Good governance is part of everything we do

Shelley McDade

Board Chair

Shelley’s financial services career spans 35 years in the BC credit union system. She is currently Chief Executive Officer of Sunshine Coast Credit Union, a 75 year old cooperative with $580 million in assets and more than 16,000 members.

Shelley is best known for her commitment and passion for leveraging collaboration to create value for members locally and across the system as a whole. A well respected leader and advisor to a variety of community and industry groups, she also dedicates her time to championing collaborative opportunities across the credit union system including the Solutions Centre, Risk Management Alliance and most recently, the Back Office Collaborative.

An accredited director through ICSA Canada, she obtained her MBA from Aspen University in 2009.

Director since 2017.

Carolyn retired in 2020 as the Head, Enterprise Payments at RBC where she had worked since 1985. She was responsible for leading RBC’s payments strategy council including that organization’s payment modernization program. An experienced board member in the Canadian financial services industry, Carolyn served on the Canadian Payments Association board, Payments Canada Member Advisory Council (past chair), Payments Canada Board, Interac board, Acxsys board, and on CertaPay, Mondex and Visa Senior Advisory Councils. She also represented RBC at the Canadian Bankers’ Association (CBA) Senior Payments Committee for a decade.

Carolyn holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from McGill University and has obtained the Chartered Director (C.Dir.) designation from The Directors College (joint venture between McMaster University and The Conference Board of Canada).  Ms. Burke is a current director of Rise, a national charity affiliated with Rotman, supporting entrepreneurship for individuals with mental health or addiction challenges.

Director since 2021.

Paul, a Chartered Professional Accountant for more than 35 years, was elected to First West Credit Union’s board, in 2019; he currently serves on its Audit and Conduct Review and Risk, Investment and Loan committees.

Recently retired as a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Vancouver, Paul was the leader of PwC’s Financial Services practice in BC from 2000 to 2015. Throughout his PwC career he served large public, private and member-owned financial services organizations.

His board experience also includes six years on the board of Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, three years on his church’s parish council and the board of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia.

Paul’s key board competencies are financial accounting and audit, business growth and transformation and risk management. He holds a BA (Honours) in Industrial Economics and is a certified corporate director (ICD.D).

Director since 2020.

Barry is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Salmon Arm Savings and Credit Union, a position he has held since 2016. Prior to joining SASCU, he was interim CEO at Northern Savings Credit Union (six months) after 17 years in management roles at First West Credit Union and Envision Financial.

Barry holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary and an MBA from Queens University. He has served on a number of boards in the not-for-profit (Co-operative Development Foundation) and financial sectors and industry advisory committees and is currently on Salmon Arm’s Board of Economic Development. He is a Lean Certified Executive.

Director since 2021.

Connie is in her eighth year on the board of Summerland & District Credit Union. For almost 40 years, she served as the administrative partner in the Summerland-based construction business owned by her and her husband.

Connie brings experience in leadership, governance and financial oversight to the Board table having served 19 years on the Okanagan Skaha School Board (including nine years as chair). She has also served on the boards of the BC School Trustees Association (three terms as President); the Canadian School Board Association; and Okanagan College Board of Governors (two terms as Chair) and currently serves on the board of the Okanagan College Foundation.

Connie is active in her community, having volunteered on a number of committees and boards including the Chamber of Commerce and the Advisory Planning Commission. She is currently active in the local Rotary Club.

Connie holds a Master of Arts in Leadership degree from Royal Roads University and is currently completing the High-Performing Board digital series (2 year program) offered by CUES.

Director since 2022.

Shawn was appointed Libro Credit Union’s President & CEO in 2023. He has 25 years of credit union and financial services experience and is committed to lifelong learning, leadership and development.

Previously Shawn was President and CEO of Prospera Credit Union in BC and, most recently, CEO at SaskCentral in Regina.

Shawn holds an Executive MBA from Queen’s School of Business, attained his ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors at the Rotman School of Business, and completed the Strategic Leadership program at the Banff Leadership Centre. He has been recognized nationally with awards including the 2009 National Young Leader award, selected by Credit Union Central of Canada.

Director since 2024.

Brian Harris is President and CEO of Beem Credit Union, an amalgamation of Gulf & Fraser Fishermen’s and Interior Savings Credit Unions on January 1, 2024. Prior to assuming the role at Beem, Brian was President and CEO of Interior Savings since 2022.

Before joining Interior Savings, Brian was Chief Product Officer at Nets, a leading payments provider based in the Nordics, where he and his team helped revolutionize the consumer and small business digital experience for more than 150 European financial institutions. He also held executive leadership roles at Currencies Direct and Western Union Business Solutions, two companies leading the evolution of international money transfer systems and business payment solutions in Europe and across the globe.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurial Management from Royal Roads University and has completed the Strategic Leadership program at Said Business School, University of Oxford and Product Management at Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

Director since 2024.

John Klassen currently is the Chief Finance and Compliance/Chief Financial Officer for Kindred Credit Union in Kitchener, Ontario, since 2009. He worked in a in number of member-facing capacities as a MSR, Loans Officer and Certified Financial Planner before moving to Kindred’s Head Office in 2000 as Chief Operating Officer.

John is a certified CPA/CMA and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honours), Peace and Conflict Studies Minor from the University of Waterloo. He is active in his community including serving on the board at Rockway Mennonite Collegiate and Tri-County Mennonite Homes.

