Meet Our President
Meet Our President =
Interviewed and Written by Shahbanno Bhatti
Photographs by Noriko Nasu-Tidball
I interviewed Oscar Bisnar, the chairman of the Board at the Kerrisdale Community Centre. Oscar has been involved with the Kerrisdale Community Center society for the past four years, starting out as a committee member. He has a Sociology and Master of Education degree from UBC. Oscar retired from teaching after 35 hardworking years. ??????Travelling all around the world, he has come to the conclusion that Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. His hobbies include woodwork and fitness. He often comes to Kerrisdale to use the fitness room. ??????Oscar would like to see some improvements in the community center.
One of the things the Board plans is to have the new facilities for the swimming pool and arena. However, there are issues with this development, as the community center is against the brick financial wall of the city and Park Board to get funding for it. Moreover, one of Oscar’s main focuses being the President is to do Succession planning to motivate and encourage new board members to take up leadership positions. He believes that it is one of the main components to achieve success in an organization, as the transitioning phase of appointing new board members runs more smoothly.
The community center consists of a diversified Board of individuals. The center conducts elections every year electing new members for a two year term. The current board consists of 4 newcomers as well as 15 members who have been working on the board for various years.
Here is a brief introduction of the highly-engaged and high-functioning Kerrisdale Board.
Note: The summary information below comes from a brief self-report questionnaire in which board members were previously asked about their character and professionalism.
Susan Duffy the past president, enthusiastic and friendly, likes contributing her organizational skills and 20 + years of managing people. Robert Lockhart the Vice-President, focused and thoughtful, likes contributing to KCC with his environmental, business owner, Health and safety and building condition skills. Aaron Law the Treasurer, positive and funny, likes contributing his financial knowledge at KCC and loves going to the gym and snooker room here. Emily Williams the Secretary, compassionate and funny, likes to bring to the board her skill of relationship building, curiosity and a desire to contribute back to the community. Barb Mikulec the Program Committee Chair, cooperative and a very good listener, enjoys working with creative people and engaging them to make KCC a welcoming community for all. Keiko Honda the Community Engagement Committee Chair, creative and analytical, likes applying her inquisitive mind and research vigor fostered in her academic life for building a caring and strong community. Vincent Law the Facilities Planning Committee Co-Chair, happy and excited, is a recent member of the Board and likes bringing with his knowledge of architectural design, construction, maintenance and green building design. Melina Hung, positive and fun-loving, loves to bring her knowledge of marketing and interaction with the Chinese populations to the table of the Board. Colin Booth, balding and over-weight and short (NO! No!), has a superb sense of humor. He likes to support the board with his business and problem solving skills. Fredrick Jay newly joined, dedicated and focused with a clear vision, looks forward to help building the reputation of KCC as an exciting and finest class community centre. Irene Ronnie, active and friendly, on the senior council, has been with KCC for eleven years now. Bill Harris, dedicated and committed, as the longest serving Board member, likes bringing with him his leadership skills.
With the qualities and skills that each of the Board member brings to the Board, KCC is indeed striving for successful implementation of all its goals.
