Board of Directors

Christopher P. Weafer, Chair

Chris is a lawyer and currently serves as Co-Managing Director of Owen Bird Law Corporation, a full-service Vancouver-based and BC-focused law firm.  He has practiced commercial and regulatory law at Owen Bird since articling at the firm 30 years ago and has been recognized by the legal industry publication Chambers Global as one of “The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business”.  Chris has acted for a broad range of clients ranging from sole proprietorships to the largest privately-owned company in Western Canada, as well as public companies, municipal governments and the Province of British Columbia. In addition to negotiating and drafting commercial agreements, Chris has also represented clients before a number of regulatory bodies, including the British Columbia Utilities Commission and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Chris has particular expertise in regulatory and administrative law and has advised clients on all manner regulatory matters.  He has lectured on broadcasting and telecommunications law at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia faculty of law where he has served as an adjunct professor. Chris has been active in the legal profession and contributes to the Continuing Legal Education’s “Due Diligence – Checklist” publication each year and has served as the National Chair of the Canadian Bar Association, Media and Communications Law section.  He has also served as a director on a number of boards, including Co-Chairing the Jack Webster Foundation and Vice Chair of the North Vancouver Recreation Commission.  Chris has been recognized by one of his long-term clients, the British Columbia Association of Broadcasters, on two occasions with its “Friend of the Industry Award” for service to that province-wide organization.

He and his wife Sandy, also a lawyer, just celebrated 31 years of marriage and reside in North Vancouver.  They have three children, Patrick, a newly called lawyer, Ryan, a real estate analyst, and Alana, a university student.  Chris enjoys wake and snowboarding, biking, golf and BC wine.

Dr Heather Banham, Director

Heather is a long-term resident of the Okanagan Valley and has lived in West Kelowna for more than 30 years.

Heather was Dean at the Okanagan School of Business for seven years and Associate Dean for the previous five years.  Her responsibilities included ensuring that curriculum and all teaching and learning activities meet the academic standards of the credentials being awarded. The flagship program of the school is the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and the contributions of the graduates to the economy and the community attest to the integrity of the program.

Heather has spent more than a decade contributing to the working groups and committees of the Certified General Accountants of British Columbia (CGABC) and the merged organization, the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia (CPABC). Both organizations had regulatory responsibilities for the accounting profession in the Province and she participated in various committees including membership, discipline, education appeals and others.

In 2017/18 Heather took on the role of Chair of the Board for CPABC. During that year she had the opportunity to visit members throughout BC and travelled to 25 communities for the annual member engagement tour.

Judy Bishop, Secretary and Director

Judy Bishop is a corporate director, senior executive and management consultant with technology-enabled business. She brings over 25 years’ experience to her mentoring and advisory work, formerly from Vancouver now based in Kelowna. She was recently Executive-in-Residence at Accelerate Okanagan and instructor for BC Innovation Council’s three-day Market Validation Program.

Judy has co-founded 3 BC technology companies, been instrumental in starting up 2 important industry associations, championed Vancouver’s city-wide broadband wireless project, and marks 20 years as mentor with the annual NewVentures BC business competition. She’s a veteran board member, with service on a wide range of corporate and not-for-profit boards, including: 2010 Winter Olympics Bid Corporation, Vancouver Aquarium and the Kelowna Apple Triathlon.

For over 20 years, Judy has brought her experience to the BC wine industry: frequent collaborations with the International Wine Festival, board service with the Vancouver American Wine Society and the Chevaliers des Vins de France, and creating the Canada Wine 411 independent online directory of Canadian wineries in partnership with Canadian Vintners’ Association. For 3 years, she was Chief Marketing Officer for a global leader in direct-to-consumer ecommerce technology for the wine & spirits industry. Judy was appointed to the board of the BC Wine Authority in June 2017.

Judy studied biochemistry, is fluent in French, was a business columnist with Business in Vancouver newspaper for 15 years, and has won two business awards. She is a trained oenophile, and was inducted into the Confrérie des Chevaliers de Bourgogne in 2000. Judy has deep knowledge of BC wine industry’s key regions, milestones and developments. Judy enjoys skiing, cycling, international travel photography, gardening and BC wine. She does sleep occasionally.