Chair

Justin is an assistant professor (teaching) with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary, with more than 10 years of local and global experiences in healthcare and non-healthcare settings in China, Haiti, France and the Middle East.

Justin has served in numerous governance and leadership roles, including local community association boards, the Red Cross Disaster Response Team and clinical ethics. Justin is currently a department representative for the Faculty Association at the University of Calgary and held a one-year term on Judicial Review Board while serving as Chair of the Nursing Graduate Students' Association (NGSA). Joining the CRNA in 2019, Justin has sat on several governance committees, serving as Chair of the Nominating Committee from 2020-2022. 

When not mentoring, mobilizing, or modernizing, Justin is an avid reader, writer, and runner and enjoys the energetic restaurant scene and beautiful parks around his home in Calgary, AB.

Councillor, Registered Nurse 

Originally from Yellowknife, Ashley now lives in Grande Prairie and works as a flow nurse in the emergency department. One of Ashley’s focus is being an advocate for harm reduction. In her current role, Ashley was instrumental in advocating for Naloxone kits in her department. 

Ashley is a UNA advocate, and her efforts have gained extra staffing on nights within her unit. An active volunteer within her community, Ashley has participated in her community’s sexual assault/domestic violence response team and assisted with mock disaster scenarios. She is also a member of the National Emergency Nurses Association – Alberta Chapter. 

Councillor, Registered Nurse 

Ashna is a staff educator and nursing supervisor for Red Deer Hospice Society. For the last 14 years, she was a nursing instructor at Red Deer College for the University of Alberta bachelor of science in nursing program. At the start of her career, she has worked in areas of surgical oncology at the Foothills Medical Center, palliative care, general surgery, ICU at the Peter Lougheed and ER at the Red Deer Regional Hospital. She has served on many nursing and community committees including:

• Provincial board of directors for the Alberta School Councils’ Association
• Learning resources committee at Red Deer College
• Faculty association Red Deer College Council
• Collaborative committee for University of Alberta on Quality Assurance

Councillor, Public Representative 

Bonnie is passionate about innovative ways of delivering health care practically in underserved remote areas of the province. She believes in a team approach that ensures quality health care for all.

Over 25 plus years, Bonnie has extensive committee and board experience at all levels, from local hospital boards, regional health boards (vice-chair), and medical clinic boards (chair) to municipal Councillor and board member in sparsely populated special areas. Governance within boards and adhering to legislative mandates is very important to her.

From 2014-2015, Bonnie was fortunate to be a rural community member of the Provincial Rural Health Review, and from 2015-2021 she was a member of the Pathways to Medicine out of the Cummings School of Medicine. Presently, Bonnie is a Family Services Central Alberta board member and active volunteer in the Red Deer area.

Councillor, Registered Nurse 

Derrick is actively engaged in provincial and national health issues. He is dedicated​ to advancing the nursing profession in Alberta and to finding innovative ways of delivering care that will enhance quality and the healthcare experience for every Albertan. His experience has given him the skills to build partnerships that can advance policy, regulation, and legislation to support high-quality health services. He enjoys designing and scaling up provincial-level programs that lead to better health outcomes for Albertans.  

Derrick’s clinical background includes orthopedics and emergency. He currently works at Alberta Health as a nurse consultant and is a co-chair of the Public Health Agency of Canada vaccine vigilance working group.

Councillor, Registered Nurse

Graham is a flight nurse with STARS Air Ambulance in Calgary, and for the past 17 years, his focus has been on advancing pre-hospital critical care. He has worked in a range of pre-hospital settings, including as a flight nurse on medevac flights in the high arctic and as an advanced care paramedic for Calgary Metro EMS.

Graham received a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Calgary and has published peer-reviewed articles related to pre-hospital care and a textbook chapter on cardiovascular emergencies in critical care transport.

In addition to academic and clinical work, Graham is an active volunteer serving with the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing, as a deployable medical specialist with the CAN-TF2 Disaster Response Team, and in a medical support role for local ski patrol.

