Richard Slowikowski
President, Member of HR Committee, Member of Nominations & Elections Committee
Richard is a long-time resident of Old Ottawa South. He has recently retired from full-time work and runs his own company which offers services focused on increasing effectiveness at the personal and organizational levels. Richard has a broad base of experience flowing from work with the federal government, with the Public Policy Forum, with Saint Jerome’s University, as a consultant, and as a volunteer with organizations such as the Community Foundation of Ottawa. He also holds licenses with global training companies to deliver award-winning leadership development programs.
Michael Jenkin
Past President, Acting Chair of Operations Committee, Member of HR Committee
Michael and his wife Phyllis have been residents of Old Ottawa South for over 40 years and raised two sons here. Michael has been on the OSCA Board since 1998, having served as OSWATCH Chair, Vice-President and recently as chair of the HR working group. He served as President from 2002 to 2013. A retired senior public servant, Michael worked in a number of federal departments dealing with science and technology, industrial development and consumer protection issues. For over 8 years he was also the Chair of the Committee on Consumer Policy at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Michael has a BA (Hons.) in history, politics and economics from Trent University and an MA (Econ.) and Ph.D. in government from the University of Manchester in the UK and has written books and articles on public policy issues. In 2002 he was awarded the City of Ottawa’s Whitton Award for community service, in 2012 the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for public and community service, and in 2014 the Public Service Award of Excellence for Outstanding Career which was presented by the Governor General.
Nicolas Rosenfeld
Nicolas is a data-driven Manager with 20 years of practical experience. He is a Data and Information Architect at uOttawa where he has assessed systems, implemented data management processes and coached teams about data and information principles. He is looking forward to assisting OSCA with a review and possible re-design of existing systems at the Firehall with a view to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of our systems.
Laura Urrechaga
Co-chair of Planning & Zoning Committee
Laura has lived in Old Ottawa South for a quarter-century and her love for its unique qualities has only grown over time and as her life has become more and more entwined with fellow OOSers. Laura is an Ontario and Florida registered architect and a volunteer member of the Federation of Citizen Association’s Planning and Zoning Committee. By actively participating and sharing her time, skill set and passion, she hopes to contribute to keeping our neighbourhood great as it grows, changes and evolves. As our city grows, Old Ottawa South will also grow in order to continue to thrive. Our community association can help us to grow in the right direction by working to ensure that growth reflects the character of our community, respects its zoning by-laws and enhances our neighbourhood.
Sue Neill
Vice President, Chair of Nominations & Elections Committee, Chair of Traffic & Safety Committee, Member of Governance Committee
Sue has lived in Old Ottawa South since 2004. Her interest is in the well-being of the whole community and in particular making the community’s streets and sidewalks safer for all. Sue retired from the federal government (Department of Canadian Heritage – most recently as Director of International Sport) and before that taught in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Toronto, Master’s degree from the University of Alberta and Doctorate from Ottawa University. Sue believes that her experience working on the policy side of government and serving on many volunteer Boards and Executives at all levels is useful in meeting some of the challenges currently facing the OSCA Board and the community. Sue is a lifelong volunteer. Her specific sport interest is the sport of field hockey where she held executive positions at the community, provincial, national and international levels for many years. She is also a keen hiker, cyclist, kayaker, reader and opera lover.
Jen Bedore
Chair of Grants Committee
Jen is an international development professional with experience providing support, technical guidance and leadership to complex program, country, and regional teams. She is currently the Deputy Director of Awards Management for Technical & Global Awards at the International Rescue Committee. Jen is the Chair of OSCA’s newly founded Grants Committee.
James Melanson
Jim has worked in international trade and development for almost 40 years, much of it with Global
Affairs Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency. About half of that time was
spent abroad, in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Planning and managing country and multilateral assistance
programmes has been the main emphasis, with the last decade spent leading corporate evaluation
functions, first at GAC and then at the Caribbean Development Bank.
Since the late 90’s (when not overseas), he and Rebecca have raised four children in OOS, where the
family feels deeply rooted. From campaigning to save St. Margaret Mary School to minor hockey and
maintaining community rinks, Scouts and more, engagement in the OOS community has been a
touchstone of their family life.
Paul Keen
Chair of Envirocrew
Paul is currently the Associate Dean of Graduate Student Affairs and a professor of English at Carleton University. He brings significant administrative experience to the OSCA Board from his years at Carleton. Paul has also served as a volunteer on the Board of the Ottawa Suzuki Strings Music School and is currently its President.
Joy Morrow
Secretary; Chair of Governance Committee, Member of Nominations & Elections Committee
Joy chose to live in Old Ottawa South in 1985, and has been a home owner and resident since then. During her 30+ years living in the neighbourhood, she has become acquainted with many neighbours, learning their views about the local issues which concern them. Joy’s neighbourhood is very important to her, and her values include a strong sense of community. As a long-time resident, Joy is familiar with the infrastructure, facilities and services in this neighbourhood, and their accessibility. She has observed how these have developed over the 30+ years she has lived here. It is important to her that this community continues to build on the foundations established by past volunteers in OSCA. Joy’s education and ~35 year career as a scientist (BSc, MSc) and private-sector intellectual property lawyer (LLB) facilitate her ability to listen and to understand relevant technical and legal / governance issues. For more than 10 years, Joy served in a volunteer capacity on the Board of Directors and ultimately as President of a corporation which owns and operates a family camp on a not-for-profit basis. Her responsibilities included policy making, legal and regulatory compliance, and oversight of management and finances and programming.
Ann Garber
Ann Garber was born and raised in Ottawa. With over 30 years’ experience in High Technology Sales, Sales Management, and Business Development, in both the public and private sector, Ann has worked for some of the largest software publishers in the world like IBM (Lotus), PeopleSoft (Oracle), Microsoft and now with Samsara (NYSE: IOT). Experienced in working with community service organizations like WiDs (Women in Defence and Security), AFCEA (Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association) and Ashbury College.
Scott Proudfoot
Chair of Communications Committee
Scott has extensive background working internationally for the federal government and is planning to use his diplomatic experience to contribute to his community. He has most recently served as the Canadian Ambassador to the Republic of South Sudan and has previous postings in the Palestinian Territories, London, Vienna, Nairobi and Delhi. He has also represented Canada on a variety of international working groups including the South Sudan Children in Armed Conflict Working Group.
Alyson van Beinum
Acting Chair of Human Resource Committee As a new resident in the Old Ottawa South, Alyson is happy to contribute to OSCA and is currently Acting Chair of the HR Committee.
She is an experienced and creative educational leader and administrator who is passionate about social justice in public education. Alyson is proud of the work she has done in centering equity, anti-oppression and inclusion throughout her 30+ years of developing curriculum, mentoring educators, and leading professional learning within her school district in the Greater Toronto Area. Alyson led the way in creating a virtual high school where she empowered educators in their capacity for change and collaboration. She is a founding member of the Durham Black Educators’ Network, an organization that successfully developed programming to optimize the educational experiences of students, staff, and families in the community.
Alyson is currently a curriculum contributor and occasional lecturer at McMaster University in the BHSc program.
Alyson’s Caribbean and Amerindian ancestors have instilled in her the value of family, community, laughter, and joy in this life and she looks forward to learning and working together with new friends and neighbours in the OSCA community.