The Whistler Waldorf School Board of Trustees is responsible for the school’s fiscal, legal, and structural health. Comprised of elected professionals and community parents along with up to three College of Teacher’s appointed faculty members, the Board of Trustees is a group of leaders who have an affinity to Waldorf education, the Whistler Waldorf School, and are able to make critical business decisions pertaining to the governance of the school that enable it to continue to grow and support its students, faculty, and administrative staff.
Make a Difference
Being a board member of Whistler Waldorf School is an honour, and the job comes with great responsibility. The Board looks for individuals with interpersonal and professional skills to assist in the governance of the School and who feel passionate about the school’s academic and extracurricular strengths, its strategic plan, and supporting its leadership.
Interested in learning more about the responsibilities and time requirements of a Board member and nomination? Please contact the Board Secretary.
(Last updated: October 2023)
Erik Wallsten
Board Chair
Erik Wallsten has two daughters enrolled in the Whistler Waldorf and is proud to offer guidance as Board Chair. Erik was the Founder and Managing Partner of Adobe Capital, one of Latin America’s leading impact investment fund managers and now part of Vancouver-based Deetken Impact.
Over the last decade, he has played a catalytic role in the growth of the impact investing sector in Latin America. Before launching Adobe Capital, he worked at various private equity and venture capital funds in Mexico. Erik received an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering with Honors from Universidad Iberoamericana.
Desmond Kingsford
Treasurer, Trustee
Des and his family moved to Whistler in 2018 from London England and has three kids in the school. He got to know Whistler in his younger years as a former ski racer from Alberta, and enjoys skiing, biking and most of all, the tightly knit, fun loving community that is Whistler.
Des runs Highwood Value Partners, a boutique investment management firm out of Whistler. He has a CFA and is a graduate of Cambridge University (MA in Philosophy) and McGill University (B.Comm).
Jeff Rosen
Principal
Jeff Rosen has over 30 years of experience in Education and is thrilled to be joining the Whistler Waldorf community. Most currently, he was the Assistant Head of School/Senior School Principal at York House in Vancouver. Prior to that, he served three years as Director of Teaching, Learning and Innovation at American School of Lima, and twelve years first as Middle School Principal and then Deputy Head of School at the Shanghai American School.
Jeff has also worked as a classroom teacher in Canada, Mali, China and Mexico. Jeff earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Concordia University, a Masters degree in Ethnic Studies and Educational Issues from the University of Toronto, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Western Ontario. His wife is a teacher at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver and he has two sons enrolled at UBC. He currently volunteers at the Vancouver Food Bank and is a phone responder for the Canadian Crisis Center. Jeff is one of a handful of Canadians who has completed a marathon on all seven continents and loves hot yoga, scuba diving and skiing.
Brian Gohlke
Director of Business and Finance
Mr. Gohlke joined WWS in 2015 as the Grade 7 teacher. Brian was a class teacher at the Vancouver Waldorf School since 2007, taking a class from Grade 2 – 7 and then another class for Grade 7 and 8. Brian has a BA in Economics and International Business and a Diploma in Rudolf Steiner Education, having completed his Waldorf teacher training in New Zealand in 2006. Previous to his work as a Waldorf teacher, Brian worked as a class teacher for eight years at a school in Taiwan.
Mollianne Reynolds
Faculty-Appointed Trustee, Grade 1 Teacher
Ms. Reynolds is caring, creative and dedicated. She combines a firm hand with a sense of humour to make her an adored teacher and faculty member. Mollianne attended Waldorf schools in Vancouver, Germany and Toronto, and after a few years in the health and vitamin industry and at a bio-dynamic farm, she decided to become a Waldorf teacher herself. With a Bachelor’s degree in English under her belt already, she completed a 2-year Waldorf Teacher Training program at the world’s first Waldorf Teacher Training Institute in Stuttgart, Germany.
