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.

Sheila Sontz

Board Member Since 2020

Sheila brings both commercial and residential real estate expertise and a genuine interest in helping to resolve housing issues within the Jewish Community.  Educated at York University, BCIT and UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

Haley Crooks

Board Member Since 2021

Haley has an M.Ed in School Psychology from the University of British Columbia and is passionate about giving back to the community. Her keen interest in affordable housing was inspired by her passion to help the homeless. Haley is particularly interested in Tikva’s efforts to prevent homelessness.

Penny Gurstein

Board Member Since 2022

Penny is originally from Saskatchewan, and has called Vancouver home for many years. She is a Professor Emeritus and immediate past Director of the School of Community and Regional Planning, and current Director of the Housing Research Collaborative at UBC. Penny has a BA in Sociology from York University, a BA in Architecture from UBC, and a Masters and PhD in Architecture from University of California, Berkeley. Among the Boards she has served on are Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, where she was board liaison to Tikva Housing, and BC Housing. She has an adult daughter, and enjoys hiking, and doing art. She has a wealth of knowledge pertaining to non-profit housing, and is very pleased to be able to serve on the board to further Tikva’s goals.

Andrew Charney

Board Member Since 2022

Andrew was born and raised in Toronto but has been in Vancouver for over four years now, after having lived and worked across Canada, the Netherlands and Spain. He completed his undergrad at the University of Guelph where he studied International Business and Spanish, and recently completed his MSc in Cities at the London School of Economics. He has worked for the past 11 years at CAPREIT, one of Canada’s largest housing providers, and recently moved on from CAPREIT as Associate Director of Operations, overseeing their BC residential portfolio, to Director of Asset Management, Residential, at Peterson Group. He volunteers for JFS Vancouver and loves the great outdoors.