Linda Poetz

Secretary

Linda and her husband Craig have lived in Bridgeland for 30 years.  Craig lovingly restored their 1912 home in Bridgeland and they still live there.  They have seen many changes in the community through the years and Linda has been impressed with the dedicated volunteers and the BRCA Board, which are vital to the Bridgeland-Riverside experience.  Linda joined the BRCA Board to give something back to the community she cherishes.

Throughout Linda’s career she has worked for and led member-based organizations.  When leading the Governance area in the Membership department for a multi-national organization, she developed community engagement and volunteer engagement models.  In that role, she oversaw thousands of volunteers in three countries, which involved coaching and training them via educational conferences and meetings.  Her accountabilities included all elections/nominating committees in fifty jurisdictions, development of the volunteer code of ethics, bylaws and constitution and ensuring adherence to these, development of standards of care for volunteers, oversight of Trustees and Trust Agreements and communications to members.

Linda has a strong background in governance and policy development.  People know Linda as a collaborator and as a skilled and effective leader who is adept at issues management and conflict resolution.

Linda also led provincial and national tourism industry associations.  She managed provincial, regional and national boards, and served as a member on national and regional industry boards, as well as numerous provincial and national councils and committees. Linda served on the Nominations Committee for the Federation of Calgary Communities. She is currently the BRCA Board Secretary.

Linda and Craig love to travel and have covered many kilometres in Alberta and BC, as well as the US and Europe.  They are happy to always return to their home community of Bridgeland.

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Susan Mulholland

She/her/hers

Beautification

Susan has lived in Bridgeland-Riverside for about 4 years, and loves the people, vibrancy and diversity of our community! She’s always lived in an urban core, whether in Victoria, Toronto, New York, or London England. Susan thrives on being able to shop and play locally. Not surprisingly, her car is sadly neglected because she’d rather walk or bike everywhere. Of course, she does take her car out to play in the mountains. On weekends you’ll find Susan hiking, biking, scrambling, climbing, skiing and scheming to somehow get outdoors.

She trained to be an occupational therapist (OT) at the University of Toronto, and 10 years later got her my Masters degree from Queens University by researching wheelchair development in India. She originally worked for the University of Alberta in Edmonton for 10 years by organising over 500 practicum/year for occupational therapy students. She then spent 3 years in Victoria working with the provincial OT licensing regulatory body. Since moving to Calgary 6 years ago, Susan continues to work with the University of Alberta by coordinating a Calgary satellite program where they educate 24 occupational therapy students a year.

In Bridgeland-Riverside, Susan has been most involved with the Beautification Committee. She subscribes to tactical urbanism and aspires to activate areas through creative events. In August 2017 we held a community painting event, “My Beautiful Backyard” to paint panels attached to the chain link fence running along the escarpment pathway next to St. Matthew’s Church. Community members painted and created a mini outdoor gallery with the ultimate hope to provide something beautiful and interesting that would draw more people into the area to walk along the escarpment, enjoy the views, and this gallery.

Connecting Back to the Bow is Susan’s latest major community project. Over the summer of 2018, the Bow River came to life through a mural along the 110 m chain link fence of McDougall – Riverside Park (baseball diamond). She joined the BRCA Board in 2018.

Many people ask Susan what occupational therapy is, so here’s her answer: Occupational therapy is a type of health care that helps solve problems that interfere with a person’s ability to do the things that are important to them – everyday things like: self-care (getting dressed, eating, moving around the house); being productive (going to work or school, participating in the community) and leisure activities (sports, gardening, social activities).

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Sarah MacDonald

Membership, Programs and Volunteers

Sarah has lived in Bridgeland for 13 years. It is home for herself, her husband and two kids, Miller (8) and Wesley (5). Both kids attend Riverside School.

You  are likely to have run into Sarah around the community, as she has been involved with the Bridgeland-Riverside Farmer’s Market for the past 8 years, helping to organize and plan for each year, hiring market managers, budget, helping out on market day and liaison to the BRCA Board. After attending board meetings for almost a year, it was suggested she join, as she was coming to meetings anyway. And that’s what happened. 

Sarah has also been involved with other community programs and events, such as coaching her kids in the community soccer league and helping out at Community Clean Up events, among others.

Sarah has worked in the not-for-profit sector for about 20 years. Most of that experience is as a program manager. Working within tight financial constraints is her specialty. She also has experience working with boards and committee.

In her free time, Sarah enjoys biking, hiking, and travelling within Canada and abroad. Dinner and drinks with friends is never a bad thing, either!

Sarah is excited to give back to the community where she lives and to connect with all the neighbours of Bridgeland.

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Deb Lee

Heritage

When Deb moved to Bridgeland-Riverside in 1997 she felt like she had come home. The tree-lined grid type streets and modest homes seen here are reminiscent of the little prairie town where she grew up. Shortly after moving to Bridgeland-Riverside, Deb saw the closure of the 1,000 bed Calgary General Hospital and watched the structure be imploded. The ensuing years here were very difficult and community spirit sagged, although numerous dedicated residents worked hard to keep things going.

Deb is a registered nurse whose career spanned hospital work in three different provinces, education at Foothills Hospital, administration at the Fanning Centre and stints in the Canadian north, a refugee camp in southeast Asia, and as a school nurse. She achieved her BScN and  Master of Nursing degrees along the way. Her latter years of employment were spent in Seniors Health and Home Care where she came to more fully appreciate the role of a strong and caring community in supporting the successful aging of older adults. Deb also has previous Board experience with the MS Society, Bow Waters Canoe Club and Alberta Gerontological Nurses Association.

After Deb was liberated from the work world in 2012 she chose to get more involved in the dynamic evolution of Bridgeland-Riverside. She started writing articles for the newsletter on the topic of Choose Well for Health, describing active living opportunities within and beyond the community. This evolved into writing articles about different agencies and organizations – all of which made her appreciate our community even more.

Deb has now got her fingers in many pies here. She was involved in the founding of the Bridgeland Seniors group. Then, with the encouragement of Christine, the Community Social Worker Deb started a weekly walking group ‘Bridgeland Walks’, an initiative that continues from May to end of September each year. She had the opportunity to meet many interesting local people and became fascinated with the stories of the earlier days of the community. This led to collaborating on the formation of the BRCA Heritage Committee and organizing local walks during the annual Historic Calgary Week as well as Jane’s Walks. She continues to explore ways to ‘tell the story’ of Bridgeland-Riverside’s past so that residents will have a better appreciation and valuing of the roots of this unique neighbourhood in Calgary.

As she walks around the community Deb has come to appreciate the lovely flower gardens and quirky front yards. She also recognizes the growth of invasive weeds such as burdock and Canadian thistle. This has led to her involvement on the Beautification Committee and participation in the annual Community Clean-up and in litter pickups and weed pulls as part of the city’s Green Leaders program. As she strolls down First Avenue Deb delights in seeing so many more people out and about, and glad that she can say hello to others who are enjoying being in Bridgeland.

Deb sees a blossoming village in Bridgeland-Riverside. She has met so many people who love living here and she wants to be part of building a vibrant and diverse community. She has been on the BRCA Board since 2017. She is at the helm of the Heritage portfolio.

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Jess Huffman

Community Activation & Safety Director

Jess began Business Coaching in 2001 following a life of serial entrepreneurship that included a mortgage company and residential construction company, as well as publishing a small newspaper and hosting and producing an interview style news program on local cable. He has worked with over 700 individuals, as a Coach, helping them take control of their lives, and successfully transition into life as an entrepreneur.

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Kazuki Tomoda

Events Director 

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