2021 Board Nominees

My name is Debbie Dossantos. As a relatively new resident of Squamish (March, 2020, from Langley), I found myself quickly falling in love with its beauty and the warmth of the community. I’ve been looking for ways to give back and contribute to its long-term success. Firstly, I joined SORCA. Now that the opportunity exists to provide my skills and expertise to support the SORCA Board, I’d like to throw my hat in the ring to be considered as a nominee to join the SORCA Board for the position of Advocacy. I would also like to be considered as a nominee for the position of Vice President in the event that another nominee is successful for the Advocacy position.

I am a member of the BC Bar, and have been a lawyer for over ten years practicing mostly in an in-house capacity. My areas of practice have centered on contract/commercial law. This has allowed me to become engaged at the ground level in support of business development, project planning and execution, risk management (including insurance) and regulatory matters. I’ve also been engaged on First Nation’s matters in the mining and health care industries. Reviewing legal documents, as important as it is, constitutes only about 10% of what I do in any given day as a lawyer. The remaining 90% is the really fun part of my work: bringing together multiple stakeholders to work on a common goal, despite their perceived differences. It’s kind of like herding cats, but it’s very rewarding.

Before I went to law school, I was a Registered Nurse for 11 years, practicing in ER and ICU. This could be very helpful as a SORCA Board member in the event we engage with local health authorities and government representatives in matters of COVID-19 and other public health concerns.

I can (gladly) devote at least 8 hours a week to the SORCA Board duties, or more if needed. My children are grown up, and have moved out. I’m free as a bird to devote my time to my community, my athletic aspirations and my passionate pursuit of healthy living. In my free time, I am an avid cyclist (Gran Fondo 2021 anyone?), a figure competitor (think weight lifting- but with sparkles), and a musician, among other things.

My name is Kyle Marsh and I am interested in putting my name forward for consideration as the Director of Advocacy and Government Relations for the SORCA Board of Directors.

I have extensive experience working in the field of Government Relations and in designing, leading and executing on advocacy campaigns. I worked directly for the provincial government for approximately 5 years, before leaving to pursue a career in the private sector. Immediately upon leaving government I worked as government relations consultant for two different consulting agencies, and provided advice and representation for clients across a number of sectors. This included providing management services, advice and representation to a number of industry associations and nonprofits. In 2018 I left my position as a government relations consultant to take the role of Director for BC Government Relations for TELUS. Further details on my professional experience can be found on my LinkedIn page available here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-marsh-3595b637/?originalSubdomain=ca.

I am very interested and keen on the opportunity to become more involved in SORCA and support achieving success in its outcomes. I have long been a big fan of the trail network in Squamish, and frequently drove from Vancouver to ride the trails in the past. I have recently moved to Squamish and would like to give more of my time to supporting the mountain biking community in our home. My move was largely driven by a love of the community and a desire for the lifestyle that it provides. The move to work-from-home precipitated by COVID has finally made that a possibility.

My love of mountain biking, and the nature of my work (home based office work focused on government relations activity) means that I am able to commit significant time and capacity to the role. That said, I strongly believe that all organizations succeed through a commitment to teamwork and putting the success of the organization ahead of the individual. Because of that, I am more than willing to help on whatever priorities identified by SORCA, from government relations and advocacy work, to trail maintenance, event support, or whatever is required.

I plan to be involved in the activities of SORCA and to support the advancement of the mountain biking community in Squamish regardless of the outcome of this application. However, I very much hope to be able to lend my experience and skill set to helping the organization achieve success over the coming years.

