Board of Directors

Tara Abraham – Member At Large

Tara has served on the Board of Directors for a few years now. With the Board of Directors, she has begun important work establishing policies and procedures and supporting the Executive Director, Donna, as she works toward building a smooth running organization and a healthy workplace. She enjoys working with the rest of the Board.

She looks forward to utilizing her training in management as well as her professional experience in Public Health for the furthering Renfrew Collingwood Seniors Society’s mission.

Nancy Falcone – Secretary

Nancy Falcone was born and raised in the Renfrew Collingwood area where her parents still reside.  Nancy’s mother, Dora, attended the center and received excellent care.  After learning that there was an opportunity to help support the board members and the director, Donna Clarke, Nancy felt compelled to volunteer her time.  She is looking forward to making new connections and supporting the community.

Professionally, Nancy has taught students from the ages of 11 to 17 years of age for 34 years in the Coquitlam School District.  She has taught students with special needs and works closely with teachers to help support students with a variety of learning needs. She currently works with English Language Learners and students with learning difficulties.

At home in North Burnaby, Nancy lives with her husband and two daughters.  She enjoys gardening, hiking and yoga.   Her future plans include retirement, travelling, painting and writing.

Poonam Kaila – Chair

Poonam began her journey with the Renfrew Collingwood Seniors’ Society as a volunteer in the Adult Day Program back in 2008. Since then, she has helped with the monthly newsletter and even joined the staff as summer student before becoming a director on our Board in 2012. Poonam acted as the Secretary for many years diligently keeping minutes before moving into the role of Chairperson. She was part of developing our last strategic plan and will be leading the project to create our new strategic plan.

In her professional career, Poonam is a paralegal and department manager. As such, she had the skills to facilitate the update to our Bylaws to be in compliance with the BC legislation and the society’s governance purposes.

Volunteering and community involvement are pillars of Poonam’s lifestyle, she takes an active effort to participate however she can in the organizations she is connected with.

She is very much blessed and thankful for the Renfrew Collingwood Seniors’ Society and for what we are doing in our community and beyond to support seniors.

Olga Smirnova – Treasurer

Olga moved to Canada from Russia in 2008 where she graduated from the Russian Institute of Economics with a Bachelor in Economics, majoring in Financial Management. She started volunteering at RCSS in 2009 and, after a few months, joined the RCSS staff and continued to work there for almost seven years looking after administrative and financial tasks. After leaving her job at Renfrew-Collingwood Seniors’ Society, Olga joined the Board of Directors as a Treasurer.

Olga is a finance and payroll professional dedicated to the non-for-profit sector. She brings 10 years of experience in non-profit finance, full-cycle accounting, reporting, policy and procedure development and system implementation.
In her free time, Olga enjoys doing various outdoors activities and travelling. She is also studying towards her CPA and CPM designation.

Paul Hucul – Member At Large

Paul Hucul was born and raised in Vancouver, and attended Notre Dame Secondary School. He graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and later received his Masters of Business Administration with a specialization in Human Resources, and a Certificate in Business with a Human Resources specialization.

During his 34 years with the Vancouver Police Department, Paul’s work included 13 years performing Human Resources functions as a practitioner, supervisor and manager. Paul has had the opportunity to share his skills with students at Simon Fraser University, where he was a teaching assistant, and City University where he taught Human Resource Management, Business Communication and Organizational Behaviour. He left the VPD in 2007 to Join Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society where he is responsible for Human Resources and Quality Assurance.

Paul is involved in a variety of fitness and sports activities, including Karate, which he has practiced for 43 years. Sensei Paul is the chief instructor and head of BC Kyokushinkai Karate organization under Karate B.C. He teaches Karate at the Jewish Community Centre where he teaches approximately 75 students ranging from 5 years to 63 years old. He is also the Senior Advisor for the North American Karate Organization.