The ICF Board of Directors works to make sure the aims of the organization are met. This happens in several ways but primarily through goal setting.  The board also oversees senior management of the Foundation—holding the Executive Director responsible for achieving identified goals.

The ICF Board holds two to three hour meetings approximately five times a year. Board members are also asked to commit an additional 10 hours per year on general foundation business such as fundraising, attending events or providing connections. The term of service is two years, with an option to renew. We are currently looking for new board members.

 

How you can get involved

It’s easy! To start the process, just send us a message detailing why you are interested in joining the board.

Our Board of Directors

Dr. Michael Krausz, President and Chair

Dr. Michael Krausz is originally from Hamburg, Germany, where he was trained at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Following his training, he worked in three different clinical and research positions in general psychiatry.

In the mid 1990s, he became a founding director of the Centre of Interdisciplinary Addiction Research at the University of Hamburg and retained directorship at the centre until 2004. As a founding director, he was also responsible for the German Heroin Trial, the European Cocaine Project, and several other notable addiction-related trials.
He was also Editor-In-Chief of two well-established scientific journals; Suchttherapie and European Addiction Research respectively. He has also published more than 300 scientific papers to date.

Dr. Krausz is also a founding member of the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) and is currently serving on the boards of the Section of Addiction and the Section of Public Policy for the World Psychiatric Association.
Michael relocated permanently to the Vancouver area in 2007 and became a professor of psychiatry and the University of British Columbia (UBC) as well as the LEEF Chair in Addiction Research at the Institute of Mental Health at UBC.

Richard Mulcaster, Vice President

Richard Mulcaster joined as a Director of InnerChange in July, 2007. Previously Richard was with Vancouver Foundation from 1979 to 2004, serving as President and CEO for 14 years. Prior to that, he was a Project Officer at the Employment Development Branch of the Federal Government and Country Director with Canada World Youth. Richard is involved with many community organizations including the Telus Vancouver Community Board member, Arts Umbrella, Science World and Vancouver’s Coalition for Crime Prevention and Drug Treatment. Richard was the past Director of External Relations at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. Richard is now Associate Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the University of British Columbia.

Jami Koehl, Treasurer

Jami Koehl, an owner and Principal at Mustel Research Group Ltd., brings over 30 years of experience, expertise and insights from the social and opinion research industry to the InnerChange Board. Prior to joining Mustel Group, Jami was a research consultant at Toronto and Vancouver offices of Canadian Facts (now Kantar TNS) and worked in research centres at the University of Wisconsin. At Mustel Group Jami’s clients have included major public corporations, all levels of government and not-for-profit societies, agencies and associations.

Her background includes studies of public, stakeholder and users’ opinions, perceptions, attitudes and behaviours on a broad range of issues addressing personal, social and community change—including personal and public health, health programs/services and health sector charities. Jami has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin and holds the Certified Market Research Professional (CMRP) designation. She is a member of various professional associations (MRIA, AAPOR, American Statistical Association) and was a mentor for seven years with the UBC Sauder School’s Executive Mentor Program.

“Mental health and addiction touches individuals and families we know and many more we don’t know, but effective treatment and programs can be hard to find and access. I have been seeking a way to help those struggling with these debilitating problems, alongside social/cultural barriers and personal challenges. On meeting InnerChange Foundation’s Board and Executive Director I was impressed with the organization’s mandate and successes to date. What particularly captivated me about InnerChange was the bold, innovative approaches to treatment and assistance. This type of out of the box thinking is exactly what is needed to move forward and to make life-saving and societal differences. I am truly honoured and inspired to be part of this team.”

Dr. Fiona Choi, Secretary

Dr. Choi received her PhD in Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia with a focus on preclinical models of addiction. She previously held the HSBC Fellowship in Addiction Research exploring factors associated with substance use disorders, trauma and related psychopathology and is currently a Research Associate at the Institute of Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry at UBC. She is also involved in the development of an integrated mental health web platform for vulnerable youth, utilizing e-health tools to strengthen mental well-being.
Darrell Podowski
Darrell Podowski is a lawyer and partner with the Canadian national law firm of Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP and practices business and securities law in its Vancouver office. Prior to joining Cassels Brock, Darrell was in house legal counsel to Teck Resource Limited and practiced law on the island of Bermuda. Before his law career Darrell was an Exploration Geophysicist with an international oil and gas company based in Calgary Alberta. Darrell was born in Saskatoon Saskatchewan and grew up primarily in Vancouver where he now resides.

Darrell had been wanting to give back to the community for some time, in the arena of mental health and the recent increase in addiction-related social problems. He views service on the Board of InnerChange as a way to help those in need who face those challenges.

Dr. Damon Ramsey
A driven healthcare futurist, Dr. Damon Ramsey is a practicing physician and founder of InputHealth, an award-winning digital health company.

Dr. Ramsey’s career has been distinguished by his blending of clinical expertise and command of software design in producing disruptive solutions that tackle healthcare delivery’s glaring inefficiencies.

Recognized as a BCBusiness 30 Under 30 winner in 2016, Dr. Ramsey is an associate clinical instructor at the University of British Columbia and serves on the boards of various health and technology organizations including the IT Committee of the Vancouver Division of Family Practice.

In working to lead a paradigm shift in global healthcare, Dr. Ramsey regularly speaks, writes and consults on digital health-related topics.

Bev Van Ruyven

Bev Van Ruyven is the former Deputy CEO and Executive Vice-President of BC Hydro, where she was responsible for Aboriginal Relations, Customer Care & Conservation, Integrated Resource Planning, Marketing & Brand Strategy, the Smart Metering & Infrastructure Project, Human Resources and Safety, Health and Environment. Ms. Van Ruyven has held a number of management positions with BC Hydro since joining the company in 1997 as Manager Key Accounts.

Prior to joining BC Hydro, Bev worked for Canada Post Corporation in various management positions, where she contributed to the refocusing of Canada Post towards a customer service and retail oriented organization.

Bev is a member of the Board of Directors for Accenture Business Services for Utilities, and Past Chair of the Western Energy Institute. She is also a member of the Vancouver Board of Trade and the Canadian Institute of Energy. The Vancouver Board of Trade recognized her with a Women of Distinction award.

Bev holds a BA (Distinction) in Anthropology from the University of Victoria and attended the Executive Management Program at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

“I got involved with the board of InnerChange Foundation over five years ago. I was approached by another board member who told me about the good work that was being done by this organization and their vision for the future. I knew immediately that this was something I could be passionate about and felt that it was an area that needed focus, funding and new programs that would come up with creative solutions to an important health issue. My commitment and enthusiasm to help people with mental health and substance use problems has grown each year. It has been an honour to serve on this board and to see positive change as we improve access to needed services.”