BVFA Team
Tineke Van Der Merwe (she / her)
Interim Executive Director
Tineke is a community leader, artist, and long-time advocate for inclusion. She has held senior leadership roles around the world — including CEO positions in the non-profit and arts sectors — and brings over 15 years of experience in communications, fundraising, events, and project design.
Now serving as Interim Executive Director of the Bow Valley Food Alliance, Tineke is passionate about fighting food insecurity and building a more connected, sustainable food system. Her work is shaped by ubuntu, the African philosophy that reminds us we can only be human together.
Tineke also works as Communications & Engagement Specialist with the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership. Originally from South Africa, she now lives in the Bow Valley with her husband and their two dogs. She continues to volunteer with local groups, including Canmore for Ukraine, and believes deeply in the power of community — and in using creativity to bring people together.
Michelle Backhouse (she / her)
BVFA Alliance Coordinator
Michelle is originally from Ontario, Treaty 13, also known as the Toronto Purchase. In 2012, she visited Treaty 7, where she saw a sign that said “I'm living your dream vacation” and moved here the same year. Passionate about well-being, she is always looking for ways to integrate her knowledge, curiosity, critical thinking and decolonization learnings into her life as well as innovative ways to amplify community voices.
Michelle is curious about the critical role that food plays in our everyday lives and is excited to take on the Alliance Coordinator role with the BVFA. She has a dynamic skill set and is enthusiastic about food sovereignty, bringing an infectious approach to community collaborations and leadership. She deeply believes in the vision of the BVFA and is excited to use her skills to bring the BVFA strategic plan to fruition.
Collective Leadership Team
Jill Harrison (she/her)
Collaborative Lead
Jill Harrison has been advancing food security since 2016, through her work with the Community Development portfolio with the Town of Banff. In 2018, she founded the Bow Valley Food Alliance (BVFA) to bring together food support groups and community partners for more coordinated action. Her efforts have encompassed a broad spectrum of initiatives, including community-based consultations with grassroots organizations, nonprofit groups, and institutions, academic research, the creation of the Bow Valley-wide Food Charter, coordinated COVID-19 responses, advocacy, education, fund, and policy development. When Jill began her work in 2016, food insecurity was a little-discussed issue, primarily recognized by experts and food banks. Today, it is a widely acknowledged and pressing concern. Under Jill’s leadership, the Bow Valley Food Alliance has become a pivotal support network, with its knowledge and experience now serving as a model for other municipalities and food security groups across the region.
In addition to her BVFA work, Jill coordinates the weekly Community Table Lunch, and many Ethnocultural and Indigenous food events. She is also co-creator of the Banff Community Social Assessment.
Jill has been living, working, playing, and volunteering in the Bow Valley for 30 years. She is recognised for fostering relationships and collaborating, rooting for the underdog, and inspiring change. Originally from England, she has an honours degree in English from the University of London.
She can be contacted at jill.harrison@banff.ca
Shauna Kelly (she / her)
ReconciliAction and Communications Member
Originally from Calgary, Shauna’s passion for food security and food sovereignty stems from time spent picking berries in a small garden with her parents and hands-on education programs.
She has spent the past three years here in the Bow Valley working with The Howl Experience to deliver land and community based learning programs that engage Indigenous and non Indigenous youth in wellness, climate action, reconciliation, and community building.
Through this work, she has partnered with BVFA on food security and food sovereignty education, and she is excited to become more involved through a role on the board.
Laura Clippingdale (she / her)
Communications Member
As a long-time Bow Valley resident with more than 25 years of community involvement, Laura brings a focused communications perspective and a depth of local knowledge to the board. Her professional background spans municipal, nonprofit strategy, and corporate collaboration, with expertise in public engagement, visual communication, and messaging.
Complementing her career is a sustained record of volunteer and community leadership, including roles with the Assessment Review Board, school councils at Our Lady of the Snows and Canmore Collegiate, the Canmore Preschool (Vice Chair), the Harvie Heights Community Association, and the Whyte Museum.
She is known for her ability to connect people, elevate community voices, and strengthen local networks. Passionate about food security, Laura believes that access to healthy, affordable food is fundamental to building a resilient and equitable community. Her leadership, strategic mindset, and deep local knowledge continue to drive our mission forward with care and impact.
Grace Gillman (she / her)
Projects Member
Grace has lived in the Bow Valley for 2.5 years, originally from BC, and has been an active volunteer with the Canmore Rotary Club, where she chair the annual Earth Day event, Bow Valley Climate Action board member, the Good Food Box, and the Biosphere, where she now works. She is also supporting the growth of a secondhand market in the Bow Valley that aims to reduce textile waste.
Her passion for food security began when she took over an organic farm on Vancouver Island, and deepened through her environmental science degree, where she dove into the connection between climate change and our food system.
She has sought to merge food systems with her work in the environmental industry, including an internship analyzing drought conditions on agricultural land, and she am currently completing a certificate in plant-based nutrition.
Javan Mukhtarov (he / him)
Ethnocultural Relations Member
He moved to Canmore 10 years ago. He grew up during a time of great change—the collapse of the Soviet Union and Azerbaijan’s early years of independence. Food was often scarce, and from a young age, he had to work to help his brother and father provide for their large family.
That experience shaped his understanding of the importance of nutritious food as a basic human right. Through his work with immigrant communities and volunteering with grassroots initiatives like Banff Food Rescue and Canmore Food & Friends, CYAN he’s seen firsthand the challenges many people face in accessing food.
He says he is grateful to BVFA team for the opportunity to bring his knowledge and experience to the Bow Valley Food Alliance, supporting its mission to build local food systems that are healthy, socially just, collaborative, diverse, and accessible.
Valentina Bravo (she / her)
Finance Member
Originally from Chile Valentina has lived in the Bow Valley for 6 years. She is an accountant and tax specialist who has worked with Deloittes and KPMG. She volunteers at ArtsPlace and Theravada Buddhist Community and Monastery in Canmore. She wants to help build strong connections to ensure everyone has access to healthy food, supporting a healthy lifestyle for all.
Community Research
Lauren Kepkiewicz (she / her)
Community-Based Researcher
Lauren is a community-based researcher and postdoctoral associate in the Department of Geography at the University of Calgary. Her current research examines food systems and food sovereignty in mountain communities, with a focus on the Bow Valley.
Her work draws from her experience as a research assistant and management team member for the Community First: Impacts of Community Engagement (CFICE): Community Food Sovereignty Hub as well as her participation in the National Farmers Union Indigenous Solidarity Working Group (ISWG), the Canmore Community Garden, the Food Equity and Activist Study Team, the Collaborative Alliance of Farmer Training Ontario, Food Secure Canada Youth Caucus, and Africa Youth for Peace and Development. She has taught undergraduate courses on food systems and has published work in both academic and popular articles and books. Lauren has a PhD in geography with a focus on food studies from the University of Toronto and has been involved with the BVFA since 2017.