Greater Vancouver Community Services Society
Board of Directors
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Lynn Carter - President

Ms. Carter is the current President of the Board of GVCSS and has been a Board member since 1985. She has served on the Executive Committee and other ongoing and ad hoc Board Committees during this time, and has successfully guided the Society through significant growth and changes.

Ms. Carter has over 30 years experience in the social services and educational sectors. She has worked as a college Instructor in social work and as department chair since 1982. Her work in social services also includes administrative positions with various government organizations and commissions including the Ministry of Children and Families; Gove Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection; Board of Registration for Social Workers; Open Learning Agency; and Family Services of Vancouver. Her volunteer background includes appointments as Chairperson, BC Benefits Tribunals; Chairperson, Vocational, Rehabilitation and Disabled Persons Appeals; and Member, Panel Roster of Complaints Division, Children’s Commission.

Ms. Carter’s educational background includes a BA from the University of Wisconsin, MSW from the University of British Columbia and post graduate studies in health policy from the London School of Economics.

Dr. Jack Tremaine - Past President

A long term Board member of GVCSS, Dr. Jack Tremaine’s history with the Society began in 1980 in its fledgling days under Kitsilano Inter-Neighbourhood Development (KIND). He became President and stepped down several years after KIND and Outreach Home Support Society amalgamated to become Vancouver Home Support Society, and has continued to serve as Past President and member of the Executive Committee during the many changes the Society has experienced including the successful amalgamation of services with other community service providers.

Dr. Tremaine is involved in community activities through his church and is a long term member of Brock House Society.

Dr. Tremaine holds a B.Sc and M.Sc from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He also holds a PhD in Virology from the University of Pittsburgh. Now retired, Dr. Tremaine worked for many years as a research scientist in plant virology with Agriculture Canada.

Joan Stace-Smith - Vice-President

Ms. Stace-Smith has served as a Board Director, Board Vice-President and member of the Executive Committee with GVCSS for many years. She has been active on the Society’s Board committees and headed the Nominations, Human Resources and Recognition Event Committees throughout this time.

Before retiring, Ms. Stace-Smith worked as a professional social worker with a number of organizations including Vancouver City Social Service, Children’s Aid Society in Vancouver, Aid to Dependent Children and the Oregon State Public Welfare. She was a foster parent for a 10 year period and fostered for the Children’s Aid Society and Catholic Children’s Aid Society for special needs children.

Ms. Stace-Smith has been a Board member and is Chair of the Nominations Committee of the Brock House Senior’s Society, Secretary of the Canadian Society of Mayflower Descendants, and Executive member of the Couples Club at West Point Grey United Church. She continues to be active with other community organizations including the Van Dusen Garden Society and Vancouver Natural History Society.

She holds a BA and a Bachelor’s degree in Social work from the University of British Columbia.

William Hunter - Vice-President

Mr. Hunter is a long term member and Vice President of the GVCSS Board. As a member of the Executive Committee for many years, he has been instrumental in guiding the Society through its many changes.

Mr. Hunter’s other volunteer activities include the preparation of tax returns for needy individuals through First United Church, President and member of the Welsh Men’s Choir, and committee positions at West Point Grey United Church. He has been a member of the Brock House Society for many years.

Now retired, Mr. Hunter worked in the Burnaby secondary school system for 36 years as a teacher, vice principal and principal.

Mr. Hunter holds a BA, B.Ed and a M.Ed from the University of British Columbia.

Norman Henderson - Secretary

A long term member of the Board of Directors, Mr. Henderson has served on the Society’s Executive Committee as Treasurer, Director at Large and is currently the Board Secretary. His interest in technology has helped steer the Society through various technological changes during the past 20 years.

Throughout his professional career Mr. Henderson worked as a school teacher, held senior management positions at the BC Department of Education, Canada Manpower and was the Director of International Education at Vancouver Community College. Following his retirement Mr. Henderson remained active in the education and training sector as a consultant and was responsible for various projects in China, consulting for the Foundation for International Training, and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Mr. Henderson’s extensive volunteer background has focused on education, including current membership and work as an IT and Database consultant with the Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO), and IT consultant to various non-profit organizations.

Mr. Henderson holds degrees from the University of British Columbia including a BA in Economics and Psychology, and an M.Ed in Media and Communications. He also did studies in Educational Administration and Adult Education, and teacher training at Vancouver Normal School.

Suzanne Bolton - Director At Large

A Board Director with the Society since 2000 and an ongoing participant on the Board’s Nominations and Human Resources Committees, Ms. Bolton was elected to the Board’s Executive Committee as Director at Large in 2002.

Ms. Bolton’s volunteer work is extensive, and includes long-term voluntary service with organizations such as the Elizabeth Fry Society, YWCA of Vancouver, Covenant House, and PACE Child and Family Society. She was awarded the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award in 2007 for her outstanding volunteer contributions in the community.

Ms. Bolton holds a BA from the University of Western Ontario. She is a Human Resources professional, and has worked as a Human Resources consultant with various organizations throughout the years covering the private, government and academic sectors.

Marshal Nickel - Director At Large

One of the Society’s newer Board Directors and member of the Board Executive Committee, Mr. Nickel joined the GVCSS Board in 2006 and was elected to the Society’s Executive Committee in 2008. He has been a member of the Employee Recognition Event Committee since 2007 and Chair of this Committee since 2008.

Mr. Nickel’s professional background in the human resources field includes experience in the corporate, government and educational sectors. He was also Director of Volunteers for a not for profit sailing association for people with disabilities. Mr. Nickel studied Recreational Leadership at Langara College.

