Board Of Directors

Jason Winkler

President and Chair of the Board

Contributing to the fabric of the community is a key focus for Jason Winkler. The Community Services mission and values align with his personal interests and, most importantly, with the evolving needs of the Sunshine Coast. He joined the Board in 2017.

Jason brings over 25 years of experience in organization transformation and human resource management in North America, Asia and the Middle East. His early career in consulting focused on leadership development with high technology and federal government clients in Ottawa. He joined Deloitte (Consulting) in 1992 where he progressed to Partner leading client engagements as well as managing the Western Canadian and BC Consulting practices during both economic downturns and periods of significant growth. His clients included BC Government Ministries, crown corporations, as well as other public sector entities in Canada and the US. For five years prior to retiring, Jason led all human resource functions at Deloitte Canada (over 11,000 employees) with a national team of 200 people.

Jason has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. as well as a Certificate in Political Studies from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, France.

Patricia York

Vice President

When it comes to business, experience counts for everything, and Patricia York brings a wealth of experience, knowledge, and skills from previous positions.

Patricia is the Principal and Founder of York HR Solutions, a company that specializes in advising Boards, CEOs, and Executive Teams on strategy, org design and leadership. Her clients include some of the most successful companies in technology, medical research, biotechnology, investment, as well as some of British Columbia’s leading non-profits. Client engagements have included contained projects and facilitations through to ongoing consulting engagements spanning several months or years.

Prior to launching her own business Patricia was highly engaged as a senior Human Resources executive for a number of large global companies. As Vice President, Human Resources for Disney Interactive Studios in Los Angeles, California, she was responsible for global operations in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia, and was instrumental in several global mergers and acquisitions in addition to growing three start-up studios.

As Vice President of Human Resources at Electronic Arts Canada, Patricia developed leading edge programs and revamped their compensation, recruitment, and human resources practices to lead the company to a placement on the Globe and Mail ‘50 Best Companies to Work for in Canada’ list. During her tenure with Electronic Arts Canada the company grew from 500 employees to more than 1800 employees.

One of Patricia’s most more recent accomplishments was the creation, design and launch of an Executive Institute for a client within the life sciences sector. This 10-month pan-Canadian program for top level executives is designed to further develop and hone leadership skills. This successful program is now in its fourth year.

Andy Jones-Cox

Andy and his wife have owned a home in Halfmoon Bay since 2003. Andy has been a volunteer in several roles with the Sunshine Coast Community Services Society and is an active Board member in the Halfmoon Bay Community.

Andy has a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Birmingham and an MBA from Simon Fraser University. He had a career in computer software development and management spanning 34 years. After progressing through various technical roles in England, South Africa and the U.S., Andy took on more senior management roles, most recently with Vancity Credit Union and the Land Titles and Survey Authority in Victoria. In 2010, while the world was watching the Vancouver Winter Olympics, Andy changed gears to fulfill a long-held ambition to run his own business and built up a franchise tutoring business in North and West Vancouver serving K-12 students and adults in English as a Second Language. The business grew successfully before he sold it in 2016.

Andy loves everything outdoors, especially hiking, running, cycling and don’t forget pickleball. Since retirement, he has become ever more keenly aware of the growing imbalance of economic standing among people on the Sunshine Coast and everywhere. He is a big supporter of SCCSS and especially the Building Together project to provide new Community Services program delivery space and housing for vulnerable women and their children.

Ruby Orchard

Born in New Westminster, Ruby Orchard remembers fondly days in the early ‘70s dancing to the pipers at Robbie Burns Dinners at the Legions in Roberts Creek, Gibsons and Sechelt as well as coming to perform with other highland dancers at the Timber Days festival in Hackett Park.

In the 30 years that followed, Ruby enjoyed a varied career in Real Estate Development, Construction Management and Engineering with a slight foray into the BC Film industry, before retiring to Gibsons in 2017. Ruby holds diplomas in Construction and Project Management as well as an ancient one in Graphic Design.

Thanks to learning opportunities over her past 3 years serving on the Board, Ruby has gained new understanding of the impact of thoughtful distribution of public funding and the generosity of private wealth. She has witnessed our team plan a more resilient path forward, providing services alongside education to ensure a thriving blended community along the whole peninsula. Whether it be a rethink of food security, a look at services needed to live, work and play here on the Coast, she vigorously supports the ongoing efforts to stay ahead of community needs. Ruby Orchard is proud to be one of 50 Women of Influence, raising bridge funding to ensure the success of project Growing Together - Women’s Rental Housing and Community Hub.  

“We gain greater autonomy to plan how our communities will support us by supporting the work of Community Services”.

Chelsea Cooledge

Chelsea’s family history on the Sunshine Coast dates back to 1955 when her grandparents, along with Chelsea’s mother and uncle, moved into and operated the Halfmoon Bay General Store (called the B&J store at the time). Chelsea was born and raised in North Vancouver and cherishes her memories of weekends and holidays spent with family in Halfmoon Bay. 

Chelsea moved permanently to the Sunshine Coast in the fall of 2020. Her love for this community along with her core values of social justice and service to others, and training in social work and law, has led to her volunteering in this role with the SCCSS. 

