Our Team
Business Development:
The Business Development team works to increase our RCI Membership base with organizations who are dedicated to making measurable and verifiable emissions reductions.
Email: Click here to get in touch with our Business Development team.
Team Members:
| Mike Pearce | RCI Business Development Coordinator |
| Danielle Avila | Business Development Lead |
| Jazmine Tong | Business Development Generalist |
Regional Carbon Initiative:
Matthew Day
Program Manager
Matthew works closely with members of the Regional Carbon Initiative to take inventory of their GHG emissions, troubleshoot operational challenges to measuring GHG emissions, and provide training for our Carbon Accounting Tool. His extensive contributions to GHG-related issues, such as how- to and best practice documents, reports, and technical policies are integral to Sustainable Waterloo Region’s operations and helping members reach their carbon reduction goals. Matthew attended the University of Toronto where he received his M.A. in Geography.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Matthew.
Team Members:
| Tara Wilkie | RCI Program Coordinator |
| Sylvie Spraakman | RCI Framework Lead |
| Clay DaSilva | RCI Framework Researcher |
| Andreas Mertes | RCI Framework Researcher | Conor Brennan | RCI Framework Researcher |
| Tasha-Leigh Gauthier | Carbon Accounting Tool Coordinator |
| Joanne Adair | Employee Engagement Adviser |
| Isabel Urrutia | Research Analyst |
| Jen Owens | RCI Researcher |
| Ashley McDonald | Living Documents Coordinator |
| Nicholas Cloet | Living Documents Coordinator |
| Tyler Plante | Member Support Coordinator |
| Ana Gonzalez Guerrero | Member Support Coordinator |
| Laura Rourke | Member Support Coordinator |
| Alex Von Knobloch | Member Support Coordinator |
| Carrah Johnston | Member Support Coordinator |
RCI Events:
Lisa Chapman
RCI Events & Operations Manager
Lisa coordinates Sustainable Waterloo Region’s event season and manages a variety of internal operations. In planning Technical Workshops, Educational Forums, Peer-2-Peer sessions and community partner events, Lisa draws on her experiences as a certified teacher to assess and meet the emission reduction learning needs of individuals within the Waterloo Region business community. Lisa completed her BMath at the University of Waterloo, and both her BBA and BEd at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Lisa.
Team Members:
| Tara Wilkie | RCI Program Coordinator |
| Elizabeth Wong | RCI Events Marketing Coordinator |
| Shalini Nagrani | RCI Events A/V Coordinator |
Sustainability CoLab:
Miles DePaul
Sustainability CoLab Manager
Miles leads research into how to best scale up the impact of Sustainable Waterloo Region to other communities across Canada. This research includes engaging partners, supporters, and funders to collaboratively launch a new national-level entity. This entity’s mission will be to enable community leaders to develop programs to advance the environmental sustainability of organizations by creating a collaborative learning network across the country. He is currently responsible for writing a business plan, building relationships and partnerships across the country, and managing program evaluation projects. Miles has been working and volunteering with Sustainable Waterloo Region for nearly three years contributing to projects in business development, member engagement, and human resources. Miles holds a Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University, as well as a Masters in International Public Policy from the Balsillie School of International Affairs at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Miles.
Team Members:
| Mike Pearce | Program Coordinator |
| Puninda Thind | Sustainability CoLab Project Coordinator |
| Morgan Dierickx | Sustainability CoLab Marketing Manager |
ClimateActionWR
Sarah Brown
ClimateActionWR Project Manager
Sarah facilitates the ClimateActionWR partnership between Sustainable Waterloo Region, REEP Green Solutions and the Region of Waterloo, along with area municipalities, local energy utilities and the community at large. She is responsible for developing relationships among partners, guiding and executing project planning, and managing external communication. Sarah brings experience in energy policy and climate change planning research. She holds a BES in Environment and Business from the University of Waterloo, as well as a graduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Queen’s University.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Sarah.
Team Members:
| Elizabeth Weber | ClimateActionWR Coordinator |
| Melissa Gerrard | Community Engagement Coordinator |
| Brianna Aspinall | Community Engagement Coordinator |
| Amber Turvey | Community Engagement Coordinator |
| Anna Melnik | Online Engagement Coordinator |
Policy Engagement:
Sean Campbell
Policy Engagement Manager
Sean oversees Sustainable Waterloo Region’s Policy Engagement initiatives, which aim to collaboratively improve the operating environment of organizations within Waterloo Region through the advancement of research-supported public policy.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Sean.
