BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lisa is a CA, CPA working in the oil and gas sector in Calgary as a Director at Suncor Energy Inc. She is also proud to be a member of Women for Humane Canada and believes that all animals deserve respect and humane treatment.

Lisa attended Brock University, where she obtained her Bachelor of Accounting Honours Co-op degree, obtaining her Chartered Accountant designation in 1996, starting a career of over twenty year in Accounting and Finance in both technical and leadership roles. While working at Deloitte`s, Lisa had the privilege to participate in an international secondment program that took her to Johannesburg, South Africa, which gave her the opportunity to experience African wildlife up close. Lisa describes this experience as “life altering”.  

Having been bitten by the travel bug, Lisa moved to the tiny island of Bermuda in 1999 to further her accounting and finance career. It was there that Lisa met her Irish husband, Alan.

In 2011, Lisa moved to Calgary from Toronto and has fallen in love with the natural beauty of Alberta and its wildlife and still gets excited when the neighbourhood deer decided to nap her in her yard. Lisa and her husband are proud parents of two furry felines: Bailey and Bella.

Churchman, known as “Church”, is retired with the City of Calgary where he spent many years in the Development & Inspections Area as a Senior Planning Tech in Antenna Services.

Church started as a foster parent for AARCS and fostered AARCS’ first pregnant dog in 2006. Since that time he has been actively involved in many aspects of the organization. He volunteers as a rescuer on the weekends and in his mind there is always room for another dog.

Alison obtained her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan, and she then joined Ernst & Young LLP in Calgary and received her Chartered Accountant designation. Alison has been employed with Suncor Energy since 2011, and has held various finance roles, most recently a part of Suncor’s Enterprise Commercial Assurance group. 

Alison is looking forward to combining her professional skills with her love of animals, in supporting the valuable work that AARCS does. shares her home with her husband, daughter, and their AARCS rescue dog, Lucy.

Randy began his career with The City of Calgary shortly after college. He has subsequently worked in many technical and leadership positions for their Information Technology department. Randy obtained his PMP (Project Management Professional) designation in 2000 and has since managed many various IT projects. He continues his career at The City of Calgary leading IT’s Service Management division.

Randy has a daughter and son who attend university and whom both love animals. Outside of his professional career and AARCS, Randy enjoys travelling as well as numerous outdoor adventures including camping, golfing, hiking, and motorbikes. Randy joined AARCS with his daughter in 2009 as a volunteer and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2011. He looks forward to continuing his volunteer work with AARCS and is happy to see the organization continue to grow and improve.

Brieanna Bridgman is a marketing and communications professional. She has been with TELUS for over ten years, and has supported complex sales pursuits, new real estate development, and is embarking on a new opportunity to engage with small business owners and entrepreneurs in western Canada. Brieanna has also worked in business process improvement and change management, project management, and internal communications roles.

Brieanna completed Bachelor’s degrees in both English and Communications from the University of Calgary, a certificate in Public Relations from the University of Victoria, and has a Master’s degree in Technical and Professional Communications from the University of Wisconsin. She is also a Project Management Professional (PMP).

Brieanna has been supporting AARCS since 2015 and is looking forward to continuing to share her knowledge and expertise with such an incredible organization. She is particularly interested in how she can assist in elevating the brand of AARCS in the community to continue to drive towards a compassionate world for all animals. Brieanna loves travel, hiking, snowboarding, backpacking, and her dog, Ellwood.

Vanessa Salopek is the owner of Calgary’s award-winning restaurant and food truck, MARKET.  She is also a Business Associate with Salopek & Associates, one of Canada’s top independent HR consulting companies in Canada. Vanessa was born in Calgary but spent many of her summers on her grandparent’s cattle farm where she developed a strong passion for animal welfare and sustainable living. This passion is rooted in her business, as Vanessa only partners with local farmers and suppliers that practice ethical farming and stewardship. Vanessa was named Canada’s Top 10 Young Entrepreneurs in 2015 by BDC Canada and was named Calgary’s Top 10 Game Changers in 2016 by Branded Magazine. Vanessa got her B.Comm in Marketing from the Haskayne School of Business and is currently an Associate Member for the CPHR (Chartered Professionals in Human Resources).

Vanessa is an avid dog lover and loves spending time with her German Shepherd x Husky x Wolf Hybrid, Indiana. She enjoys spending her free time walking her dog in Fish Creek Park, going up to Banff for skiing and hikes, and loves golfing. Vanessa is excited to join the Board and apply her professional experience in assisting AARCS achieve their mission and vision for animal awareness and welfare.

Marita is a lawyer at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Calgary with a broad corporate and commercial litigation and dispute resolution practice. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto in 2015 and was called to the Alberta bar in 2016. 

Marita’s practice includes matters relating to contractual disputes, construction, insurance, energy, and intellectual property. Marita also advises clients on matters relating to acquisitions and corporate compliance.

Marita and her husband adopted their beloved tuxedo cat, Freddie, from AARCS in 2020. Marita was very impressed by the AARCS adoption process and was thrilled at the opportunity to subsequently join the AARCS Board. She is excited to use her professional experience to assist AARCS with its important mission of finding animals a safe and happy home.

A Calgarian at heart, Karin obtained her Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mount Allison University before returning to Calgary to finish her Chartered Professional Accountant(CA) designation.  

The lure of warmer weather (and good diving) meant a move to the Cayman Islands, where she completed her Chartered Financial Analyst designation.  Returning to Calgary, she spent almost 20 years in the energy sector in the finance and insurance fields before turning her attention to volunteer pursuits.  

On top of fulfilling the mostly reasonable demands of her two rescue cats, Scout and Stella, Karin enjoys live music and quilting, and is Chair of the Board of the Calgary Folk Fest and on the Board of the Modern Quilt Guild.