About Us : 2008 President's Message

Sustainable Calgary 2008 AGM

Good evening and welcome to the 2008 Sustainable Calgary Annual General Meeting. Thank you for attending and I hope you have been enjoying yourselves and for those of you that are new, have had the chance to meet the present and past Board our paid staff, and the others here tonight that have contributed to this great organization.

My name is Russell Koehler and I have been President of the Sustainable Calgary Board for the past three years. In that time I have had the opportunity to work with some great people.

My experience with Sustainable Calgary has showed me that every one of us has a part to play in bringing about positive change in our community. Just by being here tonight you are contributing to that change. All of you are here because you support what Sustainable Calgary stands for, and believe that we are promoting positive change within our city.

Our Board, Staff, Members, and volunteers, bring energy and passion to Sustainable Calgary, and all have the desire to make a difference. Each of us brings our own skills, and our own ideas, as we come together under a common vision – to make Calgary a more sustainable place to live and work.

Our organization is successful and effective because of this energy and passion. I would like to take a minute to thank those that have done such a great job over the past year:
•    Ivan Robinson (Vice President)
•    Shaad Oosman (Treasurer)
•    Gina Hoar (Secretary)
•    Andy Stegmann (website development)
•    Lesley Matthews (Business Plan)
•    Colleen McCracken (Executive Director)
•    Traci Gourlay (Community Engagement Facilitator)
•    Noel Keough (Senior Researcher)

As in life, Sustainable Calgary is also constantly changing as we say goodbye to two Board Members and welcome new ones for 2008. Ivan, Lesley, Gina  and Andy are stepping down from the Board but I hope will remain connected to the organization. These two have been an important part of the growth we have gone through over the past few years and will be missed.

This is an exciting time for Sustainable Calgary as we welcome eight new members to the board. On behalf of Sustainable Calgary I would like to welcome Alina, Bryon, Tony, Chris, Usha, Bob, Richard and Noel.

Before we move on to the next part of the AGM, I would like to give a big thank you to our sponsors from the past year. We would not be able to function as an organization if it were not for these groups:
•    Alberta Ecotrust
•    United Way of Calgary and Area
•    The Calgary Foundation