Board of Directors

Click the links below to learn more about ICAB’s dedicated Directors.

Keith Henry, President

CEO, Aboriginal Tourism BC and KCD Consulting Incorporated

Keith Henry is a Métis person who was born in Thompson, Manitoba and raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Keith completed a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1995. He began employment with the Métis Employment and Training of Saskatchewan Incorporated (METSI) as the Director of Programming and quickly was promoted to the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) overseeing an annual budget of 10.3 million and 12 offices.

Keith relocated to Vancouver to take on the role of Chief Executive Officer with the Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) in August 2003, and was successful in negotiations that resulted in the historic signing of the Métis Nation Relationship Accord in May 2006 with the Province of British Columbia. His latest endeavour was to start his own consulting company of which he is the President and CEO.  KCD Consulting Incorporated specializes in human resource development, project delivery, strategic planning, negotiations, and leadership development.

Read a message from ICAB President, Keith Henry

Malcolm MacPherson,

Barrister & Solicitor/ Principal of Vancouver Business Law and Aboriginal Business Law

A business lawyer of Aboriginal heritage (Métis and Mi’kmaw – Arguimeau Family), Malcolm provides legal services to Aboriginal governments and businesses, as well as high net worth Aboriginal entrepreneurs. His Aboriginal clients are involved in a wide array of industries including e-commerce, transportation and logistics, real estate development, manufacturing, professional services, and financial services.

Malcolm is dedicated to helping Aboriginal clients achieve their business and other wealth creation goals and believes such goals contribute to ensuring that Aboriginal culture and identity continues to thrive well into the next century and beyond.

Like his Aboriginal clients, Malcolm shares a deep concern for the natural environment in which we live.  This commitment is reinforced by providing legal advice to Aboriginal governments and businesses that practice sustainability and environmental stewardship.

Marlane Christensen, Vice President

Principal, Build a Bridge Consulting

Marlane is a proud member of the Sliammon First Nation which is located on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia.  Marlane spent the last 17 years in communications and community engagement with a primary focus on Aboriginal engagement in the energy, transportation and health sectors, now operating as “Build a Bridge Consulting” – a home based business.

Marlane is a founding member of ICAB.

Randy Price, Treasurer

Commissioner, First Nations Tax Commission

Randy is currently a Commissioner of the First Nations Tax Commission which oversees the 169 First Nations that have adopted taxation by-laws. His experience consists of 35 years of domestic and international tax experience, and for the past four years, he has been associated with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Vancouver.  In addition, he served 26 years as the senior tax executive with Westcoast Energy Inc. and five years with the Canada Revenue Agency in various roles.

Having been part of the team that negotiated a land access and community benefits agreement for the Gwich’in Tribal Council of Inuvik with Imperial Oil, the General Partner of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Project is only part of a long and successful career history.

Randy is a Chartered Accountant and past Chairman, Taxation Committee of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, past Chairman, Taxation Committee of the Canadian Gas Association, past President, Tax Executives Institute, Vancouver Chapter, and past Member, Canadian Tax Committee of the Tax Executives Institute.

Lee Beran

Recruiting Manager, FortisBC

Lee Beran is the Recruiting Manager at FortisBC.  She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia and a Masters in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University.  Her work experience in Human Resources includes managing payroll, human resources information systems (HRIS), and recruitment.  She has been focusing on Aboriginal employment and training initiatives in her recruiting role.

Norm Fraser

Business Manager, Nupqu Development Corporation

Norm Fraser is a Registered Forest Technologist and the Business Manager of Nupqu Development Corporation located in Cranbrook, BC.  Norm has been employed by the Ktunaxa Nation Council for eight years.  As a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, Norm is personally focused on improving aboriginal participation in business.

For the last six years, Norm has been with the Nupqu Development Corporation which includes forestry field work on the Ktunaxa Nation Community Forest, forest tenure management, and business development.  His work also included developing procurement strategies and business relationships with various resource-based industries working within the Ktunaxa Nation Traditional Territory including operating coal mines, coal and gas exploration, hydro power expansions, pipelines, corridor maintenance projects,  forest industry operations and government agencies.

Norm and his wife Carla have lived in Fernie BC for over 15 years and have a daughter Hayden and son Linkyn.

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Doug Halverson

Principal, Halverson Consulting

Doug is a founding director of ICAB. With a Master’s degree in sociology focused on resource communities, Doug has spent 35 years of practice in understanding and improving industrial-community relations in British Columbia.  He was an early advocate of meaningful consultation by resource developers and was instrumental in creating the first dialogue between the natural gas industry and the aboriginal communities of Northeast B.C.

