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.

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.

After having lived in Whistler for 11 years, John moved to Squamish in 2006 and has been building roots here ever-since for the goal of a healthy family, community, and to raise his beloved son Bram. John holds the highest gratitude for the natural lifestyle, security, and wonderful friends we all get to enjoy here together in the Sea to Sky corridor. He has served the Squamish community in a number of volunteer roles over the years, most predominantly as member of the Advisory Design Panel within the District of Squamish for 6 years, the last 2 of which serving as Chair. John’s initial educational background was in Marketing and Business Admin, attending BCIT and UBC; and now, through 25 years of facilities-related consulting for several hundred businesses, commercial asset management, and a series of own successful companies, he can employ a well-rounded experiential knowledge when advising on corporate strategy and value management.

In his recreational pursuits, John enjoys skating, biking, and exploring our backcountry and the BC coast as far as possible via dirtbike, hiking, boating, or split-snowboarding. His other lifelong love is music - attending, performing, and supporting production of events and festivals, all genres; and is dedicated to advancing our local arts & performance culture so it thrives in our next generation.