Chelsea started her career as a Social Worker in health care working with older adults. She then transitioned to working in the regulation of the profession, supporting best practice of Registered Social Workers with practice advice based on adherence to laws, standards, and ethics, investigating complaints and enhancing registration practices. 

For the past 5 years, she has been a Director of Risk Management for Vancouver Coastal Health, which initially included the investigation of care quality complaints but now focuses mainly on risk mitigation, consultation, advice, and investigations into patient safety events. She has volunteered with various organizations throughout her life.

Chelsea holds a Bachelor of Arts from UBC, a Bachelor of Social Work from UVIC, a Master of Social Work from the University of Calgary, and a Master of Laws from Osgoode Hall, York University.

Joanne Harrington

Joanne Harrington grew up in Saskatoon where she studied at the University of Saskatchewan. She is a fan of fungus and received a Bachelor of Science in Soil Microbiology. After moving to Vancouver, Joanne worked both at UBC and SFU as a research assistant. Later Joanne was the administrative assistant for two consecutive research projects in the Biology Department then the administrative assistant and student advisor in Political Science. 

Realizing that children were definitely more fun than either adults or fungus, Joanne further studied and obtained a PBD in Music Education and a teaching diploma from SFU. The last 13 years of her working career were spent as an elementary music teacher in Burnaby.

As a teacher Joanne had the most fun and saw the most heartache. Schools where she taught had students whose lives had harsh economic, social and cultural challenges. There she saw that a strong public education system and a safe nurturing community that addressed food, clothing and housing needs were important steps towards healthy families and community. 

For the past 4 years, Joanne has volunteered at the Sechelt Food Bank. Prior to that she was a Habitat for Humanity board member for 18 months. By participating as a board member of the SCCSS, she hopes to further contribute to the Sunshine Coast community. 

Joanne lives with her husband in Roberts Creek and has children and grandchildren – sadly all at least a ferry ride away. For leisure she enjoys gardening and playing the piano.

Kayla Blok

Kayla is a lifelong community volunteer and strives to be an agent for positive social change in her personal and professional lives. She is the Director of SFU Sustainability at Simon Fraser University where her work is focused institution wide climate action strategies and plans, governance and organizational structures, and embedding sustainability into the core business functions and community at SFU. She believes in climate and social justice and endeavors to ensure that equity and decolonizing principles and practices are at the center of all decisions and solution pathways. Kayla holds a Hon. BSc in Environmental Science and Economics from Dalhousie University and has training in leadership, change management, and EDI. Kayla was introduced to the SCCSS by volunteering at the Food Bank where she experienced the positive impacts that the organization has on the Coast community.  

Kayla is a newer Coast resident and lives in xwilkway (Halfmoon Bay) with her partner. She is an avid reader, cook, mountain biker, runner, and occasional angler. She is honored to serve the Coast community as a member of the Board and can’t wait to collaborate with stakeholders to advance the organization’s mission.

Kim Fenton

Kim and her husband have called Roberts Creek home since arriving on the coast in 2006. After working in nonprofit in Alberta while raising her kids, she now focuses her time on writing and editing. All three of their daughters live on the coast now and between them, they have four beige dogs, two colourful cats, two small boats and two e-bikes. Kim loves to ocean swim year round, writes almost every day and loves to be in her studio, creating collage as well as spinning and knitting. She continues to support her community by actively volunteering. She is passionate about building community to create the best kind of place to live, work and play.

Linda Iverson

Treasurer

After a failed attempt at jumping out of a plane, Linda realized that, based on her love of numbers and her skill at organizing a sock drawer, accounting would probably be a better career choice.

Raised on the beautiful West Coast of British Columbia, Linda’s professional choice has allowed her to work and travel as an accountant in diverse industries including engineering, manufacturing, oil & gas, high tech and public practice.

Linda completed her Chartered Professional Accountant designation in 1999 and is currently a managing partner with James & McIntyre, Chartered Professional Accountants LLP.

After moving to Gibsons in 2004 from Richmond, Linda spent many years chauffeuring her children to school and their various sports activities to cheer them on. It was then that she joined various boards in the community supporting youth sports as a way of giving back to the community. Now that her children are adults, Linda is interested in being involved on boards with community focus as the main goal.

Linda is an avid reader and gardener and enjoys spending time with her adult children and friends.

Bianca Jaegge

Bianca C. Jaegge is a dedicated and skilled lawyer with a wealth of experience in the public sector. Known for her exceptional research, analytical, and communication abilities, Bianca has a knack for explaining complex information in a clear and understandable way. She currently serves as Senior Legal Counsel at Vancouver Coastal Health. Before this, Bianca worked at Guild Yule LLP, handling cases in health law, administrative law, human rights law, and more. She also gained experience at WorkSafe BC, where she adjudicated appeals and drafted important decisions.

As a member of the Law Society of British Columbia and the Canadian Bar Association, she remains actively involved in the legal community. Bianca is passionate about giving back and volunteers as a lawyer with Access Pro Bono while mentoring young professionals through several programs. She is also an advocate for mental health awareness, having co-launched a campaign at Guild Yule LLP and participated in the 2019 Ride to Conquer Cancer, raising over $11,000. Her commitment to the legal field and her community makes her a valued and respected professional.