Facility Manager, Innovative Fitness Consultant Inc.
Bret Hodge is the Facility Manager at Innovative Fitness Consultant Inc. and is actively involved in health fitness. He has been involved as a personal training coach for 2 years, engaged customers at a high level, and been involved in local and international events. After graduating in 201 from Kinesiology and Health Sciences, Bret worked as an intern at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. Upon returning to Canada, he joined the team at Innovative Fitness and has worked his way up the ranks over the past two years – from Training Coach to Events Manager and now Facility Manager. Having completed numerous local destinations, Bret led a group to hike the Grand Canyon last March and is actively involved in the health and fitness community within Vancouver.
Events, Officials and Schools Program Coordinator, Field Hockey BC
On-Call Fitness Centre Worker, City of Vancouver
AquaFit Teacher, City of New Westminster
Nancy Plechaty works full-time at Field Hockey BC as Events, Officials and Schools Program Coordinator. She has more than eighteen years experience working in the Fitness, Sport and Recreation field in various positions throughout the Lower Mainland. Her self-contracted fitness work includes: BCPRA/CFES; teaching courses, mentorship, and workshops to weight/personal trainers; conducting exams for candidates in all modules (Aquafit, Group Fitness, Etc.). She is an on-call Fitness Centre Worker for the City of Vancouver and teaches AquaFit for the City of New Westminster. Her interests and expertise include: BCRPA Supervisor of Fitness Leaders Aquafit, Group Fitness, Weight Training, Personal Training, Third Age, Osteofit, CFES, BHkin, ACE, and coached/played many sports and physical activities (mostly outdoor activities such as swimming, snowboarding, hiking, biking, softball, rowing, yoga, etc.).
Personal Trainer, Self-Employed
Manager and Manger and Server, Local Public Eatery
Sarah Penman is a private/self-employed Personal Trainer, NSCA-CSCS (Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists) Manager and Manager/Server at Local Public Eatery. She and her fiancée are currently in the process of opening their own business by 2014. Although it will have a broad variety of services available, its main three components will be Personal Training, Massage Therapy, and Physiotherapy. Her past experience includes: two years as the Athletic Trainer for the UBC Men’s Volleyball Team, four years volunteering with UBC REC, one year working with Ron Mattison in the Allen McGavin Physio Clinic, working as a Trainer in the UBC Birdcoop, Director of the Nitobe Basketball League with UBC REC, and coached a basketball team with the Developmentally Challenged Youth Basketball Association. For the past few years, Stephanie has worked as a privately employed Personal Trainer, taught personal training for the BCRPA at Douglas College, and has been saving money to open her business as a Manager/Server at Local Public Eatery.
Fitness Model and Host, Kinesiology, Self-Employed
Stephanie Manou is a self-employed Kinesiologist working in health and fitness. She has experience as a Fitness Model and Host working in print, television, and film. She actively works for the Vancouver-based company Urban Recreation. Following her 2008 graduation from Kinesiology and Health Sciences, Stephanie pursued an advanced certificate in athletic therapy. She then applied with the BCAK to become a practicing Kinesiologist. As a fitness model, she has worked with several fitness and rehabilitation products as well as fitness magazines and websites. She has worked as a youth camp coordinator with Douglas College as well as a Youth Programs Coordinator for Volleyball BC. With a desire to help people more than organize them, Stephanie opened her own business. As a Kinesiologist, she has worked with ICBC rehab patients as well as professional athletes and currently focuses on teaching others how to live a healthy lifestyle. In addition to personal training, she has also worked with a Vancouver-based company called Urban Rec. She continues to be a fitness model and aspires to one day write for the magazines that she models in.
Recreation Programmer, North Vancouver Recreation Comission (NVRC)
Lisa Bealle is a North Vancouver Recreation Commission (NVRC) Recreation Programmer. Her academic education includes: BKIN (Leisure & Sports Management), Associate Certificate of Leadership (BCIT, pending graduation Nov. 2012), and a Business Admin Diploma. After getting her Business Admin Diploma many years ago, Lisa got into the Desktop Publishing/Typesetting trade. Deciding to return to University in 1995 to pursue an interest in the Leisure and Sports Field, Lisa went on to complete an HKIN co-op program in her fourth year with an internship at Britannia Community Centre. After successfully drafting a “Parks Projects” grant, Lisa went on to act as Co-ordinator for two years – ultimately, operating and implementing five successful Parks Projects. Elsewhere, she has worked on the East Side Sports League Committee. This internship and volunteer work eventually turned into a job, as an ‘acting’ Recreation Programmer at Britannia and then at Mt. Pleasant CC. Most recently, Lisa has volunteered as the Chairperson with the Outdoor Club for Women for two years (2010-2011).
