About Us

After graduating from the University of Alberta with a BComm and the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University with an MBA, James became an investment banker at a national investment dealer in Toronto. In the early 1990s he left Bay Street to invest in Vancouver-based Sepp's Food Group, a specialty food manufacturing company which was later listed on the TSX. He held various positions over the years, including President, CFO and ultimately CEO when it was sold in 2010. Prior to joining Rhema Health Products as CEO in 2019, he was President and Director at Mazza Innovation, a botanical extract company, and Managing Director of ProSnack Natural Foods, a manufacturer of healthy snack foods. Since 2010, he has been a c-level executive in three companies that were sold to publicly listed entities, including two that were sold to NYSE listed companies. James has served as a Director of the Food Innovation Centre of BC, Food Processors of Canada, Timia Capital Corporation, and the Canadian Food Innovation Network, often taking on Audit or Governance Committee Chair positions. He has served as Chair of the Functional Foods Alberta Centre of Excellence and the BC Food Processors Association, and Vice-Chair of the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC. In early 2025 he was named to the Premier's Task Force on Agriculture and Food Economy.

Fiona is an experienced director with particular expertise in governance and human resources. Fiona’s past board experience includes: Director of The Royal Canadian Mint, where she was Chair of the Human Resources and Workplace Health and Safety Committee; Director of a publicly traded financial services company, RF Capital, where she was Chair of the Management Resources and Compensation Committee, a Member of Audit and Governance and Special Committees; Director of the BC Ferry Authority; and Chair of the BC Chapter of the Institute of Corporate Directors. Fiona has a BA and MBA, both from UBC, and has the ICD.D designation.

What Fiona brings in particular to the Food Bank board is: business/financial acumen, which will help with meeting today’s pressing needs while also ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Food Bank; governance best practices, which will help ensure effective stewardship and oversight of what is a very large and complex organization, that provides essential support to many people in our communities; and a deep background in human resource management to ensure we attract, retain and develop our people so that they too can grow and contribute to the Food Bank’s mission of providing healthy food to those in need.

Lisa is committed to helping mentor and develop the next generation of leaders.  She is a strategic and thoughtful leader, a seasoned Board Director and a former senior executive. Lisa is currently on the Board of the Rick Hansen Foundation and the BC SPCA. She has served as the Chair of the Board of the YWCA-Metro Vancouver and Chair of the Finance Committees of the Canadian Sport Institute-Pacific and the Vancouver Community College Boards. Lisa was formerly the CFO and then the SVP of Enterprise Services at Vancity. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of Powersmart and Customer Care for BC Hydro. Lisa has earned the CPA.CA and ICD.D designations as well as a BBA from Simon Fraser University.

Lisa’s current area of focus is using her governance, financial and business expertise to support not-for-profit organizations that are serving the needs of the community. She has long been interested in health and nutrition and is committed to leveraging her broad experience to help advance providing healthy food to those in need.

John Metras is Associate Vice-President, Facilities at the University of British Columbia. John and his team are responsible for the planning, development and operation of institutional facilities at UBC, collaborating with campus stakeholders to provide an inspiring and sustainable physical environment for learning, research and campus life. John is a professional engineer with a Bachelor of Engineering Science from the University of Western Ontario and an MBA from UBC.

John is strongly committed to the GVFBS vision of healthy communities through fair and effective food systems. This aligns with his own work in building a healthy, resilient and sustainable community at UBC. He feels privileged to volunteer as a Director on the GVFBS Board and share his experience in management, planning, projects and operations to help support the GVFBS in its mission of providing healthy food to those in need.

Brahm is a strategic senior sales and operations leader with more than 20 years of experience with top retail companies in Canada, including store and regional leadership positions with Hudson’s Bay, Holt Renfrew, Smithbooks / Chapters, and John Fluevog Shoes. Brahm studied history at McGill University and journalism at Concordia University (both in his home city of Montreal). He now resides in Delta with his husband and their dogs.

Keith Martin is a Partner based in McKinsey & Company’s Vancouver office and a founder of McKinsey Transformation. He has more than a decade of experience counselling and advising the CEOs, executive teams and Boards of major international companies on how to dramatically improve their organizations’ operations, income, capabilities and organizational health.

Before joining McKinsey, Keith worked in the non-profit sector for Concern Worldwide, an international development organization, in Afghanistan, Central Africa, and on the emergency response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. He also has extensive experience with policy and politics, having worked in Irish and EU politics for 5 years.

Keith has an MBA from the University of British Columbia and a BSc in Applied Computing from the Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland.

Kathryn is a strategic and outcomes-focused leader with 20 years of experience leading complex transformation initiatives and operations. Currently, she is the Deputy Director, Engineering Services at the City of New Westminster. Her previous roles have included Director of Real Estate, Facilities, and Procurement with Vancity, and Chief License Inspector at the City of Vancouver. Kathryn’s expertise spans strategic and operational planning, public policy development, project and change management, capital program delivery, real estate and facilities oversight, procurement, business process improvement, building capacity through partnerships, and team building.

Her commitment to building community has led her to serve on several non-profit boards, including Board Chair and Director for Minerva BC, and Board Director for the Vancouver Society of Children's Centers (VSOCC). She is currently a member of the Board Nominations Committee for Engineers and Geoscientists of BC. Kathryn is honoured to volunteer on the GVFB Board, in support of providing healthy food to those in need in her community.

Kathryn holds an MSc in Business Administration from the University of British Columbia and a BSc in Industrial Engineering from the University of Manitoba. She is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) in British Columbia and a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Robin has had an extensive career in the agriculture, food processing and seafood industries across Canada and internationally.  Currently, he provides consulting services to governments and the food industry through his own firm, Foodwest Resources Ltd., which he has owned for 30 years.  Past experience includes: CEO of the BC Dairy Foundation; Chair of BC Chicken Marketing Board; Chair/CEO of NuFood Pet Inc. and President of Protein Foods International, where he spent 11 years involved in the food business in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. He also headed the national agri-food consulting practice of Price Waterhouse for four years.

Robin’s other board experience includes: 15 years on the board of the BC Food & Beverage Association (including chair), Alliance Freeze Dry and chair of CFP Marketing Corp. He obtained a Bachelor of Science Agriculture from the University of British Columbia specializing in food science and an MBA from Simon Fraser University.

Robin looks forward to contributing his knowledge of food systems and his many contacts in the industry to helping the GVFB achieve its mission of providing healthy food to those in need.

Aida Etminan is a Senior Relationship Manager specializing in Public Sector and Not-for-Profit organizations within RBC's Commercial Financial Services group. With nearly a decade of experience in finance and business, she acts as a strategic advisor to large and complex clients, providing financial analysis, tailored credit solutions, and risk management expertise while also taking a holistic, beyond-banking approach that connects organizations with networks, resources, and community support to achieve their long-term goals. Deeply committed to community impact, Aida is a volunteer with multiple charities in Vancouver and is passionate about supporting causes related to individuals living with disabilities, food insecurity, and affordable housing. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, a Master's in Financial Engineering, and an MBA from the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University.