CIEL Advisory Board
- Mark Anielski – Author (The Economics of Happiness), Economist, President of Anielski Management Inc – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Nicole Bassett - Social Responsibility Manager, Patagonia Inc. - Ventura, California, USA
- Anita Burke – Green Entrepreneur - internationally recognized thought leader in the area of sustainable development – Boulder, Colorado, USA
- Hélène Deslauriers – Directrice Générale - Réseau des SADC du Québec (Community Futures Network of Quebec) – Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
- Rob Greenwood – Executive Director – Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development - Memorial University of Newfoundland - St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
- Matt Jones - Director, Social Alchemy Pty Ltd – Paddington, NSW, Australia
- Peter Kenyon - Founder and Director of Bank of I.D.E.A.S. which incorporates The Centre for Small Town Development – Perth, WA, Australia
- Brooke Leatherman – Entrepreneur – Co-founder of the award winning Dancing Bear Hostel, Nelson, BC, Canada
- Don Macke – Co-Director – Center for Rural Entrepreneurship – Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
- Craig Pollett – Executive Director – Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
- Russell Precious – Green Entrepreneur – founder of Capers (Vancouver, BC) – Harrop-Procter, BC, Canada
- Jonathan Reams - Faculty of Social Science and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Rick Smyre - President, Communities of the Future - Gastonia, North Carolina, USA
CIEL - Who We Are
The CIEL team brings together a wide array of experience and skills. Many of us have deep roots in rural communities, leadership, entrepreneurial activities, innovative forms of community and organizational engagement and development, and in community-led economic development.
Staff & Associates
Mike Stolte, MA Public Admin.
Mike Stolte is CIEL’s Executive Director. He is the originator and co-creator of the Business Vitality Initiative, the Community Vitality Initiative, the Communities Matrix, the Community Check-up, and the Green Light Check-Up, all tools and processes to assess and strengthen communities.
Mike has spent many years working in the field of community, economic & business/ entrepreneurial development. He has facilitated several national conferences and think-tanks, and has written many articles and publications in the field including Beyond Economic Survival - 97 Ways Small Communities Can Thrive - A Guide to Community Vitality.
Over the past few years Mike has made presentations in Australia, the United States, New Zealand and in many parts of Canada. His subject matter most often centres around the need and the method for creating entrepreneurial and vital communities. His work has been featured in the Globe & Mail's Report on Business, Canadian Living & Profit magazines, on CBC radio’s Sounds Like Canada, and on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Mike is the past president of the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation. He serves on the advisory committee of the Canadian Rural Research Network and is a past member of the Co-operative Development Initiative of Canada. He holds degrees from Carleton University (MA in Public Administration) and the University of Western Ontario (Economics).
Mike also writes and presents as the Happy Economist, trying to bring community, quality of life, and well-being (genuine wealth) back into economics.
Mike enjoys photography, videography, kayaking, running, cross country skiing, hockey, road and mountain biking, and spending time with his family.
Bill Metcalfe
Bill Metcalfe works primarily a writer and broadcaster. He co-manages Kootenay Co-op Radio in Nelson, BC, and is the producer of that station's public affairs show Nelson Before Nine. In 2004 he wrote and produced Live Here, Work Everywhere, an award-winnning series of radio documentaries about the unique social and small business climate in Nelson. Bill also produces occasional pieces for CBC radio about the arts in Nelson, and writes freelance articles. He is a published fiction writer.
Bill has spent much of his life wondering what makes groups, organizations, and communities work well. For many years he worked in the areas of human resources and organizational development, as an employee and manager of large and small organizations and as a facilitator and consultant. As a lifelong B.C. resident who has lived in many parts of the province, Bill is concerned about the future of communities that find themselves unable to continue to rely on B.C.'s traditional resource industries. Bill has co-authored many reports, been a co-creator of the CVI and is co-author of Beyond Economic Survival - 97 Ways Small Communities Can Thrive - A Guide to Community Vitality.
