The Mole Hill Community Housing Society (MHCHS) is made up of interested members of Metro Vancouver. It elects a Board of up to twelve Directors from the membership at its Annual General Meeting. Directors serve 2-year terms, at which point they may run for re-election.

The Directors on the MHCHS Board are responsible for the governance of the Society and overseeing the Society’s Executive Director who oversees the other employees.  In turn, the Board elects a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.

The Board acts to sustain and evolve the vision of MHCHS by working on projects both on the block and off. The Board is also responsible for maintaining the relationships to its many community partners, working with other groups towards mutual goals of community and city building.

Members of the Board

Get to know Mole Hill’s Board of Directors. We would also like to welcome our new members of the Board: Marvin Bates, Erich Isopp, Joshua Lovelace, and Gordon Monk!

Marvin Bates
Marvin is a first-nations person from Norther Secwepemcte Quelmucw (People of the Northern Shuswap) Xat’sull/Cm’etem (aka Williams Lake, BC). Some of his education and learning comes from Williams Lake and the Okanogan County of Washington Sate, USA. He has worked in community home support with the Association of Neighbourhood Houses (ANH) in Vancouver. Marvin has enjoyed living at Mole Hill for the past seven years, a beautiful place with beautiful people.

Ewa Gersin
Ewa is a graduate of the University of Victoria with a degree in Geography, with emphasis on Urban and Environmental Studies. She has chosen urban geography because of her keen interest in understanding how cities have become the way they are and what makes urban spaces successful. Recently, she completed the Property Management course at the Saunders School of Business and have been managing residential buldings in Vancouver’s West End. The Mole Hill Society development is one of those few successful places is shaped by history, culture, and social needs.

Erich Isopp
Erich is currently a Business Consultatnt with TELUS’ Customer Solutions division. He recently completed his MBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario where he focused on Health Care, Strategy and Analytics. Prior to his MBA, Erich worked in business analysis roles in the telecommunications industry. His previous volunteer experience includes the Urban Native Youth Association, PALS Autism School, the Vancouver Concert Band, and the Richard Ivey School of Business MBA Association.

Gillan Jackson
After high school and the Business Administration Program at the University of New Brunswick, Gillan started work with the Royal Bank of Canada where he remained until moving to the Government of Canada as a Financial Officer. As a Senior Financial Trainer for the Government of Canada, he was responsible for the development of special courses in the area of financial management and governance. After retiring in 2001, Gillan has served as Treasurer of St. Andrew’s Hall, Vancouver School of Theology, UBC; Director of Corporate Sponsorship, Vancouver Pride Society; and he is currently responsible for Inter Church and Community Relations at Central Church.

Elizabeth Kemp
Elizabethpursued an undergraduate degree in Biology and for the past 12 months have been juggling a full-time graduate program at SFU, two (at one point, three) part-time jobs, and parental responsibilities for a needy, yet adorable, pit-bull. With her classes finished, Elizabeth is now working for Raincoast Books, teacher assisting a course at SFU, and writing her thesis on entrepreneurship in the book publishing industry.

Joshua Lovelace
Joshua lives at Mole Hill’s Leslie Lane House with his partner, Michelle Lindenblatt, and 18-month old daughter, Beatrix. He has earned an MA in English Literature and Print Culture from SFU in 2004, and an MFA in Writing from Bard College (NY) in 2009. He has worked a variety of jobs, including a bike courier in Ottawa, a public school assistant-ESL teacher in Japan, and an audio archivist in NYC. He is currently a stay-at-home father and part-time writer.

Nitin Madhvani
Nitin has a professional and personal interest in serving the public and increasing ‘social good.’ He has an honours business graduate from Richard Ivey School in London, ON, and recently moved to Vancouver from Toronto to continue working as a management consultant in the public sector with a focus on strategy, finance, and information technology. While in Toronto, Nitin sat as a director and treasurer of FoodShare Toronto for three terms. He is excited to learn more about community housing in the City of Vancouver through his involvement with MHCHS while providing expertise in governance, community leadership, stakeholder relations and food-based issues and programs.

Gordon Monk
Gordon is currently the Chairman and Principal of Performance Capital Advisors, a Vancouver-based investment bank. Prior to found PCA, he was on the institutional sales desk of a leading Vancouver boutique ivestment bank and before that, a licensed Investment Advisor (Canada & the US) with one of Canada’s leading full service investment houses where he focused on trading and equity financing. Additionally, his experience includes operations management, debt syndication, and private financing and start-up efforts. Gordon holds a BA from Wilfrid Laurier University and is currently enrolled in the CFA program. In addition to Performance Capital Advisors, he is the President and Co-founder of Dynamic Communications Group, a Toronto-based communications company and serve on a number of private company boards.

Robert Nickerson
Robert has been a tenant at Mole Hill for many years and has served on the Board of Directors as Secretary for the last two years. Previously, he sat on the boards of two housing cooperatives and served on the Board of two provincial ASOs (Aids Service Organizations): BCPWA (BC Persons with Aids) and PAN (Pacific Aids Network). During these commitments, he has served on three Executive Committees; chaired standing meetings and developed needed policy, terms of reference and reports to various boards. Robert’s interests and view for MHCHS is to maintain due process, due diligence, fiscal accountability and ensure a culture of mutual respect in order to address the long-term sustainability of Mole Hill.

Stephen Reid
Stephen has been a Board member for two years, and have lived at Mole Hill with his two daughters for almost seven. He has served as a non-profit Society Director and have been a member of the KGSS (King George Senior Secondary) Parents Advisory Committee. Stephen has many years of education and experience in the building industry, and he believes in the preservation of Mole Hill as a liable community.

Doug Tomkinson
Doug has been a resident of Mole Hill since the opening of Phase II in June 2001 and have lived in Vancouver, primarily in the West End, since November 1981. He holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology as well as a college certificate from BCIT in Marketing and Advertising. Doug has been employed in fields using both degrees, primarily for the BC Department of Health, Baker-Lovick Advertising and CKVUTV. Over his years in Vancouver, he has been involved and served on the boards of the English Bay Bowling Leaugue (8 years), Rain City Gay Men’s Chorus (2 years), and Vancouver Pride Society (1 year), in positions ranging from Statistician, Publicity, and Treasurer to member-at-large.

To contact the Mole Hill Community Housing Society’s Board of Directors, please write to:

MHCHS Board of Directors
1169 Pendrell St.
Vancouver, BC
V6E 1L3