Our Staff
The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation staff and bios.
Burkhard Mausberg, CEO
Shelley Petrie, Program Director
Kathy Macpherson, Research and Policy Director
Susan Murray, Communications Director (Maternity Leave)
Julienne Spence, Acting Communications Director
Megan Hunter, Communications Manager
Alla Kalaida, Office Manager/Bookkeeper
Amy Chan, Project Coordinator/Executive Assistant
Carla Balabanowicz, Communications Coordinator
Jason Rombouts, IT Coordinator
Bronwyn Whyte, Program Officer
Olusola Ayodele, Database Adminstrator
Bertha Kaupukwa, Receptionist
Katie Sandwell, Program Assistant
Emma Berrigan, Communications/Executive Assistant
Bo Peng, Research Assistant
Namgyal Dolker, Executive Assistant, Grants
Ryan Hilborn, Executive Assistant, Research
Burkhard Mausberg, CEO
As CEO of the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, Burkhard Mausberg is a leader in making Ontario’s Greenbelt a successful and popular initiative.
Burkhard brings to the Foundation both organizational talent and a passion for the environment. Prior to his appointment as the founding President of the Greenbelt Foundation, he directed the environmental programs of the Ivey Foundation – one of Canada’s leading private family foundations.
His background includes positions as CEO of environmental organization which he transformed and grew into important forces for change in public policy, including Environmental Defence Canada, Great Lakes United, and the Environment Fund. He also managed the Great Lakes Program at Pollution Probe, taught environmental studies at the University of Toronto for eight years, and writes widely on the environment in popular and educational settings. As a volunteer on several non-profit boards, he specializes in board governance and fiscal responsibility.
Burkhard studied Chemistry at the University of Waterloo, Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto, and Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo. Born in Germany, Burkhard lives in Toronto with his wife and three young daughters and enjoys taking family trips into Ontario’s Greenbelt and travelling worldwide.
Shelley Petrie, Program Director
Shelley came to the Foundation in January of 2006, from the Toronto Environmental Alliance, where she served as Executive Director for almost five years and as campaigner for ten years. Shelley has also worked for Great Lakes United and for Greenpeace. She has served on the Boards of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the Wildlands League, and Greensaver. Hailing from New Brunswick, she went to Mount Allison University. Her interests lie in broad community partnerships to further the environmental, economic and cultural evolution of communities towards a healthy future.
Kathy Macpherson, Research and Policy Director
Kathy joined the Foundation in May 2008, after five years as a Public Policy Specialist with the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management team of the World Bank in Jakarta, Indonesia. Prior to that she managed a CIDA-funded project to build policy making capacity within the Indonesian government. Before moving to Indonesia, Kathy was a Senior Manager with the Ontario Public Service for six years, having worked within different ministries and Ministers’ Offices since the early 1980’s.
Susan Murray, Communications Director
Susan joined the Foundation in September 2009 after almost five years as an Account Director with Manifest Communications, one of Canada’s premier social marketing agencies. She brings over 15 years of marketing, communications, and branding experience to her role, and has worked in Toronto, New York and Poland for a broad range of clients including the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, OCAD, Artscape, Goodwill, Mountain Equipment Co-op, the Ontario Centres of Excellence, Baycrest, Ophea, the Arthritis Society and Doctors Without Borders Canada.
Susan holds an M.A. in Political Philosophy with a focus on International Negotiations from the University of Toronto, a B.A.H in Political Science from Queen’s University and a diploma in Conflict Management from Columbia University. She volunteers as a mediator at St. Stephen’s Conflict Resolution Service in Toronto.
Julienne Spence, Acting Communications Director
Julienne Spence brings eight years of food and beverage communications and media relations experience to the Foundation. Joining the Broader Public Sector Investment Fund, almost a year ago as Communications Manager, Julienne will continue to support projects at the Fund while acting as Communications Director.
