Leila Bell-Irving Grauer ’77
Principal BLDG Partnerships

Leila (pictured right) has dedicated her entire career to building strategic corporate alliances. She was the President, Regional Health Enterprises, with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority building strategic partnerships in the healthcare sector. For seven years was the Vice President of Business for the NHL Canucks, NBA Grizzlies. Leila was the Director of Business Development for Jim Pattison Publishing. For over a decade she has been the Principal of BLDG Naming Rights & Partnerships delivering partnerships and record-breaking revenue results for clients across a broad spectrum of private and public sectors. 

Stephanie Grauer ’15
Partnerships | Blockchain and Web3 | Olympian

Stephanie (pictured left) currently resides in San Francisco where she is working in Blockchain and Web 3.0 building strategic B2B partnerships. Stephanie is an Olympic athlete who represented Canada in rowing, and qualified for and medaled for the World Games for three consecutive years. Steph is a fourth-generation CHS legacy alumna who is familiar with the importance of being agile as you set goals for yourself. 

CEO & Founder Quantum Lifestyle Consulting - Personal Development Industry

As a former Registered Nurse and Sales Trainer, and backed by decades of knowledge in human potential and growth, Jillian is a Personal Development Coach / Mindset Mentor and the CEO & Founder of Quantum Lifestyle Consulting.

Adhering to the adage “Your vibe is your tribe”, Jillian helps clients move beyond fear and perceived limits to maximize their potential, then take action to create the life they really want.

Jillian's mentoring is typically done online. She loves working with clients from around the world, conducting Masterclasses through social media, and offering in-person speaking engagements for groups.

Over the years, Jillian has started three small businesses while raising two daughters who are now 18 and 20. She lives in West Vancouver, loves to travel, and finds her true happiness in the relaxed West Coast vibe.

Jillian knows firsthand how liberating it feels to change your mindset, get unstuck and start living the life you truly want. As a Mindset Mentor, Jillian is passionate about helping others do the same.
 

Director of Development and Sustainability, Real Estate

Sarah Bingham is the Director of Development and Sustainability at a multifamily real estate company in Vancouver. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, with a major in Sociology and minors in Political Science and Spanish. She received a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from Queen’s University and is now a Registered Professional Planner. Sarah has worked in the real estate industry for over a decade, focusing on multifamily residential communities in B.C.'s Lower Mainland. While Sarah is now in a career that she is passionate about, she took a circuitous route to get there, including many changes to her declared major at university, working in unrelated temporary roles, and traveling overseas. Although it likely caused her parents anxiety, these detours along her path strengthened the qualities required in her current role. Outside of work, Sarah can usually be found outdoors, enjoying the forests and oceans of B.C.

Investment Banking Analyst, Scotiabank

Sabrina is an Investment Banking Analyst at Scotiabank, where she helps companies grow through debt and equity financing and mergers and acquisitions. Sabrina graduated from Crofton in 2017, and went on to pursue her BCom degree from the UBC Sauder School of Business. At UBC she was a part of the co-op program, led the UBC Strategy Consulting Initiative (SCI), and TA’ed over 1,000 students. One of her favourite quotes is Wayne Gretzky's quote, “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” This mindset has propelled her to learn to be comfortable with the unknown and has taken her to Kenya where she taught entrepreneurship in the township of Kibera, to Victoria where she founded an internal podcast series for the pension fund BCI at the onset of the pandemic, and to the bustling entrepreneurial ecosystem here in Vancouver as a Venture Student Analyst as part of the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL).

Crown Counsel, BC Prosecution Service

Damienne Darby grew up in Vancouver and graduated from CHS in 1987. She completed her B.A. in English and Philosophy at Queen’s University, followed by her LL.B. at UBC. After completing articles at a civil litigation firm in Vancouver, Damienne followed her interest in criminal law and became a Crown prosecutor. She has worked at the Ministry of Attorney General (now BC Prosecution Service) since her call to the Bar in 1998. Damienne has prosecuted a variety of matters in BC Provincial Court and Supreme Court, focusing on sexual assault, exploitation and human trafficking cases. In 2014, she had the privilege of representing Canada at a United Nations Expert Group Meeting on human trafficking in Vienna and contributed to the resulting publication on the definition of exploitation in the HT provisions of the Criminal Code. Damienne is currently on secondment with the Organized and Major Crime section and has recently completed a lengthy jury trial involving a gang-related murder.
 

Third Year Medical Student - UBC

Julia is currently a third-year medical student at UBC. After graduating in 2015, she decided to head to the University of Ottawa, a place where she knew absolutely nobody. While she was there, she was a member of the Varsity Track and Field team and was able to make some lifelong friends. Throughout her kinesiology degree, she had her sights set on a career in medicine. Despite her best efforts and some family health challenges, she was unsuccessful in her first attempt and was left for the first time without a concrete plan about what to do next. She eventually made her way to UBC to work as a research assistant, which gave her time for self-reflection, exploring her passions, and redeveloping her love for running. She re-applied to medical school and was accepted at UBC, her first choice.

