Board of Directors

Joan Easton

Chair

Joan joined the Board in 2020, bringing her extensive strategic initiative, policy, program development and delivery, quality assurance and team-building experience to the work of the Board. During her 35-year career with the B.C. Provincial Government, Joan was involved with a broad array of government initiatives. She served as the Executive Director of Innovation and Adaptation Services, Ministry of Agriculture, overseeing the annual delivery of over $25 million of programming. Additionally, she contributed to the creation of a provincial child care strategy while serving as the Executive Director of Early Years, Child Welfare, Children and Youth with Special Needs, Autism, and Quality Assurance Policy, Ministry of Children and Family Development. Before becoming Chair of the Board, Joan chaired the Board’s Quality Assurance and Improvement Committee and served on the Executive and Policy, Regulations and Bylaws committees.

An economist by training, Joan holds an Honours Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Victoria and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of British Columbia.

Fiona Sudbury

Director

Fiona joined the Board in 2021, bringing extensive experience in nursing practice and management with a focus on seniors and dementia care, accreditation, quality improvement and risk management in healthcare settings. She chairs the Board’s Quality Assurance and Improvement Committee.

Fiona holds a Master of Health Science, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and has held Gerontological Nursing Certification. She has been recognized with a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) and an Award of Excellence in Nursing Practice (2001) and has presented at various local, national and international forums.

Diana Lokken

Secretary

A Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant (FCPA, FCMA), Diana was elected to the Board in 2018 after retiring from a successful career as Chief Financial Officer/General Manager of Finance and Corporate Services with the Capital Regional District. She served on the Municipal Pension Plan’s Board of Trustees from 2013 to 2019 and recently earned her Masters in Trust Management Standards (MTMS). She is also currently a trustee with the Municipal Retiree Benefits Trust Board.

In addition to a variety of other Board experiences, her community service includes serving as chair of the BC and Western Canada Government Finance Officers Association board, serving on the Board of the Society of Management Accountants of BC and serving as presenter and committee member of the Municipal Administrator’s Training Institute.

Diana’s professional background helped her acquire a vast knowledge of local government leadership, involved extensive liaising with numerous local non-profit groups and between multiple First Nations and the CRD, including coordinating treaty-related matters. Diana also played key roles in major organizational transitions/mergers, and led an international capacity-building project in Ghana, West Africa.

An avid genealogist, Diana enjoys visiting her grandson on the Lower Mainland and also finds time to volunteer at Government House and to create family books.

She and her partner, Jay, live in Victoria with their playful and curious cat Jumper, and have made Greater Victoria their home for over 45 years.

Rob McMurtry

Treasurer

Rob was elected to Beacon’s Board in July 2022, having recently retired after a long and successful career in the Information Technology industry. Most recently, his career role was to lead innovation partnerships for IBM in Western Canada, including partnering with Arlene Dickinson and her District Ventures team. Prior to that, Rob was the Director of the Natural Resources Solution Centre for IBM Canada, representing one of three strategic investments by IBM in core industries.

Rob holds a BComm Honours degree, majoring in Human Resources. His community service has included membership with the Personnel Association of Manitoba, the Project Management Institute of Southern Alberta, and IBM project management leaders. He has also served with the United Way of Calgary and as a Westwood Hockey coordinator, a Junior Achievement advisor, Cancer and Brain Tumour Foundation fundraiser and a Habitat for Humanity Global homebuilder.

Carolyn Knox

Member-at-Large

Carolyn was elected to Beacon’s Board of Directors in July 2022. She is a healthcare workforce planning and strategy expert currently working with the First Nations Primary Care Initiative. Carolyn has held many health management and leadership roles with BC Health Authorities and the Ministry of Health involving the development and implementation of quality and strategic initiatives.

Carolyn holds a Master’s degree in Leadership specializing in health, advanced certifications in healthcare management from BCIT, and is also a Certified Healthcare Executive (CHE) with the Canadian College of Health Leaders. In addition to her busy professional career, she volunteers her time to mentor new health leaders.

Darlene Bailey

Director

Darlene was elected to the Board in July 2022. Darlene is a Certified Personnel Consultant and Chartered Professional in Human Resources.

Her professional background includes many years as CEO and President of WCG, a well-known employment and vocational rehabilitation services firm. Darlene was also President of her own full-service recruiting and HR consulting firm. She is a former member of the BC Human Resources Management Association’s (BCHRMA) Audit Committee and has co-chaired an annual BCHRMA conference and served on the boards of the YM/YWCA, the Women of Distinction Awards, and the Victoria READ Society. Darlene holds an Honours BA in Psychology from the University of Victoria, has studied public administration at the post-graduate level and has a Volunteer Management Certificate from Camosun College. She received the 2004 Women of Distinction in Leadership Award and was recognized as a finalist in the 2015 Canadian CEO of the Year – HR Awards.

When she is not having fun with her nine grandchildren or enjoying the beautiful beaches with family in Ucluelet, Darlene enjoys playing bridge, reading and pursuing her passion for life-long learning. She and her husband, Nigel, are long-time residents of Greater Victoria and currently live in Saanich.

Barbara Whittington

Director

Barb has lived in Greater Victoria for many years. Firstly on four acres in West Saanich, a Garry Oak meadow where she raised her three sons. In late 21/22 she moved to Ravens Crossing Cohousing in Sidney as one of two founding members of this progressive Danish model of multigenerational intentional community. A long-held dream, she felt fortunate that 34 other households from far away and nearby places joined the strata, making her dream a reality.

