Board of Directors
A Board of Directors has been appointed and is committed to ensuring the Agency serves the interests of families in B.C. The board is responsible for developing BCFMA’s strategic plan and oversight of the operations of the Agency.
Richard J.M. Fyfe KC – Chair
Richard Fyfe is the former Deputy Attorney General for British Columbia. Active in his community, Mr. Fyfe has been involved as a board member in a number of non-profit organizations. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Alberta, and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Victoria.
Johanne Blenkin – Director
Combining legal information and legal training, Johanne Blenkin is a strong advocate for making the justice sector more understandable and accessible for the public. Johanne has a BA and law degree from the University of Alberta and a Masters in Library Science from McGill. Throughout her career as a family law lawyer, CEO of Courthouse Libraries BC, and as a Director of the Access to Justice Centre for Excellence at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, her focus has been on a people centred approach to legal information and services. During her tenure at Community Living BC she led the creation of Clicklawbc (public legal information website), Lawmatters (legal materials in public libraries in B.C.), and the use of wiki technology for wikibooks of public legal information. She was a founding member of Access to Justice BC, is a volunteer in her community, and continues professionally to work on projects that advance access to justice.
Victoria Chan – Director
Victoria Chan has an extensive career in finance and accounting holding various leadership roles in the public sector. Beyond financial management and financial reporting, Victoria also has significant senior management experience in corporate services and policy development. With implementation of considerable senior management initiatives involving strategic planning, truth and reconciliation and equity in action, she has comprehensive knowledge of business operations, including in the areas of financial planning, facility operations, information technology and human resource planning. Victoria also has experience in government relations and has led policy development and legislative and regulatory amendments initiatives. Applying her legal knowledge, her significant experience in the public sector and leadership roles, she is one of the appointed Bylaw Adjudicators for the Ministry of the Attorney General and is the Board of Director for the National Film Board and the BC Assessment. Victoria holds a Bachelor of Accounting Science degree from the University of Calgary, a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of London and a Master of Law degree from York University. As a Chartered Professional Accountant with passion in professional development and commitment of life-time learning, Victoria also teaches several accounting and finance courses at post-secondary institutions.
Bikram Gill – Director
The son of immigrant parents who settled on Vancouver Island in early 1970’s, Bikram Gill was born and raised in Duncan, B.C. and now resides in Langley, B.C. He is grateful for a loving and supportive wife and partner, and for his two adult daughters. Bikram has a diverse background with lived experience both personally and professionally. He has participated in both for profit business and non-profit community support work. “Spark the Human Spirit” is Bikram’s moto, as he is passionate about helping to create healthy communities and to build relationships where everyone belongs. Bikram’s leadership, people development, and community support started early with his banking career of almost 23 years. Applying his banking and sales experience in both real estate and mortgage financing allowed him to gain further knowledge and experience, and to build connections in his community. Bikram is pursuing his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at Trinity Western University with hopes of a Master’s in Counselling Psychology. Currently, he works for a non-profit society located in Surrey, B.C. as a Practice & Standards Coordinator and provides support to individuals with mental health, substance abuse issues, and concurrent disorders. Programs and activities that Bikram supports include counselling, group facilitation, and after care. Trauma and Resiliency Informed Practice (TRIP) as a foundation of understanding and compassion when working with individuals is the cornerstone of the services he provides.
Tracy Ann Porteous – Director
Tracy Porteous, O.B.C, LL.D (hc), R.C.C. For 40 + years, Tracy has been actively involved in a leadership capacity developing tools, resources, programs, policy, training and collaborative strategies with various public authorities to enhance safety for those who are vulnerable to sexual assault, child abuse, intimate partner violence and sexual harassment in the workplace. Tracy founded, led the development of and managed the overall operations of the Ending Violence Association of BC from 1992-2021, co-founded and co-chaired the Ending Violence Association of Canada from 2014-2021, is a three-time Governor General of Canada medal recipient, including in 2014 she was honoured with the prestigious GG medal in recognition of the Persons Case for ‘exemplary contributions towards the equality of women in Canada’. In 2013 Tracy was a Canadian Delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and presented about the award winning Be More Than A Bystander campaign, a GBV crime prevention program she also co-founded. Tracy was a member of B.C.’s two Domestic Violence Death Review Panels, the City of Vancouver Healthy City for All Leadership Council, the National Advisory Council on Gender-Based Violence, National Victim Policy Centre Advisory, the National Coaches Association Dating Violence Initiative, the Canadian Domestic Violence Homicide Prevention Initiative, the Canadian Armed Forces Advisory on Sexual Misconduct, the Federal Advisory Council on Mandatory Minimum Sentences, the Trauma-Informed Practice Training Advisory for the Criminal Justice System in B.C., has testified in front of federal Parliamentary committees related to gender based violence, the Coroner Inquest into the murders of Sunny Park and her family, has advised numerous federal and provincial cabinet ministers related to gender based violence in Canada and internationally, and currently sits as a member of the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, the Statistics Canada Initiative on Homicide of Women and works in an contracted capacity for the Canadian Football League as their Gender Based Violence Consultant, the BC Ministry of Attorney General’s Family Policy, Legislation and Transformation Justice Services Branch and is a member of the Board and the Finance Committee of Legal Aid BC. Tracy holds a Doctor of Laws (hc) from the University of British Columbia and was inducted into the Order of British Columbia in 2020.
Lisa Pryce – Director
Lisa Pryce has served as a public employee in various levels of the government for over 25 years. She is now the proud owner of a boutique consulting firm located in the Okanagan working with public and non- profit organizations. Lisa is a recognized leader in the Supply Chain field and in 2019 was named “Top 50 Women to Watch in Canadian Supply Chain”. In 2021 she was the Logistics Chief supporting the recovery efforts caused by the Atmospheric River flooding event in the Fraser Valley. Lisa enjoys teaching, coaching and volunteering and has sat on both educational and athletic boards over the years as well as working with local community groups.
David Wells – Director
David Wells is an educational administrator and lawyer of Indigenous ancestry (Cree/Metis Treaty 6 Territory). Since July of 2019 David has been the Vice President Academic and Applied Research at Vancouver Community College. For the previous five years he was the Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at Vancouver Community College. Prior to this, David was the Academic Dean and in-house Counsel for the NEC Native Education College. Other relevant experiences include policy and government relations support for the Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia, and leadership of a Provincial initiative on employment and higher education experiences for individuals living with mental health disabilities. In addition to being Chair of the Indigenous Homelessness Steering Committee for Metro Vancouver, David currently sits as a public appointee to the Council for Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia, and on the Investigations Committee for the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia. David is also the current Chair of the Board of Family Services of Greater Vancouver. He has previously been Chair and a Board Member of the Provincial Crown Regulatory Agency PCTIA, and the Open Door Group, a large employment based non-governmental organization responsible for a number of Work BC contracts, including the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. David has also been a member of the Urban Indigenous Persons Advisory Council for the City of Vancouver. David holds a Bachelors Degree and a Masters Degree in Political Science from Simon Fraser University, and a Law Degree from the University of British Columbia, with a focus in administrative law. David has been called to the Bar in British Columbia. He is currently working towards completion of a PhD in Higher Education with the Ontario School of Instructor Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. The focus of his PhD studies are the jurisdictional conflicts emergent as post-secondary institutions look to address their responsibilities to the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, and the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action within their pre-licensure professional education programs.