Allan De Genova, Director & President
Allan is a real estate project marketer and was a Vancouver Park Commissioner from 1993 – 2008.
During his Park Board tenure he was involved with the creation of the Italian Garden at Hastings Park, the refurbishment of Victory Square Park and Cenotaph and served the Board on many projects and committees, including Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Hastings Park Working Committee, and Capital Plan strategy to redevelop Sunset Community Centre and most recently, the renovation and revitalization of Nat Bailey Baseball Stadium.
Allan is a member of the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants’ Association, a Director for the Vancouver Resource Society for People with Disabilities and he is currently an Honorary Lieutenant Colonel with 5th Field Artillery Regiment, Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery.
Bronwyn Barter, Director
Bronwyn is a Labour negotiator with CUPE National, bringing her extensive experience and expertise to the table. Having recently retired from the BC Emergency Health Services as a Chief Paramedic, Bronwyn served throughout BC for 28 years.
Throughout her career, Bronwyn held various leadership positions, including Provincial President of the Ambulance Paramedics and Emergency Dispatchers of BC. Prior to that, she served as the Provincial Vice President for a decade, tirelessly advocating for BC Paramedics and Paramedic Dispatchers and specializing in Labour Relations, Government relations and negotiations.
Bronwyn’s journey in the field began in 1995 when she joined the BC Ambulance Service as a Paramedic. Over the years, she had the privilege of working in different locations, including Kaslo, Trail, Victoria, Vancouver, Osoyoos, and Nelson, both as a Paramedic and Chief Paramedic.
Her contributions to the field have been significant, playing a crucial role in implementing positive changes for Paramedics and Emergency personnel. Bronwyn led initiatives such as the Right to Know legislation, presumptive WSBC legislation, and the BC Community Paramedic program, which has now been successfully implemented throughout BC.
Outside of her professional life, Bronwyn is enjoying the outdoors engaged in water sports , soccer or skiing. She also takes great pride in her daughter, Charlee. Bronwyn’s passion for Honour House is deeply rooted in her recognition of the dedication and passion displayed by all emergency personnel and the various services they provide. She is committed to giving back to the community and supporting those who serve.
Melissa De Genova, Director, Secretary & Fund Raising Chair
In her professional life, Melissa is the Director of Development for the Vancouver Resource Society, a non-profit organization, where she leads initiatives to secure accessible housing for persons with disabilities. She also owns a marketing and event production company.
Melissa holds a degree from Simon Fraser University in political science and has in the past worked in communications and senior management roles for many companies and organizations in both non-profit and private sectors.
As the wife of a Vancouver Police Officer and former Royal Canadian Navy member, Melissa brings a fresh perspective to the Honour House Board. She lives in Vancouver with her husband Blair and daughter Lili.
Tim Armstrong, Director,
Tim Armstrong is a 30 year veteran of the fire service. He was over 28 years serving with Vancouver Fire & Rescue services when he left at the rank of Deputy Chief Special Operations to assume the role of Fire Chief with New Westminster Fire & Rescue, until his recent retirement. Tim has spent most of his career focused on training and advancing specialty skill sets within the fire service. He is currently the President and Chair of the Greater Vancouver Fire Chiefs Association.
He currently sits on a number of regional committees working to enhance public safety and interoperability within the region and across Canada.
Tim has embraced Honour House and its concept of giving back to members of the military and first responders as well as their families in their time of need. He looks forward to working with the board and to educate and heighten awareness with his peers and the community to support this home and all it stands for.
Teresa Sutherland, Director
Teresa Sutherland is Principal at Amacon, one of Canada’s most influential real estate development and construction firms. She is a Graduate of Simon Fraser University and has worked for 24 years in the family business. Teresa served on the board of the Vancouver International Children’s Festival from 2013-16, she has been a member of the St Thomas Aquinas Regional Education Committee since 2013 and chair for the their Development Committee since 2014. She is also the Amacon family representative responsible for managing the Vancouver Christmas Tree Event each year in the city and oversees the disbursement of funds to Amacon’s chosen charities since 2010.
Jeannie Yee, Director
Jeannie Yee joined Honour House in 2016 and has been involved in the marketing and fundraising areas. She was a member of the Vancouver Police Department, becoming the first female Chinese Canadian police officer in Canada. Besides various operational duties, Jeannie had management responsibilities in Human Resources, Training and Recruiting, and was the Executive Officer in the Chief Constable’s Office. She has been the recipient of a variety of awards including three Chief Constable’s Commendations. Jeannie retired at the rank of Inspector in 2018.
Jeannie has a Bachelor of Recreation Education from the University of British Columbia and an Emergency Management Certificate from the Justice Institute of British Columbia.
Jeannie enjoys volunteering and is always looking for different opportunities to do so. Besides Honour House, she has volunteered for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Vancouver Sun Run, Rugby World 7’s and many dragonboating events.
