Meet Our Board of Directors
Our unique governance model consists of six municipal government representatives from the investor municipalities, a representative from the province, and eight external Directors selected through an open expression of interest.
Open Director Positions
We are currently seeking to fill multiple Board positions as many independent director terms come to an end.
Board members will be appointed to terms of up to three years effective September 2023.
To learn more and to apply, click the button below.
Al Walker
Chair
Al Walker
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.
Cynthia Goodwin
Past Chair
Cynthia Goodwin
Cynthia has more than 25 years’ experience as a leader of teams and a specialist in strategic communications planning, corporate social responsibility, marketing, stakeholder engagement, media relations, issues, and crisis management – and getting things done.
Cynthia has led communications for organizations including Atlantic Lottery, Irving Oil, and the University of New Brunswick. Today Cynthia is the CEO & Chief Consultant at CCGoodwin Consulting Inc., supporting clients of all sizes and sectors in New Brunswick and Canada.
Cynthia has served on the Boards of Develop Saint John, the United Way and the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce.
Thor Olesen
Vice-Chair
Thor Olesen
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).
Dr. Petra Hauf
Vice-Chair
Dr. Petra Hauf
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.
Shannon Blanchard
Shannon Blanchard
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!
Joel Richardson
Joel Richardson
Joel is currently the Vice President Public Relations, Cooke Aquaculture Inc. and was previously the Vice President NB/PEI with the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, advocating on behalf of entrepreneurs.
Joel has over 20 years government management experience in economic development, trade and export, tourism, and foreign investment attraction.
He has served as a City Councillor, NB Cities Association President, Atlantic Canada Caucus Chair and National Finance Chair for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
David Alston
David Alston
David is a repeat tech and marketing start-up entrepreneur, start-up advisor, and digital society advocate. He is currently the Founder and Coach of Marketswell, a Chief Marketing Officer Accelerator, and CoFounder of TimberTop Adventures, an aerial adventure park. David is also the CoFounder of Brilliant Labs, Radian6’s former CMO and Salesforce.com’s former Marketing Cloud Chief Adoption Officer.
As a community volunteer, David has held numerous leadership positions at the local and provincial level.
Trisha Perry
Trisha Perry
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.
Brent McGovern
Chief Administrative Officer,
City of Saint John
Brent McGovern
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.
Ayman Jaouni
Workforce Consultant, Post-Secondary Education, Training & Labour,
Government of New Brunswick
Ayman Jaouni
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.
Jacqueline Hamilton
Commissioner of Growth and Community Development,
City of Saint John
Jacqueline Hamilton
Jacqueline has more than 25 years of experience in the municipal sector. Prior to her role as the Commissioner of Growth and Community Development, she led a team in the development of PlanSJ, an award-winning municipal plan recognized for its bold innovative community engagement and progressive, urban focused smart growth planning principles. She is a collaborator who brings a passion for community building to her role on the Board.
John Enns-Wind
Chief Administrative Officer,
Town of Grand Bay-Westfield
John Enns-Wind
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
Chief Administrative Officer,
Town of Rothesay
John Jarvie
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
Chief Administrative Officer,
Town of Hampton
Richard Malone
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
Acting Chief Administrative Officer,
Town of Quispamsis
Aaron Kennedy
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.