CALGARY — The Pembina Institute is pleased to welcome to our board six new directors with leadership experience on clean technology and innovation, climate policy, sustainable resource development, and youth empowerment. The new directors are the first step in a process of board renewal that Pembina began last year and will continue over the course of the next 24 months.
New board members include:
- Meredith Adler, executive director of Student Energy, a global charity which has been named one of the top 50 youth solutions in the world delivering on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Adler’s commitment to creating the next generation of energy leaders to accelerate the transition to a sustainable energy future has received local and global recognition.
- Jessica Butts, senior director of the Delphi Group, a sustainability consultancy which helps some of Canada’s largest organizations move toward a low-carbon future. She recently supported an expert panel on Green and Transition Finance to enable investment in a net-zero emission Canadian economy.
- Anne Giardini, Simon Fraser University’s 11th Chancellor (2014-2020). Formerly president of Weyerhaeuser Company Limited in Canada, Giardini has extensive board service including B.C.’s Council of Forest Industries, CMHC, Translink, HydroOne and WWF-Canada, among others.
- Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon, senior research associate, Payne Institute, Colorado School of Mines, and research fellow at University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. Dr. Hastings-Simon is an expert on the role of public policy in energy and industrial transitions in different sectors of the economy, and former director of clean energy at the Pembina Institute.
- Jamie Houssian, principal at Elemental Energy, a North American leader in renewable energy projects across Canada and the U.S. Houssian leads business development and investment at Elemental.
- Nancy Wright, founder and principal of Nancy Wright & Associates, which consults to B.C.-based start-up cleantech companies. Wright is former chief operating officer of GLOBE, the world’s longest-running leadership summit for sustainable business.
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“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it all too clear that the pathways we choose to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 must also deliver on sustainability and equity goals to address the disproportionate social and economic impacts of global crises. The appointment of these experienced leaders with a variety of perspectives will help Pembina address the climate, energy and environmental challenges we face now, and into the future.”
- Linda Coady, executive director, Pembina Institute
Returning board members include:
- Dan Balaban, president and CEO of Greengate Power, a Calgary-based company responsible for developing some of Canada’s largest renewable energy projects.
- Rick Breen, partner at Calgary law firm Miller Thompson LLP.
- Tom Marr-Laing, management and governance advisor to various for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises, and former executive director of Pembina Institute.
- David Runnalls (chair of the board), distinguished fellow of the International Institute for Sustainable Development and of the Centre for International Governance Innovation.
- Leonard Schein, founder of the Vancouver International Film Festival and Festival Cinemas and an active board member for many different community-based business, cultural and environmental organizations.
- Barry Stemshorn, former assistant deputy minister for the Environmental Protection Service of Environment Canada.
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Contact
Sarah MacWhirter
Communications director, Pembina Institute
416-389-7465
About the Pembina Institute
The Pembina Institute is a non-profit think-tank that advocates for strong, effective policies to support Canada’s clean energy transition. We have offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Toronto. Learn more: www.pembina.org.