The Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa is governed by a 15-member Board of Directors, all of whom are volunteers. All Board members contribute by lending their expertise in areas of governance, programs, fundraising, communications, legal, IT, community development, strategic planning, finance, and human resource development. The Club is always looking for qualified Board nominations as positions come available. To nominate someone for a Board spot, contact Scott Bradford at 613.232.0925 ext 241.

Graham Macmillan
President
Walton Asset Management

Prior to joining Walton Global Investments Ltd., Graham Macmillan was a Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets. He was the firm's senior Corporate Finance/Investment Banking representative in the Ottawa area. With over 20 years of investment banking experience, he has led numerous financing and financial advisory assignments for many of Canada's leading companies, including; Corel Corporation, Mackenzie Financial, JDS Uniphase, AGF, Lumonics and Accelio Corporation.

From 2000 to 2009 Graham was Head of the Retail Structured Product Division, a multi-billion dollar business with RBC Capital Markets.

Graham has served on many private and public sector Boards. He is currently the President of the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa and co-founder of the Lift Foundation, a public foundation that raises money for various charities surrounding children and mental health.

Jacquie Woodward
Co-Chair, Program Committee
Program Services Consultant
Children's Aid Society

Jacquie Woodward retired from the Ottawa Children's Aid Society after 33 years of service having held a number of portfolios over that time. At the time of retirement Mrs. Woodward was the Director of Child and Youth in Care Services, and was an active member of a number of Provincial and local committees related to issues such as child welfare legislative changes, youth justice, the Ottawa Child and Youth agenda, and educational issues affecting children and youth in care. Mrs. Woodward is a Program Services Consultant and has been working with the Ottawa CAS as well as with the Ministry funded Crown Ward Education Championship Team Initiative.

As well as being a Board member of the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, Mrs. Woodward is a member of the Ottawa Council of Women and sits on the Social Welfare Committee.

Gary Zed
Chair, Advancement Committee
Senior Partner of Ernst & Young LLP 

Gary has more than 20 years experience in controversy management and revenue administration. He serves the largest global multinationals in Canada and also provides strategic advice to many of Canada's weathiest families. He is a frequent speaker at national and international forums. He is published, has authored several articles and is frequently quoted in international journals concerning taxation matters. Gary has been recognized for five consecutive years in the prestigious Legal Media Group's Guide to the World's Leading Transfer Pricing Advisers and Guide to the World's Leading Tax Advisers for his expertise.

Gary is Presidentof the LIFT Foundation, created in 2008 by several National Capital business leaders and philanthropists who share a vision for charitable giving and community development. He is an active community supporter and he sits on a number of boards and committees including Ashbury School, Elmwood School, the National Arts Center Foundation, The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre 20-20 Campaign and the Ottawa Hospital Gala.

Gary has a BA in economics, an MBA in management and marketing, and an LLB.

Janice McDonald
Advancement Committee

Janice McDonald is an Ottawa native. She is the co-owner of CD Warehouse Inc, mymusic.com and iStyle Originals.

She is a former Royal Ottawa Hospital Foundation board member and currently is Chair of Women in Communications Ottawa-Gatineau Board.

Janice is active in various volunteer roles within the community and keen to make a difference with this organization.

She has a B.A. in Mass Communications, an M.A. in Canadian Studies and training in Conflict Resolution with the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution (CICR), She is also a music reviewer, former radio host and writer for several magazines.

Jennifer North
Treasurer, Chair of the Finance Committee

Jennifer North, C.A. is currently the Chief Financial Officer of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group. In all of Jennifer's professional roles, her focus has been on implementing strong corporate governance and financial controls. When not at work, Jennifer can be found running marathons with her friends and is also involved in several sport organizations in the community including the Ottawa East Minor Hockey Association and the Ottawa Internationals Soccer League. She is a graduate of the University of Waterloo and obtained her chartered accountant designation in 1989.

Tasleem Budhawani
Program Committee

Tasleem was born in Tanzania and moved to Canada when she was 4 years old. She attended English as a Second Language class, while attending regular public school. Tasleem participated in many school sport activities and community sports teams. She believes that her participation in extracurricular activities helped her stay healthy, engaged and active in positive ways. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and currently works for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as a civilian member. Tasleem believes in the mission of the Boys and Girls Club to "provide a safe, supportive place where children and youth can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, build positive relationships and develop confidence and skills for life". She is proud to be of service to her community in Ottawa.

J. Bruce Carr-Harris
Legal Councel
Partner
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

Bruce is a Partner in the Ottawa office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. He is a former member of the Regional Management Committee and the National Council of the firm.

Bruce practices as General Counsel in civil litigation with a strong emphasis in commercial litigation, construction litigation, profesional liability, administrative law and insurance law. His dispute resolution practise also includes experience in domestic and international aribitrations. Bruce has many appearances as counsel in all courts in the Province of Ontario, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. He appeared as counsel at various Commissions of Inquiry and for the Canadian Olympic Committee at numerous sporting and team arbitrations.

