Chair

Simon has 25 years of international experience and has held leadership positions at Parkland, Encana, Talisman, and the Calgary Zoo.

Simon spent the early part of his career helping Scottish companies develop export markets and was a member of the executive team of Bruntwood, where he led the company’s marketing, communication, and brand activities.

Simon has shared his expertise with multiple community organizations including Tourism Calgary and Mount Royal University. He was an elected Trustee of the Central Manchester National Health Service Trust in England.

Vice Chair

Susanne is the Senior Operations Accountant with Steelhead Petroleum. She facilitates people to empower positive results while engaging team members using an authentic leadership style. Susanne holds a master’s Degree in Leadership and is trained in Organizational Design, Leadership Mentoring, and Coaching.

Susanne volunteered with the Calgary Stampede from 2005-2017. She served as Chair of the Calgary Stampede Parade Committee where she led the committee dedicated to presenting a world class entertainment event to kick off the 10-day Calgary Stampede. She helped found the Innovation Committee in 2014. As the Vice Chair, she supported her team at the Calgary Stampede to bring innovation to reality while continuing to build and support a culture of innovation.

In 2012 she worked with the Alberta Organizing Committee of the Canadian Transplant Games to execute a 6 day Olympic-style event for recipients of organ donations.

Secretary

Nicole Letourneau RN PhD FCAHS is a Professor at the University of Calgary in the Faculty of Nursing and Cumming School of Medicine (Pediatrics, Psychiatry & Community Health Sciences). She holds the ACHF Chair in Parent-Infant Mental Health and previously, she was Canada Research Chair in Healthy Child Development.

She is PI of the CHILD (Child Health Intervention and Longitudinal Development) studies program, studying parenting, attachment and child development in the context of maternal depression, family violence, and other stressors. Nicole leads the APrON cohort study of 2200 Alberta families, the Action Team on Triadic Attachment and Child Health (ATTACH) study, as well as VID-KIDS. She is also an author of two books on parenting and has received many awards for her scholarly achievements. She has published over 145 peer-reviewed papers, 14+ book chapters and over 120 opinion editorials appearing in major print and online Canadian news outlets.

Director

Leah Turner is an avid community supporter. She previously founded Alberta CA Community Ambassadors to help fellow Chartered Accountants find meaningful volunteer opportunities and, through her work with Tourmaline Oil, has led the company’s annual United Way campaign and spearheaded various donation drives and volunteer activities. She brings over 20 years of diverse experience in accounting, public affairs, and government relations to the board. In her spare time, Leah loves to travel with family and friends. 

Director

Busola Fagbodun is a lover of Calgary charities, her focus on community collaboration and drive to give back to the community has led her to a number of volunteer opportunities. She is a volunteer with the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) organized by CPA Alberta, she volunteers with Mustard Seed and her local faith community. She brings a decade of experience in accounting, financial statements audit and internal controls to the Board. Busola is also an avid reader of finance and history books.

Director

Doris is a senior professional in Human Resources and is a Certified Executive Coach who has a deep commitment to help organizations, teams and individuals unleash their full potential, particularly in organizations that are experiencing a high degree of change. 
 
She has worked and led teams in many environments varying in size and complexity in both the profit and not-for-profit sectors, including government. Her skills lie in the ability to take lessons from across the spectrum of these experiences and apply them into the context of each of her roles. As the Chair of the Board for the Women in Need Society for a number of years, Doris successfully led the organization through a time of crisis, having a stronger organization for it.
 
Doris completed her MBA at Royal Roads University, where she was also granted the Leadership Award by her fellow cohort members. 

Director

Taylor is the VP Finance of Enfinite, which specializes in the development and operation of energy storage system solutions. Previously, Taylor worked for an international accounting firm for over seven years in their Corporate Restructuring and Audit departments.

Prior to obtaining his Chartered Accountant designation in 2015, Taylor graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan. Taylor joined Discovery House as an Audit & Finance Committee member in 2018 and subsequently joined as a Director in 2020.

Director

Prior to a recent move to Houston, Texas, Carli was a portfolio manager with Palisade Capital Management, responsible for the analysis and evaluation of investment ideas and portfolio weightings, with a focus on the diversified portion of Palisade’s portfolios. Prior to joining Palisade Capital, she was responsible for the small-cap and special situation investment opportunities at another Calgary-based investment management firm. 

Carli has over 21 years of experience in the investment management and pension industries. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Statistics from the University of Calgary with a minor in Management and is a CFA charter holder. Carli is active in the community, including volunteering at YMCA Calgary for the last 15 years. Carli is currently serving on the Audit & Finance Committee.

Director

Michael Mauws (Ph.D., ICD.D) is currently a Professor of Business Strategy at Athabasca University. Raised in an entrepreneurial family, he has more than forty years of experience researching, advising, managing, and governing organizations. His volunteer activities include music festivals, amateur sports, and affordable housing initiatives. When time permits, he enjoys live music and riding his mountain, road, and fat bikes, preferably with his two teenage children.

Director

Jagat is a Lawyer at Shim Law. She practices primarily in Family Law, vastly experienced in guiding clients through complex divorce situations, domestic violence instances, protection order hearings, contested parenting/child support cases along with prenup and separation agreements. She regularly appears in Provincial Court of Alberta and Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. Jagat is passionate about her practice in law and is committed to helping clients navigate through challenging phases of their lives to commence a new beginning. 

Outside work life, Jagat loves going on hikes, traveling, spending time with her husband and is a new mom to a beautiful baby girl!

Director

Esmahan is a passionate community builder. She has extensive board experience, at the national and local levels, and serves on a number of working groups including as the Director for BC at Equal Voice, United Way Calgary Public Policy Committee, Confederation Centre of the Arts and co-leads an Alberta based collective for BIPOC women in politics.

She co-founded two organizations, including Ask Her and is an Associate Principal at Champion Communications & PR. She brings extensive experience in public engagement, public policy, government relations, strategic planning and communications. She has worked for the Government of Alberta and most recently as a public affairs consultant in British Columbia. 

In 2017, Esmahan was recognized by Chatelaine as one of Canada’s 33 Women of the Year and was named one of the top 50 Arab women in North America by the Arab Women of Excellence Awards in 2019.

When she’s not working or volunteering, Esmahan enjoys spending time with friends and family.

Director

Tom Whalen is a long-time community volunteer as well as a board member of for-profit and non-profit organizations. He most recently served as past chairman for the Women in Need Society of Calgary. In addition to serving on numerous boards, Mr. Whalen brings over 40 years of leadership, management, coaching, and operational experience to the Discovery House board. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, especially his three grandchildren as well as skiing, biking, fishing, woodworking, gardening, and golfing.

Director

Nicolette is a critical media studies instructor and recent PhD graduate at the University of Calgary. Her intersectional research interests include media interventions in gender-based violence (GBV), digital feminisms, and mediated misogyny.

She advised the Federal government’s Status of Women Committee for its 2017 Violence Against Young Women and Girls study. Nicolette regularly advises the media regarding GBV and related activisms.

Nicolette was a professor at Sheridan College (ON, 2009-2016) where she also spearheaded anti-violence initiatives, connecting this post-secondary institution with politicians, industry, and local shelters to raise awareness about consent at the college and in the broader communities. She received numerous awards for her efforts, including the United Way’s Top 20 Under 40 Award.

Nicolette enjoys hiking and also writes children’s books.