Our leadership
Wayne Leslie - Executive Director
As Kettle's Executive Director, Wayne is responsible for all facets of the organization and works in partnership with the Kettle team, volunteers, members, and donors to provide housing and enhance the quality of life for individuals living with mental illness and elevate awareness about our work. Wayne’s passion for the Kettle comes from very personal experiences. Both his parents lived with mental illness. His mother’s led to a lifetime of inadequate housing and chronic unemployment. At the Kettle, he hopes to help others get the support she did not.
Wayne has had a highly successful executive career in the charity and not-for-profit sector for nearly 20 years, with a record of accomplishment in leading organizations to improve and grow. Before joining Kettle, he was Chief Executive Officer at the Down Syndrome Resource Foundation where he led a team that implemented innovative health, mental health & education supports for families. Prior to his not-for-profit work, Wayne enjoyed an 18-year career in broadcasting, which now helps him be a very engaging spokesperson for Kettle. He has three children and six grandchildren (at last count!). When he's not at work, Wayne and his wife, who live in Vancouver, enjoy walking with their dogs Gabby (who often comes to work with Wayne) and Millie, they like to travel and enjoy city’s many great restaurants.
Michelle Jerome, Director,
Community Services
Michelle has worked at the Kettle for the past 12 years in Community Services. Prior to The Kettle, Michelle worked for a number of years in the downtown eastside in Emergency Support Services. She is passionate about empowering Members and Clients through Kettle programs and advocating for vulnerable populations in the community. Michelle was a certified instructor of Mental Health Aid for 6 years, and facilitated courses to Staff and Community Partners to raise awareness and help fight stigma around mental health through education.
Michelle loves being outdoors and enjoys painting, sewing and various other arts activities.
Janet Smith - Director, Housing and Licensed Care
Janet has over 25 years of experience working in supportive housing and development, but her career didn’t begin in non-profit.
Janet’s background is in business, and she spent the first part of her career as a manager of a fabricating company where she designed a variety of tanks, specializing in propane tanks.
Wanting to make a transition into work that helped people, she got her first non-profit job as a manager for a small non-profit housing society in the Interior.
In her 20 years as our Director of Housing Services, Janet has helped to secure $33 million in operating funds for our supportive housing building, Taylor Manor, and secured the 1134 Burrard Project, which is now Kettle on Burrard.
Outside of work, Janet enjoys walking her dog and spending time in nature, especially on rainy days, and gardening.
Shawn Hasselaar - Director,
People and Culture, and Privacy Officer
Shawn was born and raised in Metro Vancouver. In addition to his 12 years working in Human Resources, he has had the pleasure of being a Big Brother with the Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver and has devoted many years to supporting children and youth with the City of Surrey.
Outside of work, Shawn enjoys spending time with his family (including his furry canine rescue), snowboarding (whether with friends, or instructing), and enjoying good coffee.
Shawn is especially proud of all the amazing work The Kettle does and is honoured to be part of the team. He continues to look forward to supporting the amazing staff who in-turn support our community in all the countless and positive ways that they do.
Georgia Hutchison - Director, Finance
Georgia has worked in a variety of industries throughout her career but her preference is not for profit organizations. Georgia firmly believes that making the world a better place to live just takes a kind word and a smile. She was gratified to find an organization like the Kettle that provides both and much, much more.
Georgia has been an accountant and worked in finance and accounting for over two decades. People are often surprised that she loves what she does as they likely couldn’t think of anything less likable than accounting. Her world is not just about numbers. Her world is about making the world of accounting more user friendly and helpful so everyone can make better decisions to keep the Kettle running as the amazing organization it’s always been.
In her spare time Georgia works her other job as a wife and a mother to her husband Sid and children Griffin and Cooper, meaning her spare time is at about midnight. She is a hockey mom who loves nothing more than watching her boys do something they love. Georgia also enjoys cooking dinners for her friends and family, reading and meditating.
