Alex Davidson, President

President & Board Chair

Alex became President and Chair of the Board in May 2024, after serving nearly five years as a regular board member. Alex is now in commercial banking with CIBC and has 17 years of experience with financial institutions – ranging from retail management, financial planning, and now commercial banking. Career opportunities brought Alex North bound several years ago. He wanted to give back to the community and make a difference where he and his family live, and he is especially motivated to action by the housing crisis in the North and wanted to use his financial expertise to help move Habitat for Humanity’s mission forward.

Alex is married with one six-year-old son, a cat, and a dog. In his free time, he spends time with his family going to Yellowknife’s parks, museum and the swimming pool while also watching and playing baseball and golf. Contact Alex at president@habitatnwt.ca.

David Hurley, Past President

Past President

Dave Hurley was one of the co-founders of the Northwest Territories affiliate of Habitat for Humanity in 2013 and served as Chair and president of the board until May 2024. He is retired from a long life of public service and has lived in the North for more than four decades, and is married with four daughters who were born and raised in the Northwest Territories.

Dave has dedicated his life and career to helping people and building his communities. His leadership has helped ensure the success of many organizations in the NWT including Sport North, the Arctic Winter Games, Elks Club, and Habitat for Humanity. Dave understands the power of collaboration and partnerships, and has been a strong advocate for the north, the youth, for affordable housing, and for his community. In 1982, Dave was selected as Sport Administrator of the Year by the Canadian Sport Council of Canada. Dave has been an Elks member for 28 years, raising funds for youth programs, scholarships, community infrastructure such as the Yellowknife Fieldhouse, medical equipment at Stanton Territorial Hospital, and the local air cadet squadron. In 2010, Dave was elected as National President of the Elks of Canada. In 2013, Dave was presented a Difference Maker Award by Rick Hansen Foundation for his work with Habitat for Humanity and establishing an affiliate Habitat chapter in the NWT. In 2015, Dave was inducted into the NWT Sports Hall of Fame in the Builder Category for his work in developing the Sport North Federation and promoting sport across the NWT. In 2016, Dave was recognized by the City of Yellowknife with an Outstanding Volunteer Award for his dedicated volunteer service to Habitat NWT.

In 2024, Habitat Canada recognized Dave’s lifetime of achievements by awarding him with the prestigious Terry Petkau Legacy Award, the highest honour for members of the national organization.

Robert Charpentier, Treasurer

Treasurer

Robert first moved to Yellowknife in 1978 for a job between university terms and ended up permanently moving to Yellowknife in 1982. He is an accountant with a long career in accounting and finance – working for MacKay & Partners for 8 years, then the City of Yellowknife for 14 years as the Budget Manager and Director of Finance, then at the Ekati Diamond Mine in various finance roles for the next 13 years, ending his career with the Diavik Diamond Mine after 5 years as part of the team looking at the closure aspect of the mine. He has been part of the board for more than a decade and was inspired by his father who volunteered for Habitat for Humanity in Alberta, so he decided to follow in his footsteps.

Newly retired, Robert enjoys travel, pickleball, golfing, time at his cabin, and of course volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.

Cory Vanthuyne, 1st Vice President

Cory Vanthuyne is the owner and principal consultant for CORVAN Consultants Ltd located in Yellowknife NT. Cory provides project management, owner’s representation, and quantity surveyor services to clients involved in various infrastructure developments throughout the north. He began working in the building construction industry in the late 80's and early 90’s as an apprentice carpenter and cabinet maker. Later he received an associate degree in business management and has been managing projects since 2003. Cory has been a member of the Project Management Institute since 2011. In recent years, his work has focused on owner representation aimed at mitigating risk and protecting the interests of owners that undertake significant capital projects. In that capacity, his primary clients have been various orders of government, private enterprise, Indigenous organizations, and non-profits.

Cory also has significant political experience having been an elected representative in both municipal and territorial politics and he also has considerable experience working with various boards and committees. In his leisure time Cory enjoys reading, long walks with his dog Gjoa, and tries to get out golfing and curling when he can.

Miriam Pallard, 2nd Vice President

Miriam has worked and lived in the Northwest Territories for more than 20 years and currently works in Labour Relations for the territorial public service. Miriam has a special appreciation for affordable homeownership and how it changes family’s lives: She experienced homelessness and then had an opportunity to purchase a home through a housing program. Then a single parent, this opportunity did a lot for her confidence and her life and provided a safe space for her to raise her young son.

Now married and a mother of three boys, Miriam previously chaired the Volunteer Committee and Family Services committee, working on family selection and closely with families on the amazing experience of becoming a homeowner. She knows how the feeling of home is empowering and wants to help others gain this feeling.

Dave Brothers

Mike Lowing

Mike began his working career with the Yellowknife Fire Department in 1984 and served over 24 years with the organization. During his time with the Fire Department, he spent 18 years in several leadership roles with 12 years spent as a Deputy Fire Chief.

In late 2008, Mike left the public service and became the Superintendent for Health & Safety at Diavik Diamond Mines. In 2013, he became the Head of Health & Safety for the Dominion Diamond Ekati Corporation which operated the Ekati diamond mine. In 2019, Mike changed careers and became the Director of Winter Road Operations for the Tibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road Joint Venture. He was responsible for the planning, construction and operation of the annual 400 kilometre ice road that supplies the three northern diamond mines.

Mike returned to remote mining in 2022 as the Business Partner (Manager) responsible for health, safety and environmental programming for the Rio Tinto Diavik Diamond Mines Inc. Currently he is a Principal Advisor – Health, Safety Environment (HSE) Systems at the Diavik Diamond Mines.

