Board of Directors
| FIRST NAME | LAST NAME | SPORT |
|---|---|---|
| Erin | Willson | Artistic Swimming (President) |
| Andrea | Proske | Rowing (Vice President) |
| Bo | Hedges | Wheelchair Basketball (Secretary) |
| Chris | de Sousa Costa | Karate (Treasurer) |
| Camille | Bérubé | Para Swimming |
| Neville | Wright | Bobsleigh / Athletics |
| Cynthia | Appiah | Bobsleigh |
| Greg | Stewart | Para Athletics / Sitting Volleyball |
| Rob | Law | Lawn Bowls |
Notice of Extension: 2023 AthletesCAN Annual General Meeting
March 31, 2023
In accordance with subsection 160(2) of the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, notice is hereby given to the membership of AthletesCAN – Athletes’ Association of Canada Corporation #283874-5 to extend the time for calling the Annual Meeting of Members for the financial year ending March 31, 2023 from September 30, to November 30, 2023 for the reasons outlined below.
The Board of Directors will monitor recommended precautions of the Federal and Provincial governments, as well as athlete tournament and Games schedules in finalizing the timing of the Annual General Meeting for the Fall of 2023. All meeting formats will be considered in the event that an in-person meeting is not appropriate.
The audited financial statements for the year 2022-2023 will be sent to membership within six months of the previous financial year end (March 31st, 2023) as contemplated by section 175(1) of the CNCA. Furthermore, detailed financial reports can be made available to the membership upon request. I, the secretary of the organization, am confident that these measures are sufficient in eliminating any potential source of prejudice to members as it pertains to the provision of audited financial statements in a timely manner.
Board Members
Erin Willson
President / Artistic Swimming
(She/Her)
Erin is a retired artistic swimmer, representing Canada for seven years. While part of Team Canada, her team won gold at the World Trophy in 2009, bronze medals at the 2009 and 2011 World Championships, a bronze medal at the 2010 World Cup, and was part of the team that placed fourth at the London 2012 Olympics.
Since retiring from her sport, Erin has focused her attention on academics. She completed a Masters at the University of Toronto, focusing specifically on abuse in sport and is currently pursuing a PhD in the same topic. She is passionate about ensuring athletes have a safe and inclusive environment while pursuing performance excellence.
Andrea Proske
Vice President / Rowing
(She/Her)
Despite her late start in rowing at the age of 27, Andrea and her team won gold in the women’s Coxed Eight during her Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020 Games. She is also a two-time World Cup medalist and has represented Canada internationally in both sweeping and sculling disciplines.
Drawing on her past experience advocating for athlete interests as a athlete representative and her career in business as a Hotel Manager, Andrea is passionate about moving forward Safe Sport issues and encouraging young women across Canada to get involved in sport. Her joy of rowing is shared with underfunded classrooms across North America as a volunteer with the non-profit organization Classroom Champions. She has also expanded her skills as a corporate speaker, sharing her story of perseverance and determination with companies worldwide.
Robert 'Bo' Hedges
Secretary / Wheelchair Basketball
(He/Him)
secretary@athletescan.ca
Robert ‘Bo’ Hedges is an active member of the Canadian Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team, first making the team in 2007. Since then, Bo has competed in three Parapan American Games in 2007, 2011 and 2015, winning a bronze and two silver medals; and four Paralympic Games winning gold in London 2012 and silver in Beijing 2008.
He began playing competitively in 1996 and competed for Canada in 1997, winning the first of two gold medals with the Canadian Junior Mens team. Two Canada Winter Games experiences while playing for British Columbia in 1999 and 2003 helped prepare Bo for the next stage of his international career.
Attending the University of Northern British Columbia, Bo completed a Bachelor of Commerce Marketing. In preparation for the London 2012 Games, he moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and began training at the University of Alabama where he received a Masters in Sport Management.
In addition to the AthletesCAN board, he is currently serving as chair on the Board of Directors for the BC Wheelchair Basketball Society, where he has been a director since 2007.
