Board of Directors
theresa shea
chairperson
Theresa is a novelist, educator, amateur gardener, and mother of three. She holds degrees from McGill, Queen’s, and the University of Alberta and has worked as a freelance writer, an English instructor, and confidential report writer for the City of Edmonton. She remains an active member of Edmonton’s arts community. Now a full-time writer, she enjoys reading, walking, visiting quiet places, and drinking coffee. As a board member of the Kiyooka Land Trust Foundation, she hopes to further environmental stewardship and assist in developing opportunities to connect people to the natural world.
david pilcher
vice chairperson
In August 1953 David Pilcher was rudely awoken in a small-town hospital in southern Illinois and then raised along with 5 siblings in the Chicago area. After graduating high school in 1971 where he distinguished himself with an award for “Non-violent Participation In Classroom Procedures”, he began his post-secondary education by alternately traveling and studying in various parts of the world. Among his favorite places of travel was Tete Jaune, B.C. where not only did he meet his most influential mentor Frank Kiyooka, who introduced him to the craft of pottery and ceramics, but also to the love of his life, Betty. In 1995, craving a simpler lifestyle, he married Betty and moved into a small mobile home in Valemount, B.C., with 5 wonderful step-children, quickly adding another child to even out the party. David became a proud Canadian citizen in 2001 and was employed mainly in the Homecare and Caretaking fields. David is currently retired and lives in a small log home outside of Valemount with his wife Betty and a number of alpacas, sheep, horses and bees. He retains a keen interest in nature and art, and still plays in the mud, occasionally painting, drawing, and wandering on trails.
jeff gusdal
treasurer
Jeff lives in Edmonton and works as a family physician. He was a founding board member of Alberta’s first Primary Care Network, a principal founder and chief financial strategist for a travel hostel company, served as chair of Sustainable Works, a volunteer-led initiative to increase the uptake of energy efficiency retrofitting, and is a member of a volunteer team spearheading the conversion of a church property into an energy efficient affordable housing development and community hub. Jeff retrofitted his own home, achieving a 50% reduction in the home’s energy use. He is very excited about the potential of the KLTF to expand land conservation in the beautiful Robson Valley. “Mother Earth gives us everything and I am blessed to be able to give her a little hug in return.”
forest borch
Forest Borch reloads, works, lives, and plays on the unceded lands of the Musqueam/xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Squamish/Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and
Tsleil-Waututh/Sel̓íl̓witulh, now called Vancouver, BC. Raised with his homeschooled brother, Garnet, he developed a deep respect and understanding of sustainability and environmental stewardship from an early age. Forest has a degree in mechanical engineering and works as a consultant to reduce carbon emissions in buildings through early stage design input. Along with his passion for mitigating climate change, Forest is an avid musician, casual hiker, and newly-wed man.
barbara sander
Barbara Sander has always been curious about nature in its many forms, this resulted in a Ph.D. in Forest Biology. Over the past decade she has been sharing this curiosity and fascination with her students at MacEwan University in Edmonton. She is and has been involved with counting and measuring trees, frogs, bats and birds and usually carries around some kind of field guide.
michele hayman
13 years ago, Michele left the shores of Lake Huron, for the beauty of Robson Valley! The mountains called her and then they moved her. She has been in absolute awe ever since! She has called the community of Tete Jaune Cache her home for 8 years now. The beauty of the Fraser River, the flora and fauna, the majesty of the surrounding mountains and the incredible history of this area are a constant inspiration and reminder of our privilege to be stewards of this earth.
andrea wilhelm
Andrea Wilhelm is a settler on Treaty 6 land. She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics and specializes in Indigenous language documentation. She has years of lived experience working with Indigenous people and communities primarily in Alberta and Saskatchewan. With one First Nation, she developed a research protocol based on that Nation’s values. It has been serving as a framework for how to conduct research respectfully and ethically and has resulted in a highly productive partnership between the Nation and a university. Andrea also has extensive experience in community organizing and facilitation and has advocated for ecological and social justice in her neighbourhood and city. Currently she is exploring the connection between ecology and spirituality. In her free time she experiments with permaculture in her yard and home. She loves the natural world, including four-legged neighbourhood visitors.
roy howard
Roy, and his wife Jill, moved from California to the Robson Valley in the early 1970s. His primary reasons for doing so were its rural-ness, proximity to pristine wilderness and wildlife, and a strong distaste for the Vietnam War. Much of his early time here was spent in the backcountry, both for recreation and employment. His sense of reverence and concern for the natural world intensified over time spent in the Robson Valley. In the late 1980s he co-founded the Canoe Robson Environmental Coalition that eventually changed its name to the Fraser Headwaters Alliance (FHA). Roy has consistently been either on its Board or worked as staff. Much of its work has been focused on conservation of wilderness, fish, wildlife and old forest.Roy had previously done construction, including starting a small business as “Purple Thumb Construction” (only partly tongue-in-cheek!). A few years ago he started a new business: “Rocky Mountain Solar” – supplying and installing renewable energy equipment. This was motivated by his deep conviction that climate change was real and human caused and was a huge threat to civilization and to the natural world. Construction experience, living off-grid with a home-grown solar and wind electrical system aid his venture in the new enterprise.
hanae kiyooka
Hanae’s formative years were spent in communities that featured the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop. Born in Hinton, AB, she spent her teenage years in Tête Jaune Cache on the land that KLTF hopes to protect in perpetuity. Surrounded by wilderness, she learned to feel very much at home in the silence of the forest and she thanks her parents for instilling in her a love and reverence for the natural world. Hanae has worked as an educator and facilitator and has many years of volunteer experience on diverse not-for-profit organizations in Edmonton. In her free time, she loves hiking, gardening, and art making. It is with a deep sense of the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crises that she has embarked on this adventure with KLTF and is excited to do her part to contribute to protecting and nurturing this planet for future generations.
rashmi narayan
secretary
Being born and raised in India, community is the default lens Rashmi views her experiences through – be it for celebrating, learning, entrepreneuring or her search for meaning.
Rashmi Narayan moved to Valemount, BC in Fall 2001 to explore how rural life would be different from the bustling life in Mumbai (India), where she was born and raised. The smallness of Valemount allowed her to see impact and influences more easily and clearly. Over the years, her desire to contribute to a sustainable community and to advocate for policy changes led her to wear multiple hats – journalist, community newspaper owner, museum administrator, owner of an office supplies, services and health foods store, project manager and community consultant.
Rashmi has been working and volunteering in affordable housing, land use and seniors’ services for the last eight years. The work in land use has been disheartening for her: how we look to land and property to own and generate wealth rather than as the gift to appreciate nature in its complexity and diversity that brings us beauty and sustenance.
As a board member, Rashmi hope to contribute by sharing KLTF’s vision and work with people so we can have a deeper appreciation and a better relationship with the earth and its people.