Our People
The Community Foundation of Nova Scotia is governed by a volunteer board of directors comprised of community leaders from across the province and is administered by professional staff.
Board of Directors
The Community Foundation of Nova Scotia’s Board of Directors has broad experience in business, law, accounting, financial planning, management, education, philanthropy and community development.
Board of Directors
Ruth March, CA, TEP, Treasurer
Investment Committee
Staff
Allison Kouzovnikov, Executive Director
Click here for the biography of our staff.
Dennice Leahey, CM, Chair
Northern NS
Dennice Leahey received the Order of Canada in 2006 for her many years of volunteer work. Her citation read, in part: “Leading by example, Dennice Leahey has shown how corporate leaders can positively impact the voluntary sector. Former senior vice-president and ombudsman of RBC Financial Group, she has lent her expertise, energy and enthusiasm to organizations such as Mount Saint Vincent University, the North Cumberland Hospital, Manitoba A.L.I.V.E. and the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art.” Dennice also was presented with an Eagle Feather for her work in the Aboriginal community. Dennice is the chair of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotias’ Acquisitions Committee. She resides in Pugwash, NS, where she and husband Stephen are actively involved in the Pugwash Peace Exchange.
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Since 1997, Robert has expertly managed the startup, financing and growth of Ocean Nutrition Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Clearwater. His 20 years of senior management experience in the Natural Product, Marine Biotech, Food Retailing, Wholesaling and Advertising industries have helped make Ocean Nutrition Canada’s fastest-growing marine biotechnology and natural product ingredients company. This experience includes the creation and management of several startup companies, and responsibility for large multinational corporate division operations. It has also allowed Robert to assemble a sizeable, extremely accomplished, multidisciplinary team – the cornerstone of Ocean Nutrition’s business strategy, and a major contributing factor to its revenue growth.
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Ruth March, CA, TEP, Treasurer
HRM
Ruth is a Director of Estate Planning with KPMG in Halifax. She attained a Bachelor of Commerce degree (cum laude) from Mount Allison University in 1983. Following graduation, she joined KPMG and attained her CA designation in 1985. Ruth joined the tax practice of the firm in 1986, and she completed the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants In-Depth Tax Course in 1988. Ruth is responsible for tax planning for a diverse clientele, with a particular understanding of the income tax issues relating to owner-managed businesses, estates and trusts.
During 2000-2001 Ruth worked with Maritime Life as an Estate and Tax Planning consultant, where she developed sales concepts, conducted educational seminars, published written materials and supported Maritime Life’s Marketing Consultants and independent distributors.
Ruth is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nova Scotia, the Canadian Tax Foundation, the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, the Halifax Estate Planning Council and the Atlantic Provinces Tax Seminar planning committee. Ruth has been a tutorial leader for CICA tax courses and a lecturer for the Canadian Tax Foundation’s Tax Planning for the Owner Manager and Estate Planning Course. She has also presented at various Atlantic STEP seminars, a national STEP conference, and given speeches to business and community groups. Ruth is currently the chairman of the STEP Atlantic branch and is on the Finance Committee of Symphony Nova Scotia. Ruth has taken an active role in a number of community and cultural associations in Nova Scotia.
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Mary Eldridge
South-Western NS
Mary graduated from St. Francis Xavier University with a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in accounting. She has diplomas in Chartered Financial Planning, Elder Planning Counselling, and the Canadian Securities Course. Her community work began when she graduated from university and she has been a lifetime volunteer in many organizations in Yarmouth. A few of her involvements have been with Family and Children’s Services, the School Board, CNIB Board, Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and many others.
Currently Mary is the Director of Finance for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Yarmouth and on the Diocesan Administrative Board; Treasurer and Financial Administrator of the Yarmouth County Museum and Archives; Treasurer of Sunset Terrace (a boarding home for elder ladies); Finance Chair of the Yarmouth Public Library and Museum; and Chair of a local committee focusing on developing a second heritage district in the Town of Yarmouth.