Bruce is a past memeber of the Ontario Judicial Council, a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Past President of the Advocates' Society of Ontario. He is listed in L'Expert - Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business and the National Post Best Lawyers and is a part-time Professor at the University of Ottawa, Common Law.

Bernie Burns
Secretary

Bernie Burns retired after a 35 year career developing and managing housing programs at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and Ottawa Community Housing (OCH). National Aboriginal Housing programs were among his key responsibilities at CMHC. At the time of his retirement from OCH Bernie was Executive Director of Community Development, a position in which he worked to create and enhance community partnerships and programs that benefit residents of social housing communities. He has also overseen establishment and management of OCH's Call Centre and Community Safety Services. Additionally, Bernie served for 7 years on the Board of the Social Housing Registry of Ottawa and served two terms as its President.

Bernie is a member of the Boys and Girls Club's program Committee and Marketing Committee.

Inspector Ed Keeley
Advancement Committee, Community Development
Superintendant - Executive Officer
Ottawa Police Services

As the Superintendant of the Office of the Chief Directorate, Ed Keeley is responsible for providing direct support to the Chief of Police, and executive oversight for the Community Development/Corporate Communications Section, Planning, Performance & Analytics Section and the Professional Standards Section.

As well as the Chief's Executive Officer, he is currently an active member of the Ontario Association of Chief's of Police (OACP), the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), and sits on the Operation INTERSECT Steering Committee.

Throughout his 26-year career in policing, Ed has served 14 years with the Ontario Provincial Police, and 12 years with the Ottawa Police Service working in Patrol Operations, Criminal Investigative Services, and Traffic. Ed has also held leadership roles as project leads in key organizational projects, namely the design and development of the Ottawa Police Service Performance Review Process, their recent Strategic Deployment Review, and the development of the Ottawa Police Service's goals and objectives for their 2010-2012 Business Plan strategic priority of Reducing, Investigating and Preventing Crime.

Ed's career in policing has provided him with a broad range of experiences serving the community in numerous community settings. As the father of two daughters, Ed has also volunteered his time through various minor sports organizations for a number of years.

Today, as a memeber of the Board, he is very proud to be a part of the Boys and Girls Club, an organization committed to providing all kids the opportunity to reach their full potential.

Stephen Beckta
Proprietor
Beckta dining & wine / Play food & wine

Stephen Beckta is proprietor of two Ottawa restaurants that has received glowing reviews and numerous prestigious awards. He has enjoyed dedicating time to the growth of his chosen profession by sitting on the board of the ORHMA, teaching at the Algonquin College Hospitality School and sitting on it's advisory committee. Stephen has also gotten involved with various local and national causes that are dear to him.

After graduating with honours from Algonquin College's Sommelier program, Stephen honed his skills in New York City for four years at Cafe Boulud and Eleven Madison Park. After returning to Ottawa, he was named Top Independent Restaurateur in Ontario by the Ontario Hostelry Institute (2007), was selected as one of Ottawa's Top 40 under 40 by the Ottawa Business Journal in 2008, was named one of the Ottawa Life Magazine's Top 50 people twice (2003, 2010). He was also selected as Algonquin College's Alumni of the year in 2010 and won the Bill Joe Restaurateur of the Year Award in Ottawa by ORHMA (2011).

Stephen is proud to be a Centretown Clubhouse Alumnus.

Catherine Decarie

Catherine joined Export Development Canada (EDC) in 2001.  She is currently responsible for programs and services that attract and develop talent, enabling a high performance culture and generating the skills and mindsets necessary for the achievement of EDC’s vision and business objectives.   Specific areas of accountability include Organizational Development, Culture, Change Management, HR Strategy and Policy, Talent Acquisition, Employee & Leadership Development and Employee Relations.

Over the past decade at EDC, Ms. Decarie has held numerous positions within the Human Resources function, including Director of HR Policy and Strategic Services and Vice President of HR Services.  Prior to joining EDC, she held various legal and human resource positions with the head office of a national retailer in Toronto.

Ms. Decarie is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, and the County of Carleton Law Association.  She is also an organizing committee member for the Ottawa Chapter of the Strategic Capabilities Network, a past participant in the Women’s Executive Network “Wisdom” program and former President of the Mount Allison University Alumni Board of Directors.  Ms. Decarie currently sits on the Board of the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, as well as its Human Resources Committee.  She holds a BA from Mount Allison University (1990), an LL.B. from Queen’s University (1994) and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1996.

EDC is Canada’s export credit agency, offering innovative commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business. EDC’s knowledge and partnerships are used by more than 8,300 Canadian companies and their global customers in up to 200 markets worldwide each year. EDC is financially self-sustaining and is a recognized leader in financial reporting, economic analysis and has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for nine consecutive years.