Alinda Ware

Board President

Alinda Ware is a retired teacher who was also active in her Belcarra community. She was a member of the Sasamat Volunteer Fire Department for twenty years and served as safety officer, training officer and first responder instructor. She now lives on Vancouver Island. Since 1998 she has spent six months a year volunteering for educational projects in Kenya. She is a founding member of KEEF(Kenya) and KEEF(Canada).

Janice Trenholme

Member at Large

Janice worked as the Head of Human Resources for the Governor General in Ottawa for many years. She and her brother now provide Financial and Estate Planning services. Having benefitted much as a young person from scholarship programs (France and Turkey), Janice is passionate about giving back to our students in Kenya.

Peg Klesner

Communication Coordinator

Peg is a retired teacher and Consultant in Native Student Education. She was a resource teacher and author of Language Arts for Native Students BC Ministry of Education, 1980. She served as a volunteer in Kakamega, Kenya for the Canadian Harambee Education Society in 1990 and for the African Canadian Continuing Education Society in 1994 and 1997

Maureen Howard

Secretary Treasurer

Maureen retired as senior inspector for a provincial government regulatory branch. Previous to her regulatory experience she worked in alcohol and drug treatment centres, which included five years at a treatment program for heroin addicts. She lived in the Philippines as a teenager and from that experience she wanted to become involved in a program that directly assisted children in developing countries.

Don Reimer

Member At Large

Don was a teacher and principal in several elementary schools in Prince George, all with a focus on community education and community schools. The family moved to Denman Island in 1989 and Don was the principal of Hornby Island Community School until retirement in 1998. After retirement Don and Wendy fulfilled a lifelong interest in working overseas, with volunteer work in the Caribbean in 1998 and 1999 and in Kenya as CHES agents in 2006 and 2011.

Marie Mackay

Kenya Liaison

Marie is a retired Registered Nurse with an extensive background in working with Persons with HIV/AIDS both in Vancouver and Western Kenya. She first volunteered in Kenya in 1994 and since 2000 has spent 6 months of every year in Kenya volunteering with various organizations as well as Masinde Muliro University in Kakamega.

Susan Thompson

Member At Large

Susan is a Fisheries Biologist living and working in Whitehorse, Yukon. Susan has spent a lot of time working in Kenya for various NGOs and runs training programs for rural fish farmers in Western Kenya when not in Canada.

Dick Glassford

Member at Large

Dick is a Vice President of Human Resources for a national paint manufacturer and retailer. He is passionate about education, and has taught at a number of colleges. He has volunteered his time to many organizations over the years, including a non-profit day care and non-profit recycling organization. Growing up, his family sponsored a number of children overseas and now Dick is proud to sponsor students and encourages family and friends to do the same through KEEF.

Nila Gopaul

Member at Large

Nila has significant international experience (Africa, China, Japan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates), teaching and helping to develop and empower students. In 2008 and 2011, she was a visiting lecturer at Harvard University's Institute for English Language Programs where she worked with foreign students. Since 2009, she has been the Editor of The Westcoast Reader, an award-winning newspaper for adults learners who want to improve their language and reading skills. As a child, Nila spent time growing up in West Africa, where her parents worked for the CIDA; in 2002 she travelled to Kakamega, Kenya, with her mother who was a CHES agent at the time. She is excited about fund-raising to help worthy bright KEEF students. She hopes to be on the ground again in Africa in the near future.

Susan Peake

Member at Large

Susan teaches at Capilano University in the ESL and Communications Departments. She also taught business courses in several cities in mainland China for eight years. She is a BC Teachers of English as an Additional Language (TEAL) board member and a member of Review Vancouver, a group who writes reviews for events around Vancouver. Susan is pleased to be a part of KEEF and looks forward to working with the other members in providing assistance to students in Kenya.

Shelagh Armour-Godbolt

Member at Large

Shelagh is a retired social worker and community college instructor living in Burnaby B.C. She has been involved as a sponsor of high school and post-secondary students in Western Kenya since 1998. In 2006, she spent a memorable three weeks in Kenya and had the opportunity to meet sponsored students, including one she had assisted. This made her even more aware of the value of the work of educational charities such as KEEF.