Corporate Development, Training and Research Manager, Louis Brier Home and Hospital 

When I became a registered nurse, I felt like the possibilities for my career were limitless. As I became specialized in oncology, as much as I loved the work, it became obvious that this specialization was also a constraint to career growth. I had only been in my master's program for a few months when the pandemic began. This new reality made me re-evaluate how I saw how I could contribute to improving healthcare delivery. Making the pivot from oncology to systems improvement in long-term care was huge, and continues to be a steep and rewarding learning curve. If you want to explore agility in health care delivery, the decision to pursue graduate school, or just learn about if a career in health care is right for you, please join me.

Medicine

After graduating from Crofton, Nikola was faced with a decision between pursuing a bachelor's in biochemistry or choosing direct entry medicine at the age of 18. Although she has always been interested in sciences, pursuing a career in Medicine only began in grade 11. Wanting to further explore this career and take on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she got out of her comfort zone and attended medical school at Queen’s University Belfast. Nikola was immediately immersed into a hospital environment in her first year, adapting to the responsibilities of a future doctor. With the pandemic emerging, Nikola’s second year ended abruptly due to lockdown and uncertainty around safety. Instead of returning to Canada, Nikola decided to become a front-line healthcare worker to assist the healthcare service. From 2020 to 2022, she has worked as a Health Care Aide, COVID vaccinator, and contact tracer for the National Public Health Agency. In the Fall of 2020, Nikola returned to the hospital as a student doctor. During her medical career, she has been able to experience the pressures of the pandemic while also assisting in the care of patients. Nikola is now in her final year and will be qualifying in March 2023.

Self-employed physician/entrepreneur

Bryn Hyndman ‘96 is a family doctor, whose career made a swift about-face at age 29, a year after her graduation from naturopathic medical school. Bryn’s new medical studies took her to the Caribbean and the US, then finally home to Canada. She completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Ottawa and moved back home to British Columbia with her husband and their twin boys in 2015. Bryn has a concierge integrative medical practise in Vancouver where she strives to blend the best of both conventional and non-mainstream medical care. She is passionate about lifestyle medicine and enjoys helping others to expand the limits of their comfort zones, physically and mentally. When she’s not working, you might find Bryn and her husband corralling their twin sons for outdoor activities or adventures—come rain, snow, or shine. With two active boys, she has also become a master at dodging Nerf gun bullets!

Partner, Clark Wilson LLP

Katie is a lawyer specializing in insolvency and restructuring law. Her practice involves assisting clients with resolving challenges that arise from businesses in distress and uncertain times and providing advice to help clients save resources, preserve businesses and protect interests. When a business is impacted by events such as COVID-19, restructuring may be the difference between the business' demise and its recovery. Katie also has a fraud and asset recovery practice, acting in high-profile Ponzi scheme cases.

Her practice area is always changing, fast-paced and involves different areas of law, from closing corporate transactions to appearing in court.

Katie is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania (Bachelors of Arts, Economics and Communications) and of University of Victoria (Juris Doctor, Law).
 

Head of RA Product Development and Marketed Products, Nobel Biocare

Bernice heads the regulatory affairs department for product development at Nobel Biocare, one of the leading dental restoration companies in the world. Although she holds a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and a doctorate in biomedical engineering focused in spinal research, she started her professional career as a product manager for DePuy Synthes (Johnson & Johnson), spending time in operating rooms, teaching surgeons how to operate instruments and working together with them to develop implantable devices. Five years later she ventured into regulatory affairs. Through the journey, Bernice has found herself settled in Zurich, Switzerland, enjoying dinner conversations with her husband and two daughters in a mix of English, Swiss German and German. She started long-boarding in her forties, windsurfing in her thirties and snowboarding in her twenties. She continues to teach pottery and mentors post-graduates at McGill University and the Society for Women Engineers. 

Sr. Director, Television Research at Paramount

Stephanie has always had a passion for the arts and entertainment and moved to NYC after graduating from CHS to pursue those interests. Stephanie graduated from New York University with a major in Media, Culture, and Communication and a minor in Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology. Throughout university, she explored the media industry through internships in theatre, fashion, and television, and in different roles of marketing, press, programming, and research. She found herself drawn to entertainment research as it tapped into her analytical skills and natural curiosity. Stephanie is currently a Senior Director of Research at Paramount, working on brands such as MTV and VH1. She focuses on consumer insights for unscripted television content and previously worked in analytics assessing performance and audience metrics. The constantly evolving television landscape and having to rethink methodologies and reassess consumer interests and behaviours are what continues to excite Stephanie about her work. Outside of work, Stephanie loves going to the theatre and traveling, and is co-chair of the Advertising Research Foundation's Young Pros Advisory Board. Stephanie has co-hosted many CHS alumnae gatherings in New York and always welcomes alumnae to reach out to connect with the New York CHS community.

