Board of Directors

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2026. Dr. Satwinder Kaur Bains is the Director of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley and an Associate Professor in Social Cultural Media Studies, College of Arts. Dr. Bains’ critical analysis of India’s multilingual policy and planning has fueled her interest to study the impact of language, culture and identity on South Asian Canadian migration, settlement, and integration. Her research includes and intersects cross-cultural education with a focus on anti-racist curriculum implementation; race, racism, and ethnicity; identity politics; Sikh feminist ideology; migration and the South Asian Canadian Diaspora and Punjabi Canadian cultural historiography. Dr. Bains has served as a Commissioner on the Agricultural Land Commission, as a Director of the Fraser Basin Council, as a Bencher on the Law Society of British Columbia and as a member of the Farm Industry Review Board for British Columbia. She has served on numerous Boards locally, nationally, and internationally and received recognition for her commitment to social justice, preservation of histories and cultural knowledge, women’s rights, service and research. She lives in Abbotsford and with her partner Parm and three children she also helps support an international farming operation, shipping blueberries around the world.

Appointed for a term ending July 31, 2028.  Heather Bastin has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and communications, primarily in publishing, architecture and post-secondary education sectors. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University in 2000 and a Master of Arts for the School of Communication and Culture at Royal Roads University in 2011. Currently, Ms. Bastin is the Executive Director, External Relations, at Coast Mountain College, a public post-secondary institution serving northwest BC. In her spare time, she teaches music lessons and plays violin in a community orchestra.

Appointed for a term ending July 31, 2028.

Jocelyn Eisert, CEO of Bizzybody Enterprises provides education preparedness, employment readiness, entrepreneurial coaching and event management services since February 2008 for corporate and community gatherings. She is the youngest of 16 children, orphaned at 17 – never a quitter and has the heart of a true entrepreneur.

Based in Fort St. John, BC, Jocelyn has worked with presenters and speakers such as Theo Fleury, Adam Bach and Trevor Lindon to name a few and has made impacts in dozens of community to hundreds of individuals. For Jocelyn it is not who SHE meets, it is who SHE brings to the event and IMPACTS THAT ARE MADE IN COMMUNITIES.

Mrs. Eisert graduated from high school with honors in 1991 and completed her nursing assistant at Red River Community College. Realizing quickly that the medical field was not for her, she graduated from Herzing Career College in 1995 with a certificate in Business Administration. Since then, Jocelyn has completed Project Management Level 1 and 2 at College of New Caledonia in Prince George in 2011, Adult Educator through Canadian College of Educators in 2021 and numerous workshops and seminars across the Country over the past three decades.

Dedicated to the work she does, Jocelyn has designed a variety of programs and workshops to support learning and opportunities for growth and professional development. She has come to love facilitation and seeing each individual full of energy with their light bulbs bright, truly makes Jocelyn’s heart sing. When she grows up – she wants to be a comedian – making people smile and healing our nation through laughter is only one dream away

Appointed for a term ending July 31, 2026.  Binny Boparai-Gill is the Co-Founder and President of Farming Karma Fruit Company, a farm-to-table operation producing award-winning fruit beverages. Under her leadership, the company has received multiple awards for innovation and sustainability.

Binny immigrated to Canada as a teenager and has now established her roots in Kelowna BC. She has a family history of agriculture and public service, both of which inspire her work today. She turned her family's farming legacy into a successful value-added fruit products company while also bridging the gap between consumers and farmers through educational tours at their vertically integrated manufacturing facility. Binny is committed to fostering and advocating for a more resilient agriculture and small business sector in BC. She partners with local educational institutes to educate and engage young minds in discussion around careers in agriculture, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. Through Farming Karma’s Do Good Initiative, she collaborates with local charities to support community causes. Binny has over a decade of experience working in the finance industry which has been instrumental in scaling her family business across Canada and beyond. She strongly believes in the value of financial literacy and aspires to work towards making financial knowledge more accessible. She also serves on Kelowna’s Agriculture Advisory Committee.

Her dedication to diversity, inclusion and compassion is evident in both her professional and personal life. With extensive experience in leadership and finance, an innovative approach to business, and a strong commitment to education and community outreach, she is well-equipped to contribute meaningfully to the Knowledge Network's board of directors.

