FASS Dean's Undergraduate Fellowship

Melanie Mark is a bold leader, tenacious advocate and strategist with over 25 years experience navigating public service and political systems with a demonstrated track record advancing social, environmental, and economic justice through reconciliation. She is Nisga'a, Gitxsan, Cree and Ojibway and was the premiere First Nations woman to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in 2016 and to serve in BC’s Cabinet as the Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training (2017-2020), and later serving as the Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport (2020-2022 during a global health pandemic). She retired from politics in 2023 to focus on her daughters and her two businesses: Remarkable First Nations Regenerative Industries and HLI HAYKWHL ẂII XSGAAK Consulting.

Isobel Mackenzie served as British Columbia’s first seniors’ advocate from March 2014 until April 2024. Mackenzie has over 20 years’ experience working with seniors in home care, licensed care, community services and volunteer services. She led BC’s largest not-for-profit agency, serving over 6,000 seniors annually. In this work, she led the implementation of a new model of dementia care that has become a national best practice, and led the first safety accreditation for homecare workers, among many other accomplishments.

Mackenzie has been widely recognized for her work and was named BC CEO of the Year for the not-for-profit sector and nominated as a Provincial Health Care Hero. Prior to her appointment as the Seniors Advocate, Mackenzie served on a number of national and provincial boards and commissions, including the BC Medical Services Commission, the Canadian Homecare Association, BC Care Providers, BC Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry, and the Capital Regional District Housing Corporation. Mackenzie also served on the University of Victoria’s Board of Governors. Mackenzie received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Victoria and has a Certificate in Health Care Leadership from the University of Toronto.

Pamela Yoon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Simon Fraser University. She is a 30-year veteran in the investment industry, having worked at three major Canadian brokerage firms serving the wealth management needs of high-net-worth clients. She is currently Senior Portfolio Manager with RBC Wealth Management. Pamela is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute (FCSI) and has obtained the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) and Chartered Investment Manager (CIM) designations. Pamela strongly believes in the importance of educating the next generation on financial matters, as such, she has been involved with Junior Achievement of BC and the SFU Career Mentorship Program. She has also been called upon to guest lecture in Economics at SFU. Active in the community, she has participated on many boards including the Rotary Club of Burnaby, President of the Malaysian Association of BC, and Director of the FCSI National Council. Pamela resides in North Vancouver with her two teenage sons.

Tamara Vrooman, O.B.C., is a transformational leader renowned for her commitment to addressing economic inequalities, advancing social justice and supporting a healthy, engaged and informed community. In her early career, she achieved significant success as BC’s Deputy Minister in both the Ministries of Finance and of Health, as Secretary to the Treasury Board, and as CEO of the Public Sector Employees Council.

In 2007, she was named President and CEO of Vancity, Canada’s largest community credit union. Over the next 13 years she transformed the business and service model, delivering record profitability and doubling assets while implementing a successful new vision for value-based banking.

Vrooman joined the Vancouver Airport Authority as their President and CEO in July 2020, after serving on its Board of Directors for nine years. She is the first woman to hold the position. That same year, she was also appointed as SFU's 12th chancellor.