Stephen Welscher, Director
Stephen entered the financial services industry in 2004. With graduate business degrees he brings a solid financial background to the table and serves his clients with a holistic approach in the spirit of family values, life enjoyment, trust and good fellowship.
Stephen and his team specialise in life and health insurance, group benefit plans and investment vehicles for incorporated business owners and professionals. Stephen is a qualifying member of the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT), the Premier Association of Financial Professionals®. He holds two MBA degrees from universities in both Germany and Singapore.
Over the decades Stephen has volunteered with the St John Ambulance Brigade, Young Men’s Adventure Weekend Society and currently serves on the board as Vice President of the Vancouver Executives Association. While a proud Canadian, Stephen grew up in a multi cultural environment, having lived in Europe, South America, South East Asia and North America. He is fluent in German, is conversational in Portuguese and gets by with Spanish and French. Stephen identifies himself as a true Vancouverite and lives on the North Shore with his wife Lisa and their three adopted dogs, two of which have become outstanding hunting companions. The couple enjoys the outdoors, boating, scuba and love to travel.
Cory Kent, Director
Cory Kent is the office management partner of the Vancouver office of McMillan LLP, and practices in the area of business law.
He graduated from Carleton University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1990, and from the University of British Columbia with a Law degree in 1995.
Cory spent 20 years as a member of the Canadian Naval Reserve, first as a Naval Signalmen, and subsequently as a MARS Officer, serving in ships and shore establishments on both coasts, and in reserve units in Ottawa and Vancouver. Cory retired from the Naval Reserve in 2008 as a Lt(N).
He has been a director on the board of directors of a number of public and private companies, and actively involved in the public capital markets as an officer or director for the past 25 years.
Chuck Puchmayr, Director
Chuck Puchmayr is a retired New Westminster City Councillor and a retired Member of The Legislative Assembly of BC. He is currently the President of the Lookout Housing and Health Society and founder of A Beef With Hunger Society.
Chuck has been the recipient of several awards which include the 2008 New Westminster Citizen of the Year, the 2013 Queens Jubilee Medal, the 2016 New Westminster and District Labour Council Community Service Award, and the Indians Abroad for Pluralist India, medal of courage.
Rich Coleman, Director
Richard (Rich) Coleman is an accomplished strategist, project manager, community leader, and businessman, with experience in negotiation, development, and public relations. Coleman works as a consultant on project development, communications, and strategy.
Coleman is one of British Columbia’s longest-serving MLAs and cabinet ministers, elected out of the riding of Langley for 24 years, with most of this time as a senior member of government. He spent the beginning and end of his provincial career in Opposition, and while in government served as Deputy Premier, Solicitor General, Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas, Minister Responsible for Housing and Social Development, Minister of Public Safety, and Minister of Forests and Range.
His volunteer service in his community before his election was vast and his community is full of projects he led before and during his years in office. Many know Coleman as the person who delivered the largest private-sector investment in Canadian History, LNG Canada’s Final Investment Decision, a visionary project that took years of focus and drive.
He has a long list of accomplishments, including private and public sector capital projects that were completed in the 1980s and every decade since, especially in the Fraser Valley. He knows how to achieve results through collaboration, at every level.
In Langley, people know him as the leader who brought together resources for community amenities. Coleman was frequently in the news because he was the minister tasked with speaking for the BC government on every major issue. A problem solver by nature , in government Coleman was responsible for critical events including BC’s response to 9 / 11. He is credited with having the most successful affordable housing program in North America, working in partnership with the private sector. He concluded a successful Softwood Lumber Agreement, reformed policing in BC, and set up an Organized Crime Task Force. He also designed an innovative solution to Avian flu by using an old farmer’s solution and stopped the flu from crossing the Vedder Canal.
Coleman served as an RCMP officer in Alberta shortly after high school and then returned to BC to go into private business, connecting him to a network that propelled him into politics where he was the right-hand man in the BC Liberal government for two premiers, and then served as interim leader.
He and his wife Michele, who married in 1974, have lived in Langley Township for thirty-eight years, and have two grown children and seven grandchildren.
Alan Waterman, Director
Alan Waterman has spent more than 40 years in network television and media training. He spent 36 years with the CBC, mostly as a video-journalist filing stories from Afghanistan to Asia and throughout North America. Assignments often required him to work closely with first responders and be embedded with Canadian Armed Forces personnel.
Upon retiring from the CBC, Alan worked for 3 years as a segment producer/director for Discovery Channel shows such as Highway Thru Hell, which again required a close working relationship with first responders.
For more than 20 years Alan has been a corporate media trainer and post-secondary instructor, recently retiring from a fulltime faculty position in the Journalism Program at BCIT.
