Meet Our Board of Directors

Al has over 25 years’ experience and is a recognized leader in the fields of taxation and corporate finance. He is currently the Vice-President of Taxation and Internal Audit at J.D. Irving, Ltd. As a strategic thinker, Al has built several teams while fostering collaboration among stakeholders.

Throughout his career, Al has volunteered for both his profession and his community in leadership and founder roles. He is the past chair and board member of several local, regional, and national, organizations and commissions.

Thor has been growing, developing and leading businesses as the focus of his career. He is an active investor and mentor to start-up businesses in New Brunswick; he has founded and led large industry focused innovation projects; bought and managed his own business; and guided an internationally focused forestry firm through a vertical integration effort while also acquiring new business units as part of that process. Thor is currently developing several new initiatives.

In addition to his uniquely varied career, Thor brings broad board experiences, ranging from tech start-ups to not-for-profits, as well as the Director Certification with the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D).

Petra is the Vice-President Saint John at the University of New Brunswick and is a dynamic leader who is actively engaged in all campus affairs, including academics, administration, and operations. She is an internationally-renowned researcher with a vision to develop strong partnerships that will inspire a thriving environment that enhances all of the community.

Through her experience in senior administration in a variety of academic institutions, Petra has the ability to take an academic perspective and apply it to a variety of scenarios. Petra is excited to find innovative approaches that will have a significant impact on Saint John.

Trisha is an experienced lawyer, with nearly 20 years of practice in the areas of Labour & Employment, Organizational Governance, and Self-Regulating Professional Associations. As a result, she has an extensive background in employment and administrative law, ADR, corporate governance, professional discipline, and the rights and obligations of self-regulating professional associations and not-for-profit organizations.

Trisha is the co-founder of Resonance Inc., a multidisciplinary workplace services company offering clients structural governance and strategic planning, conflict resilience and resolution processes, workplace investigations, arbitration, management and employee training, people services, and general employment law. Strategic in thought and practical in execution, Trisha and her team help organizations strive for and achieve workplace harmony.

Trisha is a past Board member of various local community organizations and the Canadian Red Cross. She is also a recipient of the Order of the Red Cross.

Shannon is a certified logistics professional with over 20 years experience in leading global marketing and business development initiatives. In her current role as Director, Supply Chain Innovation at Port Saint John, her primary focus is to position the Port for future growth, building the economy of our community with the collaboration of stakeholders and partners.

Previously Shannon has held positions on the Canadian Institute of Traffic and Transportation and Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters boards, was a committee member for the Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick and volunteered with the Special Olympics, Red Cross, Heart and Stroke and the Canadian Cancer Society.

Shannon is excited for the opportunities ahead for our communities and is motivated to be part of it, to get stuff done now!

Ingrid has over 30 years’ experience in the energy and utility industry leading strategy development, business planning, business development, sales and marketing, operations, project management, government relations, process improvement, and corporate governance and compliance. Ingrid has led teams to consistently deliver results by leveraging her strategic insights, market knowledge and operational acumen.

Today, Ingrid is the Vice-President of Business Planning and Performance at CCGoodwin Consulting. She is a trusted advisor and accomplished leader in driving business growth and operational excellence, known for promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Ingrid is a lifelong resident of the Saint John region.

As the President of Opportunities Consulting Ltd, and Vice president of the Fundy Harbour Group, Wallace leads a team of professional staff in both the construction and property management sectors as well as providing strategic advice to clients from a variety of sectors.  With an entrepreneurial passion, Wallace and his partners are focused on growing the region one project at a time. From accessible seniors housing to award winning energy efficient commercial renovations to changing the Saint John skyline on the waterfront – developing the region with a purpose.

With his past experience on many nonprofit boards in the area, as well as experience on large corporate boards (Serving on the Atlantic Lottery Board of Directors), Wallace obtained his professional Chartered Directors designation (C.Dir) from the DeGroote School of Business/McMaster University in 2015.

Andy is a Division Manager with IG Wealth Management and currently specializes in helping successful small business owners and professionals establish or maintain their financial health.