Abra Brynne
Abra has been involved in grassroots rural community development for the past 15 years. Her primary focus has been fostering production and consumption of local products, primarily in agriculture. Though Abra has concentrated on her home region of south-eastern British Columbia, she has worked in and studied communities throughout the province as well as in India and Nepal. Most recently she has been involved with social and environmental standards with a focus on ensuring a voice for those for whom standards are created. Her strong connection to community, land and farming come from her childhood on a fruit farm in BC’s Okanagan Valley as one of a family of twelve. Abra lives with her partner and two children in Burnt Flat in South Eastern British Columbia.
Anna Planedin
Anna Planedin has spent most of her working career learning and informing about what makes communities thrive. Through her involvement with community-driven organizations such as Kootenay Co-op Radio, the West Kootenay Eco Society, the Nelson and District Youth Centre and Options for Sexual Health, Anna has witnessed the vitality and beauty that results when people align their social ideals and creative passions with the work they do. While completing her Social Work degree at the University of Victoria, Anna sat on the University of Victoria Students’ Society Board of Directors and collaborated on a university-wide review of the school’s Harassment and Discrimination Policy. Anna is particularly interested in enabling and encouraging youth community involvement and has led projects such as youth radio camp and young women’s groups.
Anne Stacey
During her time at the Centre for Innovative & Entrepreneurial Leadership, Anne has co-created many of the organization's products, such as the BVI and the Communities Matrix. Anne graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a combined degree in biology, environmental science & geography. Though she continues to be involved with CIEL through the research and development of its new tools, products, and services, Anne is currently a student at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) in Toronto. Upon her graduation in 2006, she intends on building a chiropractic practice somewhere in rural Western Canada, where she can combine her professional interests with her zest for the outdoors and community involvement.
Brooke Leatherman
Brooke has spent the last 25 years as a businessman and social entrepreneur. He has founded a San Francisco-based graphic design and corporate communications firm, an artist management company, and a software firm specializing in business information management for the entertainment industry.
Brooke is the founder and owner, with his wife, of the Dancing Bear Inn, a Nelson, B.C. accommodation catering to international ecotourists and outdoor recreation enthusiasts. More than providing accommodation, the mission of the Dancing Bear Inn is to create community among staff and guests by sponsoring social, educational and cultural experiences.
A resident of Nelson since 1994, Brooke has been at the forefront of several local community initiatives including founding the Nelson International Street Performers and Arts Festival in 1997, serving as President of the Nelson Downtown Business Association in 1998, and currently serving as chair of Central Waterfront Enterprises Inc., an initiative of Nelson community residents committed to assuring appropriate long-term development of the city's central waterfront area.
Brooke is a founding Board member of CIEL.
Chelsea Moore
In her position as project assistant at the Centre for Innovative & Entrepreneurial Leadership, Chelsea assisted with administrative tasks and community development projects in rural BC and Quebec. She is currently pursuing her degree in the field of Global Political Economy at the University of McGill, and possesses a deep interest in the study of international economic development and community sustainability, particularly from a cross-cultural perspective. Although most of her life was spent in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she has also spent time living and traveling in South America, Europe and North Africa. Her passions include playing music, writing and staying active in her local community.
Ellie Langford Parks, M. Ed.
Ellie Langford Parks is an educator, community organizer, researcher and entrepreneur. Cofounder and general manager of retail golf chain in Alberta, she brings business experience into her community economic development (CED) work. After obtained a social work degree from UVIC, Ellie has worked with a variety of CED organizations in research and coordination roles. For four years she was the BC/Yukon Coordinator for the Canadian Community Economic Development Network. She is committed to grassroots social change to strengthen local economies and build community capacity. Her passion lies in creating meaningful learning events that build skills, increase connections and are fun. Currently in the final months of an UVIC Masters in Education in Community Leadership and Adult Education for Social, Cultural and Environmental Change, her thesis is on Learning and Leadership in social change movements. In her chosen home community of Saltspring Island, she has been active in many community initiatives. Her local work is primarily in the realm of food security, local economy and more recently with the Fiddleworks Community Development Society.
