Current Board Members

Bill is passionate about issues of citizenship, belonging and social justice. After a year in Nicaragua and seeing the relationship between youth and change, he left a career in engineering to become an English teacher to engage with youth in service to learning and community. Throughout his career he has been involved as a supervisor for numerous student-led social action groups and has worked on the boards of several organizations. In his spare time he is pursuing a doctorate in Education. After 27 years in the classroom, though he still teaches English periodically, he currently works in consulting, splitting his time working for the Edmonton Public School Board between Research for Student Learning and Comprehensive School Health and Diversity. In both roles, he has been involved in numerous projects researching and supporting engaged citizenship, marginalized student populations and belonging, striving as much as possible to support education of, by and for compassion, relationships, and appreciation of difference. Outside of work and volunteering, Bill is a strong advocate for and patron of all the arts available in our community.

Charlotte began her postsecondary education at the University of Alberta, with a major in Sociology and a minor in psychology. There, Charlotte volunteered as President of the Sociology Undergraduate Association and facilitated students for reading for the hearing impaired program. Charlotte continued her studies at the University of Athabasca and obtained a Bachelor of General Studies. Charlotte obtained an LLB at the University of Edinburgh in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Charlotte’s volunteer activities in the community have included being a Youth Justice Committee Panel Member where she met with youth diverted from the court system. As part of this, Charlotte developed contracts for these youth to make amends for their actions, which included repair/replacement cost of property, or in personal or written apologies. Charlotte also volunteered with Arbutus, where she mentored a child once a week for year and created a “life book” for a child that had been involved with various foster families. Through her employer, Charlotte has volunteered at the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Meals on Wheels, the Hope Mission and the Edmonton Food Bank.

Charlotte now works in the access and privacy field which involved weighing access and privacy issues while facilitating information requests, and handing access and privacy complaints regarding an individual’s personal information. Charlotte holds an IAAP designation through the University of Alberta faculty of Extension.

Charlotte is member of the Cosmopolitan Music Society and enjoys Edmonton’s outdoor festivals and our hockey team!

With a background in project management and planning, Archana Chaudhary possesses extensive expertise in project management within the healthcare sector and beyond. Engaged on multiple boards, committees and community leagues, she harbors a deep-seated dedication to initiatives aimed at building stronger, more resilient communities. She enjoys hiking and traveling.   

Ramona Blacklock is a Certified Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) and a Senior Certified Professional (SCP), with over 14 years of HR experience.  Ramona has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta and a Human Resources degree from MacEwan University.  She is currently completing a Bachelor of Human Resources and Labour Relations at Athabasca University.

Ramona’s volunteer activities include Board Member for Canadian Parks and Wilderness Northern Alberta, Mentor with Edmonton Region Immigrant Employment Council, facilitator with John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights, Mentor with the University of Alberta Resource Management Association.

Ramona currently works as the Human Resources and Administration Manager at Edmonton Immigrant Services association (EISA). 

She graduated from the University of Alberta with an undergraduate degree in Molecular biology. She is deeply passionate about helping people and giving back to her community. She tries to do one positive thing for the community around her every day, something as big as founding a volunteer event at a local shelter or as simple as complimenting the person next to me that makes them smile. If I can do one thing that makes somebody’s day better, then it has been a successful day for me. Because of this, she began her work in community advocacy very early on in high school. I was a founding member of ILEAD, a group that organized yearly conferences for students. We would listen to their needs and then communicate them back to the school board. She also was part of a target committee that worked to bring environmentally green practices to our schools and the local community. She has continued her advocacy and community work as an active volunteer within hospital settings, working to ensure the patient’s voice is emphasized in hospital policies and workshops. She also founded Edmonton’s Homeless Support Initiative, which is an organization that works to educate the general public about the housing concerns in our city, as well as fundraising for local relief shelters. She is also an active advocate for results Canada, which works to end global poverty by raising public awareness and directing governmental lobbying. She spent time volunteering with LINK-ages, which connected me with isolated seniors due to the pandemic, ensuring that they were still feeling
connected to society, heard, and cared for. She is also an active committee member of Amplify, which works to ensure that youth voices and their artistic abilities are represented within our community.

Ali Taleb is a University Professor and a Senior Academic Administrator with extensive international experience in the corporate world. Before becoming a scholar and an academic leader, he worked for major multinationals in a senior management capacity across Europe and North America. He also served as a management consultant and trusted advisor to the senior leadership of large multinationals as well as smaller organizations. He is currently serving on the governing or advisory boards of several non-profit organizations and social enterprises.

With formal training in both engineering and strategic management, Ali is interested in data-driven research with practical implications and the potential to impact the community and society positively. His areas of consulting expertise include strategic planning, strategy execution, organizational design and governance, change management, and triple-bottom-line performance in a global context.