Diefenbunker staff, volunteers, and Board Members gather for holiday party in the cafeteria.

The Diefenbunker museum is governed by a Board of Directors and led by an Executive Director. A full-time professional staff and a corps of volunteers attend, collectively, to the stewardship, vision, growth, and sustainability of this important organization.

Staff

Executive Team

The Diefenbunker's Executive Director Christine McGuire.

Christine McGuire
Executive Director
c.mcguire@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x222

The Diefenbunker's Executive and Administrative Assistant Carolyn Hunter.

Carolyn Hunter
Executive and Administrative Assistant
c.hunter@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x258

Accounting and Finance

The Diefenbunker's Finance Manager Lana Clouthier.

Lana Clouthier
Finance Manager
l.clouthier@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x238

The Diefenbunker's Reservations and Administrative Coordinator Jessica Huang.

Jessica Huang
Reservations and Administrative Coordinator
j.huang@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x227

Facilities

The Diefenbunker's Facilities and Project Manager Tobie Champion-Demers.

Tobie Champion-Demers
Facilities & Project Manager
t.champion-demers@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x265

Marketing and Communications

The Diefenbunker's Marketing and Communications Manager Jordan Vetter.

Jordan Vetter
Marketing & Communications Manager
j.vetter@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x274

The Diefenbunker's Digital Content Coordinator Emily Hobson.

Emily Hobson
Digital Content Coordinator
e.hobson@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x260

Curatorial 

The Diefenbunker's Curator Sean Campbell.

Sean Campbell
Curator
s.campbell@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x253

The Diefenbunker's Collections Coordinator Stefan Hiratsuka.

Stefan Hiratsuka
Collections Coordinator
s.hiratsuka@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x263

Operations

The Diefenbunker's Operations Manager Martha Boyd.

Martha Boyd
Operations Manager
m.boyd@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x225

The Diefenbunker's Reservations and Administrative Coordinator Jessica Huang.

Jessica Huang
Reservations and Administrative Coordinator
j.huang@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x227

The Diefenbunker's Programs, Events, and Rentals Coordinator Hailey Judd-Lunt.

Hailey Judd-Lunt
Programs, Events, and Rentals Coordinator
h.judd-lunt@diefenbunker.ca
613-839-0007 x228

The Diefenbunker's Team Supervisor --- Museum Guide Caleigh Cross.

Caleigh Cross
Team Supervisor – Museum Guide

The Diefenbunker's Team Supervisor — Museum Guide Chris Friesen.

Chris Friesen
Team Supervisor – Museum Guide

The Diefenbunker's Team Supervisor — Museum Guide Mary Summerby.

Mary Summerby
Team Supervisor – Museum Guide

Museum Guides
Aaron, Aidan, Alex, Arianna, Alysia, Bethany, Emily, Eric, Hailey H, Hayden, Jack, Jayde, Karine, Lindsay, Mariam, Owen

Board of Directors

Diefenbunker Chair Susan McLeod.

Susan McLeod, Chair

Susan McLeod has worked for more than 35 years in museums and heritage tourism. She has an undergraduate degree in archaeology/anthropology from Trent University and a graduate degree in museum studies from the University of Toronto.

Susan has worked both in the areas of museum research and collections and in exhibitions and programs. This rounded experience has instilled in her a deep appreciation of the need to balance protection and preservation of heritage resources with visitor learning and enjoyment.

Susan has worked at the Royal Ontario Museum, National Postal Museum and Canadian Museum of Civilization (now History). For many years she headed the interpretive planning department at the latter, giving her a central role in exhibition and program development.

After 25 years in museums, Susan took a position with Parks Canada, working with national parks and national historic sites to enhance the visitor experience of these iconic destinations. She now works as an independent, consulting in the fields of museum and heritage tourism with her company, Susan McLeod Solutions.

Susan is a fan of the Diefenbunker and delighted to join the board. Her previous volunteer activities have revolved around heritage, cultural and community activism, as well as schooling and sports activities related to her three children.

Joanne Charette, Vice-Chair

Until recently, Joanne was Vice-President, Corporate Strategy and Communications at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).  Prior to her time at IDRC, she was the Communications Advisor and Official Spokesperson to the 28th Governor General of Canada, David Johnston. Joanne is an accomplished, results-driven marketing and communications professional offering more than 30 years of experience in the field of public affairs, media relations, outreach, strategic planning and corporate governance.  She has more than 25 years as a senior executive in a Crown corporation. Joanne has knowledge of sound governance principles, having worked with many different boards, elected or appointed, as well as expertise in monitoring and evaluation of performance.