Mike is a lifelong resident of the Northwest Territories having lived in communities across the North and in Yellowknife since 1974. He joined Habitat for Humanity Northwest Territories to help address the challenges of affordable housing and homelessness in the North.

Dane Mason

Dane has had a successful career in the public service and is currently an Intergovernmental Relations Analyst with the territorial government. His expertise in policy, strategic planning, and experience in humanitarian international projects has been invaluable to the affiliate and he currently sits as the Chair of the Family Services Committee, working on family recruitment, selection, and family support.

Dane previously managed various humanitarian trips in the Dominican Republic and Haiti by recruiting and managing volunteer teams to build homes, medical clinics and schools in in 2006 and from 2009 to 2012. As part of this endeavour, he actively spearheaded planning and fundraising to make these build trips possible and built relationships with local families and communities. He is a strong believer in the Habitat model and the difference the Northwest Territories affiliate is having at the local level. Dane has also served as a long-time board member for Food First NWT.

Dane graduated from Dalhousie University with a BSc in 2008, and has a Masters of Public Administration, Risk Management from the University of Victoria (2014).

Kevin Sheedy

Kevin is a long time Habitat volunteer in Ontario and now in Yellowknife, where he and his wife have resided since 2019. He is a professional engineer licenced to work in Nunavut, The Northwest Territories and Ontario and also worked for over 20 years in commercial real estate finance having successfully underwritten and funded 462 loans across Canada totalling C$1 billion.

While at University, Captain Sheedy joined the Princess of Wales’ Own Regiment (PWOR) in the rank of Private. Commissioned in 1985 as an Infantry Officer, he completed officer training in Gagetown, New Brunswick in 1987 before returning to Toronto to work in civil engineering and heavy construction. Kevin first came north in 1990, when he was a platoon commander and was deployed to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. He served many years with the PWOR throughout his career and was promoted to Captain in 1997, officially retiring from the Canadian Army in 2022.

In his spare time, Kevin enjoys gardening, paddling, hockey, back-country skiing, enjoying the company of his family, watching the Toronto Scottish Rugby Football and Leaside Flames Hockey Clubs, and sailing the pristine waters of Great Slave Lake and elsewhere.

Julia Paille

Su-Ellen Dillabough

Director

Su-Ellen moved to Yellowknife in 1988, when her dad worked at Con Mine. She immediately fell in love with the North and has two daughters: Anita and Hilary. As a social worker who works closely with families, Su-Ellen understands well the challenges of poverty, both personally and professionally. She also personally struggled with housing insecurity as a single parent and was drawn to joining the Habitat for Humanity NWT team because she believes that the organizations’ actions are progressive, and that this type of support is essential to help underhoused families. She is grateful to support Habitat NWT and the people that are served and strongly believes that by working together, we are all better.

Shaun Dean

Shaun is a long-time Yellowknifer and former public servant with 30 years of experience in communications and policy development with the Government of the Northwest Territories. Before his retirement, Shaun held a number of senior communications roles in government, including ten years as director of Cabinet Communications, where he was responsible for providing political communications and issues management advice to the Premier and Ministers in three successive governments.

With a longstanding interest in the interaction of political processes, good government and social policy, Shaun believes strongly that we all must work together to create a fair, inclusive, and equitable society that cares for all its citizens and makes sure nobody gets left behind. He is particularly interested in person-centred approaches that bring communities together to solve local issues and challenges on their own terms, while building community and individual skills and capacity.

Shaun chose to get involved with Habitat for Humanity NWT because he believes that access to affordable, appropriate housing is a fundamental need for all people that contributes directly to the health and wellbeing of individuals and families, supports financial independence, and helps people succeed at school and in the workforce. He especially appreciates Habitat NWT’s commitment to working with individual families and believes its programs are a valuable complement to existing government programming by helping families that may not be able to benefit from government support progress along the housing continuum into homeownership.

Alayna Ward, Executive Director

Executive Director

Alayna is a mission-driven leader with nearly 20 years of combined experience in communications, fundraising, policy development and non-profit management. As a passionate believer that safe housing is a human right, she is proud to lead an organization providing affordable home opportunities to northern families. Alayna is focused on sustainable growth for the organization while increasing housing production and opportunities for families to become homeowners and build strength and stability through affordable home ownership.

Prior to joining Habitat for Humanity, Alayna held leadership positions in the public service and non-profits, and also provided consulting services to non-profit organizations and Indigenous governments, with a focus on bringing economic benefits and opportunities to communities.

Alayna has a BA from St. Thomas University (2003) and a Public Relations diploma from MacEwan University (2007).

Contact Alayna at executivedirector@habitatnwt.ca.

Tiffany Davidson, Manager, Homeowner Affiliate Services

Manager of Homeowner & Affiliate Services

Tiffany joined the Habitat for Humanity NWT team in August of 2022 as the Manager of Homeowner Services After 20 years in the financial industry, she decided to take a leap of faith and transition to the not-for-profit industry and couldn't be more thrilled to be part of the Habitat family. She takes great pride in assisting and supporting partner families along their home ownership journey and collaborating with community partners to provide relevant resources to help ensure the success of both Habitat families and of the NWT affiliates’ continued growth and success.

Tiffany has lived in Yellowknife for seven years and is married with one child, Nash, a Tabby cat, GusGus and a Northern Special dog Piper. In her spare time, she likes to research genealogy, cook, quilt, travel, see live music and being of Irish descent, have a good stout!

Contact Tiffany at familyservices@habitatnwt.ca.