PAST CHAIRPERSON

Negar is an interdisciplinary educator and environmental health scientist.  She has over 20 years of experience in higher education, with a focus on bridging the gap between research and policy, creating innovative academic programs, and offering meaningful experiences for students. Negar currently works with the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health leading projects to understand the impacts of climate change on health.  Both of her children attend Skyridge Montessori.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Gale is a lawyer at Mackoff Mohamed with a practice focused on employment law and civil litigation, although she also has a fine arts background in animation and filmmaking.

Gale has two children at Skyridge Montessori and comes with experience serving on the board of a Vancouver-based Montessori daycare.

VICE CHAIRPERSON

Marissa currently heads the commercial and corporate legal functions at Tegus, a Chicago-based fintech, as VP Legal and Deputy General Counsel.  She began her corporate practice with a major Canadian law firm in corporate transactions before transitioning to her passion for supporting emerging and high-growth companies on their growth journey, including Hootsuite and Catalyst Financial Modeling Corporation. Before joining the Skyridge Board, Marissa served as Chair of the Skyridge Parent Advisory Counsel (PAC). Marissa’s two children at Skyridge.

SECRETARY

Sarah is a public health scientist with a focus on the implementation of scientific evidence into real-world policy and practice. Driven by the opportunity to learn and solve new and ongoing challenges in public health, she connects researchers and educators within academic, public health, and health services settings. She supports the use of appropriate methods and tools in research and education. Two of her children attend Skyridge Montessori (in Casa and Lower Elementary) and her third will enter the Casa program next year.

INTERN CHAIRPERSON

Tess is an academic researcher and business professional with broad technology, operations, and management experience. She is currently the Chief Operating Officer for JTS Consulting, which is a Canadian consulting organization specializing in Smart Infrastructure.

She holds a Master’s degree in Informatics and a Doctorate for her research on Kindness in Business.

Her child attends Skyridge Montessori.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Simon is the Director of Operations for Haakon Mechanical Services.  He began his career as a tradesperson (HVAC and Refrigeration Journeyman).  Since then he has gained experience in mechanical engineering, project management, and human resources before settling into business management.  He brings a strong knowledge of building maintenance as well as significant business and operational finance experience to the board.  He is also currently the Vice Chair of the Mechanical Contractors Association of BC and in that role is a strong advocate for the trades. Simon is the father of two girls, the older is currently at Skyridge.

FINANCE / TREASURER

Matt is the CEO and founding partner of Latitude Financial Services Inc., leading the company to become the second-largest firm in Canada by Assets Under Administration within the Sun Life Career Salesforce distribution channel. With over two decades of experience, he co-founded Latitude in 2014, achieving recognition for new sales production and business growth. Matt also chairs The Epiphany Group, overseeing strategic decisions, in private equity and real estate investments. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®) and Responsible Investment Specialist (RIS), he focuses on wealth-building, retirement planning, and employee benefits for clients.

Brendan Howe, Robin Waters, Jenny Weiss and Neegan Aaswakashin