Okanagan School of Business

Bill came to higher education administration with a wealth of business, professional and geographic experience.  A lawyer by training, he began his career in 1983 as a commercial litigator at a small firm in Detroit, Michigan and subsequently moved to Shearman & Sterling in New York City where his practice centered on mergers and acquisitions and securities law, primarily for clients in the insurance industry.  From there, he moved to Seattle as in-house counsel for an insurance group engaged in business throughout the United States, managing regulatory matters and transactions as the group sought to maximize value through the disposition of its operations.  Bill then moved to Manchester, New Hampshire with the RiverStone Group, a global leader in the management of discontinued and run-off insurance portfolios.  After a stint managing the European operations of the group from London, he returned to New Hampshire as President of RiverStone.

In 2010, after 27 years in law and business, primarily within the insurance industry, Bill accepted the position as Dean of the School of Business at Southern New Hampshire University, a leader in innovation in higher education in the U.S.  During his tenure as Dean at SNHU, Bill led the development of the Degree-in-Three business bachelor’s degree program, incorporating a unique integrated and competency-focused approach to business education. 

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Teaching Experience: Management, Hotel Management and Adventure/Ecotourism Management

Accomplishments: Jonathan has 10 years working as a geologist in a range of capacities from field research and exploration to land use management. For the past 20 years Jonathan has been very active provincially and nationally within the tourism and hospitality education field, having held positions as Dean, School of Hospitality and Business at Vancouver Community College, and Chair, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation Management at Capilano College.

Specialty Areas: Product development, sustainable tourism, international education and education development such as qualifications framework.

Research Interests: Tourism growth management and sustainability, and tourism and hospitality education

Associations and Board Memberships:
Recent Past Board of Directors: Vice Chair Go2 and Tourism Vancouver
Current Membership: BC Hospitality Foundation Advisory Committee and Canadian Culinary Championships Committee
Current Board of Director: Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council

Credentials:
BSc. (Geology) Mount Allison University, New Brunswick, Canada
MSc (Tourism and Hospitality Education); University of Surrey, England

Teaching Experience: 
Strategic Management, Tourism, Social Entrepreneurship, Human Resources Management (Leadership, Strategic HR Management, Strategic Performance Management, Organization Development & Change).

Accomplishments: 
In her role as an Associate Dean of the Okanagan School of Business, Laura works with a leadership team and approx. 90 faculty and staff serving 1,500 Business students across four campuses in the Okanagan, Similkameen, and Shuswap areas. Most recently, she was an Associate Dean in the Science, Technology and Health portfolio at Okanagan College working with 13 departments in the Science and Technology areas.

As an active member of her local business community Laura is very aware of the challenges facing businesses today and strives to help new and existing businesses develop and expand.  Laura is a past President of the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, a past Director of the British Columbia Wine Authority, a current Board Director with CPHR BC & Yukon, and the current Board President of KCR Community Resources.

In addition to her professional career, Laura and her husband own a small business operating in the Central Okanagan. Laura enjoys an active Okanagan lifestyle finding time for skiing, golfing, kayaking and camping.

Specialty Areas: 
Organizational Sustainability & Development, Strategic Planning, Human Resources Management, Governance, Not-for-Profit Management, Social Entrepreneurship.

Research Interests: 
Governance, Women in Leadership, BC Wine Industry.

Associations and Board Memberships:
Board President, KCR Community Resources
Board Director, CPHR BC & Yukon
Member, Chartered Professionals of Human Resources, CPHR BC & Yukon
Member, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Credentials:
Master of Business Administration (Strategic Management), Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing), Faculty of Commerce, University of British Columbia
Provincial Instructors Diploma (PIDP), Post-Secondary Endorsement, Ministry of Advanced Skills and Education, British Columbia
Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR), CPHR Canada
Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), Society for Human Resource Management, USA