Board of Directors
Join other community-minded individuals in helping to build a connected, collaborative, inclusive and sustainable community. We are eager to recruit directors who rent their home, are residents of Gonzales, or have experience in facilities management. Candidates will stand for election to the Board at our October AGM. We also welcome interest from those with other skills, experience, and perspectives. We strongly encourage candidates from equity seeking groups to apply. For more detailed information read our Board Member Job Description or contact us or call (250) 382-4604.
Quinn Fletcher~ President
Quinn grew up on Moss St and spent the majority of his youth around the trifecta of Moss Rocks, Dallas Rd and Chapman Park. He spent many years living in different parts of the country for school or work and is now grateful to be back in Fairfield to raise a family. Like so many others in Victoria, Quinn is a dedicated public servant working to ensure that the provincial government maintains a high standard of accountability and transparency. In addition, he brings a variety of board experience including a music festival and environmental non-profit. He is ultimately quite grateful to be able to live in a place like Fairfield and provide support to the community through the FGCA’s programs and opportunities. Quinn has been on the Board since 2020 and is the current Vice President.
Carrie Fuzi ~ Vice President
Carrie has lived in the Cook Street Village in Fairfield for the past 12 years with her husband while restoring their 1907 home. She has two grown children with her daughter living in Gonzales with her husband and two grandchildren. She has an Executive Management Business diploma from Simon Fraser School of Business with experience in senior management as well as experience in real estate and a long history of renovating homes with her husband. In the past, Carrie ran a support group for individuals with pain through the People in Pain Network and was on the patient advisory committee for Pain BC. When the Fairfield Area Plan was created, she was part of a neighbourhood group that engaged with the community to provide input to the City of Victoria. It is important to Carrie that all voices are heard, respected and that through debate we can produce excellent outcomes for the community while remaining united and respectful in our neighbourhoods. Carrie has been on the Board since 2022 and is the current chair of the Neighbourhood Improvement Committee.
Bianca Wallace ~ Secretary
Bianca is grateful to have lived in Fairfield since 2016 and loves its vibrancy and neighbourliness. Bianca worked in non-profits and neighbourhood houses for several years prior to earning a Master’s in Public Administration and joining the BC Public Service. During her time in government, she has worked in the areas of seniors service advocacy, privacy, and small business, and now works in economy sector policy analysis. Bianca brings experience from a variety of volunteer, stakeholder engagement and program management roles, and is excited to be part of the FGCA’s community building work. Bianca has been on the Board since 2022 and is the current Secretary.
Vanessa Gelhaar ~ Treasurer
Vanessa has a background in environmental sciences and renewable energies, with several years of experience working in communications and event management for an environmental non-profit in her hometown of Berlin, Germany. After a brief stint in Toronto, she moved to Victoria in the summer of 2018 and settled in Cook Street Village. While she misses Berlin’s culinary and cultural scene, she has fallen in love with Victoria, the Pacific Ocean, island-grown produce, and BC’s many museums – large and small. Vanessa is the Operations Manager for the British Columbia Museums Association, advancing sustainability, accessibility, and decolonization in the cultural sector as part of a small but mighty team.
Don Monsour ~ Past President
As an advocate for community involvement Don has enjoyed participating and leading organizations in achieving their goals. While working with profit and not for profit organizations for over 45 years in several key initiatives he has developed a strong understanding of the rules and regulations that govern many boards and committees. As a leader of volunteer groups made up of individual personalities and objectives, he has successfully managed challenging goals and budgets and helped to raise close to 2 million dollars for not for profit associations. This experience, coupled with his business background, has provided Don with the ability to work within board guidelines helping to achieve the strategic goals and direction as set by the board. Don truly believes that understanding the dynamics and chemistry that exists on a board is vital in supporting a board successful outcome. Don has been on the Board several times and for over a decade in total, and is the current chair of the Governance Committee and Past President.
Peter Hawker
Peter has a background as an electrical engineer and, though he now works in the tech sector as a product manager, he remains a clean energy systems enthusiast. Born and raised on the island, Peter moved back to Victoria in 2021 to be closer to family. Since moving to Fairfield with his wife Robin, and daughter Quinn, at the end of 2023, Peter has loved the neighbourhood’s strong community feel and got involved with the FGCA to help nurture that sense of community. During his university days, he was involved with student government as president of the engineering student’s society and loves being an active contributor to his community. In his spare time, Peter loves learning everything there is to know about coffee and is an avid cycle commuter. You’ll spot him cycling Quinn to daycare on their cargo bike every weekday morning so, if you’re out, please wave back back when you see two animated red-heads zooming by.
