Our Board
Board of Directors
President: Kelsea Zalaski
Vice President: Rachel Foley
Rachel Foley serves as an Executive Director within the Government of Alberta, specializing in strategy and social policy. With experience in social housing, education, and health, Rachel has actively supported meaningful change for communities. Outside of work, Rachel is further committed to supporting women and girls in her community, as evidenced through her long-standing volunteer work with organizations like Girls Guides of Canada. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys hiking and running and can often be found enjoying the trails in Edmonton’s beautiful river valley.
Vice President: Doris Paquette
Doris Paquette, BA, PMP is the Director, Planning and Project Delivery at Civida where she has made a strong contribution to the affordable housing sector. In addition to her extensive knowledge in Capital and Strategic planning, Doris continues to change the narrative on women in leadership by empowering women of all ages. She is an active member of CREW Edmonton and Alberta’s Chapter of Women in Leadership.
Doris has been a recipient of The Edmonton’s Edify Magazine’s Top 40 under 40, Class of 2022, a recipient of the Healthy Community Award for Most Significant Change, 2022, and acknowledged as a Women of Influence, 2023, from The Planner’s Magazine.
Prior to joining Civida, Doris spent over 10 years in the Education sector where she executed many successful projects including the championing and innovation of safe, accessible and inclusive play spaces for children.
Treasurer: May Han
May Han is a Finance Director with a Canadian institutional investor. She has responsibility for finance, reporting, regulatory and compliance, strategy, risk management, and internal controls. Previously, she held Director of Finance roles with provincial pension plans administrators,pension fund manager, and invested time in public accounting practice. She holds a Bachelor of Management, Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) designation, and Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designation.
May also serves on other non-profit governance boards supporting their important causes.
May is passionate about YWCA’s vision and mission. YWCA continues to make important contributions in advocating and advancing the needs and interests of the women and families they serve, and with meaningful impacts in the community. She is proud to serve and represent YWCA.
Secretary: Kirsty Vogelesang
Kirsty Vogelesang is a lawyer at Emery Jamieson LLP in Edmonton, practicing primarily in the areas of civil litigation and administrative law. Kirsty received her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience with Honors from the University of Alberta and her Juris Doctor with Distinction from the University of Saskatchewan.
Born and raised in Edmonton, Kirsty is passionate about serving the local community and building safe and inclusive space for women. She hopes to use her skills and experience in the legal field to benefit YWCA Edmonton and the communities it serves.
When she isn’t working, Kirsty is an avid traveler and outdoor enthusiast, and can be found hiking a new mountain, visiting a new country, or training for a new race.
Past President: Francesca Ghossein
Tanya Adams
Tanya serves as the Director of Public Relations for the Mikisew Cree First Nation and contributes to the YWCA Truth & Reconciliation Committee. Proud of her Dene/Cree heritage and a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), she maintains deep connections to her community. Tanya has earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and ongoing studies toward a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Simon Fraser University.
Over the span of 15 years, Tanya has gained diverse professional experience across multiple sectors, including marketing, communications, events, management, administration, indigenous relations, and community engagement. As an Indigenous woman, she brings a range of perspectives to her work and proudly advocates for diversity and inclusion within the YWCA and beyond
Ogechi Anyanwu
Ogechi Anyanwu, CPA, CGA, FCCA, MBA, is a seasoned Corporate Finance executive and strategic leader with 18 years of experience financial management/leadership, risk management/compliance, operational excellence and financial sustainability in mission-driven organizations and diverse industries.
Currently serving as Corporate Controller at Patterson Animal Health (Div of Patterson Companies Inc. US). she specializes in financial leadership, risk & treasury management, and driving long-term financial transparency.
Beyond her professional commitments, Ogechi is a passionate community builder, promoting health and wellness, particularly advocating for physical activity among women from diverse background through her involvement with Sistawalk Association. She has also served on YWCA Edmonton’s Finance and Audit Committee.
Vicki Campbell
Vicki Campbell, P.Eng. is a registered professional engineer in both Saskatchewan and Alberta with over 28 years of experience in the water and wastewater industry. Her current role is Director of Water Treatment Plants for EPCOR in Edmonton.She joined EPCOR in 2010 and in previous roles for EPCOR, Vicki was responsible for leading operations across Western Canada. She also has a wide range of experience from various roles prior to joining EPCOR including time in municipal utilities, engineering consulting, and technical sales.
Vicki has a passion and a long history of volunteering with industry organizations. She has dedicated her time to be an active member of many industry committees and has a passion for mentoring and making a difference for the next generation. She has served two terms on the Board of Directors for both the Canadian Water Wastewater Association and the Western Canada Water Wastewater Association. She was president of the Canadian Water Wastewater Association in 2023 and was Past President in 2024.
Katie Clackson
Katie Clackson is a criminal defence lawyer with Legal Aid Alberta’s Criminal Trial Group. She is passionate about advocating for marginalized individuals within the criminal justice system and the broader community. In November 2024, she was honoured to receive the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of her work fostering social justice.
