Among the many volunteers that enable Richmond Food Security Society to build food security in our city, are those who serve as members on our Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors has overall responsibility for the direction and sustainability of the organization. They provide direct support and guidance to the Executive Director and staff through policies in strategic planning, as well as personnel and financial viability.

Board Members promote and communicate with the broader public and connect new people and ideas to staff. The Board of Directors ensures that our programs and activities have enough resources and are aligned with our mission and vision.

Please check our current volunteer opportunities if you are interested in joining the Board.  We are extremely grateful to have a talented and diverse group of volunteer directors sharing their knowledge and skills.

Director – Gerry Mulholland

Gerry holds a Diploma in Urban Land Economics and works as a consultant based out of Richmond. His primary role is to work with clients to understand how economics relates to land use, development, and planning. Growing up, his father instilled in Gerry an appreciation for agriculture with a hobby farm in Langley that had chickens, cows, and horses, along with a large vegetable garden. He and his wife maintain a backyard vegetable garden at their house in Steveston.

Vice Chair – Luther Sy

Luther joined the board in 2017 after seeing a need in food security after volunteering with the community meals around Richmond. He holds a degree in human resources and works in the security industry. In his free time he can be found in various community meals or tending to his mint and tomato garden.

Secretary – Joanne Ha

Jo lives in Richmond and joined the RFSS board in 2018 to learn more about sustainable food security.  She is a senior manager at a credit union in Vancouver and has over 25 years experience in the financial cooperatives industry.   She is also a Credit Union Development Educator and has worked with many cooperatives in Africa on projects relating to food security, micro lending and credit union management. Jo is a foodie, grows vegetables from her own micro garden, loves to cook and experience local foods on her travels.

Treasurer – Stephanie Fan

Born and raised in Richmond, Stephanie graduated from the Sauder School of Business with a Bachelor of Commerce degree specializing in Accounting. She currently works at Tiny Capital as a Partner in Mergers & Acquisitions. In the past, she worked in KPMG’s audit practice and has over 3 years of auditing experience where she was a part of KPMG’s Enterprise group including private companies, municipalities as well as not-for-profit organizations.

Director – Erzsi Institorisz

Erzsi is a multi-lingual singer songwriter, co-founder of GreenSeeds Music Society, Climate Reality Project Leader involved with the Richmond Climate Hub, as well as, a ButterflyWay Project Ranger with the David Suzuki Foundation. She is an alumni of the 2020 Leading Change Forum and 2014 IMPACT Leadership Program. Her experience living, playing and exploring in the West Coast sparked a passion for our natural surroundings. She believes that music and art evoke empathy and encourage connections and wants to inspire youth to be warriors of the land, water and air through multimedia and events.

Chair – Phil Carriere

Phil lives in Richmond and has been a community gardener at Terra Nova for 15 years.  He is a retired RCMP policy analyst and has worked for the federal government for over 32 years with experience in finance, government relations, human resources, people management, program delivery, policy development, and risk assessment.

Director – Donna Kwan

Donna believes that nutritious food should be easily accessible to all, no matter where we live or how much money we have.  She believes there is far too much food waste and sees preventative measures such as making meal plans, using ugly fruits and vegetables, and gleaning excess produce as solutions we can use to reduce food insecurity and lessen environmental impact. She believes that eating well on a budget can be achieved by knowing how and what to cook.

Donna has a degree in biochemistry from UBC and has worked as a research assistant with Agriculture Canada. She now works for the Richmond School District and sponsors the Burnett Green Team and Cycling Club and for her husband in their small engineering consultancy which specializes in water treatment and sewage treatment for First Nations, municipalities and other organizations.

You can find Donna cycling around Richmond, standing on her many soapboxes or dancing for no reason.