OUR TEAM
Executive Director
Amy Nugent
Amy brings experience in capacity building, government relations and programming to the Urbanarium as its first ever executive director. Prior to this she was the executive director of Inclusion BC Foundation and has held resource development positions for a number of cultural institutions in Western Canada. As the former president of Artspeak, she has been recognized with a Mayor’s Award for Board Member of the Year from the City of Vancouver. You can reach Amy by email at amy@urbanarium.org.
EA & Communications Manager
Alexandra Huang
Alexandra is passionate about creating impact at the intersection of people and the planet. She has worked across marketing, communications, and development, supporting nonprofits and global brands in Vancouver and over 30 countries. She recently completed her post-graduate studies in Sustainable Business Leadership at BCIT, where she explored how systems thinking, circular economy models, and sustainable strategy can drive meaningful change across sectors. You can reach Alexandra by email at alexandra@urbanarium.org.
Board Directors
Am Johal
Am Johal is Executive Artistic Director of the Indian Summer Festival. He was the Director of SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement and Co-Director of SFU's Community Engaged Research Initiative. He has been on the boards of the Vancity Community Foundation, Bloom Group, 221A, the Or Gallery, Greenpeace Canada and the City of Vancouver’s Arts and Culture Committee and the Planning Commission.
Andrea Smith
Andrea Smith has been involved with the Urbanarium since 2013 as a volunteer and Administrator. She is the Controller at Henriquez Partners Architects, and both a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Chartered Professional in Human Resources (CPHR).
Brad Jones
Brad is the SVP Development of Wesgroup Properties, responsible for overseeing project design and execution, community consultation and government relations. With a background in Urban Planning, he has been involved in the design and approval of 4,000 homes and over 4.5 million square feet of built space.
Bruce Haden
Bruce Haden is an architect and urban designer in Vancouver.
Bryce Rositch
Bryce is a principal of Rositch Hemphill Architects in Vancouver, is active in community issues and loves to ski.
Dan Watson
Dan is an urban planner and development manager dedicated to advancing high-density, transit-oriented, and sustainably built communities through evidence-based urbanism. At Terra Housing he supports housing, care, childcare, and mixed-use projects. He is currently serving his final term as President of the Board of the Association of Neighbourhood Houses of British Columbia.
Derek Lee
Derek Lee is a Partner at PWL Partnership and Adjunct Professor of Urban Design at the University of British Columbia. Derek draws inspiration from the our city’s close relationship with the natural environment, fundamental to the planning and design of resilient cities around the world.
Hannah Walpole
Hannah leads BTY’s Project Delivery service line across British Columbia, bringing 14 years of experience in the construction and development industry. Originally from the UK, she has been with BTY for 10 years. She volunteers with the BC Chapter Committee of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and previously supported WISH Drop-In Centre Society, advancing essential services and peer support for women.
Kari Dow
Kari is an urban designer at the City of Vancouver with 12 years of professional experience in urban design and sustainable community planning. Before joining Vancouver's City Design Studio, Kari was an Associate at Perkins+Will Vancouver, where she managed a number of large-scale, multi-disciplinary urban design projects.
Marta Farevaag
Marta Farevaag is an urban planner and Principal at PFS Studio interested in the integration of planning, landscape architecture, and urban design.
Michael Mortensen
Michael Mortensen brings 20+ years of development and urban planning experience to his consulting work at Liveable City Planning, leading teams and managing all aspects of the development of transformative mixed-use projects. His experience includes projects at scale in Greater Vancouver, Toronto, L.A., London UK, and Edinburgh.
Mitch McKamey
Mitch is a seasoned communications professional with 15+ years of experience, currently serving as Group Business Lead at Rethink Communications. He brings a unique blend of brand building knowledge, marketing strategy, and content amplification together to help clients maximize their impact and effectiveness across various marketing channels.
