Community Sector Working Committee Members

Meet the members of the Community Sector Working Committee.

Donna Butt, Artistic/Executive Director

Rising Tide Theatre
Trinity

Donna Butt is the Artistic & Executive Producer of Rising Tide, a position she has held for over 30 years. She is the proud recipient of many awards including the Order of Canada, an honorary degree from Memorial University and most recently the cherished Order of Newfoundland and Labrador. She is an actor, director, writer and producer. Donna lives in Trinity.

Joan Cranston, Director

Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital Heritage Corporation
Norris Point

Reagh Ellis, Coordinator

Bonavista Minor Soccer Association
Bonavista

I'm a senior officer with the RCMP, currently acting operations for the Clarenville-Bonavista District responsible for the operations and investigations. I have presented provincially and nationally at Crime Prevention conferences on youth violence awareness and maintain a strong supporter of youth inititiatives. I remain active on a number of boards that allow me to interact overall with most of the demographics for my home area of Bonavista. I believe in the benifits of regionalization and my varied involvement in local groups supports this.

Jody Fancy, Board Member

Status of Women Central
Bishop's Falls

Jody has spent over 10 years working in the field of business and economic development for rural communities as a Business Retention and Expansion Coordinator with the Exploits Valley Economic Development Corporation, Kittiwake Economic Development Corporation, and Executive Director of the former Bishop’s Falls Development Corporation. Her contributions to community growth and development, led to the creation of the Bishop’s Falls Community Development Task Force, which she also chaired, that completed a strategic community development plan in June 2007.

Jody’s strong leadership and commitment to community growth, with the successful lobby to save a local high school, led to her being elected as Mayor of Bishop’s Falls in 2005. In her role as Mayor, she served on several high profile committees including Finance, Economic Development, and Labour Relations. On a regional level Jody was Chair of the Exploits Valley Joint Council, a political organization comprised of municipal officials from the region. During that time, Jody was also elected Municipalities Newfoundland & Labrador’s Small Towns Director.

After her 4 year term was served, Jody returned to work on a full-time basis and was employed with Newfoundland and Labrador Organization for Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE) as the Regional Coordinator for the Business Beginnings Program but in the fall of 2010 she decided to return to MUN to complete her Bachelor of Business Administration through distance education. She is still involved in her community and sits as a board member on Status of Women Central.

Jody is married to Glenn Fancey of Bishop’s Falls, and they are the proud parents of three children, Nickolas, Riley, and Leah.

Colleen Kennedy, Executive Director

Gros Morne Co-operating Association
Rocky Harbour

Roseanne Leonard, Managing Director

NL Association of Community Business Development Corporations
Mount Pearl

Leon Mills, Executive Director

Canadian Hard of Hearing Association NL
Mount Pearl

Leon has been the Executive Director of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association-Newfoundland and Labrador (CHHA-NL) since 1996 and was the Chapter President in1995-1996. He has a wide variety of career experience in various fields as a Physical Education teacher, Multi-Grade Teacher/Principal and the Coordinator of a Job Readiness Training Program and as an Assistant Recreation Director. He also served with the Canadian Forces as a Cadet Officer from 1987 to 1994. He self-identifies as being hard of hearing and has worn two hearing aids since 1984.

He graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador (MUNL) with Con-Joint Bachelors Degrees in Education and Physical Education in 1986 and his Masters Degree in Education in 1997, specializing in Educational Leadership. In 2004, he earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from the Canadian Society of Association Executives (CSAE) and served on the National CSAE Board of Directors as the Atlantic Canada Representative from 2004-2010. He is also an online course facilitator for the CSAE education program that leads to the professional Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation for association executives.

Leon has served in a leadership capacity with numerous sports, volunteer and community groups. He is a former chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Independent Living Resource Centre (ILRC) for persons with cross-disabilities and served two terms as the co-chair of Ability Works Employment Centre for persons with disabilities. He has also served as President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Society of Fund Raising Executives (NLSFRE).

He has also been a member of a number of local government and civic committees that deal with disability issues. Currently, he is Vice-Chair of the Buildings Accessibility Review Board with the Department of Works, Services, and Lands and sits on the Insurance Review Committee of the provincial government. He also serves as Vice-Chair of the Marine Atlantic Accessibility Committee for Persons with Disabilities and is Chair of the College of the North Atlantic Learner Services Committee (Disabilities).

Sheila O’Dea, Member of Leadership Team

Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy

St. John's

Sheila Marie O'Dea, a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of Newfoundland, was born in St. John's, Newfoundland. She completed her BA and BA(Ed) at Memorial University of Newfoundland and taught in Newfoundland for several years.

She completed the degree of MA in Liturgical Studies from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana and the degree of MA in Pastoral Studies from St. Paul University in Ottawa. Following these studies, Sheila worked for eight years as the Archdiocesan Director of Liturgy in the Archdiocese of St. John's. During that time Sheila served on the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, the National Liturgical Council of Canada, the Atlantic Liturgical Council (as Chair) and the Board of the North American Forum on the Catechumenate.