Raphael McKitrick - Director, Infrastructure and Facilities
Raphael first started at The Kettle in 1992 as a Mental Health Worker at the Drop-In site. He left The Kettle, had a family, and returned in 2001, working as an Advocate/Mental Health Worker and Outreach Worker. He has always been interested in renovations and fabricating things, so when the Kettle decided to have an in-house Maintenance position, he jumped at the chance to work as the first Maintenance Worker. In 2006, that position evolved into a management role.
Working at The Kettle has been a lifelong adventure. Raphael believes that his department plays an integral part in making sure our members are safe, comfortable and happy - that is very rewarding and satisfying to him.
In Raphael’s spare time he enjoys spending time with his family and his house full of pets, and motorcycling.
Michelle Vanderzon, Director,
Development
Michelle believes in the power of generosity to create a deeper sense of community and connection. Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec - Michelle began fundraising as a teen, mobilizing her community to support emergency relief in Haiti, Nepal, and India. For the past decade, Michelle has dedicated her career to connecting individuals, families, and businesses with opportunities to align their values with the causes they care about.
She envisions a brighter future where people recognize their capacity and responsibility to create positive change by donating, volunteering, and advocating. With so much need around the world, deciding how best to help can be daunting. As a passionate storyteller, Michelle aims to make giving more transparent and meaningful by connecting donors to the impact they make possible.
In her spare time, Michelle enjoys spending time outside running along the seawall and exploring the beautiful BC backcountry.
Honourary board members
Tamara Taggart
The Kettle’s first Honorary Board Member after six years as a Kettle Director. She is a committed community volunteer, sitting on several Boards throughout the Lower Mainland. She is happy to be making a positive difference with The Kettle in this capacity.
Suzanne Jean
Suzanne has 40+ years of experience in organization/project management in the social service field. She contracts with government and social service agencies on quality assurance, policy development, program evaluation, and training and program development strategies. Suzanne also administers Fit4Defense, an assertiveness training program designed to address violence prevention and increase empowerment for children and youth.
Our board
Sarah Corrigall-Brown, Chair
Sarah is General Counsel at the British Columbia Securities Commission, the independent government agency responsible for protecting investors and supporting fair, efficient and innovative investment markets in BC. Prior to joining the Commission, Sarah was a commercial litigator, acting for clients before the BC Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. She was born in Vancouver and has two kids.
Anneke Van Vliet
Retired in 2019 and loving it, Anneke has worked in both community based and government programs. Her initial work was in violence against women services – responding to a rape crisis line and eventually supporting the development of hospital based sexual assault services around the province. In her final position, Anneke managed anti-racism and multicultural programs for the BC government.
As part of her retirement plan she has recently taken up the French Horn and joined the NACHO band – a band for enthusiastic beginners who can’t really play. In addition, for over 40 years Anneke has belonged to a community of BC quilters who have collectively created over a hundred quilts for friends to mark significant life passages. She is a long-term Iyengar yoga practitioner and claims that yoga has saved her joints and mental health. Travel is a passion and some of her adventures have included a three month hike in New Zealand, staying in a women’s collective in Tokyo and recently spending a month in small town Mexico where surprisingly the majority of the other tourists were from Vancouver Island. She hopes to continue to travel in the future.
Brenda Lea Brown
Brenda Lea is proud to combine her love for the Kettle mission and mandate with her passion for good governance to serve as a member of the Board. A two-time Board recruit who first served as a director from 2012 - 2018, she rejoined in 2020, and currently sits on the Governance Committee.
Brenda Lea has a knack for unpacking complex issues to reveal mission-driven solutions that are simple, creative, and focused on outcomes. As the Kettle embarks on a new operating cycle under a new strategic plan, she promises to put her long experience as a communicator, facilitator and thought partner to work helping guide the Kettle from strength to strength
Jane Loo
Born and raised in China, Jane came to Canada when she was 16 and started learning basic English. With hard work and some luck, Jane has come a long way. In 2002, she completed her CMA (now CPA) designation and in June 2020, graduated from the Executive MBA program at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie Business School.
Currently, as the Manager, Financial Systems at Mark Anthony Group, Jane is passionate about optimizing business processes with modern technology. With 20+ years of professional experience in accounting and finance, Jane’s focus is on finance system design, implementation and business process transformation. Jane’s goal is not to be successful but to add value to the lives around her.
