mySTMC

Governance and Leadership

The Board of St. Thomas More Collegiate is actively looking for inspired and talented individuals interested in serving on the board or a board committee. For more info about this, click here.

St. Thomas More Collegiate (STMC) is an independent trust, The Saint Thomas More Collegiate (2002) Trust, which is overseen by appointed Trustees. The Trustees in turn appoint the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall stewardship of STMC. The Board is comprised of unpaid volunteers who support the mission and advancement of the school through the gift of their time, talent and treasure. The Board includes professionals experienced in governance, alumni and parents. The Board meets regularly to set the strategic direction, review school progress, ensure financial stability and approve major decisions.

The Board adopted a President/Principal model for school administration and governance. The President, who reports to the Board of Directors, is responsible for the business and administrative aspects of the school including implementation of strategic direction, advancement, alumni relations and communications. The Principal, who reports to the President, is responsible for all educational aspects of the school including faculty and students and all faith, academic and athletic programs.

Trustees

STMC Trustees
Archbishop J. Michael Miller CSB

Eric Chow (’99)

Karen Keilty (Marian High Alumna)

Kevin MacDonald (‘78)

Cam Sylvester

Board of Directors

Sharon Cahill-Kearney, Chair

Sharon has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and a Law degree, both from UBC.  She has practised administrative law for over 30 years in both public and private practice. Currently Sharon is a Social Justice lawyer who represents marginalized individuals. Sharon has been a Director on a number of Boards including AIDS Vancouver, Save the Children BC, Aunt Leah’s Place, and Amici Curiae Friendship Society.

Sharon is a graduate of STMC’s former sister school, Marion High, Class of ‘72.  She has been involved with STMC on both its School Board and Foundation Board since 2012. Sharon has two adult children who attended Catholic schools in Vancouver. In 2016 Sharon re-met a boy, Tom Cahill, STMC Class of ’78, who she knew from her high school days.  Sharon and Tom have been married since 2017.

Frank Chay, Vice Chair

Frank and his wife Margaret are active members of the St. Francis de Sales parish in Burnaby. They were married at SFDS church in 2002 and have two children, Andrew and Isabelle. Andrew (Class of 2021) attends STMC and Isabelle attends St. Francis de Sales School. Frank was born in Trinidad and immigrated to Burnaby in 1987. Frank graduated from SFU and has held senior IT Management positions in multiple organizations, as well as establishing multiple work programs to foster and mentor students.

Edwin Fok, Treasurer

Edwin’s professional career includes executive leadership experience from large public multi-million-dollar organizations where he led teams spanning Canada, US, China and Mexico to small owner-managed high-growth private companies. His diverse background includes entertainment, tourism, technology, manufacturing and professional services industries. His experience also includes leading M&A activity and raising equity capital financing for a venture backed start up. Edwin obtained his Financial Management Diploma from BCIT, his Bachelor in Administration Degree from Lakehead University and his MBA from SFU. Edwin is also a CPA, CGA. Edwin was a board member of the Canadian Mental Health Association for North Vancouver and is the Chief Financial Officer at IBC Technologies Inc., a Burnaby based company.

Nalini McIntosh, Secretary

Nalini, her husband Glen and daughter Cyena (Class of 2021) are members of Our Lady of Mercy Parish. Nalini is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR) and has been working in Human Resources for over 15 years. She is currently the Chief People & Culture Officer at BEST Services Pros. Nalini has served on the Board of the Vancouver Society of Children’s Centres, Learning Disabilities Association – Fraser South and the Shasta Trampoline Club Board. Nalini joins the STMC Board after being a member of the STMC Parent’s Association for 2 years.

Dan Eisner

Dan, his wife Michelle, and their two children belong to St. Mary’s Parish in Vancouver. He is the proud parent of 2 daughters – Jacqueline (Class of 2014) and Katelyn (Class of 2018). Dan is a Chartered Professional Accountant but has been working in Human Resources for the past 16 years, currently as an Employee Benefits Advisor with ZLC Financial. From a board experience perspective, he served for 11-1/2 years on the Board of the Alzheimer Society of BC in the roles of Treasurer, First Vice-President, President, and Past President. During that time, he also served on the Board of the Alzheimer Society of Canada for 7 years in the roles of BC representative and member-at-large.

Eleanor Lee

Eleanor and her husband have two children, Cameron is STMC Class of 2020, and Kendra will be graduated from STMC with the Class of 2022.

Elenaor is Chief Project Officer and Executive Director at the Provincial Health Services Authority and brings over 20 years’ experience leading strategic planning site master planning, rezoning, business case development, public private partnerships, procurement, contract negotiation and management for a variety of building types including acute hospitals, research facilities and laboratories.

