Katie Pease is a Principal of Synapse Strategies and the incoming Executive Director for the Okanagan Fruit Tree Project Society (OFTP). Her work experience and education include an in-depth exploration of ecosystem health & resilience, systems thinking and facilitating organizational change. She has a wide array of strategic planning, project management and facilitation experience, serving as a liaison between people & planet, assisting groups with the development of common understanding and goals and the implementation of restorative projects. Her most recent work has included developing and launching a certification program for the BC Wine and Vine industry called Sustainable Winegrowing BC. A California native, she worked with AG Innovations Network as a Food System Alliance Facilitator, in counties across the state, to help develop robust regional food systems. She has helped develop a community food strategy, Sonoma County Food Action Plan; a social enterprise farm, CAN Farm; a food charter for BC communities, Squamish; and managed as well as served on the Boards of a thriving food cooperative, Quincy Natural Foods, and the international Sustainable Wine Roundtable. Her formal education includes a Masters Degree in Strategic Leadership Toward Sustainability from the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden. Her collaborative thesis work is titled: Community Food Systems – Working toward Sustainability and Satisfying Human Needs. Her claim to fame is hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), from Mexico to Canada, in 2002. Crossing the border on the Pacific Crest Trail was her first visit to Canada. Recently celebrating 20 years since the PCT, she hiked the Great Divide Trail in Canada. You can see a photo blog of the journey on her Synapse Strategies website. She’s thrilled to walk into a new chapter and challenge as the ED of the OFTP!

Pursuit of community building and sustainability have always been my purpose and goals. After 18 years spent buliding networks for community and business in Whitehorse, Yukon moving back for family in the South Okanagan in 2009 provided opportunity to connect to my farming roots.

It is with extreme gratitude that I am able to be here on the traditional, unsurrendered lands of the syilx (Okanagan) Nation Peoples. In the quest for knowledge of sustainable agricultural practices,  I have spent 6 years as certification commitee member at Sustainable Winegrowing BC, and also received certification as an Indigenous Community Support Worker. While currently working in Supportive Housing, I am working to address the widespread need for food security among the community’s most vulnerable peoples, and address the effects of colonization and generational trauma on Indigenous sustainable agriculture.

Hello, I’m Kailee! I pursued a bachelor’s degree in International Relations to better understand how social and political structures impact the environment. During my studies, I worked as a research assistant on a food systems study based in the Columbia River Basin, analyzing the climate change impacts of the most commonly cultivated crops. For my final semester, I studied at Tecnólogico de Monterrey (Mexico City), practicing Spanish and exploring the region’s vibrant food scene. I have since worked in environmental education, including a position with the BC Parks Foundation as a Park Ambassador, and I currently facilitate climate workshops in schools with BCTEA on the CARE (Climate Action Resilience and Emotions) program. Through PHABC’s Rise Up program, I volunteer with the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan Similkameen as the Food Security Network Coordinator. I am working towards a microcredential in Environmental Mitigation through UNBC.

When I’m not working, you can usually find me at the hill in the winter, skiing or snowboarding, and in the summer, I spend my time at the lake or hiking and camping somewhere. I am incredibly grateful to live and explore on the traditional and unceded territory of the Sylix (Okanagan) peoples.