Alex graduated from Algonquin College with a diploma in Outdoor Adventure. He has always been drawn to the outdoors and adventure sports. After graduation, the draw of the mountains brought him out west, bouncing back and forth between Ontario and BC for several years; until finally, permanently moving to BC in the fall of 2011. As an avid kiteboarder and split-boarder, he has seen first-hand, the effects of climate change, motivating Alex to get involved with POW and to help push for positive climate action.

Whether it's riding fresh pow during the winter time or bagging peaks during the summer, Thana is no stranger to the outdoors. It is this fondness for nature and the countless days and nights that he has spent outside that has motivated him to want to find ways to advocate for its protection. Thana has a background in Environmental Engineering and currently works to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from large industrial producers. He's helped advocate for strong climate policies having been involved with several local climate organizations, and has also run for Federal and Provincial office.

As far as I can remember, skiing as always been part of my life. I started ski racing at a young age and later on was lucky enough to be able to travel for skiing. I could then witness the effect raising temperatures had on glaciers I’d return skiing on the following year. Following my ski racing years I coached ski racing during my university studies in business management. More recently, I have been working in helping businesses reaching their circular economy goals and providing them with sustainable and recyclable options in the food and medical sector. I have always been passionate about finding practical solutions to our climate challenge.   

Arianne is full of energy, always eager to try new sports and explore the outdoors. Her point of view on the world is optimistic and she believes sharing knowledge will bring humanity further. Deeply concerned about the planet and convinced that the climate crisis can be reversed with people working together, she has been a sustainability advocate for a few years now. Working in the marketing for The North Face Canada enables her to make a difference on a larger scale through partners and events. She makes her own cosmetics and household products, she’s a mountain bike and ski addict and she has two cats; you can talk about one of these subjects with her next time you’ll see her at a POW event and she won’t stop talking!

Evan caught the bug for being in the mountains through his highschool Outdoor Adventure Club. This has lead him on a path to achieving his BSc in Forestry at the University of Alberta, and to begin pursuing a career goal of utilizing land use policy to push for positive changes throughout industry.

His time spent out in the mountains skiing and biking, along with working in Alberta's boreal forests has fostered a desire to promote climate change advocacy. He is stoked to connect with the Edmonton outdoors community and motivate others to get involved with POW. 

Celine's passion for sustainability started early through a career in culinary arts and recognizing the importance of local & organic food. As Celine migrated west, her interest in sustainability quickly translated into her surrounding ecosystems, and she set out to learn how to protect them. Now in Revelstoke, she hopes to use her role as a mountain bike coach to inspire stewardship in all those she interacts with, so we can all keep bikin' and skiing well into the future.

Florina was raised at a backcountry lodge outside of Revelstoke. As she grew up, she watched the glacier in her remote backyard melt back at an ever increasing and alarming rate, which instilled in her a deep passion for climate advocacy.

She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at UBC Vancouver in film making, and escaped the city back to Revelstoke to pursue a career in guiding. She is training to be an ACMG and internationally certified mountain guide. She took on a leadership role with the POW Revelstoke chapter in May 2020 and is excited to help move her community towards a more sustainable future.

Fraser retired from a career in social work and public education in 2017. The windfall of time and freedom from 9 to 5 was a welcome change, but just playing in the outdoors wasn’t working for him. He sees volunteering with POW as a great opportunity to engage in positive, locally developed solutions to the climate crisis. Since the launch of our nation’s capital chapter, the core group of active members has been a strong voice in advocating for meaningful climate action.

Growing up in Toronto it was the time Josh spent in the mountains which fostered a love for the outdoors. An Economics and Environmental Studies student at the University of Toronto, Josh’s goal is to make the, at times overwhelming, topic of climate change easier to understand and climate activism more accessible. He is always up for a day of skiing, down for an outdoor adventure and is looking forward to growing a community and working toward a sustainable future with POW

City born and bred Julie traded the concrete jungle for the ‘wood 16 years ago and hasn’t looked back. She calls Collingwood home, while working and raising her family 10 minutes from the slopes. Both she and her two kids have been sliding down the mountain since they could walk and now enjoy frequent family chairlift rides. A snowboarder, avid reader, former world traveler, live music lover and amateur foodie, Julie seeks opportunities wherever she goes to spread kindness and track down the best coffee shops.