I have spent the last six years working in government positions related to environmental assessment and Indigenous relations. Previous to that I ran a salmon habitat restoration program that relied on building landowner relationships to access key habitat needing improvements. For the past two years I have been working as a regional negotiator with Fisheries and Oceans Canada which involves negotiating reconciliation and treaty agreements with Indigenous partners through a collaborative process. These negotiations are always interest-based and their successfulness relies on building strong partnerships and relationships with the First Nations that I work with. I have worked with Indigenous Nations in nearly every region of the province, except for right here at home. I would be very excited to apply my knowledge of government and experience building relations with First Nations and landowners to advocate for our local trails and ensure our communities’ relationship with the Squamish Nation remains strong! Besides my professional credentials, I am a dedicated user and steward of our trail network. I typically ride our trails 5 days a week rain or shine, daytime and nighttime, always keep a saw and shovel in the truck to clear any drainage issues or downed trees that need attention, and even took home top prize in the “what trail is this” round at this spring’s SORCA x A-Frame trivia!

While my day job is a typical 37.5 hour per week commitment, the other 130.5 hours are open. My only other regular commitments are to my bike and my trail dog, Valley. I am also able to adjust my work schedule to make time for calls that may be required during regular working hours with a bit planning. My partner, Erica, and I moved to Squamish five years ago after a long stint of schooling an extended road trip through the western U.S. We knew that to feel settled we would need to be somewhere we could continue to pursue our passions with every spare moment of free time we had, and to be part of a community who felt the same. After enjoying the trail network here for the last few years and seeing it continue to grow, I am keen to do more to contribute to this haven and community we are so lucky to be a part of and feel like being part of the SORCA board is a perfect way to do that.

My name is Debbie Dossantos. As a relatively new resident of Squamish (March, 2020, from Langley), I found myself quickly falling in love with its beauty and the warmth of the community. I’ve been looking for ways to give back and contribute to its long-term success. Firstly, I joined SORCA. Now that the opportunity exists to provide my skills and expertise to support the SORCA Board, I’d like to throw my hat in the ring to be considered as a nominee to join the SORCA Board for the position of Advocacy. I would also like to be considered as a nominee for the position of Vice President in the event that another nominee is successful for the Advocacy position.

I am a member of the BC Bar, and have been a lawyer for over ten years practicing mostly in an in-house capacity. My areas of practice have centered on contract/commercial law. This has allowed me to become engaged at the ground level in support of business development, project planning and execution, risk management (including insurance) and regulatory matters. I’ve also been engaged on First Nation’s matters in the mining and health care industries. Reviewing legal documents, as important as it is, constitutes only about 10% of what I do in any given day as a lawyer. The remaining 90% is the really fun part of my work: bringing together multiple stakeholders to work on a common goal, despite their perceived differences. It’s kind of like herding cats, but it’s very rewarding.

Before I went to law school, I was a Registered Nurse for 11 years, practicing in ER and ICU. This could be very helpful as a SORCA Board member in the event we engage with local health authorities and government representatives in matters of COVID-19 and other public health concerns.

I can (gladly) devote at least 8 hours a week to the SORCA Board duties, or more if needed. My children are grown up, and have moved out. I’m free as a bird to devote my time to my community, my athletic aspirations and my passionate pursuit of healthy living. In my free time, I am an avid cyclist (Gran Fondo 2021 anyone?), a figure competitor (think weight lifting- but with sparkles), and a musician, among other things.

My interest in being on the SORCA board is born primarily of the amazing work that Melissa did during her tenure. Never have I met someone so welcoming and enthusiastic. The Toonie Races that she meticulously organized became my home in a new community and through them I met many of the friends I have today. I would like to continue that tradition of welcoming new people who are enthusiastic about mountain biking, regardless of background, and invest what time and talents I have in support of SORCA’s mission statement. Squamish is faced with many challenges and opportunities ahead, including the management of a vast and growing trail network fueled by a diverse and growing user base. Navigating this exciting time responsibly will determine SORCA’s legacy in creating a world-leading success story that proves our community can recreate in harmony with nature, balancing our need to shred, hoot, and holler, with our duty to mitigate impacts to wildlife, respect the traditional territory where the trails reside, and preserve mountain biking for the next seven generations. Regarding my capacity to commit to this role, I work mostly from home, don’t have kids (yet), and find a strange enjoyment in answering emails in the evening.

