Board of Directors
DEC 2023
Meet Our Board Of Directors
We are governed by a volunteer Board of Directors who are elected annually for a defined term. The Board represents a cross-section of our community, each bringing a specialized skill set to their volunteer role.
They shepherd the Calgary Food Bank’s strategy, mission, vision and values.
Jay Gohill
Board Chair
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Jay is an active member of the technology, business and charitable communities within Calgary and has spent 30 years fostering civic responsibility with his team, peers and friends. He is the President, CEO and a founding partner of Arcurve, and has successfully led the growth of the company for more than 15 years. He is committed to building a lasting organization with a reputation for quality and delivery while building a strong technical and social culture within the company. Jay has a strong commitment to Calgary as this city is the place that has provided him the opportunities to grow and succeed – he wants to ensure that it continues to be the place that his children and future generations can grow their ideas, build a future and continue to create a vibrant and caring city.
Farhana Janmohamed
Treasurer
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Farhana emigrated to Canada as a toddler and understands first hand how organizations such as the Calgary Food Bank can provide much needed “hand up” services to the community during times of change and transition. She is very proud to be working with the incredible team to continue to strive to end food insecurity and its root causes in our community.
Jennifer Forrest
Secretary
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Jennifer Forrest is a small business owner, lawyer, coach and former executive leader in the energy sector. She has extensive experience developing and implementing human resource strategies in areas of total compensation, organizational effectiveness, workforce planning, talent development, strategic advisory, change management, and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Her legal experience spans labour and employment, privacy, corporate governance and commercial law.
Jennifer holds a Bachelor of Arts (Distinction) from the University of Lethbridge, a Master of Arts from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Calgary.
Jennifer previously served as Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of Lethbridge and Vice Chair of the Calgary Police Commission and joined the Calgary Food Bank Board of Directors in 2021. She is also currently a board member with the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Centre.
Tracey Martin
Chair, Compensation, Governance and Nominating Committee
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Tracey’s career has included leadership roles in Customer Service, Sales and Human Resources. For over 20 years she has been a senior leader in the HR field and for the last ten years, she has also been a certified Executive, Leadership and Career Coach. Her work has Tracey partnering with organizations to create engaged workforces with energy and enthusiasm. She also works with individuals to find engaging work, to work at their best, and to find fulfillment and fun along the way. Tracey has faced some big challenges in her time, but the biggest was travelling overland all the way around the globe. She’s undertaken incredibly long stints on a motorcycle sidecar rig, tuk tuk and cargo ship. She never stops exploring, learning and sharing her experiences to inspire others to find the same magic that she’s found lying just beyond her comfort zone.
Seema Parmar
Chair, Community & Stakeholder Relations Committee
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Dr. Seema Parmar recently joined Cleveland Clinic Canada’s Advisory Services team as their Health Intelligence and Insights Lead. She was previously an Associate Partner and Senior Expert with McKinsey & Company, where she supported healthcare clients in Canada and the US. Before that, Seema worked as a researcher with Alberta Health Services and a health educator with the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association and different non-profits in the US. She is also on the Boards of the Mosaic Primary Care Network in Calgary and Public Health Solutions in New York. Seema has a PhD from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hil, and a Bachelor’s of Science from Queen’s University.
She is excited to be joining the Calgary Food Bank and give back to the Calgary community.
Dean Setoguchi
Chair, Audit & Finance Committee
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Dean brings extensive financial acumen, strategic perspective, and executive management experience garnered from 25 years in the Energy industry. Dean is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Keyera Corp., a premiere energy infrastructure company. He holds a Bachelor of Management (University of Lethbridge) and is also a Chartered Professional Accountant (CA).
Dean is committed to supporting people in the Calgary community and advancing the Calgary Food Bank’s mission to relieve food insecurity and provide support for those in need.
Angelo Lambrinoudis
Director
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Angelo, a born and raised Calgarian and has lived in our beautiful city for over 40 years, he is married to his wife Sonia and has three grown daughters. He holds an executive leadership role with Sysco Alberta, he has been with Sysco for over 20 years and has a great understanding of Food Supply Chain/Logistics. He has also spent time working for Sysco Canada Corporate office and was in charge of Revenue Management Deployment for Canada in 2019. Over the last 20 years Angelo has spent time volunteering in many capacities, from coaching basketball to his involvement with the Calgary Produce Associations annual Fall Harvest, in support of The Alberta Children’s Hospital, Heritage Park Society and Calgary Community Kitchens. He has been on the board for just over a year and is grateful to work with such a great organization.
Hejdi Carlsen
Director
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Hejdi serves as the Senior vice president, Corporate Affairs with AltaGas. She has experience in the energy, infrastructure, and logistics sectors, with expertise in sustainability, stakeholder relations, policy, corporate contributions and communications. She is passionate about community; and shares the Calgary Food Bank’s vision. She believes the Calgary Food Bank’s strong reputation uniquely positions it to bring community partners together to best serve the Calgary, so our city is a place where everyone can prosper.
Riley Georgsen
Director
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Riley brings extensive experience in government, communications, stakeholder engagement and public policy. His career path has led him to opportunities with both the public and private sector with a focus on energy and the environment. Currently he works at the Alberta Utilities Commission as the Director of Communications and External Affairs. Riley is passionate about ensuring all families and individuals have access to food, no matter their circumstances. He serves as the chair of the Community and Stakeholder relations committee to support the work the food bank does with partner agencies.
Brad Hayden
Director
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Brad is a Senior Partner with Norton Rose Fulbright where he has practiced corporate law for more than 30 years while also serving in senior leadership and management roles. Most recently, he served as Calgary Managing Partner where he was responsible for fostering a culture of performance, teamwork and collaboration among 200 legal professionals and business services personnel. Calgary has been his home since 1987, and along with his wife Kristy and their four children they have benefitted from the many opportunities and lasting friendships our great city has to offer.
Brad joined the board in early 2020, and he is proud to be part of the team and its journey and grateful to be able to give back to the community that has given him and many others so much.
Amy Leong
Past Board Chair
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Amy is a Chartered Professional Accountant with over 25 years of business experience in the Energy industry. Amy is currently the VP Finance of a mid-size oil and gas company overseeing the Finance and IT functions and brings vast experience in the areas of financial reporting, planning, treasury, governance, audit, risk, and strategy. She has held senior positions in both Canadian and US publicly listed energy companies and have participated in number of large-scale financing and business combination transactions.
Amy has served on the Board of the Calgary Food Bank since late 2014. She has held the position of Treasurer and Chair of the Audit Committee and currently, is the Chair of the Board of Directors. She is passionate about the wellbeing of the community and is honored to be able to utilize her skills and professional experience to work alongside the team at the Calgary Food Bank to help fight food insecurity in Calgary.
Melissa From
President & CEO
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Melissa From has worked as a leader and advocate in the non-profit sector for nearly 2 decades.
In addition to a Bachelor of Business Administration, Melissa holds a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Administration from the University of Saskatchewan.
Melissa has completed the Certificate in Non-profit Management from Mount Royal University and is one of 1200 CFRE designate fundraisers in Canada.
Melissa currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Alberta Mentoring Partnership and serves as a subject matter expert for the Alberta Education curriculum design. She is an avid volunteer in her community and enjoys weekends at the hockey rink with her husband and two children.
Melissa believes in the boundless potential of the city of Calgary and its citizens. But she knows that potential can only be reached when we are all thriving. Melissa is committed to making certain that all Calgarians have access to the food they need to ensure that they can contribute in their most meaningful way to our community. Together, this is how we build a strong city
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Making food accessible to everyone in our city.
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