Chris de Sousa Costa
Treasurer / Karate
(He/Him)
Chris is a former karate national team athlete, competing in the men’s kumite +84kg category from 2004-15. During his athletic career, he was an 11-time Canadian champion, three-time Canadian male athlete of the year, three-time Commonwealth champion, two-time Pan-American champion, three-time North American champion, and winner of the US Open. Chris retired from competition after the 2015 Pan American Games in his hometown of Toronto, where he was team captain.
Chris has extensive experience in governance and advisory work, having been the Athlete Representative on Karate Canada’s Board of Directors for nine consecutive years, and is an advisor on their High-Performance Committee. Chris also created and served as Chair of Karate Canada’s inaugural Athlete Council. Chris’ Board experience included leading the overhaul of the national team’s athlete agreement, ensuring athlete rights were protected and striking a balance between the needs of athletes and the NSO.
Professionally, Chris is an insurance executive at a national brokerage and advisory firm, providing risk transfer solutions for professional service firms across Canada. Prior to that, Chris worked at the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance carrier, underwriting management liability risk for the directors and officers of private and non-profit entities.Chris completed his Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Communication Studies from York University and his Graduate Diploma in Business (GDB) program from Queen’s University through a scholarship between Game Plan and the Smith School of Business at Queen’s. Following his GDB, he spent three years at the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance carrier, providing risk transfer solutions for private and non-profit entities within management liability. Currently, he is completing his Master of Business Administration with a specialization in innovation and entrepreneurship at Queen’s and is the current Chief of Staff of the Queen’s University Alternative Assets Fund – Canada’s first student-directed portfolio of alternative strategies, which holds over $600,000 in assets under management.
Camille Bérubé
Para Swimming
(She/Her)
Camille Bérubé is an active Para swimming national team member who competed at the London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Some of the best results of her career include a sixth-place finish at the 2019 Allianz World Para Swimming Championships, claiming ninth at the Rio Games, and being a three-time medalist at the 2015 Parapan Am Games in Toronto. One of the highlights of her career was to act as Team Captain for the Canadian swimming team at Toronto 2015. She loves to carry her leadership skills with her in and out of the swimming community.
Out of the water, Camille has a B.A. with a specialization in Organizational Communications with a minor in Women and Disability Studies from the University of Ottawa. She has been actively involved with Swimming Canada’s Athlete Advisory Council since 2013 and now acts as Co-chair of the council. Between 2018 and 2019, she worked at the Canadian Paralympic Committee on a project that aimed to enhance women’s participation in sport leadership positions across the Americas region. She also has multiple years of experience in public speaking and has hosted multiple workshops in the field of diversity and inclusion.
As a Board member of AthletesCAN, Camille hopes to bring an intersectional approach to issues in sport. Her perspective and knowledge as a queer woman living with a disability makes her particularly aware and sensitive to the challenges that the disability and LGBTQI2S+ communities may face. Thanks to her knowledge of the communications world, Camille values the importance of the proper use of language as a place to start on a path to reducing the negative effects of various interlocking systems of oppression.
Neville Wright
Bobsleigh / Athletics
(He/Him)
Neville Wright joined the Canadian bobsleigh team in 2009 after a successful track and field career where he was a two-time All-Canadian in university. He has competed in two World University Games winning a bronze medal in the 100m, six World Championships and three Olympics. He currently serves as the Chair of AthletesCAN’s Diversity and Equity Advisory Committee and is part of the Safe Sport Working Group.
Outside of competition, Neville is a speed and power coach, motivational speaker and a manual and rehabilitation therapist.
Neville holds a Bachelor of Physical Education (Sport Performance & Nutrition) from the University of Alberta, and a Diploma with Distinction in Remedial Massage therapy.
Cynthia Appiah
Bobsleigh
(She/Her)
A standout shot put and hammer throw athlete at York University, Cynthia was introduced to bobsleigh in the summer of 2011 when she attended a testing camp. Within two years of deciding to make bobsleigh her prime athletic pursuit, she was competing on the North American Cup circuit as a breakwoman, and by 2015 would qualify for the World Cup circuit. Cynthia was named an alternate for the 2018 Olympics in PyeonChang, before shifting to the pilot position for the next quadrennial where she would compete at the 2022 Games in Beijing (finishing eighth in both competitions).
