Tamara Summers (she/her)

iWIST Co-Chair | B.Sc., J.D., PMP | Pragmatic Strategist

Tamara is an outgoing and collaborative individual who is passionate about building relationships, driving positive change, and otherwise lending a strategic hand. She is thrilled to be at the heart of iWIST, enabling her to channel her enthusiasm towards nurturing iWIST relationships and strengthening engagement within Victoria’s STEM community.

Tamara's range of personal interests mirrors the diversity found in her professional experiences. A U.S. attorney, with a foundation in electrical engineering that is coupled with a project management designation, Tamara blends her career and personal life by striving to support the convergence of technology with environmental stewardship initiatives. An accomplished professional who excels at organizational management and business development, she aims to drive social change by facilitating the growth and implementation of sustainable technologies.

In her down time, Tamara finds balance by engaging in physical activities and immersing herself in nature. Depending on the season, you might find her rock climbing, surfing, backcountry snowboarding, deepening her yoga practice, hiking, gardening…or simply smelling the roses.

Louise Wilkinson (she/her)

iWIST Co-Chair | Analytics and Business Improvement Specialist, Mosaic Forests | Change Agent | Data-Driven | Community Builder

Louise joins the iWIST board with a true passion for transitioning the world to sustainability, and empowering women in STEM. Her 20+ year career has seen her grow into a thoughtful and inclusive leader that delivers impact at local, national and international levels. She is a strong business leader with a track record for finding solutions and creating change. An avid traveler with a love for art and science, Louise grew up in the UK, and currently resides mid-island.

Sanjana Rawat (she/her)

iWIST Treasurer | Project Manager, National Research Council Canada

Sanjana is a dynamic Project Manager at the National Research Council Canada in Victoria, BC, with a fervor for innovation, sustainability and effective project management. A forward-thinking and agile professional, she brings a wealth of diverse experience – from conducting quality control tests in laboratories to steering multimillion-dollar international Research and Development (R&D) projects. With a BSC in Microbiology, a Master’s Diploma in Applied Project Management, and an MBA in Sustainable Innovation, Sanjana is dedicated to driving innovation for a better tomorrow.

Beyond her professional pursuits, Sanjana is committed to tacking systemic barriers faced by new immigrants and refugees in accessing opportunities. Sanjana aspires to help build a more inclusive, diverse and prosperous community by offering talent management support. Outside of work, Sanjana finds joy in hiking, painting, running and exploring the outdoors with her friends and family.

Oluwapelumi Ogeroju

iWIST Director | Project Director, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure

Oluwapelumi describes herself in three words - A Believer. An Explorer. An Epicurean. Currently, she is a Project Director at the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure in Victoria, British Columbia with a specific focus on clean and sustainable transportation- active transportation. She has several years under her belt developing propositions and strategy for global companies, including Etisalat, Nokia, Microsoft, and LafargeHolcim, before establishing a consulting firm, transform to scale.

As a lifelong learner, she has attended courses at leading institutions, including CIM, UK, London School of Economics and Political Science, Harvard Business School and Royal Roads University in Canada. She holds a BSc in Political Science, certifications in Project Management (PMP and PRINCE2) and a Professional Scrum Master (PSM).  In her spare time, she enjoys working with small businesses on product development and business strategy To let her hair down, Oluwapelumi loves all things sands, pools & beaches, reading, bird’s eye viewing, shuttle cork smashing, and food that are vehicles for hot sauce.

Helen Lockhart (she/her)

iWIST Director + Membership Lead | P.Eng. | Retired

Helen is a municipal engineer with 30+ years of experience, mostly with a local government, providing infrastructure planning, development review, project management, problem solving and asset management services to the community with attention to sustainability and climate action. She retired in 2022 and is open to new opportunities. She has a B.Eng. in Civil Engineering with a Minor in Computer Science from McGill University and a Professional Certificate in Management and Leadership from Royal Roads University. Outside of work, she enjoys walking, cycling, traveling, reading and playing clarinet in three musical groups.