Johanna Henderson
Johanna Henderson currently works as a planner with the BC Public Service, and lives in Fairfield with her husband and son. Johanna’s background includes time working in communications, engagement, facilitation and research, both as a consultant and employee. Her past clients/employers include BC Healthy Communities, Fernwood NRG, Victoria’s Community Social Planning Council, BC Non-Profit Housing Association, Community-Based Research Canada, Pacific Housing Research Network, and UVIC’s Institute for Studies and Innovation Community-University Engagement. As a volunteer, Johanna has served on the board of Girl Gang (the largest media and communications professional development network for women in Western Canada), the West Shore Arts Council, and Mount Pleasant Community Centre Society (Vancouver). Originally from Charlie Lake in Northern BC, Johanna has lives in Fairfield on and off for over 20 years, with stints in Vancouver, Ottawa and Calgary in between. In her spare time, you can find Johanna spending time in nature or taking part in local environmental restoration and research initiatives.
James Coccola
James Coccola, a resident of Fairfield Gonzales for the past two years, is a policy analyst in the provincial government, concurrently holding an elected executive role within his union. With a strong background in governance and policy, James has also contributed to various provincial boards. He is excited to use his experience in these areas, along with a deep commitment to community organizing, to support the Fairfield Gonzales Community Association.
Hayley LaPalme
Hayley Lapalme is founding Co-Executive Director of Nourish Leadership, a national charity harnessing the power of food in health care for planetary health. Hayley is a systems thinker and facilitator who has spent a decade working with public institutions on pathways to more sustainable futures. Drawing on a background in adult education, community development, and systemic design, she weaves collaborations that rebuild connections to land, health, and each other. Hayley is a graduate of McGill and the University of Toronto, where she earned an M.Ed in Leadership, Adult Education, and Community Development. After traveling back to Victoria for fifteen years with husband Scott, Hayley is thrilled to be making a perch under Moss Rocks in her family’s home and is invested in building strong community.
Daniel Powell
Daniel earned a doctorate in English from the University of Victoria in 2016, and from 2014 – 2017 held a European Union-funded fellowship at King’s College London in the United Kingdom. Since returning to Canada in 2017, he has worked as a digital systems strategist in the nonprofit sector, as an innovation researcher in the BC Public Service, and as nonpartisan administrative staff at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia; his current focus is on information management and the publications, collections, and records of the Assembly. Daniel has come and gone to and from Victoria several times and rented in multiple neighborhoods; in 2021 he and his partner bought a condo in Northwest Fairfield adjacent to Cook Street Village, the AAA cycling network, and the Downtown Core. They live there with their two children and many, many books. Daniel believes in working to improve our neighborhood (and our city) not only for his boys, but for all residents and the generations to come after us.
Daniel currently serves as Treasurer on his building Strata Council, and has a deep interest in urbanism and land use, stemming partially from living abroad for several years and encountering first hand the many viable ways to structure our urban fabric for better access to services, safer communities, and happier residents.
Helen McDonald
Helen has lived in Gonzales for the past eleven years, as a homeowner, after retiring from her career in Ottawa. She has enjoyed firsthand many of the FGCA’s programs, including yoga classes, repair cafes, various community events and the Moss Street Market. She also appreciates the many other services the FGCA offers to individuals and families in our neighbourhood. Helen has a great deal of expertise in non-profit governance and has used that knowledge as a valued member of the FGCA’s Governance Committee over the past two years. She hopes to use that knowledge for the benefit of her community association and thus her community.
Stephen Roddick
Steve moved to Victoria from the Yukon in 2021, and had the good fortune to land at an apartment in the heart of Cook St Village. Through his work as a policy analyst, consultant, and former city councillor, Steve has spent most of his career supporting communities to develop and implement initiatives that enhance equity and resilience to climate change. He can often be found dodging peacocks in Beacon Hill park or jogging along Dallas Road with a local run club.