Our Team & Board Members

Marcia Nozick

In 2001, Marcia Nozick founded EMBERS (the Eastside Movement for Business and Economic Renewal Society) as a community economic development charity with a mission to create economic and employment opportunities for people living on low incomes in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. A long-time community advocate, Marcia’s leadership at EMBERS has helped thousands of people facing work barriers lead productive lives by providing access to self-employment education, job placements, training and support.

In 2008, Marcia broke new ground by launching EMBERS Staffing Solutions (ESS), an award-winning temporary staffing agency. Her goal was to create flexible, short-term work placements for people looking to re-enter the workforce. A social enterprise, ESS is self-sustaining and invests 100% of its profits back into the community through higher hourly wages, equipment, and training for workers. Thanks to Marcia’s leadership, ESS is able to have a tremendous social impact. In 2017 alone, the organization employed 1,900 people and paid out over $6.4 million in wages and benefits.

An innovative leader, Marcia has been recognized nationally for her passion and contributions to the fields of community economic development and social enterprise. In 2015, she won the prestigious RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award for Charitable Giving. The following year, she received the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for the Community Champion category. Most recently, Marcia won Business In Vancouver’s 2017 Influential Women in Business Award, which recognizes British Columbia’s most outstanding business women.

Prior to founding EMBERS, Marcia was the coordinator of Healthy Communities in Winnipeg, the associate editor and publisher of City Magazine and an instructor of Community Economic Development at Simon Fraser University. She holds a Master’s Degree in City Planning, and wrote the influential Canadian book, No Place Like Home: Building Sustainable Communities (1992) that David Suzuki praised as “a must read.”

Photograph taken at the historic Woodward’s Building in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Back row (l to r): Shelley Frost, Gurminder Dhaliwal, Keith Dolo, Kent Chawrun, Barry Fenton, and Doug Aason. Front row (l to r): Robin Surcess, John Lerner, Marcia Nozick, Barton Reid, and Allysa Hopkins.

Barry Fenton, President

Barry is a senior executive and consultant with a successful track record of operational leadership within the service-driven financial services and real estate industries. In his second career, Barry is giving back to the local community via his involvement on numerous non-profit and association boards.

Robin Surcess, Vice President

With over 35 years experience in the construction industry, Robin, Construction Manager and Sr. Superintendent, lends a wealth of industry knowledge to EMBERS, helping the organizational build social capital and avoid unnecessary risks.

Barton Reid, Secretary

Bart, researcher and consultant, has an interdisciplinary Doctorate in Urban Studies and City Planning. He was an original member of the Community Economic Development Group that led to the formation of EMBERS in 2001.

Kent Chawrun, Treasurer

As a Chartered Accountant with both public practice and industry experience working alongside private and public businesses, Kent has over 20 years of financial and operational experience.

John Lerner, Past President

John, Principle of Ecolibrio, is a sustainable development specialist with 18 years experience working in indigenous and rural communities, as well as inner-city urban settings.

Gurminder Dhaliwal

Gurminder, Senior Biopharmaceutical Representative at Amgem, is a business professional with over 10 years of sales and marketing experience. He has his BSc from Simon Fraser University and an MBA from the University of Northern British Columbia.

Keith Dolo

Keith is CEO of Sproutly. Prior to that, he was VP Strategic Accounts with Robert Half, and was an accountant with Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Shelley Frost

Shelley has served as Vice President, Marketing, for the Pacific National Exhibition since 2004. Her expertise includes executive oversight, marketing, and business development, and she has worked with organizations in Canada, US and Europe. Shelley completed undergraduate degrees in both Psychology and Business (Marketing) from the University of Alberta and holds a MBA in International Marketing from Simon Fraser University.

Allysa Hopkins

As Small Business BC’s Vice President of Business Development, Allysa brings over a decade of proven experience with building tier-one commercial partnerships, driving top line sales revenues and bolstering bottom line profits through organizational planning and management.

Sandra Reder

Sandra is the Founder & President of Vertical Bridge Corporate Consulting a Vancouver based HR consulting firm. For the past 12 years the company has been providing out-sourced HR support to clients in a wide range of industries including health care, not-for-profit, private and public sector.