Elvin Green

Chair

Elvin Green is a Manager of Revenue Collections at Canada Revenue Agency’s East Central Ontario Tax Service Branch. He has also worked at several volunteer roles within the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte community, such as serving as a financial reviewer for the Mohawk Agricultural Society and the Anglican Parish of Tyendinaga. Through his work with the CRA, Elvin has been involved in many successful Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaigns.  Elvin considers his work as a member of the Board of Directors for United Way Hastings & Prince Edward, as a way to give back to his community.

Gail Walker

Vice-Chair

Gail is a collaborative strategy guru who enjoys uncovering intuitive insights to help organizations solve tough problems, envision their future and achieve their goals. As a mentor and university lecturer she helped many marketers build their craft and their careers.

Gail has an MBA from the Schulich School of Business and Level 1 certification from the Get On Board program of the Canadian Board Diversity Council. She has been a Vice President at Scott Paper, AT&T Canada and The Mibro Group and owner of the Millrace Group consulting practice.

Outside of work, Gail’s passions include being a Master Gardener, curling, lawn bowling, theatre, and motorsport. She and her husband Malcolm Elston live in Lonsdale (Tyendinaga).

Cathy Rushton

Treasurer

Cathy Rushton is recently retired from Loyalist College as a Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. She was previously a board member with the United Way of Winnipeg, before moving to the Hastings-Prince Edward region. Cathy has more than 30 years of experience working in senior level roles for non-profit and public sector organizations. She also has experience in strategic planning, operational planning and executive leadership among other areas. She says her experience in Winnipeg allowed her to see how United Way funding improves lives and that she believes in using her skill set to “make a positive difference,” in her new community.

Rev. Jeff O’Hare

Secretary

Australian by birth, Jeff O’Hare is an Anglican Priest who has worked in both urban and rural parish ministries, school chaplaincies and as an executive team member in the social welfare sector in Australia with the ‘Brotherhood of St. Laurence’. He has focused on indigenous reconciliation and education (Australian context), and the settlement and networking of South Sudanese Refugees.

Jeff moved to Canada in 2017 after meeting his now husband, Terry, who is Canadian by birth. He is currently Anglican Rector of Christ Church Belleville and St.Paul’s Roslin, and a member of the Council to Synod for the Diocese of Ontario and board member of ‘Hope and Healing’, a newly formed company of Geelong Grammar School Australia, who support victims of childhood and institutional abuse.

His passion is social justice and equity and an end to poverty.

Molly Keeler

Labour Representative

Molly is a dedicated and passionate new member of the United Way board of directors as the labour representative appointed by the Quinte Labour Council. She is currently employed with Service Canada- Employment and Social Development of Canada (ESDC) in the Benefits and Delivery Services Branch. Through her employment she has gained valuable insights into the challenges faced by vulnerable populations. During the 2022/2023 ESDC Charitable Campaign for the United Way, Molly played an active role as an ambassador, helping to raise awareness and organizing many events and donations for the campaign.

With a diploma in Early Childhood Education (ECE) Molly also brings a unique perspective and expertise to the board with over 10 years of experience in the ECE as well as administrative field. She is also a proud ally of the Indigenous Employment Circle within ESDC, working towards promoting Indigenous employment opportunities and fostering cultural understanding.

As a new member of the United Way HPE, Molly is excited to contribute her expertise and passion to the organization’s mission of improving lives and creating lasting change. Her dedication to advocating for women’s, children’s, and human rights, combined with knowledge of ECE, HR, and labour issues, will be invaluable in contributing to shaping the strategic direction of United Way.

Kim Taylor

Board Member

A Board member since 2017, Kim retired from Ontario Power Generation (OPG) in 2010, where she was Human Resources Manager – Diversity and Recruitment. Throughout her career, Kim demonstrated a strong personal and professional commitment to equity, inclusion, social justice and healthy communities – a commitment that won her OPG’s President’s Award for Leadership. Over her 31 year career, Kim was involved in the coordination of many United Way/Charity of Choice workplace campaigns. She also served on various boards, as an advocate for and supporter of several non-profit childcare centers and an inter-generational program. In retirement, Kim is actively engaged in her new community of Wellington, Prince Edward County. Her volunteer efforts have focused on the resettlement of Syrian refugees, the local community supper program, Basketeers and Alternatives for Women, as well as arts and cultural initiatives. Kim is excited to be a part of the United Way HPE and its efforts to strengthen our community.

Margaret Bourgoin

Board Member

Margaret has been involved with United Way Hastings & Prince Edward for over a decade.

After retiring from the Trenton site of Quinte Health after 34 years, Margaret began volunteering for several organizations and joined the United Way HPE team as a member of the Allocations Committee. She found it to be a great first step, in becoming knowledgeable of all that United Way has to offer the community.

She believes that United Way HPE is a great organization and is proud to be a donor and a Board member. She continues to learn more about the agencies in the community and how much they help others.

