2020 Candidates | Happy City St. John’s Board of Directors
At our 2020 Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, October 21, the Happy City St. John’s community will elect six new Directors for the Board of Directors. We’re excited to introduce you to the candidates!
If you are a member of Happy City St. John’s, you are welcome to vote for our new Directors at our Annual General Meeting. Who’s a member, you ask? Membership is open to anyone who supports our purpose – to encourage and inform dialogue surrounding civic issues to create collaborative community development in St. John’s, NL. If this sounds like you, we encourage you to register for the AGM!
Bios for each of the candidates are below. Please review and consider which six candidates you will vote for if you are planning on attending our Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00pm on Zoom. Please register to attend here by Wednesday, October 21 at 5:00pm. If you would like to review our by-laws, you can find them here.
We will start the AGM by approving the minutes from the 2019 AGM. You can find the 2019 minutes here.
Thanks again to everyone who put their names forward!
Candidate Bios
Susan Barry (she/her)
Susan Barry’s passion for this city runs deeps. Historically, St. John’s stands alone with its vibrant culture and unique landscape. As a lifelong resident, ensuring we preserve that heritage and natural beauty is a key goal of hers. As a health professional, she would value the opportunity to work with a team of diverse individuals to create innovative solutions to foster a healthy physical environment. If we work together to enhance our community so that we can safely and easily engage in positive health behaviours, it opens the doors for us to succeed in our health goals. As a community member, she is eager to give back to her community as a volunteer to strengthen the environments even further in this incredible place we are lucky enough to call home.
Ozgen Demirkaplan (she/her)
Ozgen Demirkaplan is a twenty-nine years old female doctoral candidate in Neuroscience at Memorial University. She completed her BA in Philosophy at Bilkent University and M.Sc. in Cognitive Sciences at the Middle East Technical University in Turkey. Her doctoral research interests include music training and its cognitive aspects of auditory perception and learning.
Besides her academic background, she was always interested in human behaviour and social interaction. She travelled a lot and tried to learn other cultures and languages as much as she can. She can speak four languages including her native tongue Turkish. After she immigrated here in St. John’s she met her partner who is a born and raised Newfoundlander. She is embracing Newfoundland culture and its people as her own now. As a person who is diverse in her understanding in culture and familiarized with the local culture as well, she believes that she fits in this role to be one of the members of Happy City St. John’s.
Brad Greeley (he/him)
Brad Greeley is in his final semester of his undergrad in Political Science with a Public Policy Certificate in Urban & Regional Planning. He was born and raised in St. John’s and he has a burning passion for making it better for all. He sees so much potential in our city. He recently came across the saying “Jack-of-all trades, master of none”, and he really believes that’s what would make him a good fit as a board member with Happy City St. John’s. He has a broad range of knowledge and skill that would be useful to the board, gained through his studies, past work experiences, and his side work as a photographer and audiovisual tech.
Meghan Hollett (she/her)
As a community-focused citizen with a keen interest in building a sustainable, inclusive St. John’s, Meghan Hollett is a perfect fit for Happy City. Throughout her career working with provincial and federal non-profit organizations, Meghan has consistently endeavoured to inform and engage fellow citizens with political and environmental issues, while providing accessible ways for people to get involved. Whether working at the Association for New Canadians, Conservation Corps of Newfoundland & Labrador, or Canada World Youth, Meghan has remained committed to fostering a sense of community and civic responsibility. Since 2018, she has been proud to further pursue these goals with Happy City, first as a member of the Board of Directors and most recently as Vice Chair of the Board. She brings an acute understanding of city politics, an enthusiasm for active transportation, and a dedication to accountability.
Johnathan Lander (he/him)
John Lander is a Community-Minded Marketer that is new to the City of St. John’s. Hailing from the West Coast, John has a degree in Business Administration from Memorial University. He currently works at a downtown St. John’s startup handling marketing operations and technology. As a member of the Happy City team, John would be able to modernize the marketing processes and expand the organization’s reach. He is excited about making our city more accessible, increasing public transit and bike infrastructure, and increasing Happy City’s brand recognition. You are able to spot John and his dog, Merlin, on their daily walk around Quidi Vidi lake.
Justin Lee (he/him)
Justin Lee is an Environmental Planner and Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners (MCIP) who recently relocated to St. John’s from Winnipeg. He has over a decade of experience working in municipal government at the City of Winnipeg where he was responsible for long-range policy, strategic planning, and public engagement processes on waste management, climate change, and urban development issues. His professional practice and interests are rooted in asking difficult questions, evidence-based decision-making, and equity. He hopes to share his professional and volunteer experience as a member of the Happy City Board in order to advance the dialogue on the important urban issues facing St. John’s – many of which are being exacerbated by climate change. When not at his desk, he’s passionate about exploring urban environments by foot, cycling, food, and acquiring new hobbies.
Tanya Lush (she/her)
A self described “nomad”, culture vulture, and world traveller, Tanya Lush has returned to her roots here in St. John’s to rediscover herself, our beautiful and unique culture, and the city of her birth! A people person by profession and passion, she enjoys connecting with people from diverse backgrounds. The education she has acquired has allowed her a fulfilling career; but the biggest education she has ever experienced has been living in the world!
She wishes to serve on the Happy City Board to collaborate with and serve the local community, to connect across the diverse neighbourhoods, and with the residents of St. John’s- a city that has become so colourful and vibrant in welcoming people from everywhere to live, thrive, and be happy!
