CCEDNet's Directors are elected by our members to 3-year terms. The Board usually meets monthly. Minutes of Board meetings are available upon request.
Board Members
Victor Beausoleil, President
In 2013 Victor Beausoleil received his first public service appointment by the Premiere of Ontario Kathleen Wynne as a member of the PCYO (Premiere’s Council on Youth Opportunities). Victor has worked diligently in the broader equity seeking communities across Canada for the past fifteen years. As a lecturer Victor Beausoleil has travelled extensively throughout Canada, the United States and Africa for speaking engagements for community organizations, institutions and philanthropic foundations. Victor Beausoleil has been a board member of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation, The Harriet Tubman Community Organization, as well as a member of the grant review committees of the Laidlaw Foundation, the Toronto Community Housing Social Investment Fund and Victor is currently on the board of the Toronto Community Benefits Network. The Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, National Post, Share Newspaper and The Caribbean Camera, have all highlighted Victor Beausoleil’s work in communities across Canada. Victor Beausoleil is currently the President + CEO of Intuit Consulting and the founder of SETSI – The Social Economy Through Social Inclusion Coalition. Victor has written eleven books and currently resides in Toronto with his wife and four children. |
Michelle Colussi, Vice-President
Michelle has over 30 years of experience working with local and First Nation governments and NGO’s in Canada to strengthen their strategic impact and capacity, working for many years with the Canadian Centre for Community Renewal. Her experience across all roles in community work givers her a solid understanding of the diversity of perspectives and resources communities need to get stuff done. Michelle was the community research lead in the design of the Community Resilience Manual and worked with the Government of Botswana to train facilitators there. She facilitated a diverse multi-sector Advisory group for Western Forest Products resulting in successful forest certification, was Canada’s first Transition Town Trainer and is co-founder of Building Resilient Neighbourhoods. Currently Michelle works with SHIFT Collaborative to strengthen systems change practice and adaptive learning in action with a focus on multi-stakeholder initiatives and regional food systems. Her current work includes coaching three Collective Impact initiatives, supporting deepening inclusive practices within IPCC Working Group I, coaching NGOs to strengthen financial acumen through Thriving Non-Profits and delivery of CMHC Housing Solutions Labs. |
Yvon Poirier, Secretary
From November 2003 to July 2013, he co-edited a monthly international e-newsletter on sustainable local development published in four languages. He has been a CCEDNet member since 2003 at first as an individual and since 2012 he represents the CDÉC de Québec. He has been involved in tnternational representation for CCEDNet since 2004. His most significant international involvement has been in the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS). He has participated in many RIPESS conferences in different continents and since October 2013 is a member of the RIPESS Board of directors. He has also participated in different World Social Forums and he represents RIPESS in the UN Inter-Agency Taskforce on SSE. |
Gail Henderson, TreasurerDr Gail Henderson is an assistant professor with Queen's University Faculty of Law. Her research interests include corporate law, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, securities regulation and the regulation of financial institutions.Professor Henderson graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School as Gold Medalist in 2005, and served as law clerk to The Honourable Louise Charron of the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to pursuing graduate studies at the University of Toronto, she practiced commercial litigation and environmental and municipal law at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Toronto. Her doctoral research focused on the role of corporate governance in encouraging greater corporate environmental responsibility. Professor Henderson has received funding for her research from the Ireland Canada University Foundation, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Canadian Foundation for Governance Research and the Canadian Centre for Ethics & Corporate Policy. |
Kaye Grant
Kaye has worked for over 25 years within the non-profit/social enterprise sector in a number of roles. Kaye’s experience in working with the non-profit sector and local community groups enables her to maintain working relationships within the community. Kaye sits on the Peg City Car Co-op as Vice President and the Manitoba Co-op Association Board as the CWCF representative. Kaye has been an active member of CCEDNet in Manitoba for over 10 years and has regularly presented at The Gathering event in Manitoba. Kaye has a passion towards poverty alleviation and strength building and has focused her work with organizations that contribute to these mandates. |
Katie Daman
Currently, Katie works for Community Futures Manitoba as the Project Coordinator for the Churchill Region Economic Development (CRED) Grant Fund, a grant fund available for economic development projects in northern Manitoba. Community Futures Manitoba is a non-profit, grassroots-driven program created to strengthen rural and northern economies by encouraging entrepreneurship and assisting in community economic development. Katie is also the co-founder and co-chair the Farm Fresh Food Hub Community Service Co-op and South Osborne Farmers’ Market. She has served on numerous other boards and committees including CCEDNet (current), Pollock’s Hardware Co-operative (past Treasurer), Transition Winnipeg and WestEnd Commons. |
Barb Davies