Margaret is the current president of Quinte Labour Council and board member with SEIU Local 1 Canada. (SEIU Healthcare)

Bernie Boucher

Board Member

Bernie is a retired railroad executive with an extensive 39-year career, having held several senior management positions at Canadian National Railway and OmniTrax. His experience and expertise span operations, business development, human resources, labour relations, and customer service functions. Beyond his corporate achievements, Bernie is driven by a genuine passion for social enterprise and community service. He dedicated 15 years as Chairman of the Board for Arctic Net, a non-profit network of Centers of Excellence involved in crucial arctic research. His commitment to giving back also extends to various board roles including a Trustee position for the Helen Betty Osborne Foundation in Winnipeg, which supports educational opportunities for indigenous youth, and a Directorship with META Vocational Services in Belleville.

Recognizing the profound impact of the United Way, Bernie eagerly embraces the opportunity to contribute to their vital mission. In recent years he has been involved with the United Way allocation committee. Bernie has a genuine passion for lending his expertise and experience to further the United Way’s vision of transforming lives and fostering a stronger, more inclusive community.

 

Megan Richards

Board Member

Megan Richards is a full-time student at Loyalist College in the Social Service Worker program. She also holds an honours diploma in visual and creative arts from Sheridan College. Megan moved to Hastings Prince Edward County in kindergarten and loves exploring and learning about our community and the diversity it includes. Megan has a passion for helping people and a drive to make a difference in the community.

Hilary Murphy

Board Member

Hilary is a licensed professional engineer in the province of Ontario and is one of the owners of Taskforce Engineering, a design-build construction firm located in Belleville.  Hilary was born and raised in Belleville and the health and wellness of her community has always been incredibly important to Hilary and her family.  It is for that reason that she supports the UWHPE both corporately and personally.  She has been involved with UWHPE as a member of the Campaign Cabinet from 2020 – 2022 and served as chair during the 2022 campaign as well as a member of Women United.  Hilary is looking forward to serving her community and UWHPE in a new capacity as a board member and contributing new ideas and thoughts to an ever changing and evolving social services landscape.

Blake Stacy

Board Member

Blake Stacy is an Engineering Manager at Procter and Gamble Belleville Plant. He first became acquainted with the United Way/Centraide(UWCC) Mission through the company’s Workplace campaigns. Starting by volunteering for the workplace events he sought other ways to contribute to the mission of UWCC. In particular Blake is motivated by the leadership role that United Way HPE can play in a community that needs some local love.

Krista Vandermeer

Board Member

Krista Vandermeer grew up in Belleville and brings over 15 years of leadership experience in community health and development. After pursuing a Masters of Public Health, Krista spent 7 years in Africa developing and leading programs aimed at creating healthier communities by breaking down barriers and facilitating access to services and supports for the most marginalized populations in rural Mozambique. Currently, she is the Director of Programs and Services at the Belleville and Quinte West Community Health Centre, striving towards the vision of a healthy community where everyone belongs. This is Krista’s first time sitting on a Board of Directors and she is excited to share her expertise in building health communities and her passion for social justice and health equity.

Trecia McLennon

Board Member

Trecia McLennon (she/her) is the inaugural Executive Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Loyalist College. A 2023 WXN Canadian Equity Diversity and Inclusion Award winner for the corporate director’s award, she is also the founder of Culturiousity, which helps executives harness the power of people’s differences to deliver healthy relationships, respect, and results. Previously, Trecia served as Director of EDI, Culture and Education at Brock University and was a staff representative on the Board of Trustees and co-chair of the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights, Equity and Decolonization. In the Niagara community she previously chaired the Equity and Inclusion committee at the City of St. Catharines and currently serves on the Niagara District Airport Commission.

Locally, she serves on the board of the United Way Hastings Prince Edward, the quality committee of Quinte Health and serves on several other community-based committees. She is currently enrolled in the Directors’ Education Program at Rotman U of T.

She has taught internationally, authored the anthology Trailblasian, as well as Open Educational Resources on professional communication and intercultural awareness. Trecia holds an MBA, along with certifications in change leadership, human rights, intercultural practice, and has been a certified training and development professional for over a decade. As a proud parent, she is dedicated to being a good ancestor and leaving the world better for future generations.

Shirley Van Steen

Board Member

Shirley has many years of experience in the housing field at the Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels including affordable housing development;
housing program administration; property management; homelessness/emergency shelter programs: mortgage underwriting; and
housing policy.

Prior to retiring from the position of Director, Housing Services with the Regional Municipality of Durham, Shirley was a Regional Director with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Executive Assistant to the Deputy Minister. She was an active community volunteer in Durham Region as Chair of the Library Board; Vice Chair of the Committee of Adjustments; Secretary of the Community Development Foundation; Board member of the United Way and Grant Review Committee Member with the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Since moving to Prince Edward County, Shirley has continued with her volunteerism initially with the Ontario Trillium Foundation and then as Vice Chair of the PEC Affordable Housing Corporation. She enjoyed her experience participating in a United Way’s Citizen Review Panel and often cooks with Food to Share in the County.

Shirley holds a Graduate Diploma in Public Administration (Carleton University) and a B.A. Economics (Queen’s University).

Katherine Potts

Board Member

Katherine Potts is currently a Senior Manager of the People and Culture team at Loyalist College.  Katherine is a Human Resources Professional with over 20 years of comprehensive human resources experience including: labour relations, performance management, compensation, recruitment, benefit administration and health and safety. Prior to her current role, Katherine worked at an agency for 10 years that received funding from United Way HPE and served as a Board member for 6 years with another funded agency. Katherine saw firsthand the impact United Way HPE has in her community and looks forward to serving on the Board.