Board of Directors, CEO, COO & CDO

Kathy Milani

CHAIRperson
LLB

Kathy Milani has been a proud Albertan for more than 40 years and a supporter of CKUA since its first on-air fundraising campaign. With her husband she has raised 3 daughters, now adults, while surrounded by music, arts, and CKUA radio. She believes that our CKUA is a cornerstone for so many artistic and cultural endeavours in the province and wants to contribute to its further success. Kathy is a former partner of Borden Ladner Gervais, ultimately retiring as senior counsel after more than 40 years of legal practice. Kathy practiced predominantly commercial law with a focus on matters related to real estate, assisting and advising local entrepreneurs as well as large organizations. She has been recognized and has served as an instructor and panelist, sharing her expertise in Alberta real property law. Kathy has also sat on the board of a Calgary not-for-profit summer arts school.

J. Lindsay Hood

PAST Chairperson  
BSc, PEng

Lindsay Hood is a passionate supporter of CKUA, an avid listener since 1975 and a financial supporter since 1997 when he served as co-chair of CKUA and assisted in resurrecting CKUA after the station went off the air. In his professional life, Mr. Hood has been actively involved in many notable oilfield service ventures in his 41 years in the sector. He has served as a field engineer, marketer, manager, executive, owner, founder and financier of successful oilfield service companies. Mr. Hood has served on the Boards of charitable and arts organizations, and both public and private companies. He is currently the Chairman of Kobold Corporation, a privately-held oilfield service technology company founded in 2007.

Corran Hockey

VICE CHAIRperson

Corran Hockey first dialed in to CKUA after moving to Calgary from Singapore back in 2011. He has been a daily listener ever since and became a monthly donor in 2019. Music has always been a huge part of Corran’s life, whether as a listener, concert & festival goer or playing clarinet and piano poorly. He is passionate about building communities that everyone can see themselves as part of and feels that music and art are some of the best ways to reach and unite people of all walks of life. Corran has had a diverse 20-year career in the energy industry, starting as a drilling engineer working offshore Western Australia before transitioning to advisory and investment banking which saw him work with clients around the world. Since moving to Calgary, he has worked for several oil and gas companies in a variety of roles across corporate advisory, finance and performance transformation. Corran holds Bachelor’s degrees in Civil Engineering and Finance, along with a Diploma in Japanese from the University of Western Australia. Corran currently serves on the Silvera for Seniors Capital Growth Committee, and on the boards of the Elboya Britannia Community Association and the Nakusp and Area Bike Society. Corran and his family live in Calgary, where he loves spending time outside and exploring the mountains – riding, hiking, skiing and on the water.

Jennifer Griffin Schaeffer

secretary
MMus

Neil Matheson         

Treasurer
CPA, CA

Neil Matheson is a seasoned financial executive with proven experience leading financial strategy to support growth and optimize financial results. Current responsibilities demand setting the overall direction of finance; including accounting, taxation, legal, insurance and budget functions with a focus on developing risk management policies and strategies. He has worked in public practice (PwC) as well as in industry, where he is currently the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) at the Thompson Construction Group. Prior to this Neil was the CFO at Noralta Lodge until its sale in 2018. Neil currently sits on the board for Fringe Theatre Adventures. He also is a member of an advisory group for FC Edmonton and a committee member for Wine & Words for the Centre for Family Literacy. He’s also a Radio & Television Program graduate of NAIT and worked as a Production Technician for The Bear and Team 1260 from 2000 to 2002.

Stew MacDonald 

BOARD MEMBER

Stew MacDonald first dialed in to CKUA after arriving in Alberta in the late 80s, and he has been an avid listener and donor ever since. As President & Chief Revenue Officer for OEG Sports & Entertainment, Stew is responsible for providing leadership to the company’s revenue operations. As one of the organization’s senior executives, he leads a team responsible for ticketing, premium seating, corporate partnerships and marketing for the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers and Rogers Place. He is also responsible for business operations for the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings and the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors. Stew’s career in the sports and entertainment industry has included stops in Ontario, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Alberta, and has been highlighted by three Stanley Cup championships, Memorial Cup and Calder Cup championships, the NHL’s first outdoor game, and the design and construction of Rogers Place. Stew resides in Edmonton.