Kyle Morrow, Diefenbunker Board of Directors.

Kyle Morrow, Secretary

Kyle Morrow is a lawyer at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. He maintains a public law practice, focused primarily on political law, anti-bribery and corruption law, and criminal and quasi-criminal law.

He currently sits on the executive for the Canadian Bar Association’s Law of Lobbying and Ethics Committee and the board of directors for Lupus Ontario. He also currently teaches in the Clayton H. Riddell Graduate Program in Political Management at Carleton University. His university course focusses on parliamentary law and procedure, including on the concepts of parliamentary privilege and contempt.

Kyle holds a Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) from St. Francis Xavier University and a Juris Doctor (Common Law) from the University of Ottawa. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, writing, swimming, curling, scuba diving, hiking, and travelling.

Joe Brown, Treasurer

 A professional accountant since 1992, Joe was born and raised in Ottawa. He obtained his Bachelor of Commerce from Carleton University and later completed professional business courses at Queen’s University and Wharton Business School. After working for a chartered accounting firm, Joe spent 25 years in the Advanced Technology sector in a variety of finance related roles. For the last five years of his career, he was the Chief Financial Officer of MOSAID Technologies Incorporated, a publicly traded company on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Semi-retired, Joe does part-time virtual CFO work. 

Joe enjoys golfing, curling, travel and videography. Joe and Lori, his wife, live in Kanata, 

Colleen Kelley, Director

Colleen is the President of Management Consulting at Stratford Group. She is an experienced Board Director, executive and leader, with over 30 years of experience in strategy and accelerating companies to scale. As a CPA, Colleen brings deep financial insight to every role, providing Boards and her clients with calculated decision-making strength. 

Having led several organizations through major transformations, Colleen excels in helping organizations articulate vision, foster culture amidst chaos, build infrastructure, reach improved financial performance, and make the many difficult decisions that accompany growth and change. Highly perceptive, Colleen is an engaging leader with substantive skill in profit and loss management, customer orientation, program management and supply chain management. She also brings significant experience in M&A integration activities and leading organizations 

In her consulting role, she has been providing pragmatic support to private and public sector organizations and national associations in technology, healthcare, and retail market sectors and well as economic development accelerators. 

Daniel Livermore, Diefenbunker Board of Directors.

Daniel Livermore, Director

Daniel Livermore, Ph.D., was a foreign service officer and specialist in international affairs for more than three decades. In 2007 he became a Senior Fellow at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and from 2008 to 2016, he was a senior mentor in the National Security Program of the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, Ontario. In 2016, he became a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History at Trinity College, University of Toronto. In 2018, he published a book, “Detained:  Islamic Fundamentalist Extremism and the War on Terror in Canada.”, and in 2020 he published “Wandering Willie:  the Memoirs of William McDougall 1822-1905, Canada’s Forgotten Father of Confederation.”

Lorraine Mastersmith, Director

Lorraine Mastersmith is an Ottawa-based partner in Gowling WLG’s Corporate Commercial and Capital Markets Groups. Her practice focuses largely on corporate and securities law, with an emphasis on assisting emerging and established companies across a variety of sectors with commercial agreements, mergers & acquisitions and capital raising.

Lorraine is the Ottawa lead for the firm’s Blockchain and Smart Contracts Group. Over the course of her career both as in-house counsel and in private practice, Lorraine has assisted clients in raising hundreds of millions of dollars in financing from banks, angel investors, private equity and venture capital firms. With extensive experience in the listing of capital pool companies and the completion of qualifying transactions on the TSX Venture Exchange, she has acted as lead counsel on a number of listings and subsequent financings. Lorraine applies her business acumen to assist clients in the development of strategic plans and governance policies. She currently serves as an independent director and member of the Audit and Compensation Committees of Ross Video Limited.

Lorraine is actively involved as an Ottawa Regional Ambassador Council member for Women Get on Board, an organization devoted to the advancement of qualified women to corporate boards. She also volunteers her time with the executive committee of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation and the Queensway-Carleton Hospital Foundation.

Linda Nixon, Director

Linda Nixon has been a Human Resources Executive for the past 15 years and brings a wealth of knowledge, skills and experience to help build an excellent HR strategy, program and team. She is a solution-oriented Human Resources executive with progressive and expanding mandates focused on aligning people strategies to achieve business results. As a values-based leader, Linda believes and practices transparency and effective communication. She is recognized for her leadership competence, relationship building, people development, communications and strategic program implementation.

