Distinguished Environmental Leaders form ECO Canada’s Board of Directors
September 29, 2010 – ECO Canada is pleased to expand its environmental leadership with the election of Blane Harvey, Jacques Benoit and Mary Ellen Richardson to its Board of Directors. ECO Canada’s nationally-balanced Board of Directors consists of 18 members. The role of the board is to provide strategic and operational advice to ECO Canada in the development of national environmental labour market solutions. All members of the ECO Canada Board of Directors are elected to three-year terms.
Blane Harvey, Academic Vice President of Fleming College, will take on ECO Canada’s Academic Seat. Mr. Harvey has multiple graduate degrees including a Master of Arts specializing in Adult & Continuing Education from Michigan State University and a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from Nova Southeastern University. He will bring over 30 years of experience in Canadian post-secondary systems to ECO Canada’s board including his current position with Fleming College, an institution he has been with for the past decade. Mr. Harvey is also a current member of ECO Canada’s Canadian Environmental Accreditation Commission.
Jacques Benoit, Senior Vice President and General Manager of SNC Lavalin Environment, will be representing industry for the ECO Canada board. Mr. Benoit is a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP) from the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice and a certified Environmental Professional (EP). Mr. Benoit has over 30 years experience in the environmental business in Canada and internationally, and has authored over 40 technical papers on various environmental subjects. His extensive experience in site assessment/due diligence, contaminated site remediation, waste management and environmental impact assessments will give the board valuable environmental industry insight.
Also representing industry will be Mary Ellen Richardson, President of Canadian District Energy Association. Ms. Richardson’s career in the oil, natural gas and electricity industries spans 28 years, and has included roles in marketing and sales in North America. Over the last seven years, Mary Ellen has held executive positions with both the Ontario Power Authority and the Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario, an industry association, while also sitting on the Ontario government Conservation and Supply Task Force and the management board of the Ontario Centre of Excellence in Energy. Ms. Richardson is currently working with the Canadian District Energy Association, with Counsel Public Affairs, and with Queen’s University as a Fellow of the Institute of Energy and Environmental Policy.
“We are pleased to have such high quality leaders working together on our Board of Directors. These individuals strongly represent environmental employment across Canada and their contributions will greatly assist in meeting our national and international goals,” says Grant Trump, President and CEO of ECO Canada.