Leigha Matthews (she/her)
Leigha Matthews is currently a Political Science student at Memorial University. She has always had a passion for communication and social media, for as long as she can remember she has wanted to create and share. She believes she is a good fit for this role because the most essential part of a Happy City is accessibility to information. She would be able to create social media campaigns to reach and inform those in the community that may not have even heard of Happy City St. John’s before. She has accumulated many skills from her past work experience on how to efficiently reach and educate those in the community and she would love to be able to use these skills to bring together her community.
Loujein Mouammer (she/her)
Loujein Mouammer chooses to live in a world of infinite possibilities, preferring to see things not as they are but as they could be. Emotional, passion-driven, and full of ideas to create practical solutions from vivid imaginations. Solutions that will reshape our society and create a community around shared values and ideals. She is working with Mysa as a product research and development lead. She is a passionate energetic person, full of ideas to share. She believes that she can bring an international person perspective to the table. Share her past experience and things she has learned in different countries and find possible ways to implement them in St.John’s to build a more fun, engaging city. She is excited to be part of this awesome team and learn more from each person on the committee.
Lindsay Mullaly (she/her)
Lindsay Mullaly believes that the most any of us can do, is to leave the world a little better than how we came into it, starting right at home in our own communities. She grew up highly involved in her community, and that sense of belonging really propelled her forward in her education, and in her career. She is passionate about making community involvement accessible to any person, regardless of income, race, sexual preference, gender identity, background, etc. A city cannot truly become a community until everyone feels their voice can be heard. Lindsay’s background is in business, sales, marketing and leadership, and she believes her passion for diversity and inclusion will truly make her a key asset on the Happy City Board of Directors.
Kristen Murray (she/her)
Kristen Murray is a recent graduate of the Bachelor of Commerce (Cooperative) program at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She has always had a steadfast interest in small business, social enterprise, sustainability, and entrepreneurship throughout her studies, volunteering, and work. She has been involved with numerous organizations with social missions over the years including Easter Seals NL, Enactus Memorial, NL Eats, Youth Ventures NL, and Home Again Furniture Bank. She has most recently become the Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at SucSeed Social Enterprise in September and, since May, has been the Co-Founder of Altroo which is a web-platform that makes it easier for companies to invest in social impact. Passionate about community building, sustainable development, youth engagement, and advocacy for vulnerable communities, Kristen would fit well with Happy City St. John’s.
Andre Myers (he/him)
Andre Myers is a strategic team player with previous experience as a former Mayor, Board Director, and community volunteer. Andre is a MUN Alumni with experience in community and business development, event management, and public relations. Andre has always worked effortlessly with a broad range of stakeholders and is always an approachable person to anyone. He prides himself on kindness and respect always!
Jeffrey Normore (he/him)
Jeffrey Normore is a very driven individual who uses his energy towards making long-term change in the community around him. He is passionate about engaging a wide variety of people and groups in conversation around strategies for change. He currently works with the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, focusing on helping employers be more inclusive in the hiring of people with disabilities. He supervises a youth program across 4 cities, including St. John’s. This experience has not only educated him in employment barriers faced by people with disabilities in our city but also the needed wrap-around supports and infrastructure changes for people to be able to achieve their employment and life goals. His career and volunteer experiences have helped him connect with the wider non-profit community and has helped him have an informed voice and the desire to continue to learn.
Justin Power (he/him)
Justin Power is a multidisciplinary artist and insurance broker. Some of his goals include building community, collaborating on various arts events, and becoming more politically involved. Becoming a Director with Happy City would utilize the coordination and interpersonal skills he has cultivated over the past decade in an ideal way.
Katie Predham (she/her)
Katie Predham is a 28-year-old full-time MBA student, as well as the office manager at Fred’s Records. She is a determined individual, who is passionate about St. John’s and the value of its community. Her training in business administration, volunteer experience, and engagement in the music community will offer a unique perspective to the Board in order to enhance their mission. As a life-long resident of downtown St. John’s, Katie believes being elected to the Happy City St. John’s Board of Directors would be a perfect opportunity to give back to the city she so dearly loves, utilizing her administrative expertise and industry connections.
Alexandria Sullivan (she/her)
Alexandria Sullivan is an outgoing, passionate, and creative individual with a great love of community and Newfoundland culture. As a local, and decade-long downtown resident, she is very excited at the opportunity to implement positive changes and interesting and fun opportunities for the citizens of St. John’s! She knows her fresh and unique perspective would be an asset on the Board of Directors for Happy City St. John’s!
Debbie Wisman (she/her)
Debbie Wiseman is an activist and volunteer within her community, focusing on the issues facing people living with a lower income. She grew up this way, and she knows the challenges that people face and how hard it is to get by when you do not have enough. She has used her lived experience and the experiences of the people she has been lucky enough to talk to, to advocate for a better way of life for them. She focuses on access to food and public transit. She is honoured to be on the Board of the Social Justice Co-op, and on the St. John’s Food Policy Council. She loves this city and wants it to be the very best version of itself.
Elizabeth Yeoman (she/her)
Elizabeth Yeoman is an active transportation advocate who is also interested in accessibility, inclusion, food security, affordable housing, and urban design for children. She has published and produced documentaries about walking and access to the city in winter. She recently retired from the Faculty of Education at MUN and would like to use her skills in facilitation, writing, and research to help build a better city.
Siyi Zhou (she/her)
Siyi Zhou is an undergraduate psychology work term student at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is in her last year of studying both psychology and geography, and her area of study is focused on urban geography. She seeks to explore the potential of incorporating social psychology into regional planning and community development studies. She believes that since urban design can have direct impact on peoples lives, better built environment and community can lead to a healthier and happier life. As an international student from Shanghai, China, Siyi believes that she can bring a different perspective on approaching the challenges that St. John’s is facing.