I am running for the Vice President position because supporting others in their roles is what I do best, and because my bread and butter is special projects and initiatives. I have spent 11 years designing ways to reduce wear and noise on railways by controlling friction, and not a day has gone by where there has not been a novel problem to solve or an exciting project to help push over the finish line. Although an engineer by profession, my focus has always been on stakeholder engagement, teamwork, developing strong interpersonal relationships, and fostering respect. I have demonstrated an ability to bring disparate parties together and find win-win solutions, and to take complex issues and find the elegant solution, no matter the topic at hand. I have also written peer-reviewed technical papers and presented at international conferences. My current role at work is strategy development and execution, which has further developed my skills in the areas of marketing, sales, and decision making. The last two years I have volunteered as a member of my Strata Council, and this has further expanded my ability to examine contentious issues from many points of view and find the common ground and a path forward.

Thank you for considering my nomination and I look forward to another year of biking with everyone in 2021!

Last year, I took on the Director of Special Events on the SORCA Board.  I gained a lot of experience with the Board and appreciated that I was able to contribute to our pandemic response with our biking community. I organized 28 trails last year and it was great to see our community come out and participate in this event.  Moving forward, my 24 years as a Registered Nurse and close ties with the local health authority would be an asset to our biking community as we creatively and safely plan out this next year.

Over the past 14 years, I have been passionate and committed to our Squamish community both personally and professionally.  I am the founder of girlsBIKEsquamish which started in 2008.  Through this group, our volunteer ride leaders have increased the number of women in mountain biking and SORCA memberships and created an amazing community of riders. I have my PMBI Certification and took the very first mountain biking certification course offered in Canada way back in 2002. It’s been incredible to part of the mountain bike community for over 20 years, contribute to it and experience the progression and evolution of our sport, including our trails.

Professionally, I have held leadership roles in health care for the past 17 years.  I have a Bachelors of Science in Nursing, Masters of Science in Nursing, certifications in quality improvement, change management, and close to completing my risk management designation.  I have worked in Sea to Sky in different leadership roles over the years and have developed great relationships with many community partners, including our Indigenous communities.

I am a values based leader and lead with empathy, fairness and inclusion.  I believe my experience with SORCA, leading girlsBIKEsquamish, professional education and experiences as a nurse, my passion for volunteering with our mountain biking community and lastly, and most importantly, the relationships that I have developed over the past 14 years in our amazing community will provide me with the tools I need to be the next VP with SORCA.  I have created time to take on this new opportunity by working locally and have an amazing family supporting and cheering for me.

My name is Sanjay Carter-Rau, I ride a stock hardtail Norco Fluid (which might tell you something about my riding abilities) and have had the pleasure of cruising the plethora of trails we are privy to for the last four years. I am writing to throw my hat in the ring for the position of Youth Engagement Director.

My professional day job is as an Elementary Guide at Skyridge Montessori. In this capacity, I am fortunate to work alongside the youth of Squamish daily, constantly in awe of their boundless energy, exceptional balance and raring enthusiasm to explore the sacred playground that we are so lucky to inhabit. While my role is to share information, a Montessori classroom is intended to be a community of self-motivated learners who work together to support one another. I got into this work in order to have a hand supporting the youth, with an eye toward the future; to ensure these smallish humans grow up in full understanding of their capabilities and the important responsibility they have to care for the world that nurtures them. In my experience, the trail network is a vital crossroad between the natural ecosystem and the human community, and this link exerts a mighty balancing force to preserve wild spaces while allowing humans to partake in its offering.

As Youth Engagement facilitator I would like to focus on issues such as trail stewardship, and camaraderie which could be playfully integrated with the joy of riding bikes in exciting ways. My goal would be to help foster a community that is supportive of individuals’ self-improvement, celebratory of everyone’s enjoyment and mindful of the great privilege it is to explore and grow on the traditional territories of the Squamish Nation. I think the youth of this town is an untapped resource which, if activated, could help to bring community together, care for our collective environment and help individuals to grow a lifelong attachment to the mighty self-propelled two-wheeled conveyance!

