Board of Directors

Nancy Farran, Board Chair

Nancy has lived on the North Shore for over 40 years. She is a Senior Investment & Wealth Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities in West Vancouver. Nancy has always been an active volunteer. She is currently an Elder in the Presbyterian church and chair of the West Vancouver Foundation. She has one daughter living in Victoria. Her interests include reading well and playing golf badly. 

Kevin Evans, Vice Chair and External Relations Committee Chair

Kevin’s professional background provides Hollyburn with a skill set that covers communications, board governance and government relations. A broadcast journalist for close to 25 years, his career also covered government relations, professional facilitation, public service as a Crown Corporation CEO, and leadership of a health care association. Kevin is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors and an active community volunteer. He and his wife Ronnaug raised their two children in Lynn Valley and currently reside in Lower Lonsdale where they are learning the joys of grandparenthood from four little ones.  

Robert (Bob) Tanaka, Treasurer and Investment Committee Chair

Bob received his Bachelor of Commerce from UBC and joined a large international accounting firm upon graduation.  He received his CA in 1984 and was promoted to Senior Manager in 1987.  He joined a local accounting firm as partner and helped operate the practice for twenty years.  He currently provides consulting services to private companies.  Bob has served on a number of community Boards including the Coquitlam Foundation, Crossroads Hospice Society and the Coquitlam Public Library.  He also assists his local Church parish as a member of the finance committee.

Michael Thorne, Secretary

Mike is an independent Certified Financial Planner and insurance specialist, with over 30 years of industry experience servicing families and small business clients. He also has extensive community volunteer experience, having served on the Boards of the Sam Sullivan Disability Foundation, the False Creek Yacht Club, the Vancouver Sea Festival, and the Molson Indy Vancouver. He is a founding member of Hollyburn Community Services Society. Mike has lived and worked on the North Shore for most of his life.

Alan Kwinter, Past Chair

Alan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Toronto in 1972, and has been involved in the treatment of adolescents and their families in British Columbia since 1974. He has extensive experience operating residential treatment centres, schools for troubled youth and family counselling programs in the Lower Mainland of BC. In 2004 Alan founded Hollyburn Community Services Society with the mission to serve vulnerable citizens on the North Shore. The agency has grown to offer a range of fully integrated community-based services.

Deborah Baker, Director at Large

Deborah Baker is a member of the VCH Board of Directors and currently a full-time Member of the Squamish Nation Chiefs and Council. She has long been an advocate for fair and equitable services provided to members of First Nations in the areas of education, housing and employment. She is a keen supporter of programs that promote healing and wellness for Nation members. Deborah has previously worked as a Regional Coordinator for the Aboriginal Business Services Network, a Youth Business Advisor for the All Nations Trust and as the General Manager for the Bella Bella Community Development Society, among other positions in business and finance.

Lynn Green, Director at Large and Governance Committee Chair

Lynn received a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Education in Counselling Psychology from the University of British Columbia, along with a Bachelor of Education from the University of Toronto. With this background, she has been a teacher and counsellor in elementary and secondary schools in Ontario and BC, and latterly assumed various leadership roles in the Vancouver School Board. Prior to serving as President and CEO of the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education, Lynn was an Associate Superintendent with the Vancouver Board of Education where she supported the work of 34 elementary and secondary schools throughout the city.

Heidi Mason, Director at Large

Heidi is a second-generation West Vancouverite who spent most of her 35-year legal career trying to make the justice system more accessible to the most marginalized members of our community. When she was called to the bar in the mid 80’s, she joined a small firm in North Vancouver, where I helped a group of small business owners re-establish the Lower Lonsdale Business Association. In the early 90’s she joined Legal Aid, where her focus and drive turned to working on justice initiatives targeted to helping youth, victims of domestic, and early intervention projects aimed at diverting cases away from the court system. In October of 2023, she retired from her position as Executive Vice President of Legal Aid and took on a new role as Special Advisor to the BC First Nation Justice Counsel. 

Paul J. Tutsch, Director at Large

Paul grew up in Montreal and graduated with a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Civil Engineering) in 1968. Paul spent 35 years in the securities and investment industry in Canada and was a consultant to and director of a number of public and private businesses in British Columbia during 1990s. Paul is presently a Board member of the West Vancouver Arts Centre Trust, and has served on the Hollyburn Community Services Society Board since its inception in 2004.

Jason Wexler, Director at Large and Housing Committee Chair

Jason is currently the VP of Design and Development with British Pacific Properties working on local north shore residential and commercial projects with a focus on sustainability and design. After graduating from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Architecture 1996, he moved to British Columbia in 1999. Jason and his wife Kirsten moved to the north shore in 2005 and are avid outdoor enthusiasts enjoying all of the recreational opportunities in the local mountains. He volunteers with the District of West Vancouver on the Arts Facility Advisory Committee and has volunteered in the past with the Whistler Advisory Design Panel, UDI Policy Review Committee, AIBC Mentor Program, Habitat for Humanity and the West Vancouver Modern Homes Tour.