About The team behind this adventure

• Guillermo Angel

• Co-Chair: Marketing and Communication

Guillermo “Key-J” Angel, originally from Colombia, began his adventure at UBC Okanagan in 2008. Currently on his way to a Degree in Psychology, he has greatly enjoyed the adventure of leadership available to him at the UBC Okanagan Campus.

The adventure all began with the JumpStart Program, a UBC Initiative to introduce International Students to both campus and Kelowna early in-order to ease the transition. His path began to branch out when he returned to the JumpStart program not as a participant but as a leader with the opportunity to introduce new students to UBC Okanagan’s Leadership Adventure. Guillermo then chose to become a Peer Mentor with the UBC First Year Experience initiative, where first year students are paired with upper year students and are given personal guidance throughout their year. An attendant and presenter at various Student Leadership Conferences, including the CCSL in Calgary 2011 and a UBC Okanagan Student Leadership Conference planner his leadership adventure has allowed him to improve as a professional.

Guillermo has also taken the opportunity to utilize skills learnt through leadership to organize events such as the UBC Okanagan LipDub, the Kelowna: Vote Mob and is proud to be a member of the team organizing the 2013 Canadian Conference on Student Leadership.

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• Megan Cail

• Co-Chair: Social

Megan Cail grew up in small town BC and first came to UBC Okanagan for a basketball camp in elementary school. Megan always dreamt about UBC Okanagan since then, and she moved from the snow to sun when she was accepted into the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program in 2010.

Megan began working for Intramural Programs with UBC Okanagan Campus Recreation in her first year, and since then she has taken the position of Senior Intramural Sport Manager opening many doors on campus along the way. She has attended national Campus Recreation Conferences and helped to organize the Student Leadership Conference on campus. Megan helped welcome this year’s incoming UBC Okanagan class as Nursing Team Lead of Create, New Student Orientation, and loves to speak with students about her experiences in Kelowna. Megan has begun her global leadership experiences by spending the spring surviving tarantulas in Bolivia with Global Youth Volunteer Network and has upcoming trips in planning for the near future. Megan has accomplished all of this while progressing through the prestigious but exhausting nursing program, having gained skills in both leadership and professionalism with lots of interesting stories to tell.

Megan loves both the Kelowna and UBC Okanagan Community and is passionate about both. She looks forward to planning the social events for this year’s CCSL Conference to showcase the unique and amazing adventures the Okanagan has to offer!

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• Robyn Giffen

• Co-Chair: Volunteers

Robyn is originally from Calgary, but spent many summers going up in the Okanagan. Robyn is in her fourth year of a Bachelor of Arts Degree, with an Anthropology Major and English Minor. She is planning on pursuing a Master’s Degree in Anthropology.

Robyn’s leadership experience began in her first year when she joined a student events planning committee called Rezlead, which provides the opportunity to first year students to plan events for residents. The following year Robyn became a Residence Advisor and an organizer of the Rezlead Committee. Robyn continued working in Residence Life, becoming a Senior Residence Advisor, while also getting involved in the Campus Life department working as a Collegia Assistant in a commuter-student space. Now in her fourth year Robyn is still a Senior Residence Advisor, is the head of the Rezlead Committee, is a Collegia Assistant in the Senior Collegium, and is a Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology.

Robyn loves student leadership and particularly leadership conferences. She was on the UBC Okanagan’s Student Leadership Planning Committee in 2011 and was a UBC delegate at the CCSL in Calgary 2011. Robyn is thrilled to be a co-chair CCSL and is looking forward to helping host this incredible conference.

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• Karly Drabot

• Co-Chair: Programs

Karly came to UBC Okanagan in 2008 from the distant land of Penticton (OK, it’s an hour drive from Kelowna). Karly is in the final year of her program – a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Psychology Major and Honours Research Specialization – and she is looking forward to traveling before attending graduate school.

During her first year at UBC Okanagan, Karly was an Advocacy Representative with the Students’ Union and welcomed guests and students to the campus as a Campus Activities Desk Assistant. Since then, Karly has held various leadership positions on campus, including Safewalk Coordinator, Dance Instructor, Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, Collegia Assistant, and the Undergraduate Representative for the Canadian Psychology Association. Karly has applied her passion for leadership internationally, as well. In 2012 she led a team of 9 UBC students to Haiti to help build a classroom. With that, she has delivered several workshops and presentations on how to coordinate an international student volunteer trip. When Karly isn’t on campus or traveling abroad, she is likely trying to be a master chef in the kitchen while singing off-key to her favourite songs.

Karly believes leadership conferences offer an amazing opportunity to grow, learn, and develop as both a student leader and a person. As a UBC delegate and presenter at the CCSL in 2011, Karly is excited to be a co-chair for the 2013 Kelowna conference!

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• Susana Baez

• Co-Chair: Programs

Susana arrived at UBC Okanagan back in 2009 all the way from Ecuador. She is originally from Colombia and is currently in her 4th year of a Bachelor of Management degree. The best thing that has happened to her is getting involved on campus starting in her 2nd year and meeting most of her current friends throughout the process. She admits that getting involved on campus through various leadership roles has definitely opened many doors as well as has helped cultivate some great life-long friendships!

