2012 Judging Panel

Meet the 2012 Judging Panel

FCM has received a record number of applicants for its 2012 Sustainable Communities Awards. Each entry showcases a remarkable community initiative in sustainable development. Thirteen judges have been assigned the challenging task of choosing a winner in each of the nine award categories. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, February 8, 2012, during FCM's 2012 Sustainable Communities Conference, in Ottawa.

The judging panel participates voluntarily. Judges come from across Canada and bring a variety of expertise drawn from their own background and experience. They constitute a mix of municipal elected officials, municipal staff, and sector experts from academia, non-government organizations, the private sector and government.

Judges Biographies

Elisabeth Arnold

Sector Expert, Planning Category

Elisabeth Arnold is an urban planner working as a consultant in sustainable community development. Recent projects include supporting the Montreal Urban Ecology Centre to develop the program for the Ecocity World Summit (held in August 2011) and to design and deliver programs such as their Green, Active and Healthy Neighbourhoods project. Elisabeth also participated as a team member in the Canadian Institute of Planners' Building Capacity for Community Climate Change Adaptation Planning in Nunavut project, in collaboration with the Government of Nunavut, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and NRCan.

From 1994 to 2003, she served as a member of Ottawa City Council, during which time she was appointed to numerous positions, including chair of the Planning and Development Committee and vice chair of the Health, Recreation and Social Services Committee. Elisabeth is the former director of FCM's Centre for Sustainable Community Development (2004-2007). She continues to support FCM's work as a Green Municipal Fund^™ peer reviewer.

Mary Axworthy

Representative, 2011 Green Champion - Institutional Winner, City of Calgary

Mary Axworthy, MCIP, is director of Land Use Planning and Policy with the City of Calgary. Mary has been with the City for more than 25 years in various capacities, including manager of Development and Business Licence, Development and Building Approvals; executive assistant to the director of Planning & Building; section head, Downtown Policy and Development; and corporate consultant and executive assistant to the chief commissioner. Mary and colleague Don Mulligan, director of Transportation, led the Plan It Calgary project that resulted in the City's new Municipal Development and Transportation plans. Mary has a master's degree in environmental design (urbanism) from the University of Calgary and a BA in urban studies from the University of Winnipeg.

Marguerite Ceschi-Smith

FCM Board Member

First elected to Brantford City Council in November 1994, Marguerite Ceschi-Smith continues to be actively involved and committed toward working for the long-term sustainability of the municipality and well-being of its residents. She demonstrates this by championing not only brownfields, but by also working on priority issues, such as transit, arts and culture; trails and bicycle lanes; nurse practitioners; replacing and maintaining aging infrastructure such as sidewalks; and the urban renewal of greyfields. In support of these commitments, Marguerite is an active member of many boards and advisory committees, including FCM's Green Municipal Fund.

Now completing her fourth term, she has taken leadership on the "brownfields issue - those underutilized and contaminated sites," in an effort to address the redevelopment of Brantford's brownfields. As well, Marguerite is a professor with the new environmental site remediation bachelor degree program at Seneca College. She holds an M.Sc. and a BA from the University of Guelph and a bachelor of fine arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

Harry Cleghorn

Sector Expert, Integrated Neighbourhood Development Category

Harry Cleghorn is a principal of Cleghorn & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in environmental and energy programs. Harry has been engaged in research on integrated community sustainability plans (ICSPs) and has given presentations at the School of Urban and Regional Planning, Queen's University, on the different tools municipalities may use in developing ICSPs. He has also been active in community groups such as the Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum and FOCUS Kingston, in promoting integrated neighbourhood SMART Growth that led to a provincial workshop, hosted by the City of Kingston in 2006.

Doug Dobrowolski

FCM Board Member

Doug Dobrowolski was elected to the Council of the rural municipality of MacDonald in October 1992. He has served as the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) Rural Director for the Central Region for seven years, followed by two terms as Rural Vice-President prior to being elected President in 2008.Doug represents the AMM on the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Federal Gas Tax Oversight Committee, Manitoba Water Services Board, and sits on all AMM internal committees. In 2009, Doug received the Conservation District Building Award from the Manitoba Conservation District Association.

Tami Fur

Sector Expert, Brownfields Category

Tami Fur is the manager, Brownfield Implementation for the Ministry of Forest Lands and Natural Resource Operations with the British Columbia Provincial Government. Her responsibilities include the management of the BC Brownfield Renewal Strategy. This program encourages brownfield redevelopment in B.C. through various education and capacity-building endeavours, including the Brownfield Renewal Funding Program. The funding program has awarded $4.2 million to privately owned brownfield projects in 44 communities across B.C. to date. She holds a degree in natural resource management, with additional experience in managing real estate development projects for the Crown. She is also a registered member of the British Columbia Institute of Agrology and has served many years as branch executive member.

Maria Kelleher

Sector Expert, Waste Category

Maria Kelleher is principal of Kelleher Environmental, a company she founded in 2002. She has more than 25 years of consulting experience working for clients across the country and internationally. Maria has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, a master's degree in environmental engineering and a diploma in environmental health. She specializes in waste management, green energy and climate change projects. Clients include federal, provincial and municipal governments, industry associations, private-sector companies and utilities.

