David is professor emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and has been teaching Christian spirituality and ethics since 1994. He is the former President and Vice-Chancellor of St. Jerome’s University, a Past-President of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality, and the former Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada. As a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Hamilton, a professional educator, academic speaker and author, as well as a popular workshop and retreat director, he has given conferences, workshops and retreats on a range of topics in Canada, the United States and Europe.

Erin Ryan has been a retired accountant from the Federal Government for over a dozen years. During this time she volunteered at the St Joe’s Supper Table for 5 years, was a member of the church’s Finance Committee, helped with the preparation of public school candidates for receiving the sacrament of Confirmation and drove elderly patients to medical and hospital appointments. Before joining the Galilee Board of Directors in 2022, her previous Board experience was with the Shefford Heritage Housing Cooperative where she lived for almost 20 years before moving back to her home Province of Nova Scotia. She has a life-long interest in deepening her faith and spirituality and has pursued that through
attending numerous retreats, webinars, conferences, and learning opportunities offered through various retreat centres and the Upper Room Home of Prayer in Ottawa. She is currently working on two major “bucket-list” goals: completing a two-year Spiritual Direction program and learning everything she can about the history and culture of the Indigenous people of this land.

John is a policy and technical professional bringing to bear deep expertise and experience across a broad spectrum of environmental and economic issues, gained through twenty years of mixed private and public sector experience. John leads Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada’s (HICC) climate change mitigation policy team, designing and implementing policies to drive greenhouse gas emissions reductions through HICC’s capital investments across a variety of asset classes, and through broader strategic investments to bring about change across the construction sector. John has spent the majority of his career wrestling with policy challenges at the interface of the environment and the economy, and is a strong advocate for pragmatic, evidence-based solutions. John has held positions at Finance Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, the Cement Association of Canada, and Marbek Resource Consultants. John and his family are members of St. Joseph’s Parish in Ottawa where he previously served on its Finance Committee. John is an avid cross-country skier and canoeist, and has served on the boards of the Nakkertok Ski Association and the RA Canoe Camping Club of Ottawa.