Appointed for a term ending December 31, 2026. For over three decades, award-winning filmmaker Selwyn Jacob has been telling stories about the lives and experiences of Black Canadians, Indigenous peoples and other often underrepresented communities. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Mr. Jacob came to Canada in 1968. He holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta (1970) and an MSc in Film Education from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (1975). Early in his career -1976 to 1981 - Jacob worked as a teacher, and as a school principal with the Lac La Biche School Division in Northern Alberta. He also taught for two years with Edmonton Public School Board before joining Alberta Education as a Media Consultant from 1983 to 1995. As an independent filmmaker he directed We Remember Amber Valley (1984), about the Black community that existed near Lac La Biche, AB; Carol’s Mirror (NFB - 1991) which won six international awards; and Gemini award-winning The Road Taken (1996), about the Black sleeping car porters of the Canadian railroad. In 1997 Jacob Joined the National Film Board of Canada as part of the Special Mandate Team for Cultural Diversity. Based at the Pacific and Yukon Studio in Vancouver, he went on to produce over fifty films. During 23 years at the NFB, he produced a wide range of documentaries including Charles Officer's Leo- and Emmy-award-winning Mighty Jerome (2010) and Mina Shum’s feature documentary Ninth Floor, about the Sir George Williams Riot of 1969. The 2015 film was selected to TIFF’s annual Top Ten list of the best Canadian films of the year. His most recent films - Holy Angels (2017), Because We Are Girls (2019), and Now Is The Time (2019), were also award-winning, and screened at numerous national and international film festivals. Personal honours for Jacob include:

• Lifetime Achievement Award from Vancouver Film Critics Circle (2020)
• An Honorary Doctor of Laws from Dalhousie University (2019)
• Outstanding Achievement Award from Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta (2017)
• Certificate of Appreciation from City of Vancouver, Black History Month Planning Committee (2015)
• An Alumni Honour Award from the University of Alberta for community contribution (2013); and
• The John Ware Award for Black Achievement (1997, Edmonton AB).

Jacob retired from the NFB in June 2019 and spends much of his time mentoring emerging filmmakers.

Appointed for a term ending July 31, 2027. Sonia Lachar brings 18 years of senior HR expertise in labor and employee relations across municipal, healthcare, education, public, and private sectors. Sonia's diverse background includes previous work with UBC, District of Squamish, British Columbia Nurses Union (BCNU) and City of Vancouver. Sonia has completed a Master's of Industrial Relations Degree, a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, Executive Coaching certificate and is in the final stages of completing a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion certificate at UBC. She is passionate about learning, education and works in the Education sector as a member of the senior leadership team in the role of an Executive Director. She has a strong commitment towards the public sector and providing services that benefit the public in a meaningful way. She has also shared her wealth of knowledge through teaching labor relations and human resources at the post-secondary level. Her passion for teaching and commitment to lifelong learning coupled with strong employee relations leadership experience will further enrich our board. 

Appointed for a term ending July 31, 2028.

Phil Leong (pronouns He/Him) is currently the Vice President, Finance & Chief Financial Officer at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC).  His team is focused on providing financial stability and governance to ensure ICBC can provide customers with the best insurance coverage at an affordable price.​  Phil was part of the ICBC team that implemented the transformational change in 2021 to a care-based auto insurance product that provides some of the best care and recovery benefits available in Canada to injured claimants along with affordable premiums. He also has the privilege of being the Executive Sponsor and ally of the Women at Work Employee Resource Group.

Prior to joining ICBC in 2008, his career path was one of diversity in both industries and functional experience; having worked in the telecom, high-tech, municipal, death care, utility and insurance industries and beyond finance, having experience in strategic planning, risk management and even managing a sales team!

He is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) and was recognized in 2022 as the Business in Vancouver BC CFO of the year.

Phil and his family are privileged to live, work and recreate in the unceded, ancestral and traditional territories of the Coast Salish, specifically the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations.  He has a love/hate relationship with golf and is a long-suffering Vancouver Canucks fan

Appointed for a term ending July 31, 2028.

Jane Shackell has been a practicing lawyer in Vancouver for 40 years. She has an extensive background in commercial law, including mergers and acquisitions, leasing, finance, and general corporate and business matters. She retired as a partner in the national firm Miller Thomson LLP in 2023 and now restricts her professional work to advising public-sector entities on procurement issues. Ms. Shackell was appointed Queens Counsel in 1999. She has served as an ad hoc member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, and a part-time member of the BC Human Rights Tribunal. She is a Life Bencher of the Law Society of BC, having served four terms as an elected bencher. She has also served on the UBC Alumni Association Advisory Board, as Chair of the Board of Governors of Capilano University, a governor of the Justice Institute of BC, a Trustee of the Granville Island Trust, a founding member and director of West Coast LEAF, and in other volunteer capacities.