Ms. Kelleher carries out waste diversion planning, waste policy research and development, and waste management financing projects for clients throughout Canada, such as Environment Canada, NRCan, National Roundtable for the Environment and Economy, and the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. Her clients also include provincial governments and many Canadian municipalities. In addition, Ms. Kelleher was heavily involved in FCM's Waste as a Resource project, including writing the technical manual and developing and delivering the training program to municipalities across Canada.

Sharon Lewinson

Sector Expert, Transportation Category

Sharon Lewinson is a registered professional transportation engineer with more than 25 years of experience in urban transportation and sustainable mobility. She is the president of ACT Canada, a national association dedicated to fostering collaboration, networking and best practice exchange on sustainable mobility. Sharon is a member of the international Transportation Research Board TDM Committee and an active member of international sustainable mobility organizations in North America and Europe. She has extensive experience in urban transportation through her position as the global GreenCommute manager at Nortel and through her work as a transportation engineer for consulting firms in Toronto and Ottawa. Sharon is also the president of her own consulting firm, Commuting Solutions, and owns the RideShark mobility management software system. This system is used by cities and corporations globally to promote, track and monitor sustainable travel modes.

Raymond Louie

Chair

Raymond Louie was first elected to the Vancouver City Council in 2002, and was re-elected in 2005 and 2008. His vision is to help create a Vancouver where new opportunities to learn, succeed and thrive are available to all. As a champion of communities, an expert in civic issues, and a fierce advocate for those who have been forgotten and ignored, Raymond is working to ensure this vision becomes a reality.

Through his years of elected service, Raymond has successfully fought for better transportation options, more affordable housing and improved safety and security for people living in Vancouver. He was national representative for the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada. Raymond has also served as trustee and director on numerous regional and provincial boards, including for the BC Municipal Finance Authority, TransLink and Metro Vancouver.

Bruce Pearce

Sector Expert, Residential Development Category

Blending a passion for social justice and the environment, Bruce Pearce works to develop solutions for healthy, sustainable communities. He is president of the Canadian Housing & Renewal Association (CHRA), a national, member-based organization that addresses housing and homelessness issues. CHRA is leading efforts for a Canadian "green housing, green jobs" strategy. This strategy is designed to lift people out of poverty, create green jobs, and reduce the affordable housing sector's energy costs and GHG emissions.

Before arriving in Newfoundland in 1998, Bruce was executive assistant and policy advisor to Ontario Premier Bob Rae and Metro Toronto Councillor Jack Layton, supporting local and provincial strategies to create affordable housing and end homelessness. In 2002, he became the community development worker for the 30-member St. John's Community Advisory Committee on Homelessness, which guides local planning and investments under Canada's Homelessness Partnering Strategy. Bruce is a co-founder and steering committee member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing and Homelessness Network, established in 2009. As well, he is an associate member of Eva's Initiatives' national learning community on youth homelessness. In 2006, Bruce co-chaired Canada's first national youth homelessness conference. He also serves on the Board of Green Communities Canada, an association of community-based environmental groups collaborating with CHRA to tackle energy poverty through low-income energy efficiency.

Jesse Row

Sector Expert, Energy Category

Jesse Row is the director of the Pembina Institute's Sustainable Communities Group. He works directly with communities to explore opportunities for sustainable community planning, implementation of smart growth concepts and development of sustainable energy systems. Jesse has also worked with companies and various orders of government to explore opportunities for promoting and adopting sustainable energy technologies and practices, including the integration of the triple-bottom-line principles into decision-making. He draws on his experience to advocate for policies in support of sustainable development. Jesse holds a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta and is a registered professional engineer in the province of Alberta.

Norbert Schmidtke

Sector Expert, Water Category

Norbert Schmidtke is a process engineering specialist in the fields of water and wastewater management, internationally recognized for his expertise in wastewater treatment technology. He has more than 45 years of experience in environmental engineering process design, application, design peer review, process trouble shooting, technology transfer, research and teaching. Dr. Schmidtke's areas of expertise range from municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment process selection analysis and design, to aeration technology, nutrient control and biosolids/sludge management and solid/hazardous waste management, with special interest in process scale-up.

Dr. Schmidtke holds B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Alberta, and a PhD. from the University of Waterloo in civil engineering, with specialization in municipal and sanitary engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in the Province of Ontario and a board certified environmental engineer member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers. The distinction of Fellow was conferred on Dr. Schmidtke by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) in recognition of his excellence in engineering and services rendered to his profession and to Canada. Dr. Schmidtke has also been honoured by the CSCE with Canada's most prestigious environmental engineering award, the Albert E. Berry Medal.

Sadettin Yilmaz

Sector Expert, Building Category

Sadettin Yilmaz is the chief of technical services for Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan's) Office of Energy Efficiency - Buildings Division. He is a professional engineer with 20 years of private and public sector experience in the fields of environment and sustainability. Sadettin is involved in developing, deploying and managing policies and programs that help increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. He is also responsible for evaluating and providing advice on energy-efficiency projects. Sadettin's expertise includes the areas of energy and water management plans, energy and water audits and studies, energy performance simulations, energy retrofits and new sustainable building designs, monitoring of utility data, and quantification and reporting of GHG emissions.