In her role at Mount Royal University with the Institute for Community Prosperity and Trico Changemakers Studio, Barb develops transformational learning experiences that build bridges between campus and community and uses developmental evaluation to foster a vibrant changemaking ecosystem on campus. Previously, Barb worked for Momentum, a changemaking organization in Calgary that uses systems-based approaches to address poverty reduction. Her work focused on strengthening supports for social entrepreneurship both locally and provincially. In addition, she developed learning initiatives to empower individuals to use economic tools to address social issues, including hosting an award-winning national conference. Barb is a co-founder of Local Investing YYC, an impact investment cooperative that provides capital to Calgary-based businesses generating social and environmental returns. She has also served on the board of Green Calgary and participated on advisory committees with Health Canada on regulatory approaches within the natural health sector. As the previous owner of a leading natural health retailer in Calgary, Barb built bridges in the community growing awareness for local producers and growers and served on the board of the Business Revitalization Zone. Barb uses a values-based approach to advance sustainable solutions that prioritize people and place. |
Aftab KhanAftab Khan has been the Executive Director for Action for Healthy Communities (an Alberta based nonprofit organization working to build the capacity of individuals and communities to help them successfully integrate into the society) since May 2016.He has been involved in poverty alleviation and community economic development through mobilization of local resources and provision of basic education, health, small infrastructure and microfinance and enterprise development supports for the last twenty five years. He started his professional career in 1988 as a Manager for a youth self-employment program in Pakistan. For more than 15 years, he worked for various national and international NGOs and UN agencies in developing countries to develop and manage community economic development programs. After moving to Canada in 2007 he started working for the non-profit sector and during last 14 years, he has been working in leadership roles with various immigrant-serving agencies and other non-profit organizations. He volunteers on various committees and boards including serving on Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (AAISA) as a director since 2017. Aftab has an MBA from Pakistan, a Diploma in SME development from the International Training Center of the ILO in Italy and an Executive MBA from the University of Alberta. Aftab loves travelling and volunteering with community-based economic development initiatives. |
Nicole Rosenow-Redhead
From Atlantic Canada, Nicole has worked in community socioeconomic development for many years in the creation of economic opportunity led by populations that can experience oppression, including policy research, curriculum development, program management, financial literacy, and leading intercultural diversity and inclusion research, education, and strategies. Nicole has a Master’s degree in International Development, and recently completed Dalhousie University’s Intercultural Communication Program. Many years ago she had participated in CCEDNet’s CreateAction Program and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, particularly CCEDNet’s emphasis on authentic intercultural collaboration and working with, and valuing, multiple worldviews. Nicole advocates for interculturalism as the way forward in supporting the positioning of all-inclusive diversity as a strength; interculturalism wholly supports all residents of a community as a way to intentionally engage across dimensions of our identity that can systemically act as barriers to relationship-building. Nicole serves as Vice President on the Board of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Atlantic Canada, and works with Halifax Public Libraries, valuing the opportunity to support the innovative intersection of a commons-based approach to knowledge, education and resources with public space and community engagement, in partnership with community organizations. |
Vidal Chavannes
Vidal has more than fifteen years of extensive experience in education and training in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, including secondary, post-secondary and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) teaching and program development, delivery, evaluation and review. He holds a Doctorate in Education from the University of Calgary, with a specialization in Higher Education Leadership. Dr. Chavannes has worked in a full-time and consulting capacity with a variety of public, private and non-profit organizations, all within the training and education ecosystem. Through these engagements, he has written curriculum, developed articulation agreements, managed faculty and staff and charted the strategic direction of a variety of organizations across North America and internationally. |
At the age of 25 Victor Beausoleil Co-Founded Redemption Reintegration Services one of the largest youth-led, youth justice agencies in Canada. As the founding Executive Director, Victor managed a $3.5 million dollar budget and
Yvon has a long history of involvement in the labour and social movements in Québec and Canada. He was founding President of the 
Based in Winnipeg, Kaye is the key Consultant with 
Katie Daman is a settler from Niverville, Manitoba who has been living in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the past ten years. Both Winnipeg and Niverville are considered places of home for her and located on Treaty 1 Territory. Katie’s educational background is in Business Administration, with a particular interest in supporting economic development initiatives that benefit the whole community -- also known as community economic development. 
Barb is a facilitator, educator and practitioner of social impact.
Vidal A. Chavannes, Ed.D, M.A.Ed., B.A., B.Ed, is currently the Director of Strategy, Research & Organizational Performance with Durham Regional Police Service. In this regard, Dr. Chavannes charts the strategic direction of the organization and manages teams responsible for strategic planning, key performance indicator (KPI) development and tracking at the organizational and divisional levels, and all education and training for members, inclusive of the use of force and academic portfolios.
