Jill Kelly – Chair
Jill has lived in Vancouver since 1970 She is currently a member of the Grandview Heritage Group. She first visited the Archives 25 years ago, while researching the history of her home (built 1912). She hopes to learn more about the Archives and its holdings. She has a background in charities governance and is a Certified General Accountant.
Wendy Hunt – Vice Chair
Neal Jennings – Treasurer
Neal is a CPA, CA running a home-based tax practice and accounting education consulting business. He has a bachelor of accounting from Brock University, where he served on the board of his student union and as president of the campus pride organization, Brock Pride. He has long had an interest in local history, and is particularly interested in supporting meaningful access to it through the Archives’ digitization process.
John Atkin – Director
John is a civic historian, writer, walking tour guide and heritage consultant. As a consultant, John has written the Chinatown Lighting Strategy for the City of Vancouver [2008], the City of Vancouver’s successful nominations for the Lee Kuan Yee World City Prize [2011] and the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation [2012], John co-authored, with Jeannette Hlavach, the successful 2010 application for Chinatown’s National Historic District status. He is a board member and chair of the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of BC and sits as a member of the City’s Civic Assets Naming Committee.
Aaron Chapman – Director
Aaron is a writer, historian and musician with a special interest in Vancouver’s entertainment history. Born and raised in Vancouver, he has been a contributor to the Vancouver Courier, Georgia Straight, and CBC Radio. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, he is also a member of Heritage Vancouver and the Point Roberts Historical Society.
Elana Zysblat – Director
Elana is a heritage consultant in Vancouver, writing Statements of Significance, Conservation Plans and heritage assessments. She is a big user of the Archives for her work
Kevin Bowers – Director
Kevin Bowers was born and raised in Vancouver and has a keen interest in Vancouver history, with a special interest in historical photographs and videos. As a former IT Manager with the City of Vancouver he helped the Archives get funding to support their digital initiatives.
Tom Carter – Director
Tom Carter is an artist and entertainment historian with a penchant for Vancouver’s lost theatre district on Hastings Street.
Richard Arias-Hernandez – Director
Richard Arias-Hernandez is an Assistant Professor of Teaching at the School of Information at the University of British Columbia. He teaches and researches in the areas of digital libraries, digital archives, digital text and image collections, data analytics and data visualization. Student librarians and archivists in his classes work closely with local libraries, archives, and community partners on digital collection projects.
Merrilee Robson – Director
Merrilee Robson is a Vancouver writer. Her first mystery, Murder is Uncooperative, is set in a Vancouver housing co-op. She has also published short stories and nonfiction. Her interest in Vancouver history comes from living in a house built in 1911 and from work on a historical mystery. She has experience in communications for non-profit organizations, including as program manager of national communications and government relations for the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada. Her governance experience includes terms of the boards of Crime Writers of Canada, the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC, the PNE, the BC NDP, and other non-profit organizations.
Friends of the Vancouver City Archives 