Board of Directors

Directors of Green Action Centre are elected by members at an Annual General Meeting, held in June. For information about how to become a member of the Green Action Centre board, contact Randall McQuaker, Executive Director.

Staff - Colin Crolly

Colin Crolly

President

Colin Crolly joined the Green Action Center Board in 2006 hoping to support the wonderful services offered by Green Action Center employees and volunteers. Colin’s interest in environmental issues has been driven partly by a lifelong passion for outdoor activities like hiking, canoeing, skiing and cycling, but mostly by the hopes for his two young children. Colin has spent the last much of the last eighteen years working with developmentally disabled adults and mental health patients but recently took time off to be a stay at home dad and to continue his studies at the University of Winnipeg.

bike wheel winter

Valerie Shantz

Director

Valerie Shantz is the Green Action Centre’s newest board member. She has worked for the past twenty years in administration within the the not-for-profit sector, and more recently within the public sector. Her previous board service has included local arts organizations and the University of Winnipeg. She became interested in environmental issues while trying to sort out the thorny question of how to get to work. She joined Green Action Centre out of a desire to work with others interested in learning and communicating about environmental action, whether it is at an individual, family, or larger societal level. She’s also hoping she can learn how to be a better composter and develop the nerve to finally tackle winter biking in Winnipeg.

Staff - Michael Smith

Michael Smith

Treasurer

Michael is currently in his 5th year on the board of Green Action Centre. His first involvement with Green Action Centre was as a workplace coordinator for the Commuter Challenge at the National Research Council where he works. Childhood years spent in rural Nigeria and growing up in a thrifty Mennonite household have contributed to a strong sense of the need for conservation and environmental sustainability. Michael is a year-round cycle commuter. He enjoys gardening, soccer, basketball, music, board games, DIY projects and serving as the “energy police” around home.

Staff - Peter

Peter Miller

Director

Retired from the Philosophy Department at University of Winnipeg, Peter now has the privilege of working for his grandchildren as chair of Green Action Centre’s Policy Committee. Youthful experience in Alaskan wilderness left its imprint for life. Besides his teaching and research in environmental ethics, Peter was a founding member of the Recycling Council of Manitoba (ancestor of Green Action Centre), Time to Respect Earth’s Ecosystems (TREE), Manitoba Model Forest, and the University of Winnipeg’s Centre for Forest Interdisciplinary Research (C-FIR). He has also served on the Manitoba Environmental Council, the Manitoba Round Table on Sustainable Development, and Wabanong Nakaygum Okimawin (WNO – the provincial east side planning initiative).

Denis DePape

Denis DePape

Director

Denis joined the Green Action Board in 2011 because its mission and programs aligned with his interests in sustainability, reducing car usage and combating affluenza. A non-driver all of his life, Denis is an avid volunteer, coaches soccer and basketball, has advocated for French Immersion schools, and participated in church and school advisory councils, facilitated planning and organizational workshops for numerous NGO’s and, in recent years, served on the Board of Directors of Save Our Seine, where he is currently a Vice President. Denis teaches a course in natural resource and environmental economics and sustainability at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba. His favorite activity is leading guided tours through the magical Bois-des-Esprit, the largest natural area area along the urban Seine River.

Photo unavailable

Robin Beukens

Director

Robin Beukens is a student in the Master of City Planning program at the University of Manitoba. Prior to entering the program he worked on a range of environmental projects; including six months in rural Uganda supporting food security and environmental education through the promotion of fuel efficient stoves, tree planting, soil preservation and composting.  Most recently, he worked for Metro Vancouver in their Environmental Management division focusing on drinking water and waste water management.  In his spare time he likes gardening, enjoying the outdoors, foreign restaurants and traveling.

Ani board image

Anika Terton

Director

Ani is one of the newest board members and joined Green Action Centre in 2012. Ani works for Climate Change Connection, or CCC, (a project of the Manitoba Eco-Network) where she is responsible for coordinating outreach initiatives, delivering presentations, generating information and outreach pieces and aiding in the delivery of CCC’s anti-idling initiatives. Ani is also involved with the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition which is a united front of youth from across Canada tackling the biggest challenge of our generation, the climate crisis. Most recently, she attended the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations in Durban, South Africa as a member of the Canadian Youth Delegation.

Prior to working with CCC, she finished her Master’s thesis on Canadian climate change policy, volunteered and worked at the Environmental Policy Research Centre in Berlin and the German Cultural Centre in Toronto. Ani is originally from Germany but adopted Canada as her new home over three years ago. Camping, cycling, kayaking and yoga are just some of her favourite things to do in her free time. Inspiring and empowering people is a theme that resonates through her personally, and something that she believes will become increasingly necessary in our modern society.

Sara Thrift

Sara Thrift

Director

Sara joined the Green Action Centre Board in January 2012. She brings with her a unique perspective as she has experience working for the organization (on and off during the years of 2005-2008 and 2010). In fact, it was a summer job with the Compost Action Project that inspired Sara to pursue a career in the environmental sector. She is excited to have joined the Board and have the chance to get reacquainted with the organization!

Sara received her B.A. from the University of Winnipeg in 2008 where she majored in International Development Studies. In 2010 she received her Master’s Degree in Resource and Environmental Management from Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS. As part of her Master’s Program, Sara worked with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and produced a report on public consultation with the Métis people of Canada in the context of environmental assessment. She is currently working as the Outreach Coordinator with the Red River Basin Commission.

In her spare time, Sara loves spending time with family, gardening (and composting!) playing soccer, and traveling – she has been to 4 continents so far and hopes to increase that number soon!