Mr. Nickel’s community and volunteer experience includes participation with various service agencies including the YWCA, Neil Squire Foundation and MOSAIC. He has received awards for his contribution to “Face to Face, An Equity Employment Initiative” and participation on the Face to Face Advisory Steering Committee from 1999 – 2002.

MariLynne Abbott

Ms. Abbott brings a particular insight to her role on the GVCSS Board from a consumer perspective since she is also a client of home support services. She was a Board member on the Association of Neighbourhood Houses (ANH) Home Support Board for several years, and was elected to the GVCSS Board in 2001 following the amalgamation of the ANH home support service with Greater Vancouver Community Services Society in 2000.

A long-time advocate of housing for mature women, Ms. Abbott has been involved with WISHS (Women In Search of Housing Society) for over 20 years and is the founder of this organization. She was honoured by the Soroptimist International Tri- Cities division in 2007 for her long term efforts in this area which resulted in housing for over 100 mature women. She has also volunteered with Meals on Wheels.

Ms. Abbott worked in Toronto as a Senior Manager with the Toronto Credit Bureau, and was Program Director at the American Management Association’s International/Canadian Management Centre, Executive Sales Manager at Town and Country Inns and later worked in Vancouver as a consultant with expertise in business to business promotion.

Ms. Abbot attended the Credit Management program at the University of Toronto.

Ken Bogas

Mr. Bogas is a long term Board member with GVCSS. His other volunteer activities over the years include serving on the Boards of the United Way, the Youth Resources Society, the Working Boys’ Home Society and the Richmond Family Court Committee.

Now retired, Mr. Bogas’s professional career was with youth and child protection, counselling, probation and training and staff development. He worked with a number of organizations including Catholic Children’s Aid Society, the City of Vancouver Family and Juvenile Court, and was Director of Probation Officer Training and Assistant Director of Staff Development for the Corrections Branch at the Justice Institute of BC.

Mr. Bogas holds a BA and BSW from the University of British Columbia.

Ruth Bromley

A long term member of the GVCSS Board of Directors, Ms. Bromley brings insight from her professional background as a retired Registered Dietitian. She served on the Society’s Employee Recognition Dinner Event Committee for several years.

In her professional career Ms. Bromley worked as a Dietitian at Vancouver General Hospital and later at Children’s Hospital as Manager of Food and Nutrition Services. While working at Children’s hospital she established the first Breast Milk Bank in Canada. She later worked as an Instructor at Langara College teaching food service management and clinical nutrition from 1975 to 1994 when she retired from the workforce.

Ms. Bromley holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Home Economics with a focus in foods and nutrition, and completed graduate studies in health and geriatrics with an emphasis on nutrition in relation to health of the elderly. Her education also included an internship as a Dietitian at Vancouver General Hospital.

Dr. Graham Bryce

Dr Graham Bryce is one of the Society’s newer Board Directors, joining the Board in 2007.

Now retired from medical practice, Dr. Bryce’s medical background includes a specialty in Otolaryngology, Otology and Neurotology. Dr Bryce is currently a clinical Associate Professor with the Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Bryce is an active volunteer in the community, dedicating much of his volunteer work to hearing healthcare advocacy. He is a Board member of the Western Institute of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and BC Family Hearing Resource Society. He is also a member of the steering committee, BC Early Hearing (newborn Hearing screening and intervention).

Dr. Bryce studied Biochemistry at the University of British Columbia before graduating with an MD Degree from the school of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He holds a Clinical Fellowship in Neurotology from the University of Toronto and was a Fellow in Otology and Neurotology at the Hough Ear Institute of the Baptist Medical Center at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Bryce practiced Otology and Neurotology at several Lower Mainland Hospitals and was Director, Division of Otolaryngology at St. Paul’s Hospital, Providence Healthcare in Vancouver. His career also includes both undergraduate and postgraduate medical teaching positions at the University of BC, Vancouver General Hospital, Royal Columbian Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital in New Westminster.

Patti Lowery

One of the Society’s newer Board members, Ms. Lowery joined the GVCSS Board of Directors in 2007.  A member of the Society’s Employee Recognition Event Committee since 2008, she also served as the Coordinator on this Committee in 2009.

A Human Resources professional with extensive management and executive experience, Ms. Lowery worked with organizations in various fields including health care, business and non-profit associations, government, manufacturing, retail, bio-technology and international management consulting firms. She also worked as an independent human resources management consultant specializing in organizational behaviour and development. 

Ms. Lowery’s volunteer activities have involved her with a variety of community organizations including Victims’ Services with West Vancouver Police Department, the Elizabeth Fry Society and Media Watch. She was a Board member with Family Services of Greater Vancouver and the YWCA.

Ms. Lowery’s educational background includes psychology studies at Simon Fraser University, the BCIT Human Resources Management Program and designation as a Certified Human Resources Professional (CHRP). She was also a long term member of the Human Resources Management Association (HRMA).

Jim Siemens

Previously a Board member on the Association of Neighbourhood Houses (ANH) Home Support Board, Mr. Siemens joined the Board of GVCSS following the amalgamation of the ANH home support service with Greater Vancouver Community Services Society in 2000.

Mr. Siemens currently works at Immigrant Services Society and is a Manager at Welcome House where he assists new immigrants with housing and also manages the Refugee Assistance program. Prior to his position with Immigrant Services Society, Mr. Siemens worked in the forestry and shipbuilding industries and later opened a business in the Marine Industry. He studied Commerce at the University of British Columbia.

Mr. Siemens’ past community activities include Board and Committee membership with the United Way; City of Vancouver/Chair of Family Court, Youth Justice Committee; and Heritage Hall Preservation Society. He is currently on the Boards of Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, Alexander Housing, Alexander Foundation, United Nations Association in Canada/Vancouver Branch and is a member of the Lions Club.