VISOA Board of Directors 2023
Celebrating 50 Years 1973-2023
Wendy Wall, President
Wendy has served on VISOA’s board of directors since 2013, as treasurer and president, as well as marketing and social media chair. As a graphic designer, she enjoys lending a hand with the design of graphics for VISOA’s Bulletin, emails, events and marketing materials. Wendy enjoys presenting webinars and workshops to assist strata owners with the management of their strata corporations. Now in her 11th year serving as a strata council member, she often refers to herself as a strata geek, and enjoys her free moments reading CRT decisions.
John Grubb, Vice President
John joined VISOA as a business member in 2004. His strata corporation has been a member since 2009, the same year that John became a strata owner. He has served as vice president on his strata council since that year, and as VISOA’s vice president since 2020. As a strata maintenance consultant, his knowledge of strata operations and depreciation reports provides a depth of knowledge and experience that benefits VISOA’s board and members.
André de Leebeeck, Treasurer
André has been a strata owner since 2001 and has served as president of his strata council. He has also served on VISOA’s board of directors since 2020, now in his second year as treasurer. André is a professional engineer and holds an ICD.D designation, from the Institute of Corporate Directors, which represents a commitment to good governance and ethical representation in the boardroom.
George Fisk, Member at Large
George is a retired lawyer and a former adjunct professor in the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. He has been a Lecturer in Law for several other universities and for the World Intellectual Property Organization. George has been a strata owner for 37 years in three provinces and has served on council numerous times. He has also served on many boards over the years. He is a former president of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, and is currently president of the Probus Club of Oak Bay. George was elected to VISOA’s board of directors in 2022.
Jim Griffith, Member at Large
James (Jim) Griffith, B.A, M.Ed.) spent 35 years working in post secondary education and retired from the University of Victoria as Vice President External Relations. Jim was the Director of Operations for UVIC for the 1994 Commonwealth Games. Jim has served on local, national and international professional organizations and has taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and worked in the area of Faculty and Staff Development. An active community member, Jim has served on the Boards of numerous cultural, non-profit, and educational associations. His lifetime work has been with people, enhancing their experiences and enabling them to be the best they can be. Jim has lived in a strata for the past 12 years and has held several positions on council.
David Stinson, Member at Large
David has been a member of VISOA since 2010 and a regular attendee at seminars and workshops ever since. For nearly a decade, he served as a strata council member in positions including secretary and president. David joined VISOA’s board of directors in 2020 to give back to VISOA members from his council experience. David is a member of VISOA’s Strata Support Team.
Geraldine Svisdahl, Member at Large
Geraldine recently retired to Vancouver Island after decades of living on the mainland. She was a Strata Property Manager for over 40 years and brings a wealth of experience to the VISOA board. She has also served on several strata councils as both President and Treasurer and is a past President of PAMA.
Office Staff:
Our Office Administrator, Cindy, and Office Assistant, Donna, process memberships, manage the database, and answer members’ queries regarding membership benefits, renewals and payments. They also coordinate our quarterly bulletin and advertising, email newsletter, website updates, publications sales, and preparations for workshops and seminars.
Cindy Young, Office Administrator
Cindy (she/her) joined VISOA as Office Administrator in November of 2018. She has over 30 years of professional customer service experience and is dedicated to client satisfaction. She has resided in Victoria with a series of delightful & interesting cats for over 20 years and respectfully acknowledges she is an uninvited guest in the territory of the Songhees, Esquimalt, and W̱sáneć Nations. She has a somewhat jackdaw curiosity about human behaviour and the world around her and is always interested in what is going to happen next.
Donna Salmon, Administrative Assistant
Donna has been a valued member of VISOA’s team since 2015. She performs a wide range of duties including processing memberships and answering questions about memberships by email and phone.