Executive Team

Executive team

The executive team is responsible for the sustainable operation and growth of Technical Safety BC. Our leaders bring a variety of skills and a depth of experience that is fundamental to our success.

Catherine is a courageous, visionary leader who is relentlessly driven to change the world and believes that people have an extraordinary ability to bring a shared vision into reality. Her passion and commitment to growing the next generation of leaders inspires the modern, diverse people practices at Technical Safety BC.

Kate has spent her career putting clients and teammates at the centre of what she does. She is a curious and inspiring leader who looks at opportunities holistically to motivate and engage teams towards practical, multi-dimensional solutions. Comfortable in a constantly changing landscape, she listens actively and digs for the truth, using observation and data to build cases for change.

Kate joined Technical Safety BC from TELUS, where she led teams in marketing, communications and customer experience. She has a Bachelor of Applied Arts degree from Ryerson Polytechnical University and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

When not obsessing over safety, Kate works to improve diversity in the workplace, mentors up-and-coming leaders and likes to spend time outside – either doing hard labour in her garden or enjoying all the amazing hiking and kayaking that Vancouver has to offer.

Phil believes that “to live is to lead,” and that the primary role of leadership is to imagine and create conditions for employees to thrive. A thoughtful and caring leader, Phil supports teams of client service representatives and technically-minded specialists to enable the development of ground-breaking new approaches to technical safety oversight.

By focusing on client experience and risk-based assessment practices, Phil invests in working relationships to advance the understanding and management of safety risks. He has a deep regard for the knowledge and capability of clients and employees, and believes that developing a system of engaged duty holders is vital to maintaining confidence in the safety system.

A graduate of Collège militaire royal de Saint-Jean, Phil began his career in naval operations in the Royal Canadian Navy. Before joining Technical Safety BC in 2009, Phil spent 10 years leading business strategy development and continuous improvement consulting engagements in the forest products, helicopter and heavy equipment industries.

Phil has an MBA from the University of Western Ontario, and obtained a Chartered Director designation from The Directors College. He is inspired by lifelong learning and peoples’ infinite capacity to improve and achieve results.

Wesley has an extraordinary ability to humanize finance by drawing employees into the stories behind the numbers, and making them come to life. He’s a solution-oriented leader known for navigating strategic and financial complexity with thoughtfulness. As a skilled listener, he draws from multiple sources of insight to solve challenges and enable opportunities that bring broad benefit to our people and clients.

Kate is driven by the belief that an organization will only truly excel when its people are encouraged and challenged to show up as their best selves every day. At Technical Safety BC, she uses courage, energy and curiosity to get at the heart of our challenges and opportunities, and facilitates bold conversations that question the status quo.

To fulfill on our promise to model the integration of humanity and technology, Kate draws on her experience driving cultural transformation and people-focused change, building our capacity to adapt to changing environments and develop each person to their maximum potential.

Kate has a proven track record of transforming HR practices across industries including mining, heavy machinery, and healthcare. She holds a degree in Psychology and Kinesiology from Simon Fraser University and completed her graduate studies at UBC’s Sauder School of Business. Kate is a recognized speaker in the areas of leadership development, diversity and employee health and wellness. Outside of the office, she is most often found on the North Shore trails, or creating new dishes in the kitchen, but rarely following a recipe!

Derek actively supports individuals and initiatives that improve technical safety in BC. His extensive professional experience underpins a principled, comprehensive and astute capacity for strategy and problem solving. He is courageous in his leadership of peers and reports alike, respectfully challenging and empowering individuals in their contributions to the organization.

Derek is highly experienced in the practice of regulatory law and change management, having served as chief legal, risk and compliance advisor, and corporate secretary to senior leadership teams and Boards of both public companies and Crown corporations.

Prior to joining Technical Safety BC, Derek held senior positions with a number of organizations, including the Insurance Corporation of BC and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. Derek holds a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University, as well as ICD.D and CPHR designations. He is called to the bar in both Ontario and British Columbia.

Claudio is a true transformer of organizations. Using his gift for facilitating proactive discussions to get to the heart of our organization’s needs, he develops strategies to leverage technology in ways that support and enable people to achieve positive outcomes for Technical Safety BC, our clients, and the public.

Exploration and discovery have been recurring themes in Ab’s life. In his role of VP, Data Analytics and Decision Science, he now supports others in their discovery and innovation. By nurturing leadership in others, Ab aims to create a culture of experimentation and learning that propel safety knowledge and action. Together with his team, Ab carries responsibilities for research & analytics, business intelligence, engineering, incident investigation, and risk management.

Ab has worked in a variety of progressive roles at Technical Safety BC since he joined in 2005. Originally from the Netherlands, Ab previously worked as a project leader for safety engineering in railway infrastructure, and as a risk analyst at the Dutch Ministry of Transportation. Ab holds an MBA from Simon Fraser University, a doctorate in public administration, and an MSc in applied physics. He is a registered Professional Engineer and Chartered Professional Accountant in British Columbia.