Our People

Volunteers are a highly valued resource and the Board is actively seeking participants with experience in accounting, fundraising, and marketing.

Please contact Tikva staff at 778-998-4582 or info@tikvahousing.org to learn more about how you can help Tikva Housing.

2018-2019 Board of Directors:

Community Liaisons

Sarah Ann Chisholm – Jewish Family Services – since 2016

Lina Moskaleva – Jewish Family Services

Staff

Alice Sundberg – Director of Operations and Housing Development

Anat Gogo – Housing Administrator

Board Bios

Dan Granirer

Board Member Since 2012

Originally from Vancouver, Dan spent 25 years living in New York, Tokyo, Paris, and Boston. Before moving back to Canada in 2009, he was a partner at the New York-based mergers and acquisitions firm Sagent Advisors and a director in the Investment Banking Group of Merrill Lynch & Co. Dan holds a PhD in political economy from Princeton University, a BA in government from Harvard University, and degrees from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and Stanford University’s IUC Institute in Japan. He is a graduate of Vancouver’s Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School.

Michael Grudman

Board Member Since 2014

Michael was born in Israel and moved to Canada as a young boy. For the past 3 years he has been working as a commercial mortgage broker with Averbach Mortgages. Michael had an electrical company and has worked in film financing. He lives in Vancouver and is a father to twins.

Shelley Karrell

Board Member Since 2015

Shelley is originally from Nova Scotia, and has lived in Vancouver for the past 20 years. She has been involved in the Behavioral Sciences for over 25 years and completed a Masters in Counselling Psychology from the City University of Seattle. Her primary passion is connecting with others through intentional listening, problem solving and spirituality with the goal in mind to be helpful.

Kasimir Kish

Board Member Since 2015

Kasimir is a Vancouver-born Realtor with over 10 years experience in the real estate industry. He has been involved in residential sales, commercial leases as well as property consolidation, subdivision and multifamily construction and marketing. Before real estate, Kasimir worked for 5 years as a Project Manager in the high tech industry specializing in online and multimedia translation and localization projects in both Vancouver and Montreal. When he gets the chance, Kasimir enjoys cycling, tennis and traveling with his wife and daughter. Kasimir looks forward to assisting Tikva with its crucial mission in a region that gets more expensive by the month.

Marcela Manes

Board Member Since 2015

Marcela Manes was born in Chile and moved to Vancouver in 1971. She graduated from UBC with a Masters in Education in Counseling Psychology. After working for twenty years as a clinical therapist at Vancouver Coastal Health, SAFER (Suicide Counselling Service), she has recently retired. Prior to SAFER, Marcela worked as a counsellor at Jewish Family Services, New
Connection Program and did volunteer work at BC Parents in Crisis Society, presently known as Parent Support Services of BC and the Crisis Line. She also served as a Board member of the Jewish Family Services Agency.

Gord Kushner

Board Member Since 2016

Gord was born in Los Angeles.  He grew up in Montreal and later moved to Vancouver as a teenager with his family. Gord is married with two children, a 13 year old son and a 16 year old daughter.  Gord has vast experience working in non-profit housing organizations and client support. He has been Chair of The Haro Park Centre Board and Treasurer of Yaffa Housing Society.  He worked with his father for over twenty years running The Family Resource Institute for caregivers as well as one of the first home support agencies in Vancouver VanCare.  Presently he is the CEO of the home care & placement agency Simplified HomeCare.  Gord has strong Jewish roots and enjoys giving back to the Jewish community.  In addition, Gord is an avid musician; he plays guitar and has a band.  Gord is looking forward to providing his expertise to Tikva.

Heather Sirlin

Board Member Since 2015

Heather was born in Vancouver. She has two teen aged children. With a background in small business and as a member of the Federation Planning Council, as well as a former JFSA and VTT Board member, Heather is appreciative of the important and growing role Tikva Housing plays in our community.

Jeremy Berger

Board Member Since 2019

Jeremy has been involved in the real estate industry since 2012, and is currently working as a commercial property manager. He moved to Vancouver from France at a young age, and went on to complete his B.Comm from UBC, followed by the Diploma of Urban Land Economics. He has also received the RI designation from the Real Estate Institute of BC.  Jeremy has some previous board experience and is keen to apply his knowledge and passion for real estate to help provide affordable housing opportunities for the community thanks to Tikva Housing Society.

Rhonda Sacks

Board Member Since 2019

Rhonda Sacks was born and raised in Winnipeg.  She lived in Toronto for 10 years and has called Vancouver home for over 20 years.  She is blessed with 3 daughters and is married to native Vancouverite, David Sacks.  Together they have 5 grown daughters living in various cities around the globe.

Rhonda joined the Residential Real Estate industry almost 5 years ago with over two decades of business experience.  She began her professional career in fashion importing, fostering relationships with customers across the country & suppliers around the world.  Her passion for executive management led her to various positions in the for-profit and not-for-profit arenas including computer training, fashion merchandising and later, as the Assistant Executive Director of the JCC.  Over the past decade, Rhonda has been involved in resource development & fundraising for a variety of local & global non-profit organizations.  She recognizes that safe, secure and affordable housing is an extremely important priority in our community and looks forward to contributing her time and expertise to Tikva Housing Society.

Rory Richards

Board Member Since 2019

Rory Richards has been a dynamic force in business and public relations in Canada for nearly 20 years. With a strong background in project management and government relations, Rory has worked with a myriad of high-profile clients from project conceptualization to development to project sales and marketing.  Rory attended the Real Estate Division of the Sauder School of Business at UBC, and studied property development at Langara College and Urban Design at SFU. She is currently Vice President of Stakeholder Relations at Meridian Modular, an international company specializing in steel-frame modular construction.

Rory is a longstanding member and committed volunteer within the Jewish Community, she is an alum of the Jewish Federation Leadership program and has worked with a number of community agencies and organizations, including JFSA and Canadian Jewish Congress.