Retail, Space Planning Specialist

I am a Space Planning Specialist for Home Decor & Home Organization at Canadian Tire. As a student at Crofton House, I gravitated heavily towards the Textiles and Visual Arts classes with a career focus of being in the fashion industry one day. After graduating in 2011, I ended up majoring in Retail Management at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University. I graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Minor in Fashion Studies. Studying business was an unexpected, but fulfilling turning point that prompted me to use all sorts of skill sets I didn't know I had or hadn't yet tapped into. I am proud to represent Canadian Tire and the ever-changing retail industry. Today, my goals are to leverage both analytical and creative skills for the next steps in my career and I want to help others achieve the same.

Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Ratana International

Joanna graduated from the University of British Columbia, then went on to study Law at City University in London which was followed by a master's degree in corporate and commercial law at Cornell University. After an extensive career in law which saw Joanna progress from her first job at Shearman & Sterling in New York, where she represented financial institutions and public and private corporations, she joined Japan Tobacco International in Hong Mong as their Asia Pacific Legal Counsel before joining CitiBank as the Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel. In January 2016, Joanna left her legal career to join Ratana as their Head of Business Development.

Joanna joined the family business to spearhead the brand’s efforts in business development and global expansion making it one of the leading outdoor furniture manufacturers in North America. Since joining Ratana, Joanna’s efforts have been focused on business development working with large institutional clients like the Marriott, Hilton, MGM hotel group, cruise lines like Royal Caribbean and Princess cruises as well as corporate coffee chains like Starbucks. Joanna has often been quoted for her expertise in design in a number of publications like the Wall Street Journal and the Vancouver Sun. Ratana is now one of the leading outdoor furniture brands in North America.

Director, Real Estate Corporate Finance at BMO 

Giving advice on how I navigated my career path, which was knowing what factors I was looking for in a job rather than exactly what the job would be.
Happy to connect with those navigating the finance world in Canada.

Deloitte, Consulting - Organization Transformation

Katie graduated from Crofton in 2013 and pursued a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Guelph, majoring in Tourism Management to merge her love of people and culture with business. After graduating, she spent three years at Expedia managing a portfolio of lodging accounts. Katie's desire for greater challenges led her to an MBA at the Ivey Business School, where she discovered that the project-based nature of consulting work matched her interests. Katie is currently a Consultant at Deloitte, where each day brings new challenges and opportunities. She believes that adaptability is one of her greatest character traits and thrives outside of her comfort zone professionally and personally. Katie has worked as an elf in Santa’s workshop on Grouse Mountain, served desserts in a chocolate café in Australia, and acted as an extra in Apple TV's SEE. Recently, Katie learned to golf and lead climb and is currently training for a five-day mountaineering expedition in the Canadian Rockies.

Management consulting, marketing and entrepreneurship

Susan grew up in Vancouver but, post-CHS, has lived and worked throughout North America and Europe.
 
Equally good at arts and sciences, she pursued a Liberal Arts degree at Vassar where she dual-majored in
Economics and Psychology − pseudosciences that satisfied
both interests.

Post-graduation, to explore her interest in business, she joined a management consulting firm in Washington, DC where she worked for Fortune 500 companies, across many industries and functions, sometimes delivering CEO-level presentations. Then, to see if she could create something, instead of just giving advice, she co-founded a top London (England) restaurant.
 
To facilitate a career change, Susan got an MBA from Wharton, which she picked because it topped league tables at the time and had the most international students, making it useful wherever she moved. There, Susan confirmed her passion for marketing through a brand management internship at Pepsi and projects for AstraZeneca and Centocor. Upon returning to Europe, she spent nearly a decade in senior marketing and sales roles at Johnson & Johnson and six years at a communications agency serving
large multinationals. Now she’s a freelance marketing consultant for select clients, but spending most of her time writing novels – a lifelong ambition of hers!

Digital Producer - Food Network Canada, Media Industry

After graduating from CHS, Jules attended Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) to study RTA: Media Production. In her university career, she directed and produced multiple multi-camera and live productions including a live show in collaboration with 3 international universities. Additionally, she went on a 3-week intensive exchange to Los Angeles at UCLA, and interned at both CBC News and CityLine. Jules graduated with distinction and a concentration in Television and Video. 

Upon graduation, Jules worked on freelance projects for a year before starting contract positions. She has worked for companies such as the Toronto International Film Festival, Netflix, and the Banff World Media Festival. She specializes in VIP guest management and Digital Production but has also held positions such as Production Assistant, Festival Coordinator, and Social Media Manager. 

Currently, Jules works as the Digital Producer for Food Network Canada.

Project Engineer, Peter Kiewit

I graduated from Crofton thinking I was meant to be an environmental scientist, and along the way, I learned a few things and I’m now happier than ever and working as an engineer in the construction industry. I started and completed a degree in environmental sciences, and it was along that journey that I realized that being an engineer was what I was meant to be doing. It’s not an easy decision to graduate from university and choose to immediately return to university, but I’m grateful that made that decision. I did a degree in materials engineering as I thought I wanted to work more with composite parts (airplanes, hockey sticks, carbon bikes, etc.), but I somehow ended up in construction. Engineering is a field not full of enough women, and there are even fewer in the construction industry. I am actively working with programs both inside and outside of work that make the effort to educate girls on engineering and construction. When I’m not working, you can find me doing almost anything.