In her most recent role at a mid-sized communications agency, Julienne was responsible for managing communications for a variety of multi-national food and beverage clients. Julienne’s experience has also crossed the border, as lead on a project to promote a little known spirits company, she spearheaded a successful campaign engaging major US media, such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, to build national brand awareness. A seasoned communications professional, Julienne is excited to combine her experience with her passion for promoting Ontario food.
Megan Hunter, Communications Manager
Megan joined the Foundation in October 2010. She has a long history of interest in environmental and agricultural issues stemming from her upbringing in rural Saskatchewan. She is a University of Toronto graduate with an HBA in International Relations and Environmental Policy, and is a Certified Environmental Practitioner in-Training (EPt). Megan has over 10 years of experience in sales, communications and food services both within and outside of the environmental sector. This includes working with a wide range of organizations including Vita-Mix Corporation, Green Living Enterprises, and the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition.
Aside from volunteer activities with various environmental organizations, Megan enjoys cycling, theatre and dance, and experimenting with new recipes in company of family and friends.
Alla Kalaida, Bookkeeper/Office Manager
Alla has over four years of experience in bookkeeping and office management. She is an exciting addition to the Foundation. Alla is accredited from Skills for Change and originally studied at Kiev National Trade Economy University in the Ukraine where she was born. Growing up, she always had an affinity with the natural world. Her love for nature and animals now translates into the work she does at the Greenbelt Foundation.
In her spare time, Alla enjoys spending time with her friends and volunteering her time to charity and community events.
Amy Chan, Project Coordinator/Executive Assistant
Amy joined the Foundation in December 2009. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto with a double major in Human Geography and Biological Anthropology, and a minor in Health Studies. The work of the Foundation aligns well with Amy's academic interests as well as her values and beliefs. She continues to take courses related to environment and sustainability.
Amy has a passion for traveling and she is always enthusiastic about food and cooking/baking in the company of family and friends.
Carla Balabanowicz, Communications Coordinator
Carla joined the Foundation in July 2010, bringing with her six years of diverse, multifaceted writing experience and an aptitude for cross-medium media production. Having grown up in the Holland Marsh area, she has a great appreciation for the hard-working farm community and a special connection to Ontario's Greenbelt. Previously, Carla was a freelance journalist and has worked with CTV National News, SaveOurNet.ca, Open Media (formerly Campaign for Democratic Media), Caracter Communication (Germany), InDI 101 radio, Environment Hamilton, and is a novice documentary filmmaker.
Carla attended the University of Waterloo for Psychology, as well as Mohawk College, graduating from the Print & Broadcast Journalism program. In her spare time she loves cooking, her cats, making music, gardening, cycling, and can often be found practicing "karaoke therapy" with her close friends.
Jason Rombouts, IT Coordinator
Jason joins the Foundation as a recent graduate of George Brown's Computer Systems Technology program. Having spent many summers of his youth working on his grandparent's farm, Jason has formed a solid appreciation for where our food comes from. With the belief that technology is a tremendous aid in easing our work, Jason joined our IT department and has already proved himself a valuable asset to the whole Foundation team.
When his beard is not behind a computer screen, it is likely enjoying vegetables, catching the breeze on a bike trail, talking to cats or focused on a board game -- sometimes all four.
Bronwyn Whyte, Program Officer
Bronwyn joined the Foundation in July 2011. Prior to this Bronwyn completed her Masters in Urban Planning at Ryerson University, where her studies focused on food security and food systems planning. Bronwyn has been actively involved on the ‘food’ scene for several years, gaining experience from a range of opportunities including her work as a community animator at FoodShare to farming on a small Nova Scotian Farm. She also brings several years of research experience with her, including her work on food hubs, food accessibility and online-learning tools. Working to support the Greenbelt is extremely important and exciting for Bronwyn as it aligns her interests in land use planning with food security/agriculture.
Apart from food-related activities Bronwyn enjoys running, dancing in her kitchen, and attempting to build ‘things’, all of which is done preferably in the company of family and friends.