Kate Fagan Taylor (she/her)

iWIST Director | Certified Management Consultant | Principal, GrowthPoints Strategies

Kate is a Certified Management Consultant whose expertise includes strategy design, board governance, organizational culture development, coaching and facilitation. Kate’s experience spans the BC public sector and Crown agencies, the academic sector, the health sector, not-for-profits and the BC technology sector.  Kate has designed and led health and technology projects with complex ecosystem building and stakeholder engagement requirements.  Most recently, Kate was employee #1 at a tech startup that built software to enable health data sharing across BC.

Kate was born in New York and lived in Vancouver, Toronto and Indiana before moving to Victoria in 1996.  Kate earned a BA from UBC and a Masters of Divinity from the University of Notre Dame. Kate has served on several not for profit boards, and as an executive director in not for profit organizations. In her free time, favourite activities include travel with family, designing and building gardens, and reading speculative fiction.

Tara Coulter (she/her)

iWIST Director | Employment Development Officer, UVic

Tara Coulter is an Employment Development Officer with the Engineering and Computer Science Co-op + Career program at the University of Victoria where she works with technology employers to develop job opportunities for co-op students. In her previous position as a Placement Coordinator in the same department, she helped students prepare for their job applications and assisted international students with their co-op work permit applications. Working closely with recruiters from companies across Canada and the United States, she provides support throughout the hiring process. Having worked in co-operative education for more than 15 years, Tara is passionate about providing meaningful experiences for students as they begin their career journeys.

Prior to working at UVic, Tara worked as the Executive Assistant at the Royal BC Museum. She also has experience in the spa industry, real estate, national parks service and the performing arts.

Tara is a member of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, Women in Construction Victoria and volunteers on the Communications Committee with CEWIL. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Western Ontario, a diploma in Performing Arts Management from Confederation College and a Masters certificate in Project Management from the University of Victoria.

A life-long learner with many interests, Tara enjoys sailing, playing guitar, singing with a local Motown choir, fiction writing and voice acting.

Alison Bird (she/her)

iWIST Director | Seismologist

Alison has been working as an Earthquake Seismologist with Natural Resources Canada since 2000. For 20 years, she analyzed and researched western Canada's earthquakes, and visited Haida Gwaii as part of a response team after the 2012 magnitude 7.8 earthquake. In recent years, Alison modeled fault rupture scenarios for a comprehensive seismic risk assessment for Canada. Alison routinely responds in the wake of significant events (having given over 1,000 interviews).

In 2020, Alison joined the national Earthquake Early Warning project as Liaison & Outreach Officer, helping to establish an EEW system for Canada, which will be launched in 2024.

Alison is involved in numerous outreach activities, and is passionate about seismic-resistant engineering, in encouraging mitigation practices for at-risk communities, and in educating the public about earthquake hazards. She is on the Board of Directors for the BC Earthquake Alliance and on the Organizing Committee for the annual Great British Columbia ShakeOut earthquake drill.

Alison was introduced to iWIST when she provided a tour of the Pacific Geoscience Centre as part of an iWIST Tech Crawl several years ago, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to join such a vibrant, diverse, interesting group of women in STEM.

Ophélie Leste

iWIST Director | Economist | Data Scientist | Astrophysicist

Ophélie is currently working as a data scientist for the Ministry of Education and Childcare in BC, contributing in the effort to make childcare more affordable and accessible. Throughout her academic career, Ophélie was a researcher in Astronomy and contributed to the study of galaxy evolution.

Ophélie moved to Canada in 2017 from Rodrigues, a Mascarene island, where she is still involved with various communities and helping young graduates with their academic career.

Ophélie is a detailed-oriented individual with a thirst for knowledge and is always ready to take on new challenges. With the help of iWIST she hopes to be able to contribute to solidifying a supportive and welcoming community for women from diverse backgrounds and origins