Susana’s leadership experience began in her 2nd year as a Student Initiatives Facilitator for the Disability Resource Centre where she helped plan several events aimed at raising awareness about the different services offered by the DRC to both students with and without a disability. She joined the JumpStart program in the summer of 2011 as a team leader and had the opportunity to welcome new international students to campus and to beautiful Okanagan! Susana joined the First-Year Experience Program in her 3rd year as a Management Peer Mentor, where she provided ongoing mentorship to a group of first-years to ease their transition to uninversity. Currently, she is the International Peer Mentor Coordinator for the First-Year Experience Program and she also takes a seat in the Okanagan Senate as Senator at Large.

Susana is excited to help host the Canadian Conference on Student Leadership and is honoured to be a co-chair for this year’s conference in Kelowna, BC!

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• Brandon Bates

• Co-Chair: Sponsorship

Brandon came to UBCO in 2009, with the original intent of going to medical school. Now currently in his 4th year studying microbiology, he wants to peruse a career in medical laboratory science. Brandon is greatly involved on campus and is often found running off to another meeting.

Brandon first applied to be a residence advisor after his first year of university because his RA’s were so great in making his new community he lived in a home. He wanted to create that same welcoming community and be able to give his residents the best year that they could have. The next year Brandon re-applied to residence life as a senior residence advisor and has been working as a senior residence advisor for the last two years. As well as being a senior residence advisor he applied to work in the collegia. At UBCO there are 5 different collegias around campus, each catering to off campus/commuter students. Brandon really enjoyed working in the collegia because it gave him a connection with on campus students as well as students who live off campus. Brandon has also help plan UBCO Student Leadership Conference last year. Brandon and the team of UBCO delegates presented and actively participated in the CCSL at the University of Calgary last year, being able to attend and present at a national conference has definitely help refine his leadership skills.

If you cant find Brandon running around from meeting to meeting, in the winter, he is usually playing hockey out on the schools pond with his friends, or like every other university student studying and prepping for midterms or final exams. Brandon is really stoked to be able to organize and participate in this years CCSL.

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• Laura Blackwell

• Co-Chair: Sponsorship

Born and raised in North Vancouver BC, Laura Blackwell is in her fourth and final year as Management student specialized in marketing at UBC Okanagan. Laura has attended UBC Okanagan for the duration of her degree and loved every minute of campus life and what the Okanagan location has to offer; however she can’t wait for the many adventures that await her post-grad.

Laura has been passionate about her campus involvement and leadership since 2011 when first applying for a Peer Mentor position through campus life. Since then, Laura has spent the past two years involved in Campus life as, first a Peer Mentor and presently a Peer Mentor Team Leader for the Faculty of Management. Laura has also enjoyed leading first year students around campus while answering their many questions as an orientation leader in 2011 and 2012. Furthermore, Laura has been heavily involved with the UBC Okanagan JDC West business case competition team, first competing academically on the Management Information Systems team in 2012 and then as an International
Business academic competitor as well as the Vice President of Academics on the executive. In 2013, Laura is looking forward to hosting the 2nd Annual Freshman Year Case Competition at UBC Okanagan. If you can’t find Laura on campus she is most often found out for a run in the beautiful Kelowna trails, spending time with friends, or shopping online!

Laura could not be more excited to be a part of hosting the 2013 CCSL and cannot wait to see what fellow Canadian student leaders bring to the table!

• Greg Mather

• UBC Liason

Greg is relatively new to Kelowna and UBC’s Okanagan Campus, joining the Campus Life department in July as the Coordinator, First Year Experience Program. Previous to the move to the Okanagan, Greg worked in Residence Life at Bishop’s University and Simon Fraser University. He is thrilled to be working with amazing student co-chairs to put on a great conference for leaders from across Canada!

Greg is excited to meet student leaders from across Canada. Conversation and humour are very important aspects of his outlook on leadership and he can’t wait to share the ups and downs of being a leader and perhaps sharing some laughs along the way at the Canadian Conference on Student Leadership (you’ll definitely hear him before you see him!).

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• Jacqueline Beaulieu

• UBC Liason

Jacquie is a proud UBC alumna and the Acting Manager for Campus Life, Commuter Services and Student Engagement at UBC’s Okanagan Campus. As a UBC student, Jacquie was involved in the planning committee for the annual Student Leadership Conference in Vancouver. It remains amongst her favourite memories and she is thrilled to lead another group of UBC students through the process of planning a leadership conference.

Jacquie is passionate about leadership education. Currently, she is the lead facilitator for the Path Leadership Education Program at UBC’s Okanagan Campus. She has worked on similar projects and conferences at Michigan State University and Western University. She is looking forward to her first Canadian Conference on Student Leadership Experience and welcoming Canadian students to UBC and beautiful Kelowna, BC!

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