Eleanor also provides her business acumen and leadership skills to a medium sized private company as a director and member of the board of a film and real estate company. She is an active volunteer for the Architectural Institute of BC, has also coauthored articles and presented at conferences.

Brother Peter O’Loughlin

Brother Peter was born in Sydney, Australia and migrated to Vancouver, Canada with his family in 1976. After completing his B.Ed. at the University of British Columbia, he joined the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers in 1981. He received his M.Ed. Admin in 1993 from UBC.

Brother Peter has taught in Newfoundland, Ontario and British Columbia. He was principal of St. Ann’s Academy, Kamloops, BC, 1994-1997 and St. Thomas More Collegiate, Burnaby, BC, 1997-2000. In 2003, Brother Peter was appointed to the last Canadian Province Leadership team. In 2005 the three Edmund Rice Christian Brothers’ Provinces of North America became Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America.

In 2007 Brother Peter moved to Chicago, Illinois’ to become Director of Formation and Novice Director. In 2010 he returned to teach at Vancouver College. Brother Peter sat on the Board of Directors of Brother Rice, Chicago 2008 – 2014 and presently sits on the Board of Directors of St. Thomas More Collegiate, Burnaby, BC.

In 2014 and again in 2020, he was appointed to Province Leadership team for Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America. Brother Peter now resides in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

In 2022 Brother Peter was appointed Deputy Province Leader.

Brother Hugh O'Neill

Br. Hugh was born and raised in New Westminster. He attended Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School and graduated from St. Thomas More High School in 1971. After three years at UBC studying microbiology, Br. Hugh entered the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1974.

He completed his B.Sc. at Memorial University, with a major in Biology and a minor in Mathematics. He also earned his B.Ed. from Memorial. He later studied educational administration at the University of British Columbia and completed his M.Ed at UBC in Special Education.

He teaching assignments have been in Antigua, Ontario, Newfoundland, and British Columbia. He was Principal at STMC (1989 -1997) and at St. Mary’s Academy in Dominica (2000 – 2003).

Br. Hugh was appointed the Province Leader for the Canadian Province of Christian Brothers in 2003 until the three North American Provinces merged in 2005 to form the North American Province for the Christian Brothers. He was appointed the Province Leader for North America in 2005 and served in that role until 2014. He was elected Congregation Leader in 2014 and moved to Rome, Italy. Once his term ended in March, 2022, Br. Hugh returned to Canada and was assigned to the Brothers’ Community at STMC.

Savva Hatzisavva

Savva, and his wife Ornella have been married since 2004 and are members of St. Francis de Sales parish. They have two children, Maiya (Class of 2024) and Giorgio who attends St. Francis de Sales school. Savva is part of the senior management team, being Director of Construction with Concert Properties Ltd. He brings 25+ years of construction experience and is responsible from conception through completion on key projects. Savva has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Technology in Construction Management from BCIT. His genuine interest and passion for the industry are evident to all who associate with him.

Laurie Sheehan

Laurie is a current parent at STMC. Her Son Joshua graduates in June 2021, as her son will be graduating this year, she would like to find a way to give back to the community and stay involved with the school.

Laurie has been active on the STMC Parents Association over the last several years, and most recently led the team of Volunteers for the Knights Christmas Market.

Laurie is a CPA & IT Project Manager.

She is motivated by a challenge to improve an existing situation that will deliver business results. Her stated objective is to use her experience & skills to address business challenges and deliver projects on time and on budget.

Sean Tessarolo ('05)

Sean is a proud STMC graduate (Class of 2005). He grew up in New Westminster – just steps away from the school’s campus – where he was heavily involved in that city’s athletic community. Sean attended undergraduate studies at the University of British Columbia and studied law at the University of Saskatchewan. Sean is currently a lawyer at Clark Wilson LLP practicing in the areas of business litigation and insurance.

Carlos Yam

Carlos and his wife Linda will be new members of the STMC community as their daughter, Claire Yam, will be starting at STMC in September 2021.

Carlos is Chartered Professional Accountant (formerly Chartered Accountant) with over 20 years of professional experience covering strategic leadership, governance, corporate finance, banking, enterprise risk management, accounting, taxation and auditing functions. Between 2007 and 2018. He was Chief Financial Officer of a TSX-listed public company with operations covering three countries (Canada, US and Australia) and over 1,500 employees. Since 2019 he has served as CFO of a financial technology startup offering strategic growth advice, in addition to the core corporate finance duties. As CFO he has extensive experience in working with Boards and committee members and external parties such as regulators, bankers, lawyers and auditors.

It is his desire to leverage my professional and business experiences to help create greater success in the community where Claire and her fellow schoolmates will be spending the next five important years of their lives.

School Administration

Mr. Stephen Garland

President

Mr. Joe Adams

Principal

Mr. Ethan Shoemaker

Vice-Principal

Ms. Cassie Lauang

Vice-Principal