Board of Directors | WestShore Chamber of Commerce

Candidates for the 2020-21 Board of Directors

New Nominee

Sarah Alasaly | Sarah was born in Ottawa and raised in Vancouver. Sarah graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and practiced as a Registered Nurse for approximately five years before going to law school at the University of Ottawa. As a Registered Nurse, Sarah worked in both Labour and Delivery and Acute Medicine in two of the busiest hospitals in BC. Now as a lawyer, Sarah practices in the area of Family Law, Wills and Estates, and Personal Injury. Sarah is passionate about helping people and believes it is her duty to give back to the community. She is excited about joining the WestShore Chamber of Commerce and hopes to bring a unique and diverse perspective to the economic development of businesses in the WestShore. She is always willing to lend a helping hand and truly wants to see the people around her succeed. When Sarah is not working, she can be found doing yoga, cycling or playing tennis with her husband and family.

Directors Standing for Re-election

Paula Blazina | Director. Paula Blazina has 18+ years’ banking experience with Coastal Community Credit Union and is currently Branch Manager of the Eagle Creek Village Branch. Paula has been a WestShore Chamber member representing Coastal Community Credit Union for four years and joined the Board in 2018. Coastal Community Credit Union is Vancouver Island’s largest island based Credit Union, employing nearly 600 people tip to tip – coast to coast with 24 retail branches, 16 insurance offices as well as Business/ Commercial services and Wealth and Personal Insurance.

Sharon Mitchell | Director. Sharon specializes in working with women who are facing a major life transition such as widowhood, divorce, downsizing or retirement. A certified Financial Planner, Sharon has worked in the financial industry since 1993, joining the Dividend Value Partners team of Raymond James in 2014. She holds two bachelor degrees: a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) from the University of Calgary and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta. In addition, she completed her Financial Management Advisor (FMA) designation in 2007, her insurance licensing in 2014, and is now US licensed to assist US citizens with their finances and investments. She enjoys analyzing her clients’ entire financial situation including investment management, and advising on areas for potential improvement. Sharon first joined the Board of Directors in 2018.

Ingrid Vaughan| Vice President. Ingrid owns and operates Smart HR, a consulting service geared towards helping business owners create and sustain strong HR processes and practices in their companies. Ingrid is a former manager of the WestShore Chamber of Commerce, and has extensive experience in helping Chamber members grow their businesses. She previously served as President of the board of South Island Centre for Counselling and Training, and on the boards of Worklink and the CoolAid Society. Ingrid has served on the WestShore Chamber Board since 2016.

Current Directors

Mike Reilly | President. Mike was raised in Kitchener-Waterloo, and graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in biology. He worked for several years as a habitat consultant for forest companies in the BC Interior but gradually shifted to more IT management as the industry changed. After working as a project manager with a division of Hewlett-Packard, Mike changed careers to become a financial advisor with Freedom 55 Financial. Mike is excited to help his clients achieve peace of mind for themselves and their family’s future. Mike and his wife Karen are busy with six kids, three boys and three girls, ranging from middle school to post graduate students. His non working hours are spent at dance recitals, animal husbandry activities, parent teacher interviews and other domestic engineering tasks

Kelly Darwin | Secretary. Kelly is the owner of Seriously Creative, an award winning web design & marketing agency. Kelly grew up in Langford, raised his family and continues to reside and operate Seriously Creative in the Westshore.
An avid networker Kelly is also Director Consultant with Business Networking International, a referral networking advisor and business and marketing development consultant.

Todd Troyer | Treasurer. Todd is a principal at Baker Tilly Victoria Ltd. and leads the practice at the Westshore office. He obtained his CGA designation in 1997, and his CA designation in 2000. Todd practices in auditing, accounting, and taxation services in both the public and private sectors.
Todd is an avid curler and has played competitively for many years. He is a former Canadian Junior Curling Champion having won the title in 1988 and was silver medalist at the 1989 World Junior Curling Championships. Todd has volunteered as a coach for youth curlers for many years and from 2009 to 2015 coached teams to B.C. Provincial Curling Championships. The 2012, 2013, and 2015 teams won the provincial title and represented B.C. at the Canadian Junior Championships. Todd is born and raised in Victoria and has lived in Colwood for 10 years with his wife Teresa and daughter Robyn.

Chris Burdge | Director. Chris is the owner of bWEST Interactive, an award winning online marketing firm based in Langford. Chris is also the founder and CEO of SOHO Victoria, an annual conference designed to help small and home office business owners succeed by empowering them to manage and grow their business, through workshops, 1-1 Expert Advice and networking. In 2009 Chris co-founded Social Media Camp, Canada’s largest social media conference, coming up to its 10th anniversary here in Victoria. Chris is an avid supporter of the West Shore community and JDF Minor Hockey. When not working he can be found playing hockey, cycling or paddle boarding with his kids.

Henry Chipps | Director. Henry is a member of the Sc’ianew First Nation and one of the treaty negotiators, and is part of a team discussing a new modern day treaty with the federal and provincial governments. Henry is also involved in First Nations education and works with Aboriginal Education at School District # 62. It is also here where Henry works with another team, here he works with the youth. Henry has been a director with the WestShore Chamber of Commerce since 2014.

Michele Hansen | Director. Michele has over 25 years of business experience as a successful entrepreneur running an award-winning custom fabrication company in Victoria. In her free time, Michele and her husband Dan love to enjoy nature with their dog Max, walking through forest or beaches and camping throughout BC. The WestShore business community is near to Michele’s heart.

Annette Siewertsen | Director. Annette is born and raised in Victoria, BC and now lives and works on the Westshore. She has worked at Royal Roads University since 2005 and completed her Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching in 2012 through the university. Annette is passionate about giving back to her community and has made volunteering in her local and global community a priority in her personal and work life. Some of the organizations that she has volunteered with are: Leadership Victoria, International Coach Federation Global and Vancouver Island Chapter, HeroWork, Worklink, Association of Coach Training Organizations (ACTO), Cool Aid and Hospice Swimathon.

Bruce Simpson | Director. Bruce is the Branch Manager of Hatley Memorial Gardens Cemetery & Cremation Centre in Colwood. He moved to the Westshore 6 years ago from Calgary where he held a number of positions including being a Television News Reporter & Anchor for the CTV affiliate CFCN to being a Senior Fundraising Coordinator with the Canadian Cancer Society. He has previous experience as the Manager of Medicine Hat’s Downtown Business Revitalization Zone, and as a National Coordinator with an environmental group “Kids for Saving Earth”. Family is very important to Bruce. He and his wife Debra have a blended family with 4 adult children. They also provided primary parental care for their granddaughter for over 10 years. He loves his work saying he is able to drive home and the end of each day with the satisfaction of having helped somebody through a difficult time. As he says, “He’ll be the last person to ever let you down”.