Ouri Scott
Ouri is honoured to be the first Indigenous female architect in British Columbia. Drawing on her Tlicho Dene roots, she brings an Indigenous perspective through advising on process and protocols, culturally appropriate engagement, and innovative design strategies. Working with communities, Ouri shapes design languages grounded in land, place, and stewardship.
Richard Henriquez
Richard Henriquez, Vancouver Architect and Artist is the Founding Partner of Henriquez Partners Architects . Recipient of the RAIC Gold Medal, he is internationally recognized for his award-winning, iconic buildings and for his many years of Community Service.
Robert Moore
Robert is a Senior Associate at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. He is a litigator practising in construction and insurance defence. His practice focuses on assisting owners, contractors, construction professionals, and insurers in construction disputes, including complex builder’s lien issues.
Sara Stevens
Sara Stevens is a historian of architecture and urban design and an associate professor at UBC SALA. She is a member of the collective Architects Against Housing Alienation that curated the Canada Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Shirley Shen
Shirley is the director and co-founder of Haeccity Studio Architecture. She is a registered architect in BC and Washington State.
Travis Hanks
Travis Hanks is Principal and Co-founder of Haeccity Studio Architecture, and adjunct faculty at UBC SALA. Travis has presented housing research across BC and beyond in order to contribute to policy change around housing choice and affordability.
Vincent Delfaud
Vincent Delfaud is the CEO and Founder of WAAi Inc., the next generation AI enabled real estate intelligence. He has over two decades of experience on landmark projects across Europe and North America, including the Shard, Google HQ, and Vancouver’s Stack.
Advisors
Carol Henriquez, CM
Carol Henriquez is the Co-founder and former Executive Director of Children’s Arts Umbrella, a visual and performing arts organization for children located in Vancouver. She has worked as a social worker and an artist. She holds an Honorary Doctorate from Emily Carr University and is a Member of the Order of Canada.
Catherine Alkenbrack
Catherine Alkenbrack is the director of Facilities Planning at UBC, working to develop comprehensive planning models for new and renovated facilities.
Dr. Gary Hack
Gary Hack is professor emeritus of urban design in the School of Design, University of Pennsylvania. From 1996-2008 he served as dean of the School and is a former chairman of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission. He practices and writes about large scale urban design, and has prepared plans for over 40 cities in the US and abroad. Garry Hack serves as an advisor to the Urbanarium.
Ian Grais
Ian is a founder and Creative Director of Rethink Communications.
Joe Rekab
Joe Rekab is a Partner and Chairman of BTY Group, a real estate and infrastructure consultancy for project delivery, design and construction cost management services in urban centres globally. Joe Advises world cities from affordable housing to health care, transportation to utilities infrastructure.
Larry Beasley
Larry is the retired Co-director of Planning for the City of Vancouver. He is now the founding principal of Beasley and Associates, an international planning and urban design consultancy and the “Distinguished Practice Professor of Planning” at the University of British Columbia. He is a Registered Professional Planner in Canada. He is a Member of the Order of Canada.
Leslie Van Duzer
Leslie Van Duzer is a Professor of Architecture in the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia.
Peeter Wesik
Peeter Wesik is the President of Wesgroup Properties, one of Vancouver’s most prominent development companies, a long term holder and developer of industrial, commercial and office properties. Peeter has over 30 years of experience in corporate law, corporate acquisitions, real estate investing, mortgage lending, and structuring and negotiating complex transactions.
Ray Spaxman
Ray Spaxman is an architect and planner with over 50 years of experience. Half of his career has been as a municipal planner in England, Toronto and Vancouver (Director of Planning 73-89), and the second half as president of RSC Ltd. providing planning and urban design advice in Canada and Internationally.
Sam Mohamad-Khany
Sam Khany is a planner and urban designer at the City of Vancouver, with over 14 years of experience in private, public and nonprofit sectors dealing with various scales of planning. He currently leads retail streets public realm and mobility capital projects and was a former Urbanarium board member.
Scot Hein
Scot Hein is the University of British Columbia’s Urban Designer and teaches in the Masters of Urban Design Programme.