2016 OCF Board Member Elections

April 23/16 update:

We are pleased to announce that the following people were elected to the Board:

2 year term:

Gillian Wyett, Lorraine Winger, Kellen Tapley

1 year term:

Julia Bonnell

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Here are the profiles of the people who ran for election to the OCF Board. The election were held during the OCF Annual General Meeting between Qualifier rounds at Provincials, being held Saturday, April 23/16 at True North Climbing, Inc.

Julia Bonnell

I have been involved with the climbing community since the 2009 season when my children started competing at OCF sanctioned comps. I joined the OCF Board in 2010 and held the Volunteer Coordinator position until the end of my term in 2013. I have also been a judge at both the local and national levels since our introduction to the competitive circuit. In 2013, and for the subsequent two seasons, I was one of three committee members responsible for bringing the IFSC Bouldering World Cup to the GTA. I held the budget and worked on the overall coordination of the various ‘moving parts’.

As a parent with three children involved in the sport, I feel it’s important to contribute to the health of the climbing community – it’s necessary to have a strong volunteer base to help youth climbing grow in Ontario. I would like to rejoin the Board as I feel my skill set would be useful as the climbing comps continue to register record attendance numbers and the execution becomes more complicated.

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Sharon Vukojevic

I am a parent of 2 competitors who are currently in groups C and D.
This is our second full season of competing in the OCF series and over the past 2 years I have been an active volunteer as a judge at both the OCF and world cup competitions.
Over the past 2 1/2 years I have enjoyed being an active parent in my children’s chosen sport and look forward to being a part of this organization for many years to come.
I feel that as an active member of the community as both a parent and a climber, I have built a foundation of solid relationships with the athletes, many of the gym owners and staff, parents and coaches.
I am passionate about building the organization and hopefully getting more parents involved as volunteers and to help the kids succeed as much as possible.

Thank you for your time on consideration.
Sharon Vukojevic

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Sue Carkner

I am the parent of a climber and have been involved in OCF comps since approximately 2011. I have been involved with local, provincial, and national competitions as a volunteer and judge. My daughter trains in Quebec, so I also have some experience with FQME comps, which provides some great perspective.

As a resident of Ottawa, I feel I can bring some geographic diversity to the OCF board. I think that we need to have the concerns of people who live outside the GTA represented on the board.

As the sport grows, the OCF has some big decisions to make about directions for the future. I think that I have good perspectives and ideas to help the sport grow in a positive way. I am looking forward to being part of the OCF’s future.

Sue Carkner

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Lorraine Winger:

I became involved in the climbing world when my daughter started climbing competitively in the 2010-2011 season. I joined the board in February of 2012 after helping with the placement of the OCF’s insurance. I have placed the insurance every year since due to my past and recently present experience in the insurance and reinsurance business. I was the secretary on the OCF Board from November 2012 until June 2014. I have remained on the board and held the position of volunteer coordinator for the past 3 seasons– 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. I was the volunteer coordinator for the IFSC World Cup Bouldering Events in 2013, 2014 and 2015. I have been an ISO monitor for many OCF locals, Provincials,CEC Nationals and the World Cup events.

Sincerely,

Lorraine Winger

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Kellen Tapley:

I’ve been working in the industry since 2009. I started at Coyote Rock Gym in Ottawa, where I created and managed the youth recreational program, pre-competitive program, and youth competitive team and later became the head route setter. In 2014 I moved to Toronto and started working at True North Climbing as the youth recreational program director, youth competitive team assistant coach and route setter. In the competition scene, I’ve been involved countless times as a route setter, event organizer, problem judge or head judge and as an open competitor. As a route setter I’ve helped set over 30 competitions and have set at a half dozen gyms across Ontario and Quebec. I’ve been on the OCF board for 2 seasons now as the acting Tour Director – the main liaison between host gyms and the board, where I’ve helped organize competition schedules, running orders, format details and route setting plans.

I believe I benefit the board because my variety of experience within the competition scene and climbing industry has led me to a pretty developed understanding of the issues at hand and I can see things from a number of viewpoints. I’m hoping to continue on with the board as I have a lot of energy and passion and I want to continue to help the sport I love and have dedicated myself to grow.

Thank you for your consideration,

Kellen Tapley

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Gillian Wyett:

I have been involved in climbing since 2011 when my three children joined the True North competitive climbing team. I have volunteered as a judge at many OCF bouldering and difficulty competitions as well as at CEC National events. I have also volunteered as an ISO monitor at many OCF bouldering and difficulty competitions, CEC National events, and the 2015 Toronto World Cup.

Professionally, I am a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) with over 20 years of experience in both public practice and industry. Since 2003, I have specialized in the area of corporate governance, developing a range of educational initiatives and resources for corporate directors in public, private and not for profit organizations.

I have over 20 years of experience in leadership positions with volunteer boards including advisory, not-for-profit and charitable organizations.

I have been a member of the OCF board since June 2014. I held the position of Secretary from July 2014 through May 2015 and the position of Chair from June 2015 to present. Some of the items the board has dealt with, and advanced, over this period include:

1) Overseeing the tremendous growth in the sport; including determining how to structure competitions that are fun to attend and ensure our climbers are well prepared for local, national and international competitions;

2) Developing volunteer participation to ensure a strong support infrastructure exists to complement the individual board members;

3) Opening OCF events to open (adult) competitors;

4) Establishing stronger governance practices to ensure the board meets all regulatory requirements and:

5) Positioning the OCF to become a provincial sport organization so that in future the sport is eligible to attract federal funding.

There are further advancements to be made in many of the above matters. I would like to continue as a member of the OCF board to continue advancing these matter and to continue developing climbing in Ontario.