In 1995 Sheila completed the degree of Doctor of Ministry with a concentration in Liturgy from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. From September 1994 to June 1997, Sheila was employed at Regis College in Toronto as associate director of continuing education; and from June 1997 to December 2003, she was the Associate Director of The North American Forum on the Catechumenate. In those positions she was responsible for budgets, staffing issues, and long term planning. During those years she was part of the Iintercontinental Consultation on Adult Catechesis. Following a sabbatical in 2004, Sheila became Director of Liturgy and Lecturer at All Hallows College, Dublin, Ireland, during which time she served on the Dublin Diocesan Liturgical Commission and was a member of the Anglo-Irish Oblate Planning Council.

Sheila has authored several articles in Catechumenate, Celebrate, Evangelization Update, the National Bulletin on Liturgy and Today’s Parish.

Sheila has taught courses on Initiation at St. Paul University in Ottawa, is a team member for Institutes of the North American Forum on the Catechumenate, has been a resource person, a facilitator and a presenter at both national and local conferences in Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States and Wales on various aspects of Initiation, Liturgy, Adult Catechesis, Christian Mission, Leadership and the connections of these fields with Social Justice. From 2001 to 2004 she lead part of an Oblate Renewal Program in Aix-en-Provence, France; in November 2001, she co-facilitated a national gathering in Canada to help determine future directions for further implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults; and from 2007 to 2009 she worked on and / or facilitated various leadership projects of the Anglo-Irish Province of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Currently, as a member of the Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy, Sheila is a board member of the Board of St. Patrick’s Mercy Home and of Gathering Place.

Sharon Park, Executive Director

Community Education Network
Stephenville

Edith Samson, Executive Coordinator

Sir William Ford Coaker Heritage Foundation Inc
Port Union

David Smallwood, Chair

Theatre Newfoundland and Labrador
Corner Brook

Gail Thorne, Executive Director

Exploits Community Centre
Grand Falls-Windsor

Tim Turner, Director

The Murphy Centre
St. John's

Sean Wiltshire, Chief Executive Officer

Avalon Employment Inc

St. John's

This Newfoundland & Labrador native and International Speaker has been working in Community & Economic Development for over 20 years.

Since the tender age of 9 when Sean organized his first petition for a sports day in his neighborhood he has been making a difference in his community.

For the last 19 years Sean has been the CEO of Avalon Employment Inc. an employment agency for individuals with disabilities assisting his clients in finding over 65,000 hours of paid employment each year. This while building a Social Enterprise realizing $3.9 Million dollars of business each year.

In 1999 at 29 years of age Sean was recognized as one of Atlantic Canada’s Top 50 CEO’s by Atlantic Business Magazine.

For three years Sean represented Community Groups from across the country as a member of the National Voluntary Sector Advisory Committee for Service Canada, Sean is the Regional Chairperson, and Alumni of The Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference and is a Board Member of the Canadian Down Syndrome Society.

Sean also served as President of the Newfoundland & Labrador Regional Economic Development Association and a member of the Ministerial Committee on Regional Renewal for the Government of Newfoundland & Labrador

Sean has spoken nationally and internationally on Inclusive Communities, Community Economic and Social Development, Employment & Demographics, Work Life Balance, and Strategies for Success Making the Difference in Life and Work.

Elizabeth Crawford, Board Member

Community Sector Council NL
Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s

Penny Rowe, Chief Executive Officer

Community Sector Council NL
St. John's

Penelope M. Ayre Rowe, C.M. is CEO Community Services Council Newfoundland and Labrador, a charitable organization focusing on social and economic development. Much of her professional time is invested in leading innovative programs and research projects. She is Director of the Values Added Community University Research Alliance and Co-director of Atlantic Region Social Economy Research program hosted by Mount St. Vincent University.

Ms. Rowe has considerable experience with Federal advisory bodies and national organizations. She is on the National Executive, Governor General’s Leadership Conference 2008. She has held appointed positions with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, serving as Vice President of the Council and Chair of the Audit Committee; the Canadian Health Network (Co-Chair); the National Welfare Council; the Equality Panel, Court Challenges Program; the Federal Government’s Prosperity Secretariat; Statistics Canada’s Advisory Group for non profit research, and the Joint Coordinating Committee for the Federal Government - Voluntary Sector Initiative. She has served on numerous voluntary and non profit boards such as the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals; the National Voluntary Organizations (NVO); Canadian Council on Social Development; Canadian Policy Research Network’s Quality of Life Indicators project; the National Association of Workers Compensation Boards, and the Arthur Kroeger Leadership Forum, Carleton University.

At a provincial level, Rowe has held numerous appointments including an 11 year term as Chair of the Workers Compensation Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador; the Provincial Council of the Rural Secretariat; the Premier’s Council on Social Development, and Chair of the Buildings Accessibility Board and Appeals Committee.

At a community level she has been associated with Memorial University’s Institute for Social and Economic Research, the East End Boys and Girls Club, the Newfoundland Historic Trust and the Rhodes Scholar Selection Committee.

Penelope Rowe was named to Order of Canada in 2002. Previously she was invested as a serving member of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem and is a recipient of Canada’s 125 anniversary medal, the Queen’s Jubilee medal and the Canadian Council on Social Development’s award for outstanding contribution to social policy in Canada. Rowe was featured as one of Canada’s fifty most influential women by Chatelaine Magazine and named one of Atlantic Canada top fifty CEOs.

She holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, University of London.