Jenny Hide
In her position at CIEL Jenny assisted with the Leading Communities BC project, as well as providing administrative and creative support to the day to day operations of CIEL. Jenny Hide graduated from the University of Victoria in the spring of 2005 with her Bachelor of Social Work. Jenny’s main interests and passions include: fostering local Food Security using a CED approach, working with the assets of local people to address local social and economic issues, and helping create environmentally and economically sustainable communities in BC. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Jenny came to BC in 1998 to pursue her dream of being a ski bum in Fernie. Three years later she moved the Nelson to pursue her social work education and knew the West Kootenays was where she wanted to plant her roots. In 2006 Jenny spent the winter travelling by motorcycle from the southern United States through Mexico and Central America to Panama City with her partner and her parents. Jenny currently lives with her partner, baby girl and their big furry dogs on their property near Queen’s Bay overlooking Kootenay Lake.
Jonathan Taylor, PhD
Jonathan Taylor, PhD, is an artist, graphic designer, scientist, educator, facilitator, consultant, and entrepreneur. He is a creative concept developer and designer of complex print communication systems. An experienced facilitator, he is trained in Dialogue and Open Space Technology, employing values assessment and clarification, consensus, and Worldwork. He is certified to administer The Leadership Culture Survey and The Leadership Circle Profile. As a teacher, he has documented success in the classroom, laboratory, and seminar, studio and critique salon with courses in design process, the technical and fine arts, and the natural sciences. Jonathan's businesses include RedGold Productions, Institute for Transformative Leadership, PhotoGraphics Studio, and EngleWork.
Kristin Aasen, MA Environmental Studies
With a Master's degree in Environmental Studies Community Planning and graduate diploma in Project Management, Kristin Aasen has led community engagement processes in Canada and overseas. Having facilitated design charrettes for a brownfields site in Toronto and sustainability project in India, Kristin is now working on development and sustainability planning tools for local governments at CIEL.
Lauren Adamson
Lauren worked with CIEL for the summer of 2008 as Marketing Assistant. She helped create consistency through marketing material, updating the CIEL website and increasing knowledge of the organization within Nelson. Lauren grew up in Nelson but has resided in Vancouver for the past 3 years. She is enrolled in the Business Management program at B.C.I.T.
Nicole Chaland
Nicole Chaland graduated from the University of Victoria with a Major in Economics in 1998. Since then she has been actively involved in a range of Community Economic Development projects with a focus on co-operatives. She worked as a CIDA intern in the Philippines, helping start-up and existing co-operatives with business planning and implementation. Upon returning to Canada, she continued to work in the co-operative sector as a researcher at the BC Institute for Co-operative Studies. For the last three years she has worked with the Canadian Community Economic Development Network—initially as the research coordinator, where she coordinated the first national survey of CED organizations across Canada. Nicole has a deep commitment to solutions coming from communities themselves and is working as the coordinator of CCEDNet’s Co-operative Development Initiative as a resource person supporting co-operative enterprise in urban immigrant and refugee communities.
Rob Stacey , M.Arch
Rob has had the opportunity to be involved in several sustainability-led initiatives throughout British Columbia since graduating from the UBC Architecture program in early 2008, ranging from large-scale public transit projects like the Canada Line Skytrain station at YVR Airport, to remote health centres where conservation of energy and materials becomes integral to the design process and implementation in rural community facilities. Rob has a strong interest in developing and embedding simple notions of sustainability into design and behaviour through a rigorous investigation of design, history, manufacturing, and cultural uses.