Director since 2021.

Penny-Lynn McPherson

From 1987 until her retirement in 2015, Penny-Lynn was Vice-President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at the Payments Canada. She has over 25 years’ experience in payments, clearing and settlement, ecommerce, compliance, risk management and corporate governance. She has served on and co-chaired a number of payment system committees and also served as a director of the Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario from 2011 to 2015 and as Vice-Chair from 2013-2015. Penny-Lynn holds a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton University, and an LL.B from the University of Ottawa. She is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

Director since 2015.

Sunny Sodhi is responsible for overseeing the Enterprise Strategy and Corporate Development, Innovation, Legal, Corporate Governance, and Government Relations within Meridian.

Prior to joining Meridian in 2014, Sunny focused his legal practice on advising domestic and international banks and insurance companies on a broad array of complex corporate and regulatory matters and practiced law in Toronto with Torys LLP and then Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP as a partner. He also worked abroad with top international law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP in its Singapore office, focusing on cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

Sunny graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), and from the University of Victoria with a Juris Doctor. He has been a member of the Bar in Ontario and New York since 2003.

Director since 2019.

Christie is the Executive Director of the Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, where she focuses on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing and governance.

Christie is a regular TV, print and radio media commentator on responsible business and investing, and a member of the Climate Governance Experts Network of the Canadian Climate Law Initiative, the Metro Vancouver Zero Emissions Innovation Centre’s investment committee, and the British Columbia Securities Commission Corporate Finance Stakeholder Forum, and has served as a judge for both Governance Professionals of Canada’s Excellence in Governance Awards and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada’s Corporate Reporting Awards.

Prior to joining UBC Sauder in, she spent 15 years working at ESG investing firms Jantzi Research Associates (Sustainalytics), NEI Investments (Ethical Funds), and Rally Assets (Purpose Capital).

Christie also has more than two decades of diverse director experience, serving on the boards of organizations from start-ups to large mature entities, including private companies, cooperatives, non-profit organizations, university governance bodies, and a multi-employer pension plan.

Throughout her life, Christie has had deep roots in the credit union movement and co-operative sector, which has included serving on the boards and committees of credit unions in both B.C. and Ontario.

Currently, she is a director of Vancouver City Savings Credit Union and has served on its governance, audit, equity and people, technology and nominations committees.

Director since 2021.

Art is a director on Prospera Credit Union’s board currently serving as the board chair. He was first elected to the board of Westminster Savings in 2013 (Prospera and Westminster Savings Credit Unions merged January 1, 2020) and became chair of that board in 2018.

Art is a seasoned human resources professional with more than 35 years experience. As the former vice president for People at Overwaitea Food Group (Save-On), he has extensive experience managing compensation, payroll, health and safety, recognition, training, succession planning and labour relations.

In the community, Art currently serves as a member on the board of the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation. He has served on various boards over the years, including the Canadian Grocery HR Council, Alouette Addictions Services Society and the Westminster Savings Foundation (now Prospera Foundation). Art is secretary and lead management trustee of the United Food and Commercial Workers Industry Pension Trust, a member of the Investment subcommittee and a member of the Fengate Infrastructure Yield Fund Advisory committee.

Art holds a BA with a major in business administration and economics from Simon Fraser University. He is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources and a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and is a graduate of the ICD.D program.

Director since 2022.

Tom is a director on the Board of DUCA Financial Services Credit Union. He joined DUCA’s board in 2015 and has served as its board chair since 2016.

Tom Vandeloo retired in 2020, culminating his career as a Partner at PwC. He has nearly thirty years of consulting experience in business integration & separation, cost optimization, business performance improvement, procurement & strategic sourcing, and supply chain services.

Tom holds a Bachelor of Math (Computer Science) from the University of Waterloo and is a Certified Director (ICD.D).

Director since 2021.

Russ Voutour is currently Chief Information Officer, at Your Neighbourhood Credit Union Limited (YNCU) where he oversees Infrastructure, Enterprise Services, Information Technology Governance, Innovation and Business Intelligence/Analytics. He joined YNCU in March 2021.

Russ has worked in the financial services industry for 15 years, including various areas such as Digital, Analytics and Architecture.

Throughout his career, Russ has demonstrated the ability to understand the complexities of the financial services industry and apply technology to solve business challenges. He has played a key role in driving digital transformation at several leading financial service organizations. He has done so by leveraging technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing to streamline operations and create new digital distribution channels.

Before joining YNCU, Russ was a member of the founding team for Sonnet Insurance, Canada’s first digital direct insurance company and Head of Technology for TD Insurance.

A big believer in serving his community, Russ is a supporter of Habitat for Humanity.

He holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of Guelph.

Director since 2023.

Cheryl is in her second term as a director on Central 1’s Board. She is a director on the board of Integris Credit Union in Prince George, currently serving as Vice Chair and has lived in Prince George since 2003 after moving from the Lower Mainland.

Cheryl is the Director, Finance and Administration with JA British Columbia, a non-profit organization which delivers a wide selection of educational programs focusing on financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. Previously, she was Director of the MBA Program at the University of Northern BC (UNBC). In the community, Cheryl has served on various not-for-profit boards, including the YMCA.

She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA) and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from UNBC.

Director since 2019.