West Coast Climate Action Network
Meet Our Dedicated People
At the heart of the West Coast Climate Action Network lies a dedicated community of passionate volunteers. WE-CAN celebrates the incredible individuals who tirelessly unite to amplify the efforts of environmental organizations across British Columbia.
Together, we stand stronger in the fight for climate justice and in our collective efforts to address the climate crisis. Here, you will see the faces behind our mission and learn about their stories. Your support through donations and funding is crucial in sustaining our work and driving meaningful change. To donate, click here. Please join us in our commitment to a healthier, more sustainable future for all by becoming a member, or volunteering on one of our working teams.
Alison Bodine
Director, Communications Team Lead
Originally from the U.S., I have lived in Vancouver for a majority of the last 15 years after graduating from the University of British Columbia. Since high school I have been an environmental, antiwar and social justice activist dedicated to the fight for a better, sustainable, and just world.
For the past five years, I have been a central organizer with the grassroots climate justice coalition, Climate Convergence Metro Vancouver. With Climate Convergence I have been part of building the growing movement in Metro Vancouver against the disastrous environmental policies of the government of Canada, including the Site C Dam, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion, and the Coastal GasLink Pipeline.
I am also a journalist, author, and researcher with a focus on environmental, Latin American and immigration issues. Most recently, my articles have been published internationally by Venezuelanalysis, Global Research, Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), Common Dreams, Orinoco Tribune, Monthly Review and Counterpunch.
Brad Procter
Director
Brad is a lawyer by trade, with a business degree, who has worked as a corporate litigator on Bay street, a real estate executive throughout Western Canada, a field accountant in a distant past, and most recently in leadership roles in the ENGO sector. Brad is currently the Executive Director of the Gorge Waterway Action Society, a charity dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the Gorge Waterway in Victoria, BC, on Lekwungen-speaking territory.
In recent years, Brad has focused more and more on climate work, with an emphasis on government relations, lobbying, training, and climate education.
Chélie-Renée Elsom
Administrator & Website Manager
With over 15 years of experience in education, Chélie-Renée honed her communication, research, organization and writing skills, laying a strong foundation for her journey into environmental studies. After obtaining a certificate in Business Sustainability Management from the prestigious Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, she continued to expand her expertise. She graduated with honours from a diploma program in Environmental Studies with a major in management. As a fourth-year student at Royal Roads University pursuing a Bachelor of Environmental Practice, she remains dedicated to advancing her knowledge and skills in environmental stewardship. She is the owner of One Planet’s Worth, a writer, gardener, mother and life-long learner with a strong environmental ethic who loves spending time outside.
Eric Minty
Director, Local Government Team Lead
Erik brings 25 years of experience as a computer systems engineer, project manager, and consultant focused on Quality Management and Agile team practices. He is currently engaged in his small tech startup, which serves mental health professionals. In 2017, he established the Tri-Cities Regional Association of the BC Green Party and served as a candidate for Port Coquitlam in the 2020 election. Current climate initiatives include leading a Cycling Highway campaign with Force of Nature and HUB, and he is an active member of WE-CAN’s Local Government Team. He will be seeking election in 2022 to serve on the City Council for Port Coquitlam.
Guy Dauncey
Co-Chair, Director, CAPA and Membership Teams Lead
I am a self-employed organizer and author who works to develop a positive vision of a sustainable future and to translate that vision into action. I am the founder of the BC Sustainable Energy Association, co-founder of the Victoria Car-Share Cooperative, President of the Yellow Point Ecological Society, and co-founder and Co-Chair of the West Coast Climate Action Network. I am the author or co-author of ten books, including The Climate Challenge: 101 Solutions to Global Warming and Journey to the Future: A Better World is Possible. I am currently completing my latest book, The Economics of Kindness. I believe that the 2020s are the most critical decade in the history of our civilization. I am a climate alarmist, but not a doomer: I share the view of Paul Hawken that if we put our minds to it, we can end the climate crisis within one generation. If we all work together, we can exert an incredible influence.
Harry Crosby
Director, Governance Team Lead
Harry brings a broad range of experience in community building to the board, with a focus on governance, program management, conflict resolution, training and fundraising. He brings a legal dimension to the board, having managed a general practice, with a focus on environmental/ecological law, providing justice services to First Nations, advocating in the area of land claims. He has studied climate science, ecology, protection of biodiversity and ecological health. He is a member of the New Westminster Climate Action Hub and President of Friends of Ecological Reserves. His interests (when he has time to smell the roses) are hiking and wildflower photography.
Joslin Jose
Storyteller
Our Storyteller, Joslin, shines a light on the incredible work of our member organizations. Through thoughtful interviews, Joslin explores these groups’ missions, projects, and unique contributions, creating compelling stories that celebrate their impact. From highlighting innovative climate solutions to showcasing grassroots efforts in action, Joslin’s stories bring our network’s collective efforts to life. By sharing these stories, we aim to inspire collaboration, amplify our members’ voices, and strengthen the movement for climate action in British Columbia.
Katherine Maas
Director, Indigenous Engagement and JEDI Teams Lead
I am a retired educator, a mother and grandmother, a systems thinker, a passionate climate hawk, an experienced coach and facilitator, comfortable with technology, with strong writing and editing skills, a committed and collaborative team member.