Team Members:
| Victoria Alleyne | Policy Engagement Coordinator |
| Amanda Bichel | Policy Research Analyst |
TravelWise:
Mat Thijssen
TravelWise Coordinator
Mat provides support services to the Region of Waterloo’s TravelWise program, which is aimed at reducing the number of single-occupancy vehicles on regional roads. TravelWise partners with local organizations to provide ride-matching for carpoolers, discounted transit passes, emergency ride home services, and employer reporting. Mat works closely with regional staff on event planning, employer outreach, and marketing. He has a background in Business, International Studies, and Canadian History from the University of Waterloo, and focused his graduate research on global environmental governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Mat.
Finance:
Rebecca Vollmer
Finance Manager
Rebecca manages the financial processes of Sustainable Waterloo Region. She works closely with all functional areas to provide financial support and coordinates with the team to provide appropriate statements of financial position and as well as the annual budget. Rebecca is a recent graduate of the Bachelor of Business Administration program from Wilfrid Laurier University and is working towards her Chartered Accounting designation.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Rebecca.
Team Members:
| Katherine Albrecht | Financial Operations Lead |
| Ryan Magee | Controller |
| Suk Bedi | Financial Oversight Lead |
Human Resources:
Sarah Edmonds
HR Manager
Sarah manages and provides strategic guidance to our HR Team, which coordinates recruitment, recognition, retention, and engagement for both SWR volunteers and staff. Sarah is a Human Resources Professional that has over 5 years of experience in all aspects of Human Resources. She holds her CHRP (Certified Human Resources Professional) designation and a BA from Wilfrid Laurier University. Sarah has served on the Grand Valley Chapter HRPA Board of Directors and is involved in other organizing committees for the Grand Valley Chapter HRPA.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Sarah.
Team Members:
| Mat Thijssen | HR Generalist |
| Bianca Rocha | Recruitment Coordinator |
| Janice Dolby | Orientation Coordinator |
| Bianca Salive | People Relations Specialist |
Marketing:
Nina Blagojevic
Marketing Manager
Nina manages Sustainable Waterloo Region’s marketing team. She helps develop the organization’s brand by ensuring the consistency of messaging and design across multiple mediums.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Nina.
Team Members:
| Deb Bald | Senior Communications Specialist |
| Brent Wettlaufer | Communications Specialist & Photographer |
| Megan Sioui | Communications Specialist |
| Adam Waugh | Communications Specialist |
| Chris Steingart | Lead Graphic Designer |
| Maryam Kafi | Graphic Designer |
| Christine Bui | Graphic Designer |
Public Relations:
Jenn Carreiro
PR Manager
Jenn leads our Public Relations Team, the primary liaison between the community, the media and Sustainable Waterloo Region. Jenn manages the execution of the annual public relations strategy, encompassing media relations, social media, speaking engagements and award submissions. Jenn joined the organization in November, 2009 and recently earned her B.A. from Wilfrid Laurier University, double majoring in Communications Studies and Global Studies.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Jenn.
Team Members:
| Michelle Sullivan | Media Relations Lead |
| Kelly McMath | PR Generalist |
| Anna Beard | PR Generalist |
| Gabriella Santos | PR Generalist |
Web & IT:
The Web team oversees the implementation and maintenance of all web content and IT services. They assist in the maintenance of Sustainable Waterloo Region’s public website, the Regional Carbon Initiative Members’ portal, as well as our staff portal.
Email: Click here to get in touch with our web team.
Team Members:
| Mathew Thijssen | Interim Web Manager |
| James Carmichael | Website Coordinator |
| Tyler McConnell | Internal Tools Coordinator |
Strategy & Governance:
Mike Morrice
Executive Director
Mike Morrice is the founder and Executive Director of Sustainable Waterloo Region, a not-for-profit that advances the environmental sustainability of organizations across Waterloo Region through collaboration.
Mike is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, where he concurrently completed a BBA and a BSc. Recently named an Ashoka Fellow, he is one of 37 Canadians within this global community of leading social entrepreneurs, each with a new ‘knock-out’ idea and high potential to scale their impact. Mike has been selected by The Waterloo Region Record as one of Waterloo Region’s inaugural 40 Under 40, and recognized as Young Alumnus of the Year and Young Entrepreneur of the Year by WLU’s Alumni Association and the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, respectively.
Email: Click here to get in touch with Mike.
Additional Support
| Marty Finestone | Legal Advisor |
| Allan Taylor | Strategic Planning Lead |