Brand Supervisor and Event Specialist, Cossette
Bianca Knop is currently Brand Supervisor and Event Specialist for Cossette. She has been with Cossette for over five years working in a variety of account roles focusing on: sponsorship strategy and activation; event development and management; brand development and design; and advertising strategy and design. She began her career as an intern at Mount Seymour in their marketing department. After completing several seasons there graduating from UBC, she moved on to working at Inventa Sales and Promotions. It was her first account role and where she learned the ‘ropes’ of agency life. At Inventa she was in charge of developing and managing all of Nintendo of Canada’s national events, game launches, and retail partnerships. Moving on to her next challenge, she joined Cossette in 2007 as an account coordinator working in their Olympic sponsorship department. From there, she has stayed with Cossette to the present day but has moved around to different departments and through three different account roles.
Training Manager, Phillips DirectLife
Jennifer Dowdeswell is the Training Manager for Phillips DirectLife where she works on a product called DirectLife & ActiveLink whose concept is to help people become more active in their day to day lives. She currently works from home with a team based in Amsterdam (Netherlands) and satellite teams situated in Minnesota, Indiana (USA) and Mumbia (India). The majority of her work is videa based and online learning tools.After graduating from UBC’s School of Kinesiology (Sport and Business Management), Jennifer went on to work for Sport BC (admin/marketing), The Esteem Team (admin/speaker), Pinnacle Pursuits (providing team building), Studeo55 (personal training and business development), had her own business as a professional speaker, and spent five summers working as a commercial prawn fisherman. She has traveled and lived in over 37 countries and is keen to continue to learn and grow in her own skills as well as share what she has learned over the years.
Associate Director, Partner Network and Marketing, LIFT Philanthropy Partners
Lyndsey Chauhan is the Associate Director, Partner Network and Marketing for LIFT Philanthropy Partners. LIFT Philanthropy Partners uses a venture philanthropy approach to support not-for-profit organizations to become sustainable and more effective at delivering measurable social impact that improves the health and productivity of Canadians and their communities. As a graduate of UBC’s School of Kinesiology (Leisure and Sport Management), Lyndsey has gone on to accrue more than eleven years experience in developing and executing marketing, sponsorship and branding strategies. She currently manages marketing and partner network development and engagement in LIFT Philanthropy Partners. As manager, marketing, at 2010 Legacies Now, Lyndsey led the organization through a re-branding process to develop and launch its new brand as LIFT Philanthropy Partners. During her time at 2010 Legacies Now, Lyndsey was seconded to VANOC and led a team of up to 55 volunteers and paid staff at BC Place during the 2010 Winter Games.
Owner and Founder, M1 Sports Management Inc.
Mark Ernsting is the owner and founder of M1 Sports Management – an agency that oversees corporate marketing, event management, and athlete representation. After graduating from UBC’s School of Kinesiology, Mark received a cycling scholarship to attend a university in the United States where he completed his graduate degrees. During this time, he represented cycling teams in North America, Europe, and was part of the Canadian National Team. Mark competed for Canada at World Cups, World Championships, Pan-Am Games, and other International Road and Track events until his retirement from the sport in 2004. Upon graduation, Mark accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at West Virginia Wesleyen College in WV (USA) where he established and created a world-class scientific test facility. In 2007, Mark made the decision to leave academia, return to Canada, and begin his own sport management business. After the successful creation of M1 Sports Management, Mark also co-founded a sports sustainability business called EARTHsport. Recently Mark has received UCI certification as Canada’s first certified UCI Rider Agent allowing him to represent cyclists at the World Tour level.
Co-Founder and Director of Business Services, Debrand Services Inc.
Amelia Ufford is the Co-Founder and Director of Business Services for Debrand Services Inc. – a business involved in environmental services. Past experience has included work the Minnesota Wild (Intern), Vancouver Canucks Game Presentation (2002-2012), and as an Account Manager with Nike (2003-2007). In addition to this, she has: volunteered with Right to Play International in Sri Lanka as a Program Manager (2007-2008), co-founded Debrand Services in 2008, was a participant in the Minerva Leadership Program for Women/Girls (2010), is a member of Forum for Women Entrepreneurs, attended the Social Venture Institute (2011), was a nominee for EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2011, was a Finalist in Small Business BC Best Green Business (2011), and was a YWCA Women of Distinction Finalist (Entrepreneurship 2011).