Directors and Staff

Directors

Allison Arai, Treasurer is a parent of two children, one with autism. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of British Columbia and is a Chartered Accountant. She is controller of three family owned businesses and a computer support group. Allison brings a wealth of accounting expertise to the board.

Katy Harandi, Chair of the Board, President is the mother of two, one of whom has autism. Since 1995, she has devoted her time toward helping her daughter overcome many of the challenges of this condition. She has investigated educational and biomedical treatments for autism and has researched this field extensively. Katy supervised and actively participated in her daughter’s home-based ABA program, receiving many hours of training from educational and behavioral specialists, as well as experts in the fields of speech and occupational therapy. Katy Harandi is President of isolve IT Inc., a computer support company. She received her B.A. degree from Stanford University in Computer Science and holds an MBA from the Sauder School of Business at UBC. Katy is also a member of the Women’s Leadership Council for the Sauder School of Business.

Robert Standerwick was born and raised in Vancouver where he attended high school. He graduated from UBC with a BA and an LLB. Bob has been a lawyer in Vancouver for almost 30 years and is currently a partner with the national firm of Lang Michener LLP.  He has been active in a number of community organizations and has been a member of the Board of Directors of the West Point Grey Academy since 1999 and its Chair since 2000. As Chair, he is a founding member and director of the WPGA Foundation and the WPGA Property Society. Bob and his wife Marilyn have four children.

Tammy Grossman Kalla has spent the past ten years learning about and advocating for programs and therapies for children with developmental disabilities.  Tammy received her BA from The University of Texas and she holds an MBA from The George Washington University.  Prior to marrying and raising a family, Ms. Kalla worked in public affairs and government relations in Washington, D.C.

Cindy Maltman is a mother of a young girl with autism and is also a long-time  professional firefighter with the City of Burnaby. Like many parents of autistic children she taught herself how to advocate on behalf of her child. She took several courses on coping strategies, advocacy and various autism treatment programs. She successfully argued for the reinstatement of the speech therapy program for children in Fraser Health Region’s New Westminster district. She is also a lay reference for other parents with autistic children.

John Stewart is a retired fire chief for the city of Burnaby. Over 35 years of community service. A founding member of the Burnaby Fire Fighters Charitable Society. Born and raised in Vancouver, married with two sons.

John Floren, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing & Logistics

Methanex’s Senior Vice President, Global Marketing and Logistics, is an accomplished senior executive with more than 25 years of diverse international management experience. Mr. Floren oversees four regional marketing offices as well as Methanex’s wholly owned shipping subsidiary, Waterfront Shipping. He joined Methanex in 2000 as Director, Information Technology and E-commerce and transitioned to Director, Marketing and Logistics for North America in May 2002.

Administration and Staff of PALS

Head of School – Jennifer Gunasekera

Jennifer Gunasekera developed her love of learning at a very early age.  School was always a pleasure and she was particularly inspired by her grade 5 teacher when she moved to Hamilton, Ontario with her family in 1982.  Years later, after completing both her Psychology undergraduate degree and a Bachelor of Education degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Jennifer traveled to Monterrey, Mexico where she relished in her first teaching job at an English immersion school.

Once back in Vancouver, Jennifer began her teaching career in earnest.  She taught at West Point Grey Academy from 1998-2008 as a grade 5 teacher.  In the spring of 2008, Jennifer was presented with a unique opportunity to make a shift in her career.  As the Head of School at The Phoenix Academy of Learning, she has embraced the challenges of working in a leadership role and she continues to strive to instill the love of learning in students and staff alike.Outside of the classroom Jennifer devotes time to running, gardening, reading and caring for her two young boys.

BC Certified Classroom Teacher – Ranveer Mann

Ranveer has always had a passion and love of teaching pupils with special educational needs. She has worked with children aged 6-19 with special educational needs for the past ten years and has been teaching since 2004. In 2003, she completed her BA Honours and in 2004 she completed her Post Graduate Certificate in Education. She taught at Green Park special school, England from 2004-2008 teaching pupils aged 5-19 with autism, severe learning difficulties and profound multiple learning difficulties. Ranveer moved here from England August 2008 and started her new role at Phoenix Academy of Learning Society, she continues to support and help students progress in life long learning.

Certified Classroom Teacher - Christina Bartko

Christina has worked with students from aged 2 – 25+ for over ten years in school, recreation and camp based programs.  She holds an Honours B.A. and a B. Ed. from the University of Western Ontario.  After graduating she worked in Urban Native and Special Education Curriculum Deveopment in Toronto before accepting a position as a Teacher at Kohai Educational Centre, a non-profit school for students with Autism.  She is excited to be teaching at PALS and looks forward to a great year!

Intensive Behaviour Intervention Program

The primary Behavior Analyst responsible for all PALS students is Andrea Kasunic, M.Ed., BCBA.

Andrea is a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst with over 7 years of experience working with children and adolescents with emotional and behavioural disorders. For the past 4 years, she has been exclusively providing services to children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders and their families. She pursued her Masters of Education in Developmental Psychology and Education from the University of Toronto and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Behaviour Analysis from the University of North Texas. She is an advocate for using positive, proactive behaviour management strategies and she strongly believes in enhancing parental capacity. She has worked in a number of different environments including clinical, research, home, community, and school-based settings.