womenscampaignschool.org

Jennifer Sweeney – President

Jennifer Sweeney is a self-employed consultant and educator with a special interest in leadership and governance. She holds a B.A. (Hon) from UBC and a Master of Science degree from Purdue University. She worked in health care for 14 years, then worked on developing community supports for stroke survivors. In 2006 she was named a finalist for a Volunteer Vancouver Community Service Award for her work in founding the BC Aphasia Centre. She has held leadership roles as the Provincial Consultant for Pediatric Therapists as well as the Provincial Coordinator for a project with the Canadian Mental Health Association. She has always been interested in politics and upon leaving the profession of speech-language pathology, renewed her interest in more formalized politics. In June 2008, Sweeney completed the program for the Associate Certificate in Leadership and Conflict Resolution at the Justice Institute of BC.  Jennifer Sweeney can be contacted by e-mail: president@womenscampaignschool.org

 

Christine Basque – Vice-President

Christine is a professional fundraiser with over fifteen years experience working with non-profit organizations. She has worked and volunteered in women’s organizations including Battered Women’s Support Services and West Coast LEAF. Her professional background includes providing crisis support services and the development and implementation of revenue generating programs. Christine was born in Manchester, England and lived in Nigeria, Africa as a child before immigrating to Canada with her family.

 

Lisa Hudson – Secretary

Lisa has 26 years of administrative experience. She has served on the Board of a local housing cooperative, and is currently a volunteer with the Richmond Hospice Association.

 

Christianne Wilhelmson – Treasurer

A 2006 Women’s Campaign School graduate, Christianne is an Ontario transplant who came to BC in 1995 to pursue a MSc in Zoology (Ecology) at UBC, after receiving a B.Sc. from Trent University, and stayed on after graduation. She currently works as the Clean Air and Water Program Coordinator for Georgia Strait Alliance (GSA), where she manages campaigns to reduce pollution in the Strait of Georgia and leads GSA’s government and media relations efforts. She also works as a freelance science writer and editor, working with government agencies, businesses and not-for-profits to make science and technical information accessible to everyone. Her belief that understanding science is important in our society led her to volunteer for nearly 10 years on the organizing committee of the Greater Vancouver Regional Science Fair, one of the largest science fairs in the country. Christianne also has a long standing interest in politics, having earned a BA in English, History and Political Science in 1987 from the University of Ottawa. She is currently the Chair of Conservation Voters of BC, a non-partisan group committed to getting environmental minded candidates elected at all levels of government. She lives in Vancouver with her husband, is an aunt to 5 amazing kids, and loving mother to one very small, very neurotic cat.

 

Catherine Evans – Director

Catherine Evans is a lawyer with a part-time practice and a partner in the communications and strategic planning firm, Ethos Strategy Group. She has a background in policy development from having worked for many years for the Government of Ontario before coming to Vancouver in 1999 with her family. Catherine is actively involved in a range of community organizations and is a founding member of the BC Society for Public Education. Catherine has a long-standing interest in both politics and women’s issues and attended the Women’s Campaign School in 2004.

 

Carolyn Jack – Director

Carolyn Jack is a veteran journalist with nearly two decades experience in broadcast news, working with both Canadian and international networks. A former reporter, documentary maker and programme producer, she has covered political events, elections and referenda across Canada and abroad. 

 

Allison McDonald – Director

Allison is a graduate of the 2004 CWVC Women’s Campaign School. In 2005 she sought a nomination to run as a member of the BC Legislature and narrowly missed defeating a former Provincial Cabinet Minister. Allison has been a public education advocate since 2001 and was a founding member of the Save Our Schools parent network. She is a director of the British Columbia Society for Public Education, a member of the Vancouver Public Education Project (a pan-partisan advocacy group), and continues to chair the Parent Advisory Council of her children’s high school. By day, Allison works as a Research Analyst at BC Hydro. The rest of the time, she practises her art, enjoys reading, watching films, cooking and working on election campaigns. Allison lives with her husband and two sons in Vancouver’s West End.

 
Amanda Reaume – Director

Amanda Reaume is the volunteer Executive Director of the Antigone Foundation, a non-profit organization that encourages young women aged 10-35 to get involved in leadership, politics and activism. In November 2006, Reaume founded Antigone Magazine, a magazine about women in politics and has grown the publication into a national semi-annual magazine that is published at UBC and U of T. Under Amanda’s editorial leadership Antigone Magazine has interviewed amazing women like Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and former Prime Minister Kim Campbell, while also publishing an internationally recognized blog.

 

Janet Wiegand – Director

Janet is a graduate of the 2003 Women’s Campaign School and works as a strategic planner at BC Hydro. There she manages components of the annual strategic planning process and structures strategic issues in order to help figure out how best to manage them. Janet brings a background working in both corporate and grassroots community settings. She has served on the board of a credit union, two radio stations and a social service organization in Vancouver and in Montreal. She is currently a director on the board of a charitable foundation.