Thanks to our 2021 mentors!
Special thanks to Jason Ranchoux, Junior Achievement BC, for spearheading our 2021 mentorship nights. Despite COVID restrictions, our virtual zoom meetings with teams and the ongoing support this year’s mentors provided, was one of the reasons our top teams were so strong. Mentors provide guidance, connections and support for Project and Pitch teams. We thank them for their time and willingness to share their expertise.
Jason is currently the regional coordinator interior for JABC. He has been mentoring youth for the past 10 years and loves their enthusiasm and helping them formulate their ideas into solid plans. He is the former President of JCI Kelowna and he is motivated to empower people to create positive change in our community.
As chair of Rotary district 5060 Environmental Sustainability Committee, Derek Moody is passionate about helping communities become more sustainable and partnering with youth and other social groups to share skills, experience, passion and knowledge for the benefit of all.
Ester Pike is the Resource Development Coordinator for the Kelowna Women’s Shelter. Skilled in organizational development, assessment, and management, she has almost 8 years experience working with and for various local and international non-profit organizations including the Canadian Red Cross and the YMCA of Okanagan.
Katie Krebs is the fundraising enhancement lead for Stay At Home Fundraising, and is passionate about supporting non profit organizations expand their donor base and exceed fundraising goals, by using creativity and unique marketing strategies. Katie was instrumental in connecting students with key community partners.
Danielle Hofer is values driven and comes from a place of integrity, passion and authenticity. She is most inspired when people come together to make a positive impact. She gets to see this happen every day at Women's Enterprise Centre as they are working hard to ensure women have equal opportunity to thrive in business in BC. Immediate Past President of JCI Kelowna, she mentors and leads with sustainability at the core as we develop projects and our members. Internationally recognized as an effective public speaker through competitions and an original competitor in the Challenge when she was in high school.
Sarah Moody is a Professional Engineer with provincial government and has spent much of the past fifteen years focussed on water policy and environmental management. She has been passionate about environmental issues since childhood and has a degree in Chemical Engineering with Environmental Protection from Loughborough University (UK) and recently certified as a Climate Reality Leader. Sarah loves working with young people; she is inspired by the fresh ideas and energy they bring to the table
Joel Olsen is a mortgage broker specialist in Kelowna. He has previously served as a youth minister and enjoys mentoring youth in the causes they care about. He is a new member of JCI Kelowna.
Alex Nuth has experience in banking, strategy and digital innovation. She recently let the creation and launch of a new digital venture. She is passionate about teams and creating stand out cultures. She holds and MBA from Queens and was recently awarded top 100 Most Powerful women in Canada by WXN in 2018.
Our Student Mentors
2021 was the first year we encouraged peer mentorship. Some of our past participants wanted to continue supporting the SDC after their positive experience. Our student mentors attended mentor nights, held their own mentor night with current teams and were available to support teams and provide guidance and encouragement. Student mentors also took the lead at the finale event by co hosting with each other and providing updates on their past winning projects. In an effort to build a more student led event, the SDC will be seeking out other youth who are interested in providing leadership in our upcoming Challenges. We would like to hear from you!
Thanks to Anna, Isabel, Bianca and Zahara who took the lead in being our first student mentors for SDC this year. They also co-hosted the 2021 Finale event. They are grade 10 students at Kelowna Secondary School.
Meet Past Mentors
Ryan Lancaster: “ I currently run a social enterprise marketing company (Driving Change Marketing) and nonprofit (The Million Dollar Bus) specializing in growing the impact of local charities by accelerating their marketing and community support.”
Nicole Rustad: “I led the Tech Division of Disney's Corporate Citizenship for ten years globally. Today I consult to business, nonprofit, and donors on how to drive social change to make the greatest impact on causes. I've worked with communities in over 40 countries to create sustainable projects that move the needle on community issues like poverty reduction, health care, environment and conservation.”
Gord Lovegrove: Associate Professor of Sustainable Communities at UBCO’s School of Engineering. Each June, Gord takes 20 UBC students and professionals to study the planning and design of New Towns in Holland, one of the worlds’ wealthiest, healthiest and most sustainability-oriented countries. Gord is Vice President of Canada's Society for Civil Engineering, former chair of CSCE’s Committee on Sustainability, and is a co-author of several books on sustainability, including most recently the ASCE’s Engineering Sustainable Communities.