Her career in social work and as a University of Victoria professor enabled her to do education, research and practice in the fields of child welfare, Indigenous ways of knowing, mediation, human rights and harassment and working with the media and later, the policy and practice area of grandparents raising grandchildren. These research and practice areas took her nationally and internationally to Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Europe and across North America.

After leaving UVic and seeing the cohousing project to completion, she could focus more on restorative justice, BC disaster psychosocial services, raising her puppy Rookie and being a nana to nine grandchildren, but who’s counting.

Oceanna Hall

Director

Oceanna joined Beacon’s board in June of 2023. She holds a Bachelor of Science, Master of Divinity and Master of Education degrees. She is also a Registered Clinical Hypnotherapist and Certified Clinical End of Life and Bereavement Specialist. Oceanna is a Certified Specialist with the Canadian Association of Spiritual Care (CASC), specializing in Palliative, End of Life, MAiD, Bereavement and Addiction support, Usui and Karuna Reiki Master Teacher. In addition to facilitating a bi-weekly grief group and monthly Death Cafes as a volunteer at the Shoal Center in Sidney, Oceanna serves as the Spiritual Health Practitioner for Island Health Authority at Saanich Peninsula Hospital while maintaining a private practice as a Life Transition Supportive Counselor.

Oceanna also has extensive training and experience supporting individuals experiencing mental health and addiction challenges in inner city environments. Until 2021, Oceanna also worked at Our Place Society in downtown Victoria for five years, providing supportive counseling to Victoria’s most vulnerable, unhoused community who are experiencing mental health and addiction challenges.

Dr. Tom Noseworthy

Director

Tom was elected to Beacon’s Board in July 2022. He is a Professor Emeritus (Health Services & Policy Research), Community Health Sciences and O’Brien Institute for Public Health, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. A physician trained in internal medicine and critical care, Tom holds a Master of Science in Experimental Medicine from the University of Alberta and a Master of Public Health – Health Policy & Management from Harvard University.

In 2005, he received the Alberta Centennial Medal and was named as one of Alberta’s Top 100 Physicians of the Century by the Alberta Medical Association and College of Physicians and Surgeons. In 2007, Tom was appointed to the Order of Canada, for contributions to health policy and Medicare. In 2012, he received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2017, he was inducted as a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.

Among his extensive community service, Tom was a founding member of the Canadian Frailty Network. He continues to serve on the Network’s Board and also volunteers as a piano player at Beacon’s Brentwood House and Sluggett House.

An avid hiker and skier, Tom travels to pursue his wide variety of professional and personal interests in BC and Alberta. He and his partner have resided in Sidney since 2010, and Tom regularly commuted off-Island for his professional obligations until his retirement in February 2021.

Godfrey Lee

Director

Godfrey joined the Beacon board in June 2023. He retired after a long career developing business intelligence software with clients worldwide. Godfrey’s latest role as Chief Software Architect focuses on understanding customer requirements, translating them to easy-to use software while constructing an architectural foundation for wide-scale deployments and leading a large software team to implement successful products for the customers.

Since retirement, Godfrey has joined a cohousing community in Sidney. They developed a 35-unit Strata from conception to occupancy. This intentional community uses a consensus decision-making process which requires members with diverse backgrounds to work together and meet the challenges. Godfrey is keenly interested in community building that meets the challenges of today.

Gordon Stevens

Director

Gordon originally joined Beacon as a volunteer driver in early 2021 and was elected to the Board in July 2022. Originally from Winnipeg, he holds a BA as well as designations of achievement from the Real Estate Institute of Canada, which has designated him as a Fellow.

Gord has over 25 years experience as a player and team leader in the acquisition, due diligence, management, redevelopment, syndication and disposition of commercial real estate. His expertise lies in high-rise office buildings, industrial sites, apartments, parkades, single use sites, shopping centres and malls.

Gord enjoys the outdoors, skiing, hiking, gardening and trying to tame his two Abyssinian cats. Since moving to the island in 2008, he and his partner have resided in North Saanich.

Paul Benson

Director

Paul joined the board in 2023 after retirement from a 40-plus-year career in the kitchen cabinet industry. In 1976, he founded his own company which grew to be one of the largest kitchen manufacturers in the province. The company focus was always on multifamily projects, some of which would number into hundreds of homes. The company started working in the Lower Mainland in 1985, proudly overcoming the local construction industry perception that nothing could be manufactured in Victoria. The company has kitchen installations in the four western provinces, five western states and even Japan. Today, the company continues to thrive under a new generation of leadership.

As founder and president of the company, Paul’s responsibilities were varied, allowing him the opportunity to gain experience in many areas from the technical aspects of cabinet manufacture to the functioning of the multifamily construction industry. His general management activities included human resources, finance, accounting and legal matters, among others.

Paul is a believer in fitness and is proud to have completed four Royal Victoria Marathons. He now splits his time between here and Whistler, where he has been an avid skier for many years. Paul has lived in North Saanich with his partner since 1977. She grew up in Deep Cove, about 10 km from where they live today. They both share and enjoy training responsibilities for their young German Shepherd.

Paul initially gained exposure to Beacon Services as a volunteer driver at the Sidney SHOAL Centre, where he continues to drive today.