Founders:

Executive Director:

Shawn Van Sluys

Board of Directors:

Michael Barnstijn

Michael is a software engineer. He was the first full-time employee hired by RIM company founder Mike Lazaridis and later became partner. Michael played a major role in the creation of one of today's most well-known wireless devices, The BlackBerry. Since retiring, Michael is actively involved in a number of charitable organizations. He and his wife, Louise MacCallum, have been cited as leaders among "a new generation of volunteers and philanthropists." Michael is passionate about the arts. He is President of the Board of Directors for the Musagetes Foundation.

E.M. (Yeti) Agnew B.Sc., J.D.

Yeti Agnew enjoys a business and personal law practice including corporate, not-for-profit, intellectual property, and estates law with specialized knowledge about cultural property and governance issues. She was recently a consultant to a review of the Cultural Property Export and Import Act. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto Law School and the University of Waterloo Faculty of Science. She developed her passion for cultural property while attending Neuchâtel Junior College in Switzerland.

She is a founding Director of the Musagetes Foundation and also a Director of Sweda Canada Inc., a leading international Point of Sale solution provider. Her volunteer activities have included two terms as a Trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum where she chaired the Governance Committee and Policy Task Force. She previously served two terms on the University of Waterloo Board of Governors and was a Trustee of the University of Waterloo Foundation. Yeti was also a Member of Planning Committee for a number of Legal Affairs Symposia run jointly by the Canadian Museum Association and Canadian Bar Association. She has had 2 books published: Legaleasy - a step-by-step legal guide to collecting for Canadian art galleries and museums and The Art World - Law, Business and Practice in Canada, co-authored with Aaron Milrad, and written numerous articles dealing with intellectual and cultural property. Yeti enjoys consulting, teaching, and lecturing across Canada, as an excuse to visit museums and art galleries, wherever she may find herself.

Joy Roberts, Ph.D.

Joy Roberts is a consultant in the areas of management and business planning, communications, and fundraising strategy. Her previous employment includes 15 years in public relations, alumni affairs and fundraising for the University of Waterloo, where she established the first alumni affairs office and was eventually responsible for the management of the University's $87 million campaign. With a partner, she subsequently founded, managed and sold a small software company that used open standards to develop documentation software. For the past 8 years, she has been a consultant to a variety of clients, handling negotiations and communications, particularly those of a delicate nature, all aspects of strategy and execution of communications and fundraising campaigns.

She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo in Rhetoric, a field concerned with human motivation and persuasion. She has conducted research inside some of the country's largest organizations and has worked extensively for small business owners and not-for-profit agencies. A partial list of recent clients includes: YWCA of Kitchener-Waterloo, University of Waterloo, Waterloo Regional Children's Museum, Dancer Transition Resource Centre (Toronto), CITO - Province of Ontario, and rare Charitable Research Reserve.

Dr. Roberts is a Director of the Operating Board of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, the Musagetes Foundation and the Eramosa Institute.

Committee Members:

Douglas McMullen, FCA

Douglas McMullen is a retired business executive. Most recently he was Senior Vice President at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Toronto, and Chief Financial Officer of its CIBC Development Corporation unit, involved in commercial real estate development and management, and distressed loan portfolio purchase and workout. He is a Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ontario. He has a B.A. (Economics) from the University of Waterloo. Prior to joining CIBC, he was Sr. Vice President and Treasurer at Cadillac Fairview Corporation and before that a financial officer of Genstar Limited. He articled for his C.A. designation with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., now KPMG.

Currently, Mr. McMullen is an investor and active partner in several land development and home building ventures. He is also an investment advisor for both personal and foundation portfolios, with a broad understanding of management, business and finance.

He has been an active volunteer for several organizations. He served two terms on the Board of Governors of the University of Waterloo , was a member of the Executive Committee and chaired the Audit Committee. At present, he is a member of the Finance Committee for the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo and a Director for the Eramosa Institute.

Valerie Hall

Valerie Hall trained as a teacher and has been exhibiting the skill and patience involved in that profession ever since. For the past 20 years, Valerie has put her exceptional organizational skills to work for a variety of not-for-profit organizations. Her fundraising and community relations skills have earned her the "Fundraiser of the Year" award from the Waterloo Wellington Fundraising Executives. She holds an Honours BA in Political Science and History from York University. Her interest in fundraising evolved from the many volunteer positions she has held with various not-for-profit organizations. She is the Executive Assistant to Michael Barnstijn and Louise MacCallum.