Board of Directors

Annalisa King is one of Canada’s most respected business executives and serves on three TSX Boards, and a private company board, in addition to YVR. She serves as Audit Committee Chair for two of these Boards, Saputo Inc. and The North West Company Ltd., and as Chair of The People and Compensation Committee for First Capital REIT. Prior to her Board career, Annalisa was Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, at Best Buy Canada Ltd., where she led the Finance, Information Technology, Real Estate and Legal functions. Before Best Buy, she was Senior Vice President of Business Transformation at Maple Leaf Foods, where she led critical strategies for one of Canada’s largest food companies.

Haydn Acheson has extensive senior leadership experience in the transportation sector, most recently as President and General Manager of Coast Mountain Bus Company. Prior to that he held senior executive roles in the Canadian airline industry in the areas of operations, customer service and flight operations. Haydn also has an extensive labour relations background. He is an accomplished airline captain with thousands of hours of flight time.

Peter Blake is an experienced director and senior leader currently serving as Chair of the Board of FortisBC and as an independent director on the board of Toromont Industries Ltd. In his board roles, he has served as the Chair of Audit and ESG Committees.

Peter was previously the Chief Executive Officer Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. for 10 years and of Western One Inc. for four years. He served as Ritchie Bros. Chief Financial Officer for seven years prior to assuming the CEO role. Peter also contributes his time to community boards, currently serving on the Adam’s Apples Foundation and West Point Grey Academy Independent School Boards and previously serving on the boards of Junior Achievement of BC, BC Women’s Hospital Foundation and BC Institute of Technology Foundation.

Nominated by Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Mary Anne Davidson has 30 years of senior executive experience, beginning in the Crown Corporation sector in Saskatchewan, transitioning into environmental stewardship leadership and then leading the KPMG Management consulting practice in the prairies region. In BC, she served as CEO of an industry lead apprenticeship agency and as Vice President of an International major construction and financing corporation. In addition, she served as the Chair of the YMCA of Greater Vancouver during its merger and evolution to YMCA of BC.

Heather Deal brings decades of experience as a scientist, environmental educator, researcher, elected official and literacy promoter to the YVR Board. She was elected in the City of Vancouver five times and served many years as a board member of Metro Vancouver and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, as well as being a member of, and chairing, multiple committees of those Boards. Heather recently served as a Director at Decoda Literacy Solutions, an umbrella organization for literacy work throughout BC, and is in her second term sitting as Chair of the Granville Island Council.

Frances Fiorillo brings extensive airline industry experience in the areas of human resource management, operational strategy, and customer service. She has previously served in a number of high-ranking positions at Virgin America, the BC Provincial Health Services Authority, Canadian Airlines International and Air Canada ZIP.

Kevin Howlett brings 40 years of experience in the aviation industry with expertise in human resources and operational management and corporate and government affairs. Kevin was most recently Senior Vice President Regional Markets & Government Relations at Air Canada and also held senior positions at Jazz Aviation and Canadian Airlines.

Jill Leversage is a corporate director with over 30 years of experience in the corporate finance and investment banking sectors. Since 2016, she has focused on serving as an independent board member for a portfolio of companies. In addition to YVR, Ms. Leversage serves on the Board of MAG Silver Corp, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Ltd. and RE Royalties Ltd. In her Board roles, she has chaired and served on Audit, Governance and Compensation Committees. Ms. Leversage is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants of BC, a CGIC Accredited Director, and is also a retired member of the Chartered Business Valuators Institute.

Dan Nomura is currently the principal of DKN Advisory, consulting in the seafood industry. He is the past president of Canadian Fishing Company (Canfisco), a division of the Jim Pattison Group, a fully integrated sustainable seafood business with global product sales from fishing and processing operations across British Columbia and Alaska.

Dan is highly dedicated to enriching the community. He participates on a number of cultural, educational, athletic and fundraising committees after previously serving on the Boards of the Richmond Olympic Oval as well as the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre.

Suromitra Sanatani is an independent Director and currently serves as Chair of the Royal Bank Global Asset Management Independent Review Committee, Chair of the RBC Indigo Independent Review Committee, director of Purolator Holdings Ltd. and director of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. She is the past Chair of the Board of Canada Post and has served on the boards of both Edmonton and Victoria International Airports.

Suromitra began her legal career in litigation before transitioning to senior corporate positions in the non-profit, public and private sectors. She is the former BC and Yukon Vice-President of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business as well as the former Vice President Corporate and Government Relations of Partnerships BC (now Infrastructure BC).

Juggy Sihota is Senior Vice President at TELUS Health, where she has been a driving force in the company's transformation and expansion into a global health leader. She has been instrumental in delivering primary, preventive, and mental health care to over 76 million people across 160 countries. With over 25 years of leadership experience in the telecom and health sectors, Juggy has led the development and implementation of several innovative digital health solutions. Her efforts continue to focus on leveraging technology to enhance healthcare delivery, patient experiences, and outcomes globally. She also has Chaired several boards including the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation Board as well as the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade.

Tamara Vrooman is an award-winning leader, known for her exemplary track record leading large, complex institutions in both the private and public sectors and her bold positions on sustainability and inclusion.

Prior to joining YVR as President & CEO, she served for nine years on YVR’s Board and for 13 years as the President & CEO of Vancity, Canada’s largest community credit union, transforming the business into a global reference point for values-based banking. She currently serves as Simon Fraser University’s 12th Chancellor, and as the Chair of the Board for the Canadian Airports Council.

Ms. Vrooman is the recipient of the Order of British Columbia, Peter Lougheed Award for Leadership in Public Policy and has been named the 2025 recipient of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce - Canadian Business Leader of the Year Award.

Sany Zein is a Professional Engineer and senior executive with a specialization in transportation. He is the President and General Manager of the British Columbia Rapid Transit Company (BCRTC). Over a career spanning more than 30 years, Sany has held leadership positions in the private and public sectors, and worked on multi-modal transportation projects and programs across Canada and in the United States. Previously, he was Vice President, Transit and Transportation (Canada) with Jacobs; and Vice President, Engineering at TransLink. He has also served as a Director on the Board of Coast Mountain Bus Company. Sany has experience leading large teams delivering operational excellence; major infrastructure programs; capital program planning, management, and delivery; strategic asset management; and transportation decarbonization initiatives.