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Ottawa, ON – The Heartwood Institute is pleased to announce the appointment of its first Board of Directors. This team will guide Heartwood as we build our vision to support and grow the Green political movement in Canada.

Our Directors are:

• Dave Bagler (Ottawa) – President and founding member of the Heartwood Institute, Dave has been involved in dozens of Green campaigns all across Canada. He was the President of the Green Party of Canada in 2015 and a two-time candidate for the Green Party of Ontario. Since 2015, he has coordinated successful canvassing and GOTV programs for Green campaigns across the country.
• Janice Harvey (Fredericton) – Janice is a professor of Environment and Society at St. Thomas University, with research interests in green politics and environmentalism. She helped found the Green Party of New Brunswick in 2008 and served as the party's first president. She has been active in winning campaigns in 2014, 2018 and 2020. Janice also served on Shadow Cabinet of the Green Party of Canada and has run as a candidate in both federal and provincial elections. She has spent decades doing award-winning work for Canadian environmental causes on staff at the Conservation Council of NB. She has served on several government advisory boards, including a 10-year stint on the Premier's Round Table on Environment and Economy (1992–2002). She has been in the media as a political panellist and columnist. She was one of the key consultants on the 2019 platform for the Green Party of Canada.
• Emily McMillan (Ottawa) – Emily has been involved in Canada's environmental movement for her whole career. She led the Green Party of Canada as Executive Director from 2011-2019. She was the Atlantic Chapter Director of Sierra Club of Canada and currently serves as Deputy Executive Director at Nature Canada.
• Ken Melamed (Whistler) – Ken was the Mayor of Whistler BC from 2005–2011 and was first elected to city council in 1996. He has been active with the Green Party of Canada Federal and the BC Green Party since 2012, including serving for 3 years as President of the Green Party of Canada Federal Council.
• Liz Lilly (Victoria) – Liz joined the party after 25 years working for the BC Government in various different ministries, including Economic Development, Environment, Treasury Board Staff and Community, Sport and Cultural Development. She has a passion for good public policy and was the architect of the 2017 BC Greens Platform as well as being consulted on the federal platform in 2019. Liz has worn several hats for the provincial party over the years including Interim Executive Director and Chief Economist.
• Scott Mullenix (Ottawa) – Scott was a founding member of the Heartwood Institute and led the Green Party of Canada's record-breaking fundraising efforts in the lead up to the 2019 election. He is currently the GPC's Deputy Director of Communications.
• Becky Smit (Toronto) – Becky was the Executive Director of the Green Party of Ontario from 2009–2018. She went on to serve as Chief of Staff to GPO Leader Mike Schreiner following his election. She is currently the Green Party of Ontario Campaign Chair for the next provincial election.
• Ralph Benmergui (Hamilton) – Ralph is an award-winning TV and Radio producer and writer. In 2009, Ralph joined the Green Party of Canada as a strategic communications advisor. He has since worked as a strategic advisor at different political, environmental, media, business, and academic organizations and boards.

We are proud to announce such an accomplished group of Canadian Greens as our first Board of Directors and we are excited to work collaboratively with Greens across Canada to grow our movement together.

This is a Board with the range of skills and experience necessary for governing an organization effectively, who share a commitment to our goals and objectives and contribute through their involvement with board meetings, committees, events and special projects.

For more news and information about the Heartwood Institute visit heartwoodinstitute.ca.