Our Team

Karen Vanzella has lived in Squamish since 1974 when she moved to Squamish with her husband Laurie to start his dental practice. They have worked at Squamish Dental Clinic, raised 3 sons and been involved in the community, including fund raising for the Squamish Hospital, since the early 1980’s.

Karen has also been on the Boards of Howe Sound Minor Ball Association, Howe Sound Minor Hockey, Howe Sound Curling and Squamish Valley GC. In the early years of the Squamish Hospital Foundation Golf Tournament, Dr Kindree asked Karen to work on the SHFGT committee, Karen agreed and has been involved with the SGH - Dr Kindree Golf Tournament since that time.

In 2014 SHF Board was looking for new members and Karen agreed to becoming a Board member. In 2016 she was elected Vice-President and became President in 2020. In her free time Karen enjoys time with family especially her sons, their wives and their 7 children. To keep healthy she enjoys golfing, skiing, curling and biking.

Dave has lived in Squamish for most of his life. He is married to his wife Donna, they’re proud to have three lovely daughters: Amy, Danielle and Jamie. His time in Squamish has afforded him the opportunity to become involved in many valuable groups. Dave is most proud of his role in Squamish Fire Rescue as a Volunteer Firefighter since 1984. He retired from SFR in 2019 after 35 years of service.

He’s also passionate about sports and has been a coach for Squamish Youth Soccer Association, where he dedicated 10 years coaching girls rep teams. Additionally, he is a former Board Trustee For Sea to Sky Community Services and the Squamish Community Foundation.

Professionally, Dave started his Financial Planning practice in 1994, which he and his team have run for over 29 years.

Sophie, the Administrator for the Squamish Hospital Foundation, has been living and working in the Sea to Sky Corridor since 1999. Originally from Victoria, BC, Sophie worked for Whistler Blackcomb from 1999 to 2016. Her background is in hotel /restaurant and business management, HR and sales/events management. In 2014, Sophie and her family put their roots in Squamish. Sophie loves living on the best street in Brackendale with her husband Daryl and 3 boys- Peter, and twin boys Teddy and Lenny. Sophie enjoys spending time gardening, growing vegetables, playing in the rain or sunshine with her kids and doggie Chester.  

Sophie is an organizational, multi-tasking phenom. She is an incredible asset to our community and foundation and is often heard saying that she is honoured to work for such a worthy charitable cause. Truth be, we are honoured to have her as part of the team.

Karyn graduated High School from Howe Sound Secondary in 1969 and returned to Squamish in 1982. She worked as a Nurse at the Squamish Hospital until retirement in 2011. She recently retired as a Director on the Harbour Authority and is past Chairman of the Hilltop House Support Society and a volunteer at Hilltop House. She is passionate about advocating for Health Care in the Corridor.

Jill Dunnigan has been living with her family in Squamish since 2005 but has strong connections to Pemberton and Whistler as well, having lived and worked in both communities. Raised in Nanaimo, Jill moved to Whistler in 1992 upon graduation from the University of Western Ontario. Since 1994, along with her husband Peter Smart, Jill has owned and operated Extremely Canadian, a company with 90+ employees that offers ski and snowboard guiding, coaching, backcountry adventures and winter skills courses at Whistler Blackcomb as well as offering guided mountain adventures to various locales around the globe. In her free time Jill, along with her husband and daughter, enjoy all that the Sea to Sky Corridor has to offer - alpine skiing, ski touring in the backcountry, gardening, boating, camping, SUP-ing, biking, mushrooming hunting and hiking.

Peter is a retired surgeon and has lived in Squamish with his wife, Mairi for the past 15 years. They have two adult children and a granddaughter. Peter and Mairi enjoy hiking, photography, golf, skiing, and travelling.

Rosemarie Williams is a proud Skwxwu7mesh Nation member from the village of Wiwk'em and has lived in Squamish since 1983. Rose worked for the Squamish Nation for almost 20 years and left her position as the Manager for Administration and Finance in 2017 to return to post secondary to achieve her Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Capilano University. While working for Squamish Nation, Rose helped organized many community events, including the popular Aboriginal Day event at the Stawamus Waterfront with the canoe race between the Mt. Cha-kai Warriors War Canoe youth team and the local First Responders and other provincial organizations. This positive event shared the culture and traditions of the local Squamish Nation community with the greater Squamish community.

Rose is currently working for a local company, Skwalwen Botanicals as an administrative specialist. Rose is learning about the importance of Skwxwu7mesh plant foods and medicines and the traditional territory of her ancestors where these plants grow. Rose is also a traditional Coast Salish wool weaver and has pieces in the West Vancouver Museum and in the Squamish Lilwat Cultural Centre. Rose has been married to her husband Richard for 12 years and is the mother of 2 daughters. Rose is willing to share the Skwxwu7mesh culture with those who want to learn and wants to bring an Indigenous voice and viewpoint to healthcare in the Squamish area.

Barb has been a resident of Squamish since early 2000, although has called the Sea to Sky corridor home since 1993. Originally from northern Italy and raised in southwestern Ontario, after graduating from college she began her career as a Police Officer. In early 1993, a vacation out to BC was the event that redirected her life to the beautiful Sea to Sky area. After a few good years of skiing in Whistler, Barb continued her career in the insurance industry dealing with fraud, injury management and bodily injury litigation. Moving her career towards Risk Management of large infrastructure projects throughout North America, including the construction of the Sea to Sky Hwy. She and her husband raised their three children in Squamish. Barb along with all her family members were heavily involved with SORCA, volunteering and supporting the circuit of local mountain bike races. When not walking the beautiful local trails of Squamish, you’ll find Barb enjoying the nature of the Chilcotin’s.

Martha McLellan has lived in the Sea-to-Sky Corridor since 1998, and she currently calls Squamish’s Garibaldi Highlands home. Born in Ontario and educated in Montreal at McGill University, Martha’s career began at The Weather Network in TV Broadcasting, and quickly evolved into Events and Marketing in Whistler. After 7 years working with Intrawest Resort Development Group building & selling master-planned resort communities, she realized sales & marketing was her calling and has since built a local Squamish sales agency with her husband and business partner Mike McLellan, while also working as a Real Estate Sales Advisor for Rennie & Associates Realty Ltd. Contributing to the community is at the heart of everything she does, from volunteering at local events, working with the Elementary School Advisory Committee, and raising money for local charities in the Sea to Sky Corridor. Martha believes in good citizenship, positive leadership, and accountability and strives to instill these values in her 3 kids who have all been born and raised in Squamish. She looks forward to being more involved in the community of Squamish as it grows and changes. When Martha is not working with clients in the community, she is out on the slopes skiing with her kids, hiking in the mountains with her dog Hudson, or boating in Howe Sound with her husband and many friends & family.

Born in Vancouver, Jack studied philosophy at the University of British Columbia and law at the University of Ottawa, returning to BC after missing the mountains and ocean. Jack moved to Squamish in 2015 and spent 7 years working in the community as a lawyer. Jack has held a number of positions in the Squamish community, including on the board of the Chamber of Commerce (Secretary and Vice President), the board of Quest University's Research Ethics Counsel, and as the supervising lawyer for the Sea to Sky Community Services Legal Advocacy Clinic.

When not working, Jack enjoys spending time with his partner Luisa and their two sons, along with hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, yoga, and trail running with his dog Cedar.