Recently we gathered in Nanaimo with new and less-new members of the GSA team, sharing time together and talking shop. As we continue to implement our new strategic plan, we’ve moved capacity into areas where it’s more needed, shifting some roles, and we’ve brought new people on board, as we work together, with your support, to achieve the organization’s goals of protecting the Salish Sea.
New to the team
We welcome russ elliott, Campaigns Manager; Khalid Boudreau, Community Organizer; and Kellie Rana, Marine Planning Coordinator. Also joining GSA as interim Executive Director is Janet Moore, who takes the reins from Christianne Wilhelmson. After more than two incredible decades at GSA where Christianne accomplished so many of her goals for the organization during her 14 years as executive director and 9 as a campaigner before that – Christianne is taking time to explore new challenges and opportunities. We wish her the best of luck and are truly grateful for her leadership at GSA!
russ elliot | Campaigns Manager
russ joined GSA after working as Operations Manager at RAVEN – an organization dedicated to raising legal defense funds for Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island to defend their rights and the integrity of lands and cultures. They also spent time as the interim Campaigns Director and Executive Director, guiding RAVEN through an important period of growth and transformation. russ is also on the Board of Directors at Grounded Futures, a multimedia art production and mentorship collective.
russ is passionate about community care work and advocacy, specifically in areas of mutual aid, food (in)security, community engagement and resilience building, and disability justice. At GSA, russ is weaving together their passion for community work with their experience in ecological and environmental advocacy to enact meaningful change. russ believes that centering relationships and relationship building are key to working towards justice and liberation.
russ is a sick and disabled genderqueer settler who lives on the unceded territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples. They came to Victoria in 2015 to pursue a Masters degree in Sociology, with a focus on political ecology and philosophy, and quickly fell in love with the land and waters, as well as their partner of eight years. russ is currently writing a speculative fiction novel, and is a fan of cooking, hosting dinner parties, and fine salts.
Khalid Boudreau | Community Organizer
Khalid is a longtime nature lover and organizer. He has been a birdwatcher from age six and understands well that our health and the health of the larger ecosystem are inseparable. He has been active in Vancouver organizing spaces since he was a teenager, primarily around issues of racial and environmental justice. In 2023, he co-founded the starseed collective, a collective of native plant enthusiasts that provide native seeds to people around the Salish sea region free of charge. Taking inspiration from people like James Baldwin, Angela Davis, and Mariame Kaba, he believes that the power to effect the big changes we need is in the community, and through cross-struggle solidarity we will build a better world.
When not working, you can often find Khalid, who is fluent in French, birdwatching, reading, or out in his garden.
Khalid lives on the traditional and unceded lands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ speaking peoples.
Kellie Rana | Marine Planning Coordinator
Growing up on the Prairies, it took a while for Kellie to realize her passion for environmental sciences. With a background in Health Studies, Kellie graduated from a Master’s in Marine Science and Climate Change in 2022, where her thesis focused on Marine Protected Areas and decentralized governance processes. Having worked in both health care and various environmental positions, Kellie is eager to bring human dimensions to marine conservation for collective liberation and hopes to achieve this within her role as a marine planning coordinator.
In her spare time, Kellie enjoys cooking, painting, exploring new places, and most activities under or on the sea! Additionally, she embraces low-waste living and is dedicated to sharing education around sustainability and climate justice through social media and/or community events.
Kellie is an immigrant who currently lives on Treaty 6 Territory and the homeland of the Métis as well as on the traditional and unceded territory of the Abenaki people and the Wabanaki Confederacy and will be relocating to the Salish Sea region in August.
Janet Moore | Interim Executive Director
Janet Moore is a curious innovator, leader and mentor who cares deeply about how we co-create systems that allow us to thrive together on this incredible planet. She spent the last 20 years imagining, designing and facilitating intensive, interdisciplinary programs that focus on dialogue, social innovation, group process, divergent thinking and urban sustainability. Janet co-created and co-taught for 16 years in the SFU Semester in Dialogue program.
Janet also co-founded and co-directed CityStudio Vancouver – an innovation hub that connects students with City Hall to design and launch urban experiments. Janet has spent her career finding ways to address the challenges of sustainability, systems change by designing educational programs and leading teams to imagine possibilities. She thrives when co-creating imaginative solutions to complex problems.
She has a BSc in Marine Biology from McGill (her love of oceans, whales and intertidal zones), an MSc in Ecology from UBC (where she fell in love with teaching, hummingbirds and the west coast). Her doctoral work at UBC combined lessons from the School of Community and Regional Planning (urban sustainability, systems and feminist methodology) and the Faculty of Education (transformative learning and participatory methods).
Janet is a settler living on the unceded traditional lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nations. She is learning and reflecting daily about what it means to live on the west coast and be connected to the land and waters she inhabits. Janet recently developed a net-zero duplex for her family as one small act of climate adaptation.
Top photo, left to right: Michelle Young (Director of Finance & Operations), Ananda Korchynski (Social Media Coordinator), russ elliot (Campaigns Manager), Cathy Booler (Data & Digital Systems Manager), Christianne Wilhelmson (outgoing Executive Director), Allison Murray (Communications Associate), Khalid Boudreau (Community Organizer), Rebecca Adams (Graphics & Web) and David Palmer (Development Manager).