Robin June Hood, PhD
Robin holds a PhD in international education, specializing in curriculum development. Robin is also a documentary filmmaker, international peace and development specialist and has expertise in adult education, international development, indigenous knowledge, community development, youth participation and action research. Robin wrote a book for UNICEF International, Growing Strong, that has been translated into several languages and was the curriculum designer for the innovative aboriginal program, Guiding Spirit.
Robin was a Research Associate on the Coasts Under Stress Research Alliance (2001-2004), working on a traditional knowledge research project with Dr. Nancy Turner and the Gitga'at First Nation. She is currently working with Art Napoleon and Dr. Briony Penn on a province wide research initiative on cultural keystone species. Robin has worked with indigenous people in several countries (Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile, Tibet) for over twenty years and in 1996 assisted the Maya of Guatemala in creating a Mayan based educational system for Guatemala. She coordinated regional community planning, and "learning community" initiatives for the B.C. Ministry of Community Development. In 2005 she coordinated over 166 community responses to support relief and reconstruction efforts after the SE Asian Tsunami for the Red Cross.
Robin is an adjunct professor at Royal Roads University and the University of Victoria where she teaches in masters programs in leadership and community development and consults internationally.
Robyn Mitz, MA Leadership and Training (MALT)
After finishing her BSc in Environmental Science and Biology, Robyn went on to follow her love for the outdoors. She directed a wilderness centre in northern Ontario for four years. She was also very involved in the community where the centre was situated. With disputes between loggers, aboriginal groups and environmentalists at an ultimate high, Robyn joined several local committees in an attempt to understand and be a part of a positive change for the area. There she developed an interest in leadership and learning.
CIEL served as the organizational sponsor for her Master's thesis on community-iinitiated tourism (Master's degree in Leadership Training at Royal Roads University).
Sally Smith
As a researcher for CIEL, Sally has worked to develop an innovative community development tool to assess quality of life in rural communities. Her work researching both statistical and perceptual indicators for the Community Vitality Index draws on her experience both as a writer and in previous volunteer activities.
Sally graduated from Langara College in Vancouver with a certificate in Journalism. She also has a B.A. from the University of Guelph in English & Economics. Her interest in sustainable community development and planning began in Vancouver when she co-developed and designed bikeways on local streets in cooperation with the City of Vancouver. The Bikeway Network now extends throughout the City of Vancouver. The Network provides comfortable bicycle access from residential homes to the downtown core, places of work all over the city, as well as educational institutions and the vast array of amenities that Vancouver offers. Having sat on a broad range of committees and associations, and attended conferences worldwide, Sally developed a keen eye for innovative planning and design concepts as well as a keen ear for accommodating a diverse set of community needs.
Stacy Barter, M. Ed.
Stacy Barter developed the Leading Communities BC program and coordinated the British Columbia Rural Leadership Network for CIEL.
She is an educator and community development facilitator who has worked for the past 15 years with communities, educational institutions and not-for-profit organizations in BC and Latin America. She holds a Master's degree in Education from Simon Fraser University specializing in adult education.
Stacy has worked extensively as an advocate and mentor for youth engagement and empowerment. She co-founded and worked for 6 years as director of Earth Matters, a not-for-profit environmental and social justice organization in Nelson.
Stacy also worked for the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNET) as the national Co-ordinator for Youth Programs and as a Community Liaison with the Columbia Basin Trust, a regional organization which promotes social, environmental and economic well-being in B.C.’s Columbia River Basin.
Her work in Latin America has included projects in Honduras and Costa Rica, and most recently in Chile as an Organizational and Community Development Advisor for CUSO.
Stacy currently lives with her partner and daughter on Vancouver Island.
Terri MacDonald, PhD
Terri MacDonald holds a Doctorate in Educational Studies from the University of British Columbia, a B.Sc. and B.Ed. from Lakehead University, and an MA from the University of Calgary. Terri is working on a series of children's books and is an avid mountain biker, singer / songwriter, golfer, and downhill skier. She lives in the picturesque Slocan Valley and is dedicated to her Jack Russell Terrier, Fenris. Terri was raised in Sault Ste. Marie, in friendly Northern Ontario. Terri specializes in evaluation, investment attraction and community education.