Councillor, Registered Nurse

Jennifer brings more than 20 years of leadership, mental health, and addiction experience to her nursing role. With a strong background in clinical program development and community health, Jennifer has worked in various leadership roles at the Alex Community Health Centre for the past 12 years.

As a nurse, first and foremost, Jennifer also brings her passion and expertise to several Alberta Health Services programs, such as the supervised consumption site and the opioid dependency program. She has spoken at many conferences, sharing her knowledge about subjects including addiction medicine, the benefits of peer support and health system improvement.

Jennifer received her education at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois, and Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta. She is an enthusiastic marathon runner and an avid reader.

Councillor, Public Representative 

Jill holds baccalaureate degrees in both nursing and law. She began her nursing career as a practical nurse while pursuing her diploma in nursing, later returning to university to complete her bachelor of nursing degree. After fourteen years, she left nursing to pursue a career in law. Her legal practice has included health law and patient safety policy development, administrative law, family law and civil litigation. She is also an experienced adjudicator having presided over trials and hearings as a justice of the peace in the Provincial Court of Alberta and as the chair of two Alberta administrative tribunals. She is an active community volunteer in grief support programs and with children facing life-threatening illnesses.

Councillor, Public Representative 

Having garnered substantive commercial, financial and risk management experience in the private sector, Kim is now deploying this experience within the not-for-profit health sector. Kim is currently a board member and vice-chair of the Canadian Spondylitis Association and remains a finance committee member of the Canadian Liver Foundation, having earlier been a board member from 2010 to 2020.

Councillor, Registered Nurse

Nicole is a professor in the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Nursing and Cumming School of Medicine in pediatrics, psychiatry, and community health sciences departments. She is also research chair in parent and child mental health, director of RESOLVE Alberta, and principal investigator of the CHILD Studies program.

Nicole was recognized for her leadership in receiving the Canadian Nurses Association’s Jeanne Mance Award for contributions to the health of Canadians and induction into the American Academy of Nursing. She has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and three books on parenting and child health and development.

Councillor, Public Representative 

Dr. Peter Obiefuna is a lawyer and managing counsel at Arizen Law, Edmonton. Peter has experience sitting on the Municipal Government Board, the Edmonton Police Service chief's advisory council committee, and other community-based committees.

Peter has university experience in medical and nursing education, biomedical research, and industry experience in computer science. Peter holds a PhD in physiology (Lagos), an MS in computer science (East Carolina, USA) and an LLB (Hons; London, England).

Councillor, Public Representative 

Scott retired from Syncrude Canada Ltd., where he held senior management positions in finance, internal audit, strategic project development and corporate business control. Scott is the former chairman of the Northern Lights Regional Health Authority in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo; was the vice president of the Alberta Senior Communities Association, and a board member of both West Wind Communities and the Wood Buffalo Housing and Development Corporation.

Councillor, Public Representative 

Steven brings extensive life experience as a leader, soldier and humanitarian. He has dedicated himself to teaching others to lead and shares his insights through keynote speeches, workshops, coaching and consulting.

Councillor, Public Representative 

Susan is a recognized business leader experienced at building and leading collaborative teams to leverage technology for clients and partners to realize positive business outcomes. Client relationships, business transformation, technology, and general management skills gleaned from a career of varied experiences and roles in the information technology industry.  Noted for her tenacity to fairness, advocacy for inclusion, and mentorship of young adults to pay it forward, she remains a lifelong learner and is passionate about health and wellness. 

Councillor, Registered Nurse 

Sue is a faculty instructor with the School of Health and Wellness at Bow Valley College and is a registered nurse with psychiatric emergency services at the Alberta Children's Hospital. Active in the disability community, Sue co-founded ENABLE, a social enterprise that matches people with disability to support workers.

Sue holds baccalaureate degrees in science and nursing, and a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Calgary.