Mollianne joined Whistler Waldorf in 2004 as a class teacher for a Grade 6 to 7 before taking on a Grade 1 in 2006. After taking this class to Grade 6 and another class from 2-4, she most recently indulged her creative side, focussing on the handwork curriculum from grades 1-7. She looks forward to returning to class teaching with Grade One this year. In addition to exploring the fabric arts, Mollianne enjoys creating in chalk, watercolour, pencil and sometimes even music. When not at school, she can be found inventing children’s stories and cuddling with her two dogs in Pemberton
PJ O’Heany
Head of Facilities
Originally from Toronto but bred on a cricket oval in Australia, PJ graduated from Deakin University in Australia with a Bachelors of Commerce degree in International Marketing. After moving to Whistler, PJ O’Heany took a turn from the business world and through his love of teaching skiing, created YES Tours in Whistler. YES has since certified over 3,000 students through the instructor training program as well as having more than 5,000 skiers & boarders enjoy weekly improvement programs.
PJ and his wife have two children – Savannah, now at University of Victoria and Aiden, a WWS 2018 graduate now attending McGill. Both Savannah and Aiden attended WWS since preschool.
Karen Potter
Trustee
Originally from Sydney, Australia, Karen has resided in Whistler since 1998, and currently works with businesses in the Sea to Sky corridor as a Human Resources Consultant.
Prior to this, Karen held several HR management roles, including at Whistler Blackcomb, VANOC, Tourism Whistler, and hotels including Black Rock Oceanfront Resort and L’Hermitage.
Karen specializes in recruitment, training, performance management, strategic planning, and systems implementation. Karen has served on the Board for Whistler Community Services Society, as well as represented Whistler Blackcomb through the Canada West Ski Areas Association.
Karen and her husband have two children who both currently attend Whistler Waldorf in the Lower School.
Julie Persofsky
Trustee
Julie, originally from Toronto, joined the Whistler community in 2020 with her 3 children, all of whom are proud students of the Whistler Waldorf School. Like many of us, Julie is drawn to the outdoor wonders of Whistler, indulging in activities such as skiing, biking, and hiking. Beyond her adventurous spirit, Julie also has a knack for comedy and is known to frequent local stand-up comedy events, including the Laugh Out Live and the Big Host Comedy Show.
Professionally, Julie leads a boutique consulting firm dedicated to transforming companies and accelerating their revenue potential through sales and customer success.
Sherry Hilliard
Trustee
For over 13 years, Sherry Hilliard has had two children enrolled at the Whistler Waldorf and has been an active part of the school community seeing them through kindergarten to high school graduation. Her own journey began as a parent volunteer and transitioned through roles as a class parent and an active PAC member. Now, as the Secretary of the Board of Trustees, Sherry is committed to ensuring that the school continues to offer the same invaluable experiences to families now and in the future. Professionally, Sherry co-owns Whistler Photo Safaris and has a background in the insurance industry. Her hands-on business insights, coupled with a BCom in Entrepreneurial Management from Royal Roads University, equip her with a unique skill set she’s excited to apply within the board through her legacy of dedication to the values and virtues of Whistler Waldorf.
Jake Power
Trustee
Jake grew up in the Lower Mainland and moved up to Whistler in 2016 with his wife and 3 kids. They came to Whistler for a fun year of skiing and stayed when they fell in love with the community.
Jake has been the managing director and principal shareholder of Power Wood Corp since 2011. Power Wood manufactures and exports custom wood products out of its location in Agassiz, BC. Jake is heavily involved in finance, change management, executive leadership, managing capital projects and customer, supplier, community and government relations in that business. He sits on several industry specific association boards and is passionate about growing continuously improving communication both within his organization and with how his organization interacts with other stakeholders in the industry and community.
Jake and his wife Christie have 3 children in lower years school who absolutely love the Whistler Waldorf community.
Niki Vankerk
PAC Chair
Niki moved to Pemberton in 2009 and works as a Implementation Consultant specializing in Salesforce.com. She has been involved in many community organizations, running Slow Food Cycle for 8 years, managing Pemberton Farmers Market for 5 years and acting as League convenor for the Whistler Women’s Hockey League.
She has previously served on the board of the Howe Sound Women’s Centre and has been a member of the Whistler Waldorf PAC for 3 years. Niki and her wife have a son who has been at the school since Kindergarten and is currently in grade 5.
