Board of Directors
Dianne Lapierre, MBA, PMP: Co-Chair
Dianne is Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer of Raymond James Ltd. She has 25 years experience in a variety of Information Technology Management and Executive roles. Dianne is a passionate achiever who inspires excellence with a personal goal of growing leaders who grow leaders. Personal leadership is a key driver in her career and personal success. She joined the VanWIT board in 2017.
Catherine Boivie, PhD, MEd, BMath, ICD.D: Co-Chair
Catherine Boivie is the Managing Director, Principal at the Strategic Technology Leadership Corporation. Previously, Catherine has led the advancement of the strategic value of information technology as a business enabler at Vancity Credit Union, Pacific Blue Cross, and CAA British Columbia. She serves on several Boards, including the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecom-television Services (CCTS), Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV), the Burnaby Board of Trade, MedicAlert Canada, Arts Club theatre, and is also the Executive in Residence at the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University. Catherine is a founding member of the CIO Association and of VanWIT.
Maryam Zargar, LLB: Vice-Chair & Secretary
Maryam Zargar is a business lawyer. She delivers counsel to individuals and companies across all industries, with emphasis on the Technology industry. Maryam draws on her experience to provide strategic advice on formation, growth and financing, managing intellectual property portfolios and planning and implementing an exit. Maryam also acts as outside general counsel to her clients. She frequently holds director and advisor positions with for-profit and non-profit organizations. She joined the board in 2016 as a founding member.
Joanne Hausch, CPA CA, ICD.D: Director & Treasurer
Joanne is a founding member of VanWIT and immediate past chair of the board. Recently retired from Deloitte, she continues to bring her financial skills and passion for building community to leadership positions including Family Services of Greater Vancouver and StreetMeals, raising over $250,000 for post-secondary bursaries for youth with a history of street involvement.
Renee Chau, PMP: Director
Renee Chau is a project manager with the Strategy and Enablement team at TELUS where she oversees the capital management tools and maintenance governance initiates within the BTO area. She was fortunate to have many amazing mentors before and after graduating from Simon Fraser University and makes an effort to give back to others through various community initiatives such as coaching for case competition teams and serving as founding chair for the Burnaby Young Professional Network at the Burnaby Board of Trade. She joined the VanWIT Board in 2017.
Betsabeh Madani: Director
Betsabeh Madani is an EiR with Innovation Boulevard, a Senior Advisor at Novateur Ventures, and a Managing Director at Auxterra. Previously at Cerner, she led corporate strategy for healthcare predictive analytics as well as population health programs and recently, at Equicare, she served at Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. Her career spans executive, operation & strategy roles with multinational and for-profit corporations, non-for-profit organizations, and several start-ups. She holds Honors Bachelors in Physics and Biochemistry from UVic, a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from UBC, and an MBA from Darthmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
Founding Members
Sheila Eddin, P.Eng., ICD.D
Founding member Sheila Eddin is a highly motivated and strategically-oriented executive leader with a proven track-record in leading successful organizational transformation efforts. She has both operational and Consulting experience, having held executive positions at companies such as Bell, EY, Cap Gemini and ICBC. She is the President of Tranmotion Services, a BC based boutique Consulting firm specializing in Information Technology, Change Management and Business Transformation, offering services from strategy to implementation.
Shelley Gilberg, MBA, CPA
Shelley leads PwCs Public Sector team, and was previously the leader of IBM’s healthcare and public sector technology transformation team. Previously, Shelley was a senior executive in the BC Government holding a variety of strategic, financial and operational portfolios including Transformation, Human Services, Crown Corporations, Shared Services, and Economic Development and Trade. Shelley is a founding member of VanWIT.
Sandra Horvath, MBA 
Sandra is the Sr. Director of Business Development for Sage Software. She is dedicated to supporting the growth of small business in Canada through Sage and helps foster innovation through strategic alliances. Sandra is passionate about encouraging diversity and engagement in the tech sector and is a founding member and past president of VanWIT.
Volunteers
There are many volunteering opportunities available with VanWIT. If you are interested, please contact us directly.
