Jill Kowalchuk
Chair, Board of Directors
Jill Kowalchuk has been an ambitious driver and advocate for the advancement of Canada’s technology and innovation sectors. Jill is the Director for the Canadian Shared Security Operations Centre (CanSSOC).
The CIRA board members come from diverse professional and geographical backgrounds. This allows us to broadly consider Canadian perspectives when working to make .CA your domain name of choice and representing the CIRA registry on a global stage.
Liza Aboud, MBA, ABC, ICD.D
Director
Liza Aboud has over 30 years of experience driving strategic communications, marketing, change management, and customer experience initiatives.
Colleen Arnold
Director
Colleen Arnold, MBA, CPHR, CPA (CMA), has brought a range of professional expertise to nursing regulation since 2000 in the areas of finance, human resources and information technology.
Gwen Beauchemin
Co-Chair, Community Investment Committee
Gwen Beauchemin worked in the private sector, the not-for-profit sector and the federal public service for over 35 years, in a variety of roles, all in the computer science field, with a focus on cyber security since 2001.
Don Bowman
Chair, Services Strategy Committee
Don is a 30 year industry veteran in complex networking and cloud computing.
Anne Butler
Chair, Compensation and Review Committee
Anne Butler is a senior financial services executive with over 20 years experience leading diverse teams, from legal and compliance to communications, human resources and industry relations.
Andrew Escobar
Vice-Chair
Andres Escobar (Andrew) has built a career leading digital strategy and business transformation. As the Director of Open Finance for MX, Andrew leads open banking in Canada, with a mission to allow Canadians to more easily manage their finances.
Matthew Gamble
Director
Matthew M. Gamble is a passionate technologist and innovator, with a focus on disruptive technologies in the telecom and cloud space and a tireless advocate for a free, open, and affordable internet for all.
Eric Hill
Chair, Governance Committee
Eric is an entrepreneur, lawyer, and corporate director. His strengths are strategic thinking and unlocking upside opportunities using risk management frameworks.
Alourdes Sully, M. Eng., P.Eng., FEC
Chair, Finance, Audit, Investment and Risk Management Committee
Alourdes brings over 30 years of engineering, management and business experience in Telecommunications and Energy with over 20 years of not-for-profit board experience to her role as Director at CIRA.
Samantha Ventresca
Co-Chair, Community Investment Committee
Samantha Ventresca helps C-level executives and entrepreneurs shape their unique stories and build relationships with stakeholders.
Michael Zahra
Director
Michael Zahra is a seasoned executive and is an Advisor to the University of Toronto "The Hatchery" start-up incubator.
John Demco
Board Adviser
John Demco is affiliated with the CIRA Certified Registrar Webnames.ca Inc. and until 2007 was manager of Computing Facilities in the Department of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia.
Heather Dryden
Board Adviser, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Byron Holland, MBA, ICD.D
President and CEO, Board Adviser
Byron Holland joined the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) in 2008 as president and chief executive officer.