Ian MacKay
Ian grew up in Vancouver and after receiving his Bachelor of Commerce degree from UBC, he attained his CPA and CBV (Chartered Business Valuator) designations while working for a major accounting firm.
For the last 25 years, Ian has been an investment banker with Raymond James providing advisory services related to financings, acquisitions and divestitures for both private and public companies.
Ian is looking forward to utilizing his management and financial experience to assist in the Kettle’s mission of supporting people with mental illness to lead healthier lives.
He is married with one son and in his younger years played competitive rugby including representing Canada in several matches.
Kate Reeves
Kate grew up in northern England, and moved to Canada in early 2009 after meeting a Kiwi, they decided BC was halfway between New Zealand and the UK, close to the mountains and close to the sea, it was perfect.
Kate gained her executive MBA from Beedie School of Business in 2020 and joined TELUS in the same year. In her role at TELUS, Kate works on strategic initiatives for the TELUS Corporate Citizenship team.
Kate looks forward to supporting the Kettle achieve its strategic goals and mission to help and serve people living with mental illness and receive the services they deserve
Kurt Heinrich
Kurt Heinrich is Senior Director, Media Relations at the University of British Columbia. Prior to this role, he held senior communications and public affairs roles with both Simon Fraser University and the Vancouver School Board. He is a Trustee and Vice Chair of the Vancouver Public Library Board and a Board Member of the Vancouver Public Library Foundation.
He is a past president of the Vancouver chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society and was a co-founder, coach and long-term board member of the Vancouver Street Soccer League – an organization that uses the power of sport to empower those experiencing homelessness and mental illness. He holds a master’s degree in history from the University of Victoria and a diploma in broadcast journalism from BCIT.
Jake Adrian
Jake is currently a Communications Manager with the First Nations Health Authority, the first and only First Nations health authority in Canada. He has been a professional communicator for the past 15 years supporting mental health and Indigenous health programs working within the provincial health authorities. He began his career working for BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority and was based at Riverview Hospital. It was a career highlight to lead the communications for five years and support the mandate of this historic psychiatric hospital until the closure in 2012.
Jake has a passion for writing compelling stories with an interest in changing the narrative/stigma busting and social justice issues. He is an advocate for health equity, mental health and harm reduction and is thrilled to join the Kettle to continue to support this crucial work.
Jake is a settler and is grateful to live on the unceded, traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. When not at work he can be found hiking on the many beautiful trails of these lands.
Kimberley Laing
Kimberley was born and grew up in the Greater Vancouver area. After university she spent a couple of years travelling and living in southern Africa where she deepened her desire to understand, value and lift up the experience and voices of those who are too often overlooked. Since 2002, Kimberley has worked with First Nations communities in the Fraser Valley, and currently works with the First Nations Health Directors Association to support community-based health and wellness programs in 204 First Nations communities across BC.
An Elder taught that ‘we have two ears and one mouth for a reason’, and Kimberley is eager to listen and learn as a new Board member at the Kettle. She brings a passion for supporting compassionate, inclusive services which empower people to articulate what their best lives look like, and provide tools to help them live those lives to the fullest.
Jeff Rank
Jeff is currently Senior Vice President, Leasing BC at QuadReal Property Group, with 35 years of commercial real estate experience in the Metro Vancouver region. Over the years, Jeff has been involved in a multitude of lease and pre-lease transactions, construction management, planning and development of new projects, acquisitions and dispositions, as well as asset and property management. With this skillset, Jeff plays a key role in assessing the overall facilities objectives of the Board to further strengthen the delivery of services provided by Kettle within the neighbourhoods it serves.
Jeff holds residence in Chinatown with his wife, where they are actively involved as donors and volunteers of a number of local charities and not-for-profit organizations, having seen first-hand the needs and social issues facing the Downtown Eastside in particular. Jeff has 5 children and 2 grandchildren, and enjoys spending time with family especially over the summer months at Lake Okanagan in West Kelowna.