Greg Harding

Board Member
KC

Greg Harding is an avid music listener, with CKUA being first on his dial when since was an Edmonton teenager in the 1970s. This appreciation for music has accompanied Greg throughout his (ongoing) career with Field Law, serving to ground and enhance him during an active and diverse legal practice as well as in associated volunteer efforts. Greg’s a founding member and current President of the Public Foundation for Art and Life, a charitable organization dedicated to bringing contemporary art to a broad community audience, including through unique collaborations and the use of transitory exhibition space. In addition to providing advice in the post-secondary governance area, Greg’s board experience includes as a Past-President of the Canadian Bar Association – Alberta Branch; and as Past-President of both the Canadian Bar Insurance Association and Canadian Bar Financial Services (now Lawyers Financial).  Greg and his family share a keenness for a variety of travel means and destinations.

Merridy Mitchell

BOARD MEMBER
MBA

Merridy Mitchell is a long-time listener of CKUA with a passion for music of all kinds. Originally from Ontario, she moved to Alberta along with her acoustic guitar in 1982. Merridy has worked as a market research leader for over 20 years. Her career has included working at Environics, leading the market research group at WestJet for nine years, and leading market research at Canadian Western Bank, where Merridy is currently employed. Merridy has an MBA from the University of Alberta and is a Certified Analytics and Insights Professional. Merridy enjoys hiking, biking, skiing. Snowshoeing, and playing guitar. She also enjoys traveling to many different destinations and photography, particularly landscape photography. She has undertaken various volunteer activities over the years, including being a big sister with Big Brothers and Sisters Edmonton and leading the Volunteer Action Network as part of the MBA student board while pursuing her MBA.

Bruce McFarlane 

Board Member
BA (Math), Bphe

Bruce McFarlane retired as Vice President of Business Development at RMP Energy Inc in 2017. He has over 38 years of experience in the energy sector with 19 years in executive positions in both small and large energy companies. Bruce holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in math and a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education degree from Queen’s University. Bruce was Co-Chair of the Financial Services division for United Way of Calgary and Area’s 2010-2013 campaigns. He joined United Way’s Board of Directors in 2014 and became Board Chair in 2017. His past Board commitments include Chair of the Governance and Strategic Planning committees, and past member of the Tomorrow Fund. Bruce is married to Dr. Janice Heard and has three daughters, three grandsons, and two granddaughters. He is a long-time listener and supporter of CKUA radio.

Owen Erskine

Board Member

Owen Erskine began listening to CKUA in 1989 upon inception, as both his parents are avid CKUA listeners. Proudly born and raised in Fort McMurray, Owen trained as a chef at SAIT and the Hyatt in Calgary before returning to his hometown to help manage, and eventually own, Mitchell’s Café supporting CKUA’s many fundraisers and endeavours, including the Touch the transmitter Tour and Alberta Kitchen. Since closing Mitchell’s in late 2025 he now finds himself as the Chef with the 468 Fort McMurray First Nation at the nikinan Community Center.

Owen has had a wide variety of board experience including, initiating the Fort McMurray Trappers Football Alumni Association and has chaired the Wood Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame as well as the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo’s Downtown Revitalization Committee. A strong advocate for progressive social change and diversity, Owen wants to assist CKUA in its mission to bring quality curated music to listeners in Alberta and around the world. In his spare time he loves walking and snowshoeing in the woods near his home, reading and writing poetry, and hanging out with his family.

Andrew Burdall

Board Member

Andrew Burdall has been a regular listener and a passionate supporter of CKUA since arriving in Alberta from Australia in 2018. With a passion for music and production, Andrew has released more than a dozen studio albums both as a solo artist and collaborator and has toured extensively worldwide. He continues to create and release music today from his home studio in Calgary. Andrew is a qualified Accountant and a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He has previously served as co-founder & Chief Executive Officer of a satellite communications company in Australia, before moving into the Executive Management team of a publicly listed communications company based in Sydney. Today, Andrew holds the position of EVP, Strategic Development , a Calgary headquartered Group with operations in multiple countries across the globe. Andrew has experience of serving on several Boards for commercial entities in the Asia Pacific region.

Chris Huebner

Board Member

Susan Babcock 

Board Member
MBA, MA

Now a consultant, Susan Babcock was a career academic administrator for over 30 years at the University of Alberta in progressively senior positions. Between 2006 and 2022, she built and led the Research Ethics Office and had a ring-side seat on animal and human participant research at the university as well as clinical work at AHS and Covenant Health. Her earlier positions involved University governance, Faculty management, research grants administration and coordination of two externally funded centres.

