Our Team

Chris Ballard
Chief Executive Officer

Chris Ballard
Chris Ballard has a history of supporting environmental and land use causes, most recently as the Ontario’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change implementing the government’s plan for a clean environment and a sustainable economy. He also served as the Minister of Housing and the Minister responsible for Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy and a Member of the Treasury Board. Chris’ political experience also includes being a municipal councillor in Aurora, Ontario. Chris is a past Executive Director of the 60,000 member Consumers’ Association of Canada (Ontario) and a founding board member of the Consumers Council of Canada. His leadership in journalism, communications and public affairs includes terms as President and Board member of the Public Affairs Association of Canada.
Deborah Knopp
Senior Manager, People & Operations

Deborah Knopp
Deborah is a Human Resources professional and Certified Executive Coach with extensive experience in the not for profit sector. Her expertise includes Organizational Development, Training and all HR initiatives that foster a positive workplace culture. She is thrilled to be supporting a team so passionate about their work.
Luiz Bezerra
Senior Manager

Luiz Bezerra
Luiz is a Certified Passive House Designer and Civil Engineer with over 9 years of experience. He was the Project Manager for the first Certified Passive House in Latin America, located in his hometown of Natal in Brazil. In addition to his technical credentials, Luiz also has an MBA in Buildings Management and Construction Technology
Caroline Thibault
Education Team Lead

Caroline Thibault
Caroline is a bilingual professional who comes to Passive House Canada with over 12 years experience in employment services and education. Caroline has worked in non-profit, private and public sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Education and is passionate about sustainability and green initiatives. Caroline is eager to participate in Passive House Canada's mission to contribute to a sustainable future.
Chris Petit
Manager, Technical Services

Chris Petit
Chris provides technical assistance to members of Passive House Canada and municipalities across Canada with the PHC Technical Services team. As a member of several standards committees, Chris collaborates to improve energy efficiency standards and help make high performance building the norm. Chris is a Passive House designer, tradesperson, trainer, and building certifier accredited by the Passive House Institute. He has provided design support and energy modeling services since 2008 with the Center for Sustainable Building Research, Clean Energy Coalition, Regenerative Design, and CertiPHIers Cooperative.
Anna Milner
Manager, Government & Stakeholder Relations

Anna Milner
Anna works with all levels of government and with stakeholders across the country to advance Passive House Canada’s mission and accelerate the adoption of the International Passive House standard of building. Having previously worked for an Ontario cabinet minister and the Deputy Mayor of Toronto, Anna brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience working with government. An environmental advocate, she has worked in different capacities to support environmental initiatives. She has a BA in Political Science and a post-graduate certificate in Government Relations.
Sana Amin
Government & Stakeholder Relations Coordinator

Sana Amin
Sana works to create and build relationships at Passive House Canada. She works with stakeholders and all levels of Government to bring awareness to Passive House Canada’s mission and adoption of International Passive House standards. Sana’s experience includes working at the Ministry of Economic Development and Growth in Ontario and in the HVAC industry. She is passionate about government, politics and climate change. Sana has a BA in Political Science and a post-graduate certificate in Government Relations.
Erin Vollick
Manager, Marketing & Communications

Erin Vollick
As a senior strategic communications expert with over a decade of experience working within the non-profit as well as the education/technology sector at the University of Toronto, Erin works with her team, and across Passive House Canada, to raise awareness about Passive House Canada’s mission and standards.
Darlene Trimm
Membership Coordinator

Darlene Trimm
Darlene is passionate about building valued relationships and connecting people to ideas, experts and solutions for impact and growth. With over 20 years in the financial industry and business development, she combines strong business acumen with a keenness for knowledge sharing and is often relied upon as a trusted advisor. She is known for being an engaging, curious, and effective communicator with a focus on continuous improvement opportunities. She empowers and fosters inclusive leadership in others and motivates for success in an ever changing fast-paced global environment. She brings her enthusiasm and experience to Passive House Canada to share value and support to our growing membership.
Mike Markov
Specialist, Marketing & Communications

Mike Markov
Mike brings extensive marketing and communications knowledge to Passive House Canada, as well as experience in the non-profit sector. He has played a leadership role in online events, successfully driven numerous marketing and communication campaigns through social media, and has expertise in gathering and harnessing the data required for modern web and digital marketing tools. An equally versatile commercial photographer, he has also been a key visual storyteller across a variety of projects. Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, where he majored in Environmental Studies and double-minored in Environmental Science and G.I.S.
Hayden Morin
Assistant, Marketing & Communications

Hayden Morin
Hayden holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, majoring in Marketing, from Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia. He has worked on various construction sites throughout his life, learning what it takes to erect structures firsthand. Hayden is passionate about sustainable buildings, infrastructure and hopes to affect Canadian building standards and policy. In his free time, he likes learning about new things, detailing vehicles, and touring around Victoria on his motorcycle. He hopes to soon get a fully electric pick-up truck!
Mischele Stevens
Events Coordinator

Mischele Stevens
Mischele spent her early working years in hospitality, events and restaurant ownership before shifting to ICF construction at its infancy. After 13 years the event management industry called her back and she worked both privately and as a city wide community event manager. She is happy to have joined Passive House Canada to help prepare for the much anticipated 2023 Annual Conference.
Jessica Weber
Graphic Designer

Jessica Weber
Jessica is a graphic designer and web developer from Vancouver Island. She's worked for years creating online and print materials in the Passive House industry for several organizations across North America. Jessica is passionate about the environment and volunteers in her spare time with the Surfrider Foundation in an effort to protect our oceans and beaches for future generations.
Cameron Laidlaw
Team Lead, Technical Services

Cameron Laidlaw
With a broad and deep. background in Passive House design, Cameron brings a wealth of technical expertise to the Passive House Canada team. Cameron has extensive knowledge of the Passive House Standard and its application in the Canadian context, leveraged from his years of experience as a Passive House Institute-accredited Certifier. He has provided consultancy and certification for many first-of-its-kind Passive House projects across Canada and around the world. Cameron has also worked with numerous North American manufacturers to design and certify products for Passive House Component Certification.
Tiffany Taylor
Education Assistant

Tiffany Taylor
Tiffany comes to Passive House Canada with 10 years of experience in education and administration as a museum professional. During her role as a Collections Manager, she became familiar with Passivhaus in researching strategies to better control the indoor environment to improve artefact conservation outcomes. She followed a calling to transition into the fields of wellness and sustainability by training to become a Certified Nutritional Practitioner, as well as learning innovative healing techniques such as Biomagnetic Pair Therapy. Her work on the education team greatly supports her goal to raise critical awareness in how our built environment impacts our physical and mental health, as well as the potential green building techniques hold in our collective mission to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Kathy McLaren
Finance

Kathy McLaren
Kathy has been meeting the accounting needs of individuals and corporations (profit and non-profit) for the past 20 years.As a dedicated and detailed oriented professional - certified in bookkeeping, accounting and payroll, Kathy brings her knowledge and experience to our team.
She manages the full cycle accounting activities and works closely with our Board Finance Committee.
She is proud to be working with a meaningful company whose mission is committed to sustainability.