Olusola Ayodele, Database Administrator
With over eight years’ experience in the Banking industry, bringing value to clients and organizations, Olusola is excited to join the great and innovative team at the Foundation to help further advance awareness, support and protection of the environment. She graduated and majored in Geography and with evolving technology she is challenged to keep up and consistently add value to her skill-set by taking new courses and certifications.
Olusola enjoys spending time with her family, especially her daughter; she loves cooking and living life.
Bertha Kaupukwa, Receptionist
Bertha joined the Foundation team in February 2012, and will be utilizing her six years of experience in banking and office administration, as well as her experience as a volunteer at African food Basket. She was accredited at Skills for Change. On a personal level, Bertha is inspired by the landscape, water, plants and animals in the Greenbelt; and she finds nature very relaxing and soothing. She is excited to be working for an organization that is making sure that people are living in a clean and healthy environment.
Katie Sandwell, Program Assistant
Katie is a food activist with several years’ experience working and volunteering with a variety of food projects, co-ops, and local farms in Southwestern Ontario. She joined the Foundation in July 2011 while in the final stages of completing a MES in Sustainable Food Systems and Food Citizenship at York University. Her work on Ontariofresh.ca is an exciting way for her to explore her interest in what makes local food systems tick, and how we can develop new tools and techniques to support them and make them more sustainable.
Katie is involved with a variety of food projects and also gardens, cans, rock climbs, and draws when she can find the time.
Emma Berrigan, Communications/Executive Assistant
Emma's personal and professional life have joined forces - her passion for local food and all things green has landed her in the perfect role here as a recent addition to the communications team. She brings over nine years of organizing experience, as well as administrative experience spanning six years and several notable organizations. She is working towards the Food Security Certificate at Ryerson University. Emma loves her bicycle and Niagara fruit and considers the Pontiac her home. She is a bit of a food politics nerd, and you can often find her nose stuck in books ranging from 'The History of Sugar' to 'On Food and Cooking' encyclopedia.
Bo Peng, Research Assistant
Bo completed her Bachelors in Urban and Regional Planning at Ryerson University in June 2011 and joined the Foundation as research assistant in September 2011, where she also completed her placement during school. During her placement, she developed strong interests towards Smart Growth and regional planning which made her strong advocate for the Greenbelt. Bo gained understanding of planning processes and practiced her research and analytical skills both in school and her previous internship with Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Toronto Building Division.
She likes to explore and observe communities of different cultures when she’s away from work, and is fond of tasting all kinds of cuisines with a special crazy preference for spicy items.
Namgyal Dolker, Executive Assistant, Grants
Namgyal was raised in close proximity to nature, as she was born into a farming family. As she grew up, she was trained as an administrative assistant for the hospitality industry. Namgyal brings excellent inter-personal skills and an attention to detail that is second to none – talents that are a great addition to the grants team.
Nature and people played major part in shaping her view of looking at life. After working for several years as an Assistant to the General Manager of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Nepal, she developed an interest in a more humanitarian and philanthropic career path. Prior to coming to Canada, she worked as an Executive Officer to the Country Representative of Population Services International, an INGO that deals with public health issues of the vulnerable and low-income people in Nepal. Barely a year in Toronto, after completing Finance and Office Assistant Program from Skills for Change, she found herself working with Friends of Greenbelt Foundation under the Investing In Neighborhood program.
She believes in the adage " Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible". She is passionate about helping people, taking social responsibility and working for organizations that touch people’s lives.
Ryan Hilborn, Executive Assistant, Research
Ryan can be found cycling in the Greenbelt, cooking gourmet dishes for friends and family, working on his latest writing masterpiece, and now, at the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation as Executive Assistant in Research. He holds a BA in English from Carleton University and an MA in English from McGill, which will prove very valuable when editing and assisting with research papers. Born in a small town near Rice Lake, Ryan takes pride in the fact that his work will enhance the Greenbelt and help people in rural areas like where he grew up. Ryan has travelled world, but has now settled in Toronto with his feline friend Govestie.