Past Board of Directors
Jan Wright, MA Leadership and Training (MALT)
Jan is a frequent trainer for Community Futures Central Kootenay, and Executive Director of the Kootenay Career Development Society in Nelson BC. She sits on the Boards of the Nelson Economic Development Partnership (NEDP), the Canadian Society for Social Development (CSSD) and Association of Service Providers for Employability and Career Training (ASPECT) of BC. Jan has an extensive background in both career planning & adult education, and has a Master’s Degree in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads University.
Andrew Earnshaw
Andrew graduated from Queen's School of Business in 1993. Shortly after graduation, he moved to Nelson BC, where he worked for five years as a poverty and housing advocate at the local Advocacy Centre. He was then hired by a regional economic development agency, Community Futures Development Corporation of Central Kootenay. There he established a successful Micro Lending Program, was Community Coordinator for Federal Softwood Industry Economic Adjustment Initiative, and worked as Loans Manager, overseeing the organization's investment fund portfolio. In the spring of 2006 he left CFDC and entered the private sector as partner in a fledgling technology company, Makalu Systems Inc. He has volunteered in various capacities during his years in Nelson, most recently as President of the Board of the Kootenay Country Store Co-operative and Chairperson of the City of Nelson Advisory Planning Commission. He was a founding Board member of CIEL.
Leah Best
Leah has over fifteen years professional experience working in both museums and art galleries as a curator and director. She obtained her masters degree in art history from the University of Toronto and furthered her practical training with a post-diploma in Museum Management and Curatorship from Sir Sanford Flemming College in Peterborough, ON. In 1997, she moved back to British Columbia, settling in the Lower Mainland where she assumed various roles including Assistant Curator at the Vancouver Art Gallery; Exhibition Coordinator at the Canadian Craft and Design Museum; and Curator and Collections Manager at the Delta Museum and Archives. In 2005, she moved to Nelson to assume the role of Executive Director of Touchstones Nelson: Museum of Art and History, a newly expanded community museum, art gallery and archives that services the residents of Nelson and surrounding area. Leah also serves as a board member of the Provincial museum association and is current Chair of the Cultural Development Commission of the City of Nelson.
Norm Carruthers, PhD
Norman has a PhD in Business (Applied Economics) from the University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from Queen's University, Kingston. Over the last 25 years, he has been a university educator, management consultant and senior civil servant. Most recently, he was the Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Nelson.
Throughout his career, Norman has taken a keen interest in economic development. As a consultant, he conducted numerous economic development studies in Alberta, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories and while at the City of Calgary was a key participant in the restructuring of Promoting Calgary Inc. More recently, he was instrumental in creating the Nelson Economic Development Partnership which brings together the skills and resources of the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce, Community Futures of Central Kootenay and the City.
Norman also has extensive experience designing and managing organizational change. For example, he headed up a three year project restructuring the City of Calgary and its 14,000 member work force. This initiative looked the mission, mandate and values of the corporation, the Council- management relationship, the organization's strategy and structure and its human resource policies. Several hundred employees worked on the project and the external consulting budget was in excess of $6 million. He has also managed a combined economics, strategic planning and intergovernmental affairs office as well as a regulatory program that saved Calgarians in excess of $50 million annually on a budget of $2 - $4 million.
Norman has recently returned to consulting, specializing in strategic planning, economic development and organizational policy development. He is also actively involved in the community as a Director of the Osprey Community Foundation.
Kim Charlesworth
Kim is a former Manager of Corporate Services for Service Canada. She is also on the Board of Directors of the West Kootenay Eco-Society and a former Deputy City Clerk of the City of Nelson. She holds a law degree and is driven by a passion for community and the environment.