In an uncommon career path, Andy spent the first 15 years of his career as a litigation lawyer and entrepreneur establishing his own legal practice in insurance. Construction, employment and wills and estates law.

An active member of the business community, Andy is also on the Executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Chair of the Hampton Public Works Committee. Previously he has donated significant time and experience on many Boards and Committees including as Chair of both the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce and the Cherry Brook Zoo (Saint John) and as Vice Chair of the Saint John Industrial Parks Board of Directors and the Dr. V.A. Snow Centre Foundation Board of Directors (Hampton) as just a couple of examples.

On the personal side, Andy is a proud husband, father and grandfather hailing from a small town in Newfoundland.

Ayman is a Workforce Consultant for WorkingNB, providing Human Resource Support Services to businesses in the South West Region of New Brunswick. With a strong business background and an entrepreneur, Ayman has helped several start-up businesses successfully launch. In addition to helping businesses grow, he has in-depth experience in Digital Marketing and Social Media. Ayman moved to New Brunswick in 2011 and is a champion and advocate for choosing Saint John as a place to live and work. His first-hand experience and his countless conversations with New Brunswickers has given him a unique understanding of challenges of growing our population.

David is an experienced leader with 18 years of progressive responsibility, including almost 10 years of broad public sector management experience at the City of Saint John.  As a member of the City’s Senior Leadership team, David is the Director of Growth and Community Planning for the City of Saint John and oversees the City’s efforts related to Growth, Planning, Housing, and the City Market. David wrote the City’s Population Growth Framework - Saint John’s first population growth strategy, and has project managed the delivery of numerous strategic plans approved by Saint John Common Council including the Succeed and Stay Immigration Strategy and the City Market Strategic Plan. David is an avid community builder and is the founding co-chair of the Saint John Local Immigration Partnership and a volunteer member of the St Joseph Hospital Advisory Committee.

Brent McGovern, a Professional Engineer with 25 years of experience in the municipal and private sectors. Brent is the Chief Administrative Officer of the City of Saint John where he leads the organization of approximately 600 people with an annual budget of $225 million. In his prior role he was the Commissioner of Utilities & Infrastructure for the City of Saint John where he was responsible for assets valued at over $3 billion and where he successfully oversaw the Safe, Clean Drinking Water Project – the largest municipal project in the history of the Province of New Brunswick at $216.8 million which was completed on time and $1 million under budget. In the private sector, he was a member of the Suez Environment team where he was responsible for Los Angeles California operations.

John started with the Town of Grand Bay-Westfield as their CAO in August 2020. Previously John was the CAO of the Town of Battleford, SK, the Mayor of Kindersley SK as well as the Chair of SUMAssure, a municipal reciprocal insurance corporation. With a Master of Divinity, an MBA, John was a management consultant before entering the municipal world.

John Jarvie has served as Rothesay’s Town Manager since 1997. He is a Public Member of the Council of the Law Society of New Brunswick, Administrator of the Kennebecasis Valley Fire Department, a Committee Member of the Union of Municipalities of New Brunswick, and was Founding Chair of the Standards Board for the Planning Profession in Canada.

Richard Malone is the Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Hampton. He has over 25 years’ experience in municipal government and has held his current role as Hampton’s CAO since 2007. Richard has a background in municipal recreation having served over 16 years in municipal Recreation Director roles.

Along with previous service on Boards in director and executive positions, he currently serves on the Board of the NB Municipal Employee Pension Plan and as a Councillor for the Anglophone South School District Education Council.

Aaron Kennedy is the acting Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Quispamsis. He was chair of the 2016 TELUS Cup host organizing committee, which generated a then record $175,000 Legacy Fund, co-chair of Rogers Hometown Hockey in Saint John in October 2016, co-chair of the successful bid committee for the 2018 Canada 55+ Games and chair of the 2018 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

Aaron was also involved with the bid committee for Les Jeux de l’Acadie, which are coming to the region in 2022. He was named Discover Saint John Sport Planner of the Year in 2017. Prior to his work in federal, provincial and municipal governments, Aaron was an award-winning broadcaster and journalist.