Polish by birth, Canadian by transplant. Growing up in North Vancouver and being raised by a competitive ski racing coach, Monika was taught from an early age that the mountains are the ultimate playground and should be respected as such. After spending many years working and adventuring across the world, she returned to Vancouver in 2019 for the long-haul. Now, with both her work at Arc’teryx in marketing and her involvement in POW, Monika hopes to spark action in her local outdoor community. There is a lot of work to be done, but Monika believes that there is no greater lens than that of adversity.

I grew up in North Vancouver where I spent my winters as a reluctant, overdressed ski kid and my summers wreaking havoc at a kids camp on a gulf island.

I moved away from Vancouver for the first time to attend McMaster University. I spent four years earning a degree in Anthropology with a minor in Archaeology, and all the while my love for BC mountains grew. The saying that ‘distance really does make the heart grow fonder’ is no joke. After graduating, I felt that I had read too much and seen too little so I decided to take various opportunities to work, study, and travel in various countries.

In Australia, I saw trees turned bright orange from recent forest fires. In South East Asia I was shocked at the layers of garbage on the beaches and in the sea. Recently, the impacts of climate change have been felt at home here in Canada. I’ve suffered from headaches while landscaping due to forest fire smoke in the summer, and my ski instructing seasons cut short due to low snow levels.

I first got involved with POW when I lived in New Zealand in 2019 and have been actively involved ever since. POW has given me the most direct opportunity to turn my passion into purpose and work to protect all these places near and far. I asked one of my ski students Donny, age 5, where was home? “Earth,” he answered. Me too Donny, me too.

Tom first put a paddle in the water at age 5 on the shores of Lake Huron, and now spends weekends splashing through Ontario’s rivers and whitewater. An avid windsurfer, snowboarder, and occasional peak bagger, Tom takes to just about any outdoor adventure sport. 

Combining a love for filmmaking and photography with a background and undergraduate in Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo, Tom uses storytelling to create climate awareness and inspire behavioural change. He joined POW to rally southern Ontario’s adventure community and drive climate action.

Kate has always been interested in mountain environments and as a former national team speed skater, she would often explore the mountains on foot, skis, or bike for cross-training. Over the years, she personally saw the impacts of climate change on local glaciers and became increasingly inspired to pursue studies in this field. This led her to study environmental policy at the University of Ottawa and ultimately, back home to Canmore where she is currently working on a PhD in glacier hydrology and climate change adaptation.

Kathryn grew up skiing, hiking, biking, running, and climbing in the mountains near her hometown of Canmore, Alberta. With the impacts of climate change laid bare on nearby entities like the Columbia Icefields, Kathryn felt motivated to pursue studies in public policy and environmental history at UBC Vancouver where she focused on historical energy transitions as well as provincial-level decarbonization strategies. She is currently a freelance sustainability consultant and the incoming Circular Communities Coordinator for the Town of Banff. 

From a young age, Claire has enjoyed being active and taking part in outdoor sports and adventures. In her spare time, she can be found running, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, or cross-country skiing. She also brings her love for active living into her role as a fitness instructor. Claire is excited to be a part of POW Canada and looks forward to connecting with other passionate outdoor enthusiasts around climate advocacy and protecting the spaces we thrive in.

Growing up in Toronto, Caro and her family took every chance to leave the city and explore the outdoors around them with their favourites being snowboarding and canoeing. All of these fun adventures fostered a passion for the environment in Caro and she continued this into her university life where she completed a Honours Bachelors in Outdoor Recreation, Parks & Tourism and a Bachelors in Natural Science at Lakehead University.  After finishing school, her passion brought her to Golden BC, where she continues to explore new activities from mountain biking to hiking and more. Caro hopes to help others learn about the current climate issues and make a difference so we can keep enjoying the beautiful outdoors around us.

Derek has fostered his lifelong love for the outdoors through his passion for paddling, hiking, biking, and snowboarding, among others. He is always up for new adventures and any reason to enjoy time outside. He strives to ensure, and share with his two young daughters, a relationship with nature that stems from respect and understanding.  Further, he sees immeasurable value and opportunity in contributing to a sustainable future for them.

Derek hopes to use his leadership role with POW Canada to rally and motivate the amazing outdoor community of Collingwood. He believes strongly in the ability of local action to affect change and contribute to climate advocacy on a larger scale.

Emilie has spent all of her free time climbing, running, skiing, paddling and camping since her early childhood. Her passion for the outdoors, and the peace of mind she finds in wild spaces, led her to Canada’s only Master’s in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at Carleton University. She hopes to bring her love of grassroots organizing to the playing field at Protect Our Winters Canada.