Chris Schultz-Lorentzen - President

Chris has been involved in supporting public education since 1992. He has been actively involved as a PAC member in various schools and has taken on PAC roles in the last 5 years including SD42 DPAC and BCCPAC Committees. His family primarily lives, works and plays on the traditional, shared and unceded Territory of the həṅq̓əmín̓əḿ speaking People of the Katzie First Nation and Kwantlen First Nation.

Amanda Nichol - 1st Vice President

Amanda Nichol is a mom to two children, entering grades 10 and 7 in fall 2022 on the unceded traditional territories of the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Amanda has been working in various leadership roles within the school PAC and DPAC and been attending BCCPAC events since her children started school. Amanda has a strong foundation in coaching and leadership from health, sport and recreation, through various roles in anti-doping, True Sport, and, as a consultant and Clinical Exercise Physiologist and strives to use those skills to continue building valuable relationships and connections to engage more parents in education discussions, collaboration and decision making.

Sandy Thon - 2nd Vice-President

Sandy lives in the SD83 district and acknowledges that she has lived on the unceded territories of the Okanagan/Sqilixw/Syilx/Splatsin People for over thirty years. Sandy is the caregiver of her 8-year-old grandchild. She has taken on roles with the local PAC, DPAC and other supporting committees. She brings her career experience of thirty years in government and union positions.

Natasha Radbourne - Treasurer

I am a happily married mother of 4 children aging from 5-13 years old. I started being involved in PAC when my oldest was 6 in Vancouver and have moved to being involved which both secondary and elementary schools now my kids attend in Langley. Though my life is now in the lower mainland, my roots are in the north where I grew up. Currently, I am a bookkeeper at a non-profit and value community.

Amanda Hillis - Director

Amanda has been involved in public education since 2008. She has held various leadership positions on PACs and DPAC. Through participating in district-level committees & working groups; interactions with parents, stakeholders, and advocacy groups; and reading lots of reports, she has learned a lot and is a strong advocate for transparency, accountability, and equitable quality education for every student. She looks forward to continuing to learn and advocate for students and parents at the provincial level.

Carmen Sundstrom - Director

Moving from Alberta, Carmen and her family have lived in the Cowichan Valley for the past fourteen years. She has been involved in the school communities from the beginning of her daughters’ educational career; taking on PAC roles in three separate schools, and many years with DPAC. She values the parent voice and appreciates that BCCPAC brings it provincial attention. She grew up believing that everyone should give back to their communities through volunteerism. One just needs to find their passion, and Carmen is passionate about public education and finding success for all students.

Resha Sabti - Director

I am an environmental engineering and currently finishing my masters at UBC. Three months after I moved to Canada with my family, I started my first volunteering job. I do consider volunteering a very critical part of my integration into becoming a better member of our beautiful Canadian culture and learned English. I have been volunteering for over 20 years and I am honored to be volunteering to advocate for better education for our children with BCCPAC. I have beautiful twin boys in elementary school district 35. You can spot me running our husky dogs in our neighborhood which helps me recharged.

Laura Ward - Indigenous Director

Laura is a member of the Tla’amin Nation but is currently a visitor on the unceded traditional lands of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish Nations. She has been actively involved at both the PAC and DPAC levels with SD41 as well as many other community initiatives throughout the city of Burnaby. She has a passion for building community capacity and finding the gifts that community members have to offer.

John Gaiptman - CEO

John has been involved with public education for over 35 years. He spent 14 years as a Superintendent of Schools; twelve of which were with the Greater Victoria School District and two with the New Westminster School District. John is married with two daughters and three grandchildren. It is his hope, through his vast experience in public education, that he can continue to support and empower parents for the success of each learner.