Previous governance experience:
- 7 years as a community organizer at Dogwood
- 10 years as manager of an international team of professionals responsible for developing and delivering interpersonal skills training to engineers in a multinational telecom
- 10 years as a strata council president including directing a successful and harmonious $1.5M envelope replacement
- 3 years as a founder and board member of a daycare start-up
- several years as a community association board member
- 3 years as a board member of a women’s collaborative investment club
- current board member of the First Unitarian Church of Victoria
As a mother and grandmother, I am determined to help drive the actions needed to ensure a livable planet for future generations – not only for humans, but for all lifeforms and the interconnected ecosystems we are dependent upon.
Lauren Touchant
Director
Dr. Lauren Touchant is a Professor of Public Administration and Public Policy in the Department of Political Studies at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, British Columbia. She specializes in Environment and Climate Policy, Energy Policy, Digital and AI Governance, Emergency and Disaster Management, and Social Policy.
Dr. Touchant completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Royal Roads University under the supervision of Dr. Smith-Carrier, Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in the School of Humanitarian Studies at Royal Roads University, British Columbia. She also completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Ottawa within the Centre on Governance (COG) and the Environmental Law and Global Sustainability (CELGS), focusing on Water Law and Freshwater Governance.
She received her PhD in Public Administration from the University of Ottawa and has been recognized with several prestigious academic scholarships and awards. Dr. Touchant graduated as Valedictorian and was awarded the Vanier Scholarship (2016-2019) and the Alex Trebek Scholarship (2022-2023). She has also received numerous community honors, including the Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Pin, the Vanier Community Award, the Ottawa Distinguished Women Award (Community Pillar), and the 2018 Ontario Leading Women, Leading Girls, Building Communities Award.
Dr. Touchant has several publications and currently leads the development of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Program on Climate Leadership in Canada and Senegal.
Mariama J. Krubally
Director
Mariama is a first-generation University graduate hailed from The Gambia, West Africa. She earned a Bachelor’s in Development Studies and a Master’s in International Relations and Diplomacy. She is an activist and has volunteered with different youth organizations from a young age to date. Mariama is passionate about environmental preservation and sustainable development. Her hobbies include Arts and crafts in which she recycles products to create interior designs to help reuse and reduce waste. She loves nature and finds fulfillment in nurturing fruit trees and tree planting activities. Mariama is a content creator, she loves photography and uses pictures to tell stories, which can be found on her YouTube channel. She is concerned about Climate Change and always willing to join the fight irrespective of where she finds herself, thus her motivation to join the WE-CAN Climate Action Network of British Columbia for a better and healthier planet.
Robert Gunn
Director, Treasurer, Donations Team Lead
Robert settled in Port Alberni in 1973 by way of NZ and Peru. He has worked for FN and provincial governments and private industry and has been self-employed for the past 50 years. As a grandfather to young children, he disparages the implications of the climate crisis and the havoc it is already causing and which will only worsen as this decade unfolds. He believes that we are all complicit, in as much as we lack the social cohesion needed to address the well-understood root causes. Perhaps WE-CAN will be able to play its part in building the required community to address this huge and painful issue.
Saskia Geurtzen
Director
Bio coming soon
Summer Tyance
Director
Summer (she/they) is an Anishinaabekwe with Ukrainian ancestry, from Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek (Gull Bay First Nation) located in Northwestern Ontario. She is a graduate from The University of British Columbia majoring in First Nations and Indigenous Studies and Political Science. Some key research areas of interest being Indigenous Legal Traditions, Self-determination, Intersectionality, Oral Tradition and Indigenous Governance. Summer will be going into 2L in fall 2024 in the Joint Degree Program in Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders (JD/JID) at The University of Victoria.
Her work experience extends to having engaged with various organizations such as Indigenous Services Canada, The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, The Canadian Women’s Foundation, The Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies and currently West Coast Environmental Law. She prioritizes safety, transparency and respect, as core values to her work and personal life. Obtaining justice for Indigenous peoples in a good way, being one significant career goal.
Outside of work and school, other passions include podcasting, poetry, art, traditional hand-drumming, and fancy shawl dancing. She also enjoys being out on the land as much as possible, partaking in swimming, hiking, canoeing and fishing.
Tara Shushtarian
Co-Chair, Director
For the past twenty years I have been a strong advocate for climate and social justice and a core team member with the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, Dogwood Initiative and Force Of Nature Alliance. I have worked on several campaigns like the BC Poverty Reduction Plan, which has been adopted into legislation; Climate Emergency Declaration in Municipalities; All On Board for accessible, affordable transit; and the referendum on electoral reform in BC. My recent involvement with Fair Vote Canada has amplified the need for a citizen’s assembly and proportional representation at the municipal level. I also did a two-year stint with the BC Centre For Palliative Care as a South Asian advisor for their Advanced Care Plan. I am currently on the Environment Committee for Burnaby Council as a resident representative and have been elected to the board of Fair Vote Canada. A cinema aficionado, I am on the board of the NewWest Film Society.
With the various crises the world faces, be it climate catastrophe, burgeoning inequalities and the dire pandemic we are living through, we need urgent action and renewed energetic trajectory changes. My canoe has left the bank on the river of reconciliation. I continue to grow and learn about Indigenous rights. Along with my activism, I have worked as a translator, teacher and mortgage consultant which has always allowed me to bring different perspectives, skills and viewpoints to the table. I have good analytical skills and am a team player fostering relationships through an alliance with environmental, social and racial justice.
