As the newly-elected President of the CBF, I am honoured and excited to announce and welcome our three new Directors at Large:

  • Marc-André Fourcaudot – focus on WBF matters and Canadian Championship format
  • Ginger Grant – focus on Grant applications and Education
  • Mike Hargreaves – focus on Legal and Procedural matters

These new Directors will greatly assist our Board in accomplishing our goals. Let me introduce the rest of our team:

  • Executive Assistant – Catherine Kinsella
  • Treasurer – Cathy Walsh
  • Our Zonal Directors are:

Zone 1 – Allan Callard
Zone 2 – Deb Harper
Zone 3-  Terry Du (Junior Development)
Zone 4 – Fred Mykytyshyn
Zone 5 – Vacant
Zone 6 – Shelley Burns (President)

I would also like to introduce myself and outline some of the priorities the Board will focus on over the coming year. I grew up in Vancouver, earned my CPA designation, and learned Bridge from some of Canada’s best Teachers (John Rayner and Barbara Seagram) during my husband’s 10 year transfer to Toronto.

After moving back to Vancouver in 2009, I started teaching and running a Bridge Club.  I love to teach Bridge, and have made lifelong friendships with students and fellow teachers. I’m also a game Director, and I help manage a non-profit Bridge Club called Greater Vancouver Bridge Club.

When Neil Kimelman first encouraged me to sit on the CBF Board, I didn’t know much about what the CBF did. I have learned a lot over several years, and am now ready to bring my leadership style to our Board. My priorities:

  1. Given my accounting background, my focus is on financial sustainability. The CBF will look at ways to increase revenue, including increasing our membership base andtaking advantage of Grant monies.
  2. We like to understand various points of view, and we welcome feedback both positive and constructive. All feedback will be considered by the Board in making the best decisions for our members.
  3. Communication through Bridge Canada magazine, E-mail and our website:
    • We plan to communicate regularly through our Bridge Canada magazine and E-mails.
    • We hope that increased communication will increase participation in our events, and in turn increase our membership base.
    • We would like to educate and involve our Club Managers and Directors so that they are conversant with what special games, races and events they can offer to their players.
    • We plan to reach out to Canadian ACBL members who are not CBF members to encourage them to become CBF members.
  4. Online AGM – This year we are moving towards having our AGM online, so that those across Canada can participate. Watch for an announcement of the date, which will likely be sometime in May.
  5. Style – I want to move forward in a positive way, while recognizing changing circumstances and learning from the past. I will personally do my best in making decisions, as will our entire Board. We will be flexible and fair.

We look forward to serving our members.  Please check our Website www.cbf.ca to find out more about what CBF has to offer.  We welcome your suggestions.

Sincerely,
Shelley Burns
CBF President