She served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards (CAREB) from 2009 to 2017 and on the CIHR Stem Cell Oversight Committee from 2018 to 2024, the final two years as Chair. Susan currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Edmonton Blues Hall of Fame Foundation and is a member of the federal Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics. Her toolkit includes business skills (MBA), training in Chinese history (MA), a very high tolerance for ambiguity, a great fondness for policy work, sound common sense and a good sense of humour. She can’t remember when CKUA was not the soundtrack for her day.

Emilie LeBel

Board Member

DMA, MA, BFA Hons.

Edmonton-based Canadian composer Emilie LeBel has spent the past two decades immersed in various streams of music from orchestral work to intermedia productions. Active as an educator and mentor, Emilie is currently Associate Professor and Head of Composition at MacEwan University, and Composer Advisor at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.

Emilie holds degrees in music composition from the University of Toronto (DMA) and York University (MA, BFA Hons.), and in audio engineering and music production from the Harris Institute for the Arts (Dip. Hons). Emilie has been a regular listener and supporter of CKUA since arriving in Alberta in 2018. Emilie believes that music is where she does the most important work in building community, and she is thrilled to join CKUA in their support of diverse artistic practices.

Chris Bourassa

Board Member
MBA

Chris Bourassa brings more than thirty-five years of experience shaping the built environment, working across community developments, urban high-rise projects, and mixed-use master-planned communities throughout North America. His career spans the full arc of development, guided by a belief that the places we build should enrich both communities and the human experience.

Throughout his career, Chris has led major development initiatives, organizational transformations, and innovative capital structures that bring together private, institutional, and public-private partners in service of enduring, thoughtfully designed places.  A long-standing advocate for responsible and sustainable development, Chris has completed professional studies in Real Estate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and earned his Master of Business Administration from York St. John University. His work reflects a commitment to balancing environmental stewardship, economic resilience, and cultural vitality.

He currently serves as a Chief Executive Officer, Board Director, and Executive Advisor, supporting development firms and emerging proptech companies in governance, capital strategy, and organizational growth and change. A devoted CKUA listener since the early 1990s, Chris and his family share a deep and abiding passion for the arts, believing that music, culture, and creative expression are essential to the soul of vibrant communities.

Adam Mitchell

Acting CeO

Adam Mitchell is an Edmonton-based arts manager with a background in technical theatre. He studied technical theatre at the University of Alberta before working for a variety of theatre companies and festivals as a builder, designer, and manager, including the Edmonton and Winnipeg Fringe Festivals, Free Will Shakespeare Festival, the Arden Theatre/City of St Albert, the U of A Department of Drama, and Victoria School. Adam has also been a long time volunteer with the Canadian Institute for Theatre Technology and enjoys teaching. Most recently, Adam was the Cultural Facilities Manager at the City of St Albert, Executive Director of Edmonton Fringe Theatre, and General Manager of Rock Solid Cases with FM Systems. Adam loves all music, especially Superchunk and The Pixies, but will spontaneously fall asleep with dreams filled of pleasant memories if you play Leonard Cohen due to his parents playing it late into the night when he was a young child. Adam lives with his wife Keri and their dog Tammy.

Kevin Fitzgerald

CDO

After a long career and successful career in the banking sector, Kevin Fitzgerald decided that he wanted to focus on making the world a better place! In 2010, Kevin joined United Way of the Alberta Capital Region as the Director of Corporate Partnerships and helped lead this organization to five consecutive record-breaking annual campaigns. Kevin completed his MBA while working at United Way.

In 2015, Kevin joined NorQuest College as the Director of Development, where he guided the capital campaign to a strong finish, resulting in the beautiful campus building that we see today.

In 2019, Kevin moved to MacEwan University in an Associate Vice-President role, overseeing Alumni and Fund Development. He helped to establish the current capital campaign for the new School of Business building.

Kevin has been a passionate volunteer in the arts sector for decades. In the early 2000s, Kevin served as the vice-president of the CKUA Edmonton Chapter. He has also served on the board of the Canmore Folk Festival, establishing a sponsorship program for that festival. Kevin also completed a six-year term on the board with the Edmonton Fringe in 2024. As a volunteer, Kevin has been running a busy folk music club (the New Moon Folk Club) for the last ten years.

Kevin is passionate about the arts and especially passionate about CKUA, serving as a volunteer listener, and donor for 40 years. Kevin cannot think of a better legacy than helping to create a fully sustainable CKUA. This is his dream role!