Doug has negotiated many agreements between First Nations and resource companies and watched over their implementation.  He spent more than 20 years with Westcoast Energy Inc. (now Spectra Energy), last serving as Vice-president, Community and Regional Affairs.  Since leaving Spectra, Doug has provided consulting services to major Canadian corporations and First Nations organizations.

Doug is active in the Vancouver not-for-profit sector as a trustee and is the immediate past president of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden – built and operated for the purpose of enhancing the bridge of understanding between Chinese and Western cultures.

Shona Nelson

Director of Human Resources, Treaty 8 Tribal Association

Shona Nelson and her family members are of Huron and Mohawk descent. Shona’s education and work history include a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of British Columbia and 15 years’ experience in the field of human resource development programming with federal government programs.

Shona has worked with the Northeast BC Aboriginal community for the last six years developing and administering employment and training programs. Most recently, she conducted research and co-developed educational curriculum with Northern Lights College on the history and customs for First Nations in the Upper Peace region.

The Director of Human Resources works collaboratively with the Executive team to implement the human resource component of the strategic and operational plans of the Treaty 8 Tribal Association.

Dr. Judith Sayers, Secretary

Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law University of Victoria

Kekinusuqs, Dr. Judith Sayers, is a strategic advisor to First Nations and corporations on First Nations issues and is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Victoria.  As the past Chief of the Hupacasath First Nation where she served for 14 years, she focused on capacity building, sustainable development and restoring and rehabilitating Hupacasath territory.  In addition, Judith has served on the Task Group of the First Nations Summit for a two year term.

Dedicated to serving the Aboriginal community, she serves on many boards and is co-chair of the Island Corridor Foundation, a joint venture between regional districts and First Nations who are owners of the rail line on Vancouver Island.  She also serves as a member of the Public Advisory Panel of the Canadian Electricity Association, the New Relationship Trust and the Industry Council for Aboriginal Business.

Charlene Taylor

Director, Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Charlene Taylor is the first Aboriginal woman to hold the position of Director at the Office of the Auditor General of Canada in Vancouver. She has been involved in a number of high-profile performance reports, many of which have contributed to changes in the areas of education and child and family services and has participated in comprehensive land claims, the BC Treaty Process, and the economic development of First Nation communities.

In 1986, she was the first Aboriginal woman to earn a CA designation in Canada. She has applied her experience and knowledge to benefit her First Nations culture and is a past board member of the Aboriginal Peoples Business Association. A member of the Heiltsuk Nation, she also frequently participates in cultural sharing events and potlatches.

Chastity Davis

Proprietor, Aboriginal Relations Consulting Business

Chastity Davis is of First Nations and European descent and is a proud member of the Tla’amin (Sliammon) Nation located in Powell River.  Chastity strives to keep her sacred First Nations culture, traditions, and values incorporated in her daily life.  She feels strongly that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples, communities, governments, and businesses can find a way to have mutually respectful relationships in order to create a better future for our children and planet.  She also believes it is her life’s purpose to facilitate the building of bridges between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people and has conducted her professional and personal life in this manner.

Chastity is the sole proprietor of Chastity Davis Consulting which is dedicated to changing how Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Canada relate to each other.  Her consulting business focuses on building, fostering, and empowering culturally respectful relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, communities, governments and businesses.

Chastity previously worked as a Key Account Manager in the Aboriginal & Sustainable Communities Sectors at BC Hydro. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Communication from Royal Roads University and graduated from the Marketing Management & Professional Sales Diploma Program at BCIT in 2004.  She has received a Certificate from the Coaches Training Institute in Professional & Personal Development and Project Management Fundamentals from Vancouver Community College.

Brenda Ireland, Executive Director

Brenda Ireland is an Anishnaabe-Métis community-based professional and intercultural practitioner with 18 years of leadership in social, education and community development initiatives. She received a Masters Degree from UBC in 1994 and established the First Nations Programs and Services Department at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in 1995. She operates her own company, First Light Initiatives, and has been the Executive Director of ICAB since February 2010.

In addition to working with ICAB, she continues to work as an advocate for Aboriginal learners and completed a Canadian Council on Learning project that identified the key principles and values of promising practices, models and programs supporting lifelong learning for Indigenous learners titled ‘Moving from the Head to the Heart – “The Indian’s Canada Problem” in Reclaiming the Learning Spirit: Aboriginal Learners in Education’. She is a member of the BC Human Rights Coalition Board of Directors, has two children and two granddaughters.