Council appoints Vancity CEO to Board of Vancouver Airport Authority

Vancouver City Council today announced the appointment of Vancity President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tamara Vrooman as the City of Vancouver’s representative to the Vancouver Airport Authority (YVR) Board of Directors.

“Tamara’s exceptional achievements in government and as the President and CEO of Vancity and in government will be an excellent addition to the YVR Board,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “We’re very proud to have her represent the City of Vancouver.

“I would also like to thank former mayor Philip Owen for his contribution over the past six years on the YVR Board as the City representative and for his extraordinary commitment to public service.”

As President and CEO of Canada’s largest credit union, Tamara Vrooman guided Vancity in 2010 to achieve the highest annual earnings performance in the organization’s 64 year history. Under Tamara’s leadership, Vancity has extended its financial success to facilitate positive social and environmental change, including achieving carbon neutral status.

As Deputy Minister of Finance for British Columbia from 2004 through mid-2007, Tamara led the strategy to successfully renegotiate all expiring collective agreements in the public sector without strike or mediation and led the Ministry to two AAA credit rating upgrades.

Amongst other honors, Tamara has been awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for outstanding public service and the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada Award. She was recently nominated for the YWCA’s 2011 Women of Distinction Awards.

The Airport Authority Board’s fundamental role is to ensure that the organization fulfills its objectives in a safe, efficient and reliable manner. There are up to 15 Board members and appointments are for three-year terms. Tamara will officially join the Board on May 12, 2011.

Board members are nominated by the Government of Canada, Metro Vancouver, the Cities of Richmond and Vancouver, the Vancouver Board of Trade, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia and the Law Society of British Columbia.

Additional Board members include the Vancouver Airport Authority’s President and CEO and up to five directors appointed by the Board from the community at large.