Lisa Geddes

Lisa is currently a visual artist with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia. She has worked as a freelance graphic designer (Diploma of Graphic Design and Illustration from Caplilano College, North Vancouver) and has been an active volunteer throughout her life during and after raising three children all of whom are grown and onto their own careers. Lisa has an extensive background as director on various boards including:

• Hollyburn Country Club, West Vancouver (9 years, involved in focus group envisioning future development phases)
• Arts Whistler, Whistler (6 years, stakeholder and member focus groups developing Whistler’s long range Community Cultural Plan)
• The Point Artist-Run Centre, Whistler (current chair of the board, director 5 years

Harvey Goodman

Harvey has spent the last 49 years providing building related services, including project management, construction management, site engineering, site superintendent, structural design and building enclosure engineering. Predominately, his projects have included multi-residential buildings. His earlier projects included social housing, co-op housing, as well as market housing. Harvey has also been involved with building performance failure investigations, condition assessments, deficiency reviews, and warranty reviews. These all add to his ability to successfully manage new multi-residential construction. Lending his expertise as a board member in the development of the Denman Green project, is consistent with his many years of providing assistance to socially valuable projects.

Sue Hammell

Sue Hammell has owned recreational property on Denman since the 1990s and has made Denman her full-time home since 2018. Before retiring, she was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Surrey-Green Timbers with the BC NDP from 1991 to 2001 and 2005 to 2017.

Born in Vancouver, Sue was raised on Sea Island in Richmond. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in education from the University of British Columbia, she taught in Courtenay, B.C., Verdun, Quebec, and Surrey, B.C. She left teaching in the late 1980s to become the executive assistant to the mayor of Surrey.

In 1990, Sue entered provincial politics. During her time in government, she served as Government Caucus Chair, Minister of Housing, Recreation and Consumer Services, Minister Responsible for Co-Operatives and Minister of Women’s Equality, and was active on several government committees.

In Opposition, she served as Critic for Mental Health and Substance Use, Critic for Women’s Issues, Child Care and Early Learning, Deputy House Leader and Assistant Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

Sue is also a founding member of the Minerva Foundation for B.C. Women, initiated in 1999 to provide funds for projects that will assist women in realizing their potential and creating a safe place to live and work in British Columbia.

She has worked with the Washington, D.C.-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) since 2000. With NDI, she travelled to the Middle East five times to work with emerging political parties and female candidates.

Between 2002 and 2004, Sue worked as the executive director of Kla-How-Eya Aboriginal Society. She helped develop the society into a modern urban centre for indigenous people with an annual budget of over $2 million.

Since retiring, Sue has joined the boards of the Vancouver Community College and the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission.

Gracie MacDonald

Gracie joined the DHA board as a keen advocate for children and families.  She has lived on Denman on and off since 1989, most recently again full time since 2018. She holds a MEd from the University of Victoria and is interested in social and environmental sustainability. An elementary school principal, Gracie lives in the neighborhood with her husband Al.

Simon Palmer

After a career spanning almost four decades in the airline and ocean shipping industries, based first in Hong Kong and then San Francisco, Simon moved to Denman Island in 2003, where he soon became involved, volunteering in a series of community organizations.

First as President of the Denman WORKS! Economic Enhancement Society.

Then as Manager of Graham Lake Improvement District, a drinking water utility.

Finally, and currently as President of Denman Housing Association, which was incorporated in October 2012 to address the significant affordable housing needs on Denman Island

Dave Ricketts, P.Eng. (retired), M.Sc., FEC

Dave Ricketts is the founder of RDH Building Science Ltd. and Cascadia Windows Ltd. He has played a pivotal role in the transition of the North American design and construction industry towards the better application of building science and high-performance building technology. Dave is committed to energy efficiency in buildings and the mitigation of climate change.

Dave is the primary author of seminal guideline documents including:

• Survey of Building Envelope Failures in 3 & 4 Storey Wood Frame Buildings in the Coastal Climate of BC (1996, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation). This is the definitive work that identifies the cause of moisture problems in multi-unit wood frame buildings in British Columbia.
• Building Enclosure Design Guide – Wood Frame Multi-Unit Residential Buildings (2019, BC Housing).
• Guide for Designing Energy-Efficient Building Enclosures for Wood Frame Multi-Unit Residential Buildings in Marine to Cold Climate Zones in Canada (FP Innovations and Canadian Wood Council, 2013).

A leader in the building science field across North America, Dave has been recognized by the Engineer and Geoscientists of British Columbia (EGBC) through the McLachlan Award, for his leadership and significant professional and technical contributions to professional engineering.

Dave has had a longstanding wish to apply his building science knowledge and experience to the affordable housing sector. Now semi-retired, he is pleased to be involved in the Denman Green project and leads the design effort.

1982 -1988      Project Management on projects in excess of 1 million dollars per day. Over 900 people.

1988-1990       Middle East Business Development.

1990-1991       Projects Restoring Kuwait.

1991- 1999      Infrastructure Region Manager PR China, and all of Asia and Australasia.

1999 – 2001     Infrastructure Projects Sudan Rail, Pipelines and Communications.

2001 –              CEO, Chief Engineer and Founder of Major Equipment Manufacturing Company. Including Geothermal Power Projects Munich Germany Green Energy Drive Systems in Egypt to reduce CO2 emissions.

Pamela Willis

Pam has significant experience in the operational side of social housing. As a former executive director of the Women’s Resource Society of the Fraser Valley (now called Sara for Women), Pamela lead a team that purchased and renovated an old apartment building in Mission (Santa Rosa Apts.) creating safe homes for vulnerable women, established a cozy home for single moms, also in Mission (Taulbut House), opened with assistance from BC Housing a Housing First project in Abbotsford (Penny’s Place), and was the successful proponent in a BC Housing call to build and operate a 41 unit Third Stage housing project for women and children in Abbotsford (Christine Lamb Residence). All of this was in addition to overseeing two Transition Houses (Abbotsford and Mission), outreach programs and a social enterprise.