Katie enjoys mentoring law students through the U of A Faculty of Law’s “Low-Income Individuals and the Law” seminar, and volunteering with the Law Society of Alberta as a mentor to other lawyers, and as a member of the Practice Review Committee.
Fairness is the guiding principle in Katie’s personal and professional life, and she looks forward to collaborating with YWCA Edmonton’s Board and Leadership to work toward achieving equity for women and girls. In her spare time, you will find her at the family cabin with her husband, kids, and bratty but charming dog.
Sumira Duggal
Sumira Duggal is a Senior Manager, HR Partnerships & Programs with Canadian Western Bank (CWB), a Certified Talent Management Practitioner, and working towards her Certified Leadership Coach designation. As a Human Resources professional she supports business leaders with succession planning, talent management, business reorganizations, and other strategic initiatives with a people first lens, in addition, being an advocate and champion for team members across business areas.
Her real passion lies around facilitating community investment. Sumira has centred her community investment and voluntary efforts around advocating and supporting newcomers to Canada, providing foreign trained professionals with the tools and mentorship to be successful by translating and leveraging their skills into the Canadian landscape. Within CWB, she is the Co-Lead for CWB Global, an Employee Resource Group committed to supporting newcomers to Canada at CWB by creating opportunities for education, knowledge and information sharing with the goal to highlight the intersectionality between racialized newcomers, protected groups, and the experience of being new to Canada.
Outside of CWB, Sumira is a business owner and Co-Founder of MNS, a philanthropic sock brand with the ethos to donate back to the community and support organizations and corporations to give back to those requiring social assistance and basic items, like socks. Through MNS, they have donated over 100,000 pairs of socks to local shelters and charitable organizations across North America.
Kemi Kufuor-Boakye
Kemi is currently an Executive Director of Budget Development and Systems for Treasury Board and Finance at the Government of Alberta. In this role, she provides strategic options, recommendations and advice to ministries in all areas of budgeting, forecasting, spending and business planning. Additionally, Kemi supports the development and implementation of ministry budgets, monitoring achievements through quarterly and annual reports. She leads and coaches a management team to enhance government budget and business planning processes through effective collaboration.
She is a graduate of the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and holds the designation of Chartered Professional Accountant and Certified Internal Auditor. Kemi is passionate about community service and is a current Edmonton Police Commissioner
As a black woman, she brings diverse perspectives and lived experiences to the table, ensuring that the board reflects the diversity of the community it serves. This representation is essential for making inclusive and equitable decisions that consider the needs of all community members.
Siahra Raeyr
Siahra Raeyr is a seasoned public policy professional who specializes in policies and initiatives for community-serving programs. She currently serves as a Manager of Legislation and Strategic Communications in the Ministry of Health, where she leads the development of health service delivery strategies to promote and protect the health of Albertans. Prior to this, she worked with the Government of British Columbia developing provincial policy and programs to provide a coordinated, trauma-informed, culturally safe response to violence against women, children and youth.
Siahra is excited to make a meaningful impact within the YWCA Edmonton, contributing to its transformative services, programs, and advocacy efforts. With a deep commitment to fostering gender equity and social justice, she is eager to collaborate with the YWCA Edmonton in building a stronger, healthier, and more equitable community for all.
Amy Verhoeff
Amy Verhoeff is a corporate lawyer at Bennett Jones LLP, a national law firm, where she maintains a general corporate commercial practice with a focus on mergers and acquisitions, commercial transactions, private equity, and financial services.
Proud to be a born-and-raised Edmontonian, Amy holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in accounting and Juris Doctor degree both from the University of Alberta.
Amy is an active member in her local communities and is passionate about both empowering women and girls. In addition to her involvement with YWCA, she is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Stollery Women’s Network, currently serves as a co-chair of Edmonton Women in Finance’s Professional Committee and is on the Advisory Committee of the Edmonton Chapter of Young ACG (Association for Corporate Growth). She has also been involved with other non-profit organizations such as Compassion House Foundation.
Amy is a self-proclaimed outdoor enthusiast. She is an avid golfer, backcountry skier, and hiker.
Laurie Wang
Laurie Wang, BA, MBA, is the Vice-President of People, Culture and Communications at Legal Aid Alberta. In addition to board governance and policy development, she oversees the Marketing & Communications and People & Culture teams. A member of Forbes Communications Council, Laurie has received several awards over her career, including a Gold Quill Award from the International Association of Business Communicators and Connector of the Year by the YEG Startup Community Awards. In 2022, she was named one of Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 by Edify Magazine.
Laurie was born in a refugee camp in Thailand and came to Alberta when she was three years old. Her family’s journey is what drives her to serve communities and help level the playing field: mentoring young women, supporting financial literacy through Junior Achievement, raising awareness for Legal Aid, and contributing towards the YWCA mission. A pragmatic optimist, she believes in leading by example—with sass and joy.
Finance & Audit
Governance
HR & Nominating
Programs & Standards
Truth & Reconciliation
Board Committees
Our Board is supported by multiple committees made up of board members and community members who offer their expertise and knowledge to ensure excellence of programming and services.