Would you like to get involved with the Foundation’s activities? Our Board committees are always looking for additional help. Contact us today to find out what opportunities might be available.
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Bonnie Bond
Northern NS
Bonnie currently is President and co-owner of Basic Spirit Inc. a giftware company that designs and wholesales its products in North America. After graduating from Western Michigan University and pursuing a career in social work, Bonnie moved to Pugwash, N.S. As a co-founder of Seagull Pewter, an internationally known giftware company, she also initiated other entrepreneurial businesses.
Bonnie currently serves on the Board of the Pugwash Peace Exchange and is active in community projects. She was a member of the Charter Group of The Hunger Project and the Social Venture Network for socially responsible businesses. She is a graduate of the Florida Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chairs The Seagull Foundation.
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Dean Brinton
HRM
Dean studied Philosophy and Religious Studies at the universities of Calgary and Toronto, receiving a Masters Degree from the U of T in 1987. He has worked in the arts for over twenty years, as a gallery assistant to Klonaridis Inc., the Jane Corkin Gallery and artist Kate Graham in Toronto, as Special Events Coordinator at the Medicine Hat College, as Director of Artistic and External Affairs at Symphony Nova Scotia and as the Executive Director of Debut Atlantic from 1989-1999. For six years he was Executive Director of the Foundation for Heritage and the Arts in Halifax, an organization which has recently evolved to form the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia.
Dean was appointed CEO of The Rooms Corporation in St. John’s, NL in January of 2005, which counts among its divisions the Provincial Archives, Art Gallery and Museum of the Province of NL as well as 4 regional museums. The Rooms Corporation has over 100 staff and an annual budget of $8 million. As CEO, Dean also chairs the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Public Records Committee responsible for the management of all archival government records.
Dean received the Peter Bentley Scholarship to UBC’s Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration in 1996. He was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Canada Council in 1997 where he served for six years. While on the Council’s Board of Directors, Dean chaired the Canada Council’s first Governance Committee which wrote the organization’s Governance Policy. During his second term he was a member of the Executive Committee, served on a sectoral committee of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and as the Council’s representative on the Public Lending Rights Commission. He is presently a member of the Board of Governors of the National Theatre School of Canada, where he serves on the Governance Committee, a member of the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation of Nova Scotia and of NSCAD University. He also serves on the foreign affairs committee of the Canadian Arts Summit, which represents Canada’s largest cultural institutions, and on the Nunatsiavut Cultural Centre Steering Committee responsible for the construction of an Inuit cultural facility in Nain.
Dean maintains a busy schedule of professional activities. Most recently he served on the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards jury, the Council for Business and the Arts’ Edmund Bovey Award jury and in the spring of 2007, on the jury for the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta's Arts Awards.
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Annpolis Royal
Jane Nicholson was born in England and immigrated with her family to
Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1956. Educated in Halifax and Dartmouth, she holds
a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Saint Mary’s University. Jane is the
founder of Mrs. Nicholson Inc., a one-woman company whose business it is to
buy and restore old buildings in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada’s
oldest permanent settlement. Her two latest heritage projects can be viewed
at www.mrsnicholson.com.
Before founding Mrs. Nicholson Inc. in 2003, Jane spent over 35 years in the
communications business, starting as a copywriter at CHNS Radio. After
university, she worked in the corporate sector in Halifax, Toronto and
Montreal. She is an accredited member and national award winner of the
Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS). She has been a lifelong community
volunteer and is a former member of the Pier 21 advisory board and the
Conseil d’administration of Héritage Montréal. Lately retired from six years
on the board of the Annapolis Heritage Society, the last four as Vice Chair,
she continues as a volunteer with the Society. She joined the board of the
Community Foundation of Nova Scotia in 2010.
Tel. 1-877-999-5907 or 902-490-5907
Fax 902 490-5917