Cynthia has also played a significant role on behalf of her peers, becoming one of the more vocal athletes demanding change and a new-athlete centred approach within Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, that eventually led to the election of a new President. She currently sits as an athlete representative on the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada’s (SDRCC) Athlete Advisory Committee for the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS). Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Arts in History along with a minor in psychology from York.
Greg Stewart
Para Athletics / Sitting Volleyball
(He/Him)
Greg is a multisport athlete, having competed in para athletics, as well as both the sitting and standing para volleyball national teams for the past 20 years. Over the course of his career, Greg represented Canada at three Para Pan American Games – winning a bronze medal in both the 2007 and 2011 sitting volleyball tournaments, before earning a silver in 2019 in para shot put F46. A few months later, Greg finished second again at his World Athletics Championship debut. Following the pandemic postponement, Greg was selected to represent Canada for his first and only Paralympic Games at Tokyo 2020, where we threw a record of 16.75 metres to become Paralympic champion.
Off the track and court, Greg sits on the Athletics Canada Board of Directors, as an Athlete Representative. He works in the import/export metal recycling and end of life vehicle recycling industry. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration majoring in Human Resources Management from Thompson Rivers University, where he also played for the men’s basketball team and was named U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year. Greg is excited and looking forward to continuing to give back to sport.
Rob Law
Lawn Bowls
Rob Law has been a part of the Bowls Canada High Performance Program since 2015, joining the senior squad in 2018. During his time with the program, he has competed in two North America Challenges, three U25 World Championships, the 2019 Asia Pacific Championships, and the Multi-Nations Championship. He received two bronze medals at the Asia Pacific Championships in the pairs and fours disciplines. Rob was also part of the team winning eight of nine trophies at the 2016 North American Challenge.
Off the green, Rob has completed his Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the Asper School of Business majoring in Accounting and Finance. He is currently a Juris Doctor candidate at Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law.
Rob is passionate about improving the sport of bowls in Canada and was part of the team bringing the first Lawn Summer Nights to Winnipeg for Cystic Fibrosis Canada in 2019. After attending his first AthletesCAN Forum, he felt inspired to empower athletes within the broader Canadian sports community and looks forward to being a part of the collective voice as a board member.
Reporting
On December 21, 2022, AthletesCAN formally adopted the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) and joined Abuse-Free Sport, the independent program to prevent and address maltreatment in sport in Canada. AthletesCAN, and its stakeholders now have access to the services of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC), which is responsible for the administration of the UCCMS for AthletesCAN and serves as the central hub of Abuse-Free Sport.
The UCCMS sets out our expectations for conduct and behaviour to advance a respectful sport culture that delivers quality, inclusive, accessible, welcoming and safe sport experiences. The UCCMS generally applies to all AthletesCAN staff, temporary staff, and board members involved in AthletesCAN activities included but not limited to all events over which AthletesCAN has jurisdiction such as general webinars, Forum, networking events, as well as all other events and activities organized or hosted by AthletesCAN.
We expect that any individual involved in AthletesCAN activities conduct themselves with integrity and the highest standard of conduct, in accordance with AthletesCAN values and the UCCMS.
Pursuant to the UCCMS, participants must report any actual or suspected cases of maltreatment to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner by following the process laid out on OSIC’s website: https://sportintegritycommissioner.ca/ . OSIC is responsible for administering the UCCMS using trauma-informed processes that are compassionate, efficient and provide fairness, respect and equity to all parties involved.
Should the submitted case not fall under OSIC jurisdiction, OSIC will inform you as a part of this process. You will then be provided with alternatives, which include to agree that OSIC forward it to our independent third party, to file it again yourself to our independent third party, or other possible resources to address your concerns.
To file a complaint regarding an National Sport Organization, we encourage you to visit the individual NSO’s website for their respective policies & procedures, or call/email the Canadian Sport Helpline at 1-888-837-7678. Each NSO has its own complaint procedures. For support during this process, you can reach out to us directly at info@athletescan.ca or give us a call at 613-526-4025 or 1-888-832-4222. We also encourage you to view and reach out to any of the resources listed below, including Sport Solution, an organization that provides pro-bono legal council to athletes.