As stated earlier I have a full-time job as a teacher, which prevents me from spending every waking hour on my bike out in the woods. However, the nature of my job twines with and parallels the mandate of Youth Engagement Director.  I have previously worked for a summer as Community Liaison for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art educational outreach program, through which I was responsible for advertising and connecting to other community organizations. While in university I had the role of Residence Advisor, where my primary duty was to connect to the individuals and bring them together as a community. I am a newcomer to mountain biking and a service role would allow me to return some of the energy to a sport and organization that unknown to them, has already given me so much.

Since moving to Canada in 2003, (Squamish in 2008), I feel grateful to have been able to make a life here with mountain lifestyle and “working to live” as a priority. Fortunately for me that meant establishing and operating a successful Whistler based Mountain Bike Vacation Company whose main focus was the creation and delivery of mountain bike experiences and rider progression. I’m also the proud father of two active boys that we have been able to nurture through their biking progression right here in Squamish

I feel that combining these two major achievements in my life so far mesh ideally and hopefully make me more than suitable to get involved with SORCA under the youth engagement position. I was also able to jump in as a volunteer back in summer 2018 and along with Tom Kranz (another local parent) deliver 3 kids SORCA events. Lots was learned from these “races” as far as the unique requirements for youth centric bike events that simply don’t translate from adult versions.

I look forward to the opportunity to create more and fine tune the delivery of these events moving forwards. Whilst I’m no longer involved in my prior Whistler vacation operations, I remain self employed and for most of the year able to be flexible with my work time management. My kids are getting older and less time demanding widening my flexibility further.

Over the years I’ve forged many solid industry relationships and would welcome the opportunity to re-focus this grassroots support towards our huge depth of up and coming youth talent that Squamish is producing by the bucketload!

With the departure of Mark Bunyan and the 2020’s Covid summer, it became evident that we as parents rely much more on Whistler to satiate the needs of a not-insignificant portion of our riding youth. SORCA has some great private partners that cover a good range of our needs, but I see lots that can be done with both events, infrastructure and routes of progression to help meet the needs of all of our pint sized members. Hopefully you enable me to help forge a path forwards by contributing my time towards SORCA’s next generation.

My name is Jay Burbee and I’d like to join your Board!  As a Squamish resident and frequent user of the trail network, I’m interested in its ongoing maintenance and expansion.  This is an exceptional part of the world and I’d love to participate in the management of the resource we have here and help coordinate with the many other user groups in the area.  I’ve heard “Squamish is changing” since I first came to the Sea-to-Sky corridor (25 years ago) and would love to lend my efforts to ensuring recreational use is represented in the ongoing development balancing act.  If I had to choose a position, I’d lean towards Trails, but in general, would just like to get involved with SORCA and lend my efforts to this well-regarded club.

Why me?  Well, I’m organized (engineer by training) but have quite a bit of management/HR experience so I’m not scared to talk to people.  I spent 4 years on the board of the Varsity Outdoor Club (UBC; ages ago) so I have some idea how boards function.  More recently I’ve been volunteering with the Sea-to-Sky Nordics and am enjoying the experience of coaching young people and developing a local club “family” immensely.  I worked in bike shops in high-school/university and have ridden for most of my life.  With a couple of young children, I find that mountain biking fits my partitioned free-time and I’ve spent the past 4 years getting back into this aspect of the sport.

I’m self-employed and working part-time locally.  As my children enter school, I’m finding more pockets of free time and am not ready to potter around the house just yet.  I believe that SORCA has done good work in the past and I’d like to contribute to that going forward beyond buying a membership to keep the trail-faeries off my back.  Thanks for taking the time to read this; I look forward to the opportunity to get involved.

