BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Our Board of Directors is responsible for ensuring that we fulfill the mission and purpose of YW Calgary through strong governance, effective planning and sound fiscal management. You can read more about how our board operates in our Board Bylaws.
Join the Board
We recruit for our board of directors prior to the end of each fiscal year on March 31. To learn more about how you can join, contact Dana Boyle dboyle@ywcalgary.ca
If you’re a past YW board member interested in reconnecting, please get in touch for more information about opportunities to re-engage.
Meet our Board Members
Sharon Carry is a passionate visionary who has transformed post-secondary education for adult learners. Her determined commitment has been showcased in her achievements as a leader at Calgary’s Bow Valley College and a myriad of community groups.
From 1997 to 2017 Sharon served as President and CEO of Bow Valley College, overseeing its transformation from a quiet vocational school under direct day-to-day management of the Alberta Government when she took the role, to the largest college in the province and an entrepreneurial leader in online learning today.
Sharon has never stopped volunteering and continues to be passionate about supporting community organizations. Sharon has been described as a woman of outstanding vision, dedicated to improving the lives of Albertans and was invested with the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2014.
Lisa is an innovative entrepreneur and chartered accountant with experience in international finance.
As the CEO of Neal’s Yard Remedies Canada, Lisa is the strategic leader and visionary for development and operations across Canada. With vast experience ranging from public accounting to B2C sales and strategic consulting, she also shares her passion and expertise as a Senior Consultant at Citrus Capital Partners where she provides business planning support and coaching.
Lisa is a graduate from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Commerce. She is a member of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce Finance and Audit Committee, the Director of the 4th Street Calgary Business Improvements Area and Treasurer of REAP Calgary.
Deborah brings with her more than 20 years in the legal field with a particular focus on land planning and property assessments with Alberta Justice as Legal Counsel. She holds a Law Degree from the University of Calgary and has nearly a decade of experience as a member of a non-profit Board of Directors in the theatre and education sectors.
Angela Butler is a Canadian CPA-CA with over 30 years of experience in the international oil and gas industry including operational finance roles, strategy and business development and corporate finance. In her current role as Vice President Process and Data Transformation Angela is part of Suncor Energy’s Business and Operations Services leadership team and she is the executive leader of Suncor’s enterprise wide process and data transformation programs.
Eleanor Chiu is a prominent leader in the business and philanthropic community in Calgary. She is genuinely passionate about ensuring her contributions make a significant difference. Her long list of volunteer roles have included sitting on the Mount Royal University Board of Governors, Alberta Children’s Hospital Board, and treasurer of Immigrant Access Fund Board. She is also the founder of Trico Charitable Foundation and serves as one of their directors. In her role as Trico Group’s Chief Financial Officer, she helped build the Company from a small business in Calgary to one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies-a testament to her business acumen, and professional and personal strengths. She also held directorship of various public and private for-profit companies. Eleanor holds an FCPA designation; a prestigious honorary designation awarded to CPAs who, through their outstanding achievements including community leadership, bring distinction to the accounting profession and serve as a role model to others.
Eleanor’s passion for entrepreneurship and keen awareness of the need for creative solutions to ensure sustainability in the non-profit sector has played a key role in setting the Trico Charitable Foundation’s mission – provoking innovation and building capacity in social entrepreneurship. The Bow Valley College’s Chiu School of Business was named after their family. Through the Foundation, the Chiu family has also contributed to the Calgary Stampede Youth programs and, most recently, creating an entrepreneurship hub at Mount Royal University and a social entrepreneurship centre at the University of Calgary.
Through all of these endeavours, Eleanor Chiu has driven innovation and industry change in her profession, support of business studies and has demonstrated remarkable and outstanding achievement in her field and in the Community.
Pritma is a Yale educated nurse executive and award-winning serial entrepreneur with 18 years of healthcare experience caring for patients at the bedside and in the boardroom. With her expertise in health informatics, Pritma co-founded Lavender, an online psychiatry and therapy office based in New York, and serving clients across the United States. She serves as adjunct faculty at the University of Victoria and the University of Calgary where she co-hosts: Now Innovating, A Research to Impact Podcast. Pritma is a member of the American Nurses Association Innovation Advisory Council and is particularly passionate about advocating for the profession of nursing to advance access to timely mental health care. Pritma has lived and worked in Calgary since 2006 and enjoys spending time with her husband & two young children.
Claire Galvin is a chemical engineer who has more than 40 years of experience in the energy industry throughout North America at both technical and executive levels. Throughout her career she has focused on the design, construction and operation of oil and gas production facilities.
Recently retired from Husky Energy, Claire was the Chief Petroleum Engineer where she was responsible for engineering career development initiatives while leading a team of senior reservoir engineers working on Husky’s more technically complex reservoirs.
Claire is a graduate from the University of Toronto and is passionate about helping women excel in STEM careers. She is a mentor to young professionals at Husky and sits on the Steering Committee of Husky’s Women’s Leadership Network.
In her spare time, Claire enjoys tennis, skiing, travel, reading and is an avid supporter of the arts.
Aalia Ratani is a Partner with McKinsey & Company based in Calgary. She serves clients in the energy industry across a range of topics, including strategy, operations, organization and capability building. Prior to joining McKinsey, she worked at Husky Energy in various engineering roles. Aalia is passionate about giving back to the community and she also sits on boards and other strategic committees across Calgary. In 2019, Aalia was named top 40 under 40 in Calgary by Avenue Magazine.
She holds a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary and an MBA from INSEAD.
Liz was most recently an executive in a Provincial Financial Services organization. She has a background as a versatile senior executive with 30 years of experience. She is known as a strategic problem solver and visionary with success leading P&L in Wealth Management, Business, Agriculture, and Retail Banking. Liz brings a depth of knowledge in Organizational Culture and all aspects of HR, Corporate Social Responsibility, Strategic Planning, Sales, Operations and Information Management to the YW Board.
Liz has an MBA from Dalhousie University, holds the ICD.D, and CFP. Liz is actively involved in the community and sits on several not-for-profit organizations and advisory boards.
Emily Wang, Ph.D., R. Psych.
Senior Director, Clinical Advancement & Centre
Dr. Wang has worked in the field of mental health for over 30 years, starting as a front line worker at the Sonia Shankman Orthogenic School in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. Wang holds a Master’s of Science in Educational Psychology, a Master’s of Art and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology.
Dr. Wang has been an invited speaker both internationally and nationally on many occasions, speaking most frequently about the impact of trauma on development to professional groups like educators, clinicians, Indigenous populations, ministries in Alberta and British Columbia and caregivers. She was responsible for the provincial training of the Neurosequential Model (NM) concepts and implementation in Alberta from April 2017-October 2018.
She currently works as a Senior Director of Clinical Advancement and Trauma Informed Services at Hull Services. Dr. Wang was an appointed Fellow of the Neurosequential Model Network between 2012-2020, and a specialist in Infant Parent Mental Health. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, and a Sessional Instructor with the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary. Dr. Wang is an Associate Member at Hotchkiss Brain Institute and the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education at University of Calgary, and as such is involved in several research projects related to child maltreatment and mental health. She has completed 445 hours of training in Reflective Practice and Supervision, and utilizes this skill as a tool to support others in leadership roles. Dr. Wang is the 2020 recipient of the University of California, Davis Continuing and Professional Education Parent-Infant and Child Institute “Bruce Perry, Spirit of the Child Award”.