 39 branch libraries across Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, the Gulf Islands and on the Central Coast in Bella Coola. Prior to joining VIRL, she spent 10 years at the Vancouver Public Library in a variety of leadership roles. During her tenure there, Ms. O'Shea managed services in the Inspiration Lab -- a free community digital media centre supporting video production, podcasting and self-publishing -- and oversaw creative residencies in writing, Indigenous storytelling, documentary film-making and audio production.

Ms. O'Shea is a Director at Large with the BC Library Association and previously served as a student representative on the Board of Governors at Langara College, where she completed a Diploma in Arts and Sciences. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University and her Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia. In 2018 she earned a Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Gwendolyn Yip

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2022.

Gwendolyn (“Wendy”) Yip trained in immunology at McGill University and law at Boston University, and spent a decade practising patent, civil rights, and other areas of law. She currently uses her problem-solving and connecting skills to promote education, good will, and intercultural understanding in Vancouver, whether at Knowledge Network or in other settings.

As President of the Pacific Canada Heritage Centre / Museum of Migration Society (PCHC-MoM)—a non-profit dedicated to building a more inclusive narrative of Canada—Wendy facilitates collaborative relationships among diverse communities and education partners, to share knowledge across generations and to reveal the migration stories of all those living in Pacific Canada, especially marginalized and racialized communities. She is also on the Advisory Board of the new Chinatown Storytelling Centre, a project of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation.

As University Ambassador for the University of British Columbia, Wendy supports and publicizes the endeavours of UBC people and helps to address unmet needs as she is able, to foster a stronger community. She engages substantively with the Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies program, the Museum of Anthropology, the Transcending Boundaries Initiative (which promotes wellness and brain health through the holistic integration of the arts, humanities, sciences, and health disciplines), the UBC Faculty Women’s Club, UBC Opera, the Belkin Gallery, and St John’s and Green Colleges for graduate students. She supports the performing and visual arts at UBC and beyond.

Wendy served as First Lady of the University of Cincinnati (2012-16) and volunteered extensively in that city, including bringing together assorted Asian American organizations to combat racism and bullying. From 2012 to the present, she volunteered at and serves on the board of Seven Hills Neighborhood House in a low-income, predominantly African American neighbourhood of Cincinnati.

Wendy worked on issues of affirmative action and anti-Asian racism as the Legal Fellow (1995-97) at the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, a predecessor to Advancing Justice-AAJC, in Washington, DC. Between 1991 – 2001, she practised patent and health law at law firms in Boston, MA and Alexandria, VA. She also taught patent law as a Visiting Fellow at the London School for Economics (2001-03).

When not working for a salary, Wendy has volunteered in the cities where her family has lived. She is married to Santa J. Ono, 15th President of UBC, with whom she is raising two daughters to be independent, resilient and compassionate.