Linda has a passion for working with executives in creating meaningful, sustainable work environments that heighten employee engagement and drive desired business results. She is skilled at coaching leaders at all levels of the organization in understanding how their own beliefs, values and behaviours shape the culture of the organization and partners with them to co-create intentional and meaningful workplaces.

As a strategic HR consultant Linda has worked with a variety of organizations including those in the technology, retail, project management, government and social services sectors.

Heather Paszkowski, Diefenbunker Board of Directors.

Heather Paszkowski, Director

Heather Paszkowski is Vice-President, Corporate Strategy and Government Affairs, at the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum. She has a creative strategic vision and excellent insight into museum management to enhance the delivery of Museums mandates, strategies, and its operations. Heather also acts as the Museum’s Corporate Secretary.

Prior to holding this position Heather began her role with the Senior Executive Team as VP and Chief Operating Officer (COO). In that role she oversaw all front-line operations, including Visitor Services, IT/DT, Facility Management and Marketing and Commercial Operations. Throughout her 26-year career at the Museum, Heather has held several increasingly responsible roles in executive and management in operations-intensive sectors, including Senior Director, Facility Management, Corporate Security and Visitor Services. She has overseen the implementation of corporate re-structuring, capital investments and expenditures, and has introduced new systems to better manage operations and reduce spending while raising productivity, confidence, and value, Heather also champions the EDIA initiatives for the corporation and contributes to the strategic envisioning of the EDIA priorities. Heather has taken on multiple leadership roles in various departments including Visitor Engagement and Learning where she began her career at the Canadian Museum of History.

Through the oversight of diverse departments, she has gained a unique insight into thoughtful resource allocation, efficient operations, risk management and strategic project progression. She is constantly striving to improve operations, enhance our strategic visioning and increase employee satisfaction. Driven by a desire to help, inspire and develop others, she also enjoys giving back to the community through her volunteer work at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Ronald McDonald House.

Tim Redpath, Diefenbunker Board of Directors.

Tim Redpath, Director

Tim Redpath has been coaching CEOs, business owners, and organizational leaders for over 10 years and brings deep expertise and knowledge to the conversations. As a certified coach through CTI in California, he has worked with clients from San Francisco to Halifax and has amassed thousands of hours of coaching experience. He helps clients gain clarity on their leadership and personal goals, holds them accountable, and guides them to lead with compassion and imagine the future. Tim sees the keys to a successful coaching engagement as starting with desired outcomes; having regular, challenging conversations; maintaining honesty and transparency; and identifying and overcoming the tough mental roadblocks.

Prior to coaching, Tim spent most of his career in marketing, first as a senior executive leading marketing teams and later running his own consulting firm, Train of Thoughts. The firm provided marketing counsel and solutions in the areas of strategic planning, deep dive market research, marketing audits, market development and communications. Working with senior management teams in private and public sector organizations it offered critical business thinking, creative ideas, and applied marketing solutions.

Tim was a member of Board of Directors of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, 2008–2011 and in 2010 was elected Chair of the Board. From 2011–2018, he was a member of the Board of Governors of the Ottawa Community Foundation of Ottawa. In 2015, he was elected Chair of the Board and held that position for three years. From both positions he learned the vital importance of sound governance and fiduciary responsibility; the need for boards and staff to recognise their different roles and authorities; and the power of generating a consensus at the board table while allowing all voices to be heard.

Diefenbunker Board Member Ron Roedig.

Ron Roedig, Director

Ron brings considerable experience and expertise in facility design and project management to the Board.

Ron has worked for some of Ottawa’s top employers over his career, including: J.L. Richards, National Defence, Digital Equipment Corporation, and Colonnade Development.

In 2004, Ron opened his own consulting firm and offers custom solutions for all aspects of facility management, from marketing to implementation of services in the private and public sector in the Greater Ottawa area.

Ron has a strong sense of community, both personally and professionally, and has supported numerous local charities as a volunteer and a donor, as well as serving on various professional organizations as a volunteer.

Sandra Waechter, Diefenbunker Board of Directors.

Sandra Waechter, Director

Sandra Waechter has over 30 years of experience as a financial executive and consultant.  As a Consulting CFO, she provided financial executive and project management services to public and private companies, including serving as interim CFO of a NYSE-listed company.  She was CFO of an employee-owned multi-billion-dollar general construction contractor in Silicon Valley.  Early in her career, Sandra held senior finance and accounting roles at several technology companies in California and began her career at KPMG in Toronto.

She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of Bellwoods Centres for Community Living and Youth Employment Services and previously was a Board Member of the George Hull Centre for Families and Children.  She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA,CA) and holds an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. Sandra holds a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Toronto.

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