Erica Commons

Erica Commons has been a visitor on Musqueam territory and a part of the UBC community since 2009. She is currently the Student Engagement Officer in the Faculty of Science, and she previously worked as a career services manager in the UBC Sauder School of Business. Erica is an alumnus of the Faculty of Arts (First Nations & Indigenous Studies) and is excited to “give back” to UBC through serving on the Staff Pension Plan Board.

Erica brings with her a business and financial statement analysis skillset that was developed through training offered by UBC Sauder Continuing Business Studies and Executive Education. She has applied her education as the Vice President of a newly established strata corporation, where she manages an operating budget in excess of $1 million and has co-created the strata’s policy and procedures from the ground up.

Erica is an active contributor to the campus community, serving on the President’s Staff Awards of Excellence adjudication committee for four years. In the past, Erica has served as a broad-based admissions reader and as a volunteer for UBC Alumni. As a student, she held student leadership positions with the UBC Student Leadership Conference, Student Housing & Hospitality Services (Residence Life), and Enrolment Services.

Erica volunteers her time with Arts Umbrella and the Loran Scholars Foundation. She has been recognized for her contributions to community as a recipient of the YWCA Young Woman of Distinction award and the Loran Scholar award.

Shannon Dunn

I have worked for UBC for thirteen years. I am currently the Director of Business Operations and have responsibility for the ancillary departments at the Okanagan campus. As part of a system department I regularly interact with staff on both campuses. I also serve as Chair of the Presidents’ Non-Academic Misconduct Committee and Director for the Institutions Emergency Operation Centre at the Okanagan campus. Outside of UBC, I am a member of the Policy Committee for CACUSS, co-founder of the Canadian Senior Housing Officers Network and Past Chair of the Corporate Relations Committee for ACUHO-I based out of Columbus Ohio. I have a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University and a Master of Arts from UBC.

I have had the privilege of serving for six years as a staff representative on the UBC Board of Governors. During that period I was informed by quarterly reports from the Staff Pension Plan. I am highly motivated to continue working on behalf of UBC’s staff to support our pension – arguably one of most valuable assets. My goal is to ensure representation of our membership across the broad range of salary bands that our pension plan serves.

I would welcome the opportunity to reflect the perspective of the staff community at the Staff Pension Plan Board. Thank you for your consideration.

Adam Lukasiewicz

Pension plans are complicated, and many of us would admit to being a bit foggy when it comes to understanding fixed contributions and exactly how our pensions are calculated. While the Staff Pension Plan office already provides a wide range of initiatives to educate staff, I believe even more can be done to ensure that we understand the obligations we all have for informing ourselves about our plan and the decisions we must make as members. As staff we have a responsibility to be active members of this plan throughout our time at UBC, not only when we are newly-hired or nearing retirement.

Pension plans evolve over time and depend on ever-changing investment decisions that are continually being assessed amidst a landscape of shifting risks. While I have no doubt that becoming a member of this Board would involve a steep learning curve for myself, I am confident in my ability to effectively engage with fellow staff and translate complex issues to our membership. I bring a strong background in stakeholder consultation to the role, with experience in higher education supported by a background in research, writing, teaching and international engagement. I am also passionate about staff engagement on campus and have worked closely in the past with our AAPS Social Engagement Committee. I recognize the extended term commitment for this position and would be dedicated to using my role to increase the visibility of the work the SPP offices undertakes. Thank you for your consideration.

Franco Mammarella

I have been a member of the UBC Staff Pension Plan for 31 years working on the UBC Campus at the TRIUMF facility. As a member of the plan, like you, I have a strong and vested interest in the on-going well-being of the Plan and the interests of current and future retirees.

My work experience includes engineering and project management. My skills, acquired working as a professional engineer, include a quick understanding of the issues at hand, commitment, discipline, structured approach, sound judgement, integrity and public ethics. As project manager, I have learned responsibility and accountability and how to balance todays’ needs with those of the future. I have learned how to think strategically, how to maximize the use of money and minimize risks and have developed leadership and skills in communication and resource management. Besides my technical and managerial experience, I bring my own board experience, acquired during my volunteer work with youth soccer, the Italian researcher’s group ARPICO and with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada West. I am known for my leadership qualities, for being a hard working, skilled and honest person that cares about the people and the community I live in and that is not afraid to ask the tough questions.

We have worked very hard to earn our pension benefits and, If I get elected, I commit to represent and serve the interests of all our members to provide long lasting benefits. I believe that the tools and the experience accumulated during my work and community services will be valuable in representing all plan members to the Staff Pension Plan board.

Christie Stephenson

As members of the UBC Staff Pension Plan, we know it is crucial that our plan be managed to provide sustained lifetime retirement pensions. I hope to contribute my experience in both fund investing and board governance to the pension board.

Prior to becoming the Executive Director of the Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics at UBC Sauder School of Business in 2016, I spent more than 15 years at leading firms in the responsible investment industry. At NEI Investments, I managed the program determining Ethical Funds’ environmental, social and governance eligibility criteria – risks increasingly recognized as important to investment portfolios.

I also have more than two decades of board experience, having served as a director of cooperatives, non-profit organizations and private companies in diverse industries (including financial services) ranging from startup phase to $100 million in annual revenue.

As a media commentator and speaker to industry and public audiences, I frequently have the chance to address topics related to governance, business responsibility and sustainable investing. You can find my views online through media outlets like Report on Business Magazine, Business in Vancouver and CBC or through social media.

Having the exceptional pension we have as UBC staff is due in large part to our collective representation. As a member and active volunteer of the Association of Administrative and Professional Staff (AAPS), I’ve served as the electoral officer for board elections, been on the Advocacy Committee, and presented workshops on responsible investing. If elected, I would take seriously the duty to represent plan members from all employee groups.

Voting for pension board members by and from the membership of the plan is an important right for all of us. I hope you’ll consider placing your trust in me to represent you, and all plan members, on the staff pension board.

Kenneth C.W. Tan

Having led many impactful corporate transformation initiatives, I am currently managing education innovation for the Faculty of Medicine. Prior to UBC, I served the University of Saskatchewan as Director of Strategic Initiatives, where I spearheaded university-wide programs in procurement processes, cost containment, revenue enhancement and enrichment of customer experience.

Specific to pensions, I led a major restructuring of Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority Pension Fund Scheme, to successfully convert its guaranteed pensions to a member- choice, multi-fund, defined contribution scheme, benefiting over 37,000 members. I was a trustee of BC’s College Pension Plan, a member of its Benefits and Inter-Plan Investment Committees, and at the Ministry of Finance, conducted a comprehensive governance review of Crown and SUCH entities’ investment policies, which culminated in publication of best practice guidelines.

In Canada, my early career spanned leadership roles as Area Manager, Bank of Montreal and Vice-President, Corporate Banking, BNP Paribas (Canada). While in service of the BC Public Service, I was CFO of BC’s Transportation Investment Corporation where I oversaw expansion and bridge tolling of Port Mann/Highway 1 and was Executive Director in BC’s Finance Ministry, responsible for managing commercial Crown corporations’ annual service planning, business cycle reporting, risk mitigation, and the formulation and adoption of performance measurement and benchmarking scorecards.

In Hong Kong, as CFO of Octopus Cards, a subsidiary of major public transport providers, I oversaw expansion of the world-class contactless smart card system, and as a licensed deposit taking institution, led its compliance of stringent regulatory banking standards.

I served as a board member of several organizations with strong social mandates. Presently, I am a Board member of VIA Rail Canada Inc. which operates Canada’s national passenger rail service on behalf of the Government of Canada, and Chair its Major Projects Committee.