DESTINATION GREATER VICTORIA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Darlene is the General Manager of The Bay Centre in downtown Victoria and has been employed in commercial property management for the past 25 years with Cadillac Fairview, Westcliff Property Management, 20Vic Management Inc. and most recently Cushwake Asset Services ULC. Darlene is passionate about Greater Victoria, which she has proven by volunteering to create change. Since joining Destination Greater Victoria in 2011, she has sat on numerous boards and committees, including those of Destination Greater Victoria, where she is currently Chair of the Board of Directors and also a past Chair of both the Governance, Human Resources and Risk Committee and also the Finance and Membership Committee.

Darlene is a member of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce Governors. She is the past Chair of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce (2013), Greater Victoria Economic Development Agency (2009-2014), and Downtown Victoria Business Association (2007-2009) where she served as a Board Member from 2005-2013. Darlene is Past President of BOMA Victoria (2009/10) and Board Member since 2006. Currently, she is a member of the International Shopping Centre Association, British Columbia Shopping Centre Association and International Downtown Association.

On the philanthropic side, Darlene is Chair of the Steering Committee for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation – Visions Gala since 2016. She has sat on numerous committees including the Mayor’s Task Force on Breaking the Cycle of Mental Illness, Addictions and Homelessness, is a past Board Member of the Leadership Council for the Greater Victoria Commission to End Homelessness and has been the United Way’s Workplace Community Advisory Chair for 2020.

Brett has been involved in tourism and hospitality since 1993, beginning at the Accent Inns and then moving on to the Delta Ocean Pointe Resort for eight years. Most recently, Brett is involved in the industry as co-owner and operator of Eagle Wing Tours Ltd. Eagle Wing operates year-round in the whale watching industry and Brett has been running tours since 1997, winning numerous awards and maintaining a #1 Trip Advisor ranking since 2007.

Brett has been heavily involved in many aspects of the business including marketing, web design, social media, networking, boat maintenance, office operations, staffing, reservations, and other. With a fine arts background, Brett also brings a creative element in thinking outside the box about tourism in the region.

As a hospitality professional with more than 25 years of experience, Madone brings a passion for continued excellence in tourism. She was appointed General Manager of the Oak Bay Beach Hotel on March 1, 2020, then due to COVID restrictions was required to shut down the hotel’s four restaurants, spa, meetings and events and eventually our guest rooms before successfully reopening all hotel amenities in June 2020. For five years prior to this Madone held the position of DOSM at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, with a proven track record of exceeding all fiscal targets and doubling the meeting and events business at the hotel during this time.

Madone also had the pleasure of serving on the MPI British Columbia Chapter Board as VP of Membership then President Elect, President and Immediate Past President, which concluded on July 1, 2020. She has also served on Destination Greater Victoria’s Sales and Marketing Committee since 2015.

David currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Kenmore Air, with responsibilities for the company’s airline and charter operations.David shares a love for the Pacific Northwest and Alaska travel industry that was sparked over 30 years ago with his first job in the industry as a tour bus driver in Juneau, Alaska for Holland America Line. His career eventually led him to become the General Manager of Holland America’s motorcoach transportation divisions in Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. and on to Clipper Navigation where he served as the company’s CEO, becoming highly involved with Victoria’s visitor industry. David has served on the Destination Greater Victoria Board of Directors since 2020 in addition to serving on both the Transportation and Destination Management Committee as well as the Sustainability Committee.

Trina White has an extensive background in hospitality with more than 20 years of experience, including 18 years in management roles. Additionally, she teaches at Royal Roads University and Camosun College. Trina specializes in leadership and team building with an acute focus on sustainability in the workplace. She is known for her commitment to integrating environmental practices into everyday business. Trina has been an elected Board member of the Shawnigan Lake Parks & Recreation Committee where she completed 2 years as Chair out of 5 years of service. Trina was instrumental in creating a sustainability committee with fellow peers within the Hotel Association of Greater Victoria in 2018. Trina is currently Vice Chair of Destination Greater Victoria’s Sustainability Committee and a member of Destination Greater Victoria’s Transportation and Destination Management Committee.

Currently the CEO for the Pacific Institute for Sport Education (PISE), the tennis analyst for Sportsnet and the Chair of the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame, Robert has an extensive background in senior sport leadership in Canada.  Previous roles also include the President and CEO of the Canadian Sport Centre Ontario and the Director of Tennis Development for Tennis Canada.

As an athlete, Robert has won several national tennis titles and most recently won the Canadian Men’s Senior Singles titles in the 55+ category and was Captain of the National 55+ team representing Canada at the ITF Senior World Tennis Championships in 2014, finishing 11th in the world. As a national coach Robert ran Tennis Canada’s first Western Canadian high performance training centre at UBC and helped coach the Davis Cup team and Canada’s tennis team at the Olympic Games in Seoul (1988) and Barcelona (1992).

An on-going presenter on sport development topics he has a Masters in sport psychology and regularly provides mental training education on how to enhance performance.

Spencer has been with CIBC for over 10 years, currently as Commercial Banking Director and Team Lead in Victoria BC. Spencer received his CPA designation in 2021 and brings that knowledge along with past experiences to client relationships to understand ambitions and execute on strategic objectives. The team works to bring the full strength of CIBC to client relationships by leveraging our teams in Capital Markets, Private Wealth Management, Retail Banking, and CIBC USA.

Susan Brice was born and raised in Victoria and was an elementary school teacher. She has served in many elected positions including Chair of Greater Victoria School Board, Mayor of Oak Bay, MLA for Saanich South and Cabinet Minister. Currently she is elected to Saanich Council and CRD, is Chair of Victoria Regional Transit Commission, Board Member of BC Transit and is the CRD representative to the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority.

Susan is very pleased to have been appointed by Saanich to serve on the Board of Destination Greater Victoria as she understands the critical role that tourism plays in the economic vibrancy of the region. She understands the value of maintaining a healthy environment as many guests are seeking opportunities to enjoy our natural environment and unique dining and shopping experiences. Visitors to Victoria are looking for those gems around the region such as Mt. Doug Parks, Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary and the Oak Bay Village.