Alan has also represented Canada for more than 40 years in international sport, as an official and committee member with the International Hockey Federation (FIH). He is an inductee into Field Hockey Canada’s Hall of Fame and former president of Field Hockey BC.
Alan’s career has given him a unique perspective into the needs of former and serving CAF members and first responders. Honour House gives him an opportunity to serve those who kept him safe and informed for so many years.
Karen Collins, Director
Dr. Karen Collins (EdD) is currently the Senior Director of Safety, Security and Emergency Management at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).
Previous to joining BCIT, she proudly served as a police officer with the New Westminster Police Department, a civilian professional with the Vancouver Police Department, and a coroner with the BC Coroners Service. She has spent the last 15 years volunteering her time to support the Canadian Forces Forensic Odontology Response Team (CF FORT), various international military dentist troops, and the Forensic Odontology Response Team BC (FORT-BC).
She provides these professionals with coaching in disaster victim identification (DVI) and critical incident stress. She also is a volunteer member of the International Network Supporting Victims of Terrorism and Mass Violence (INVICTM).
Karen proudly joined the Honour House Society (HHS) Board of Directors in the summer of 2024. She looks forward to developing additional, innovative wellness activities and programs at the evolving and growing Honour Ranch; providing HHS staff with ongoing psychosocial support; and helping staff and clients to connect with appropriate and helpful resources that will contribute to their overall wellness.
John Appleby, Advisor
John has been involved with Honour House since the outset, serving on the board as director and treasurer through its formative years and into its fifth year in operation. He stepped down in early 2013 when he retired and moved to Duncan, BC.
He is a former Victoria stockbroker and business development consultant. In 1990, he moved to Vancouver where he later founded a company specializing in the design and development of a high speed freight transfer system. In addition to this he was the president of a number of community organizations including the Delta Chamber of Commerce and Trails BC, where he was heavily involved in the development of the Trans Canada Trail. He still chairs the Advisory Board for the Centre of Excellence in Sustainability, Infrastructure and Transportation Economics at the School of Business of the British Columbia Institute of Technology.
John spent over thirty years as an army reservist, retiring in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, having served as the Commanding Officer of 11 Victoria Service Battalion and in the appointment of Senior Staff Officer (Administration), British Columbia District.
In addition to the board of Honour House, he has served on the boards of a number of military support organizations including: as president, the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Regimental Association; as president, the British Columbia Veterans’ Commemorative Association; as first vice president, the Royal United Services Institute of Vancouver; and as a member of the City of Vancouver Remembrance Day Observance Committee.
Michael Flanigan, Advisor
Michael Flanigan brings twenty-five years of experience in partnering with different levels of government, non-profit and private housing partners, and the development community to promote the creation of affordable housing. In 2001, after five years as Director of Leasing and Vice President for Hong Kong based Henderson Development, Michael joined the City of Vancouver as the Deputy Director of Real Estate Services. Six years later, Michael served as the Director of Real Estate Services, where he was responsible for the strategic planning and financial management of the City’s three billion dollar Property Endowment Fund.
In the fall of 2013, Michael accepted the position of Vice-President, Development and Asset Strategies for BC Housing. BC Housing’s role is to assist British Columbians in need of affordable housing by providing options along the housing continuum. They work in partnership with the private and non-profit sectors, provincial health authorities and ministries, other levels of government and community groups to develop a range of housing options. Development and Asset Strategies facilitates the creation of new housing through a range of programs; provides portfolio planning and strategies for the maintenance, capital improvement, redevelopment and sustainability of social housing and coordinates major repairs, renovations, capital improvements and energy retrofits for social housing.
Michael holds a degree in Urban Land Economics and Finance from University of British Columbia.
Walter Francl, Advisor
As Principal of Walter Francl Architecture Inc., Walter brings to our team extensive experience in providing design and project management leadership on a variety of complex civic projects. Walter has over 25 years experience as an Architect and Structural Engineer.
He combines conceptual design ability with project management skills and technical expertise. Walter has been active within the profession, serving on numerous professional committees.
He is a Past President of the Architect’s Institute of British Columbia, and has in the past and is again currently serving on the Vancouver Urban Design Panel and Development Permit Board. He has also been an advisory member of the Development Permit Board.
Debbie Lepore, Advisor
Debbie is a native of British Columbia with a passionate love for the outdoors. Debbie worked as a Chartered Accountant for Price Waterhouse Coopers where she became team leader for Dreams Take Flight, an organization dedicated to providing a trip of a lifetime to 125 disabled or socially challenged children.
After the horrific attack on her fiancé, Captain Trevor Green, Ms. Lepore dedicated her full time and energy to be Trevor’s advocate and to spearhead his recovery.
Debbie and Trevor reside in Nanaimo with their daughter Grace and are writing a book to share their story of hope and survival.