I might be the only person I know who’s been cliffed out at dusk with no headlamp in the forest less than 200 metres from home. I spend a lot of my recreational time in the woods around Squamish, exploring, trying out potential new trail connections, and getting tangled in devil’s club. My willingness to bash around in the woods is supported by a background in computer programming and GIS, and I have extensive experience working with geospatial data and building interactive interfaces (example) for consuming and sharing that data. Through self-directed local advocacy projects and through work with another non-profit, BC Whitewater, I have an understanding of the layers of land ownership and land management bureaucracy in our region and the stakeholders involved in decision-making. While I haven’t built any main trails in Squamish, I’m often the first to head out to cut a log posted on Trailforks and I’ve contributed to a variety of trails around the network. I have a good relationship with the Trail Crew Lead and a number of members of the broader trail-building community in Squamish and am excited to work to ensure we can all work together to keep Squamish’s trail network thriving.

Volunteer Capacity / Why SORCA

I’m self-employed and generally have a flexible schedule. While I’m also on the board of another non-profit (BC Whitewater), I have no doubt that I’ll be able to set aside enough time to make a meaningful contribution to SORCA’s governance and direction. Ultimately, I’m running because I want to help build an organization that empowers our community to be self-determining and self-sustaining: how Squamish and our trail network develop and change should be up to us. I struggled a little bit with the decision about whether or not to run because I wasn’t sure if SORCA would be the best application of my time in that regard, but ultimately, I think the mountain bike community and the Squamish community are one and the same, and SORCA provides an opportunity to work towards larger-scale change while simultaneously creating the immediate, material benefits that we feel every time we ride our bikes on a new section of trail. I think SORCA has an opportunity to be an important part of building a thriving, locally-focused and resilient community and I want to help it fill that role.

I have spent the last six years working in government positions related to environmental assessment and Indigenous relations. Previous to that I managed a salmon habitat restoration program that relied on building landowner relationships to access key habitat, ensuring permitting was solid to undertake our work, proper management of a budget and team, and a whole lot of shovelling to get the work done. I understand the machinery of government permitting, and how to build relationships with those reviewing permitting applications. After participating in SORCA dig days, I have realized that trail building is something that I want to do more of and to continue to learn about. I can’t think of a better way to do that than helping to scope out new lines and working with the amazing builders in our community to realize their dreams for our trail. Besides my professional credentials, I am a dedicated user and steward of our trail network. I typically ride our trails 5 days a week rain or shine, daytime and nighttime, always keep a saw and shovel in the truck to clear any drainage issues or downed trees that need attention, and even took home top prize in the “what trail is this” round at this spring’s SORCA x A-Frame trivia!

While my day job is a typical 37.5 hour per week commitment, the other 130.5 hours are open. My only other regular commitments are to my bike and my trail dog, Valley. I am also able to adjust my work schedule to make time for calls that may be required during regular working hours with a bit of planning. My partner, Erica, and I moved to Squamish five years ago after a long stint of schooling an extended road trip through the western U.S. We knew that to feel settled we would need to be somewhere we could continue to pursue our passions with every spare moment of free time we had, and to be part of a community who felt the same. After enjoying the trail network here for the last few years and seeing it continue to grow, I am keen to do more to contribute to this haven and community we are so lucky to be a part of and feel like being part of the SORCA board is a perfect way to do that.

SORCA and I go way back. I’ve been a member since 2009. I’ve served on the board as vice president in 2014 and as volunteer director in 2015. Since then my SORCA volunteering has mostly consisted of leading and sweeping social rides. The socials are really important to me. They’re a great way to introduce people to new trials and new friends. They’ve provided me with countless good times over the years. I want to do what I can to keep those good times rolling. Whatever rules affect socializing in 2021 I’m looking forward to finding interesting ways to make us feel like a community while riding our bikes.

I’m applying to return to the SORCA board because SORCA and the Squamish mountain biking community provide me with so much joy. I want to do what I can to share the joy of mountain biking with others. (Plus being on the board means you get all the hottest mountain-bike-related gossip.) I work locally and have some flexibility in my work schedule, so I have free time to spend working with sponsors and volunteers to coordinate events for our Wednesdays.

Whether I’m elected social director or not, I’ll see you at the socials. I’ll be helping out in any way I can.

I’ve been honoured to serve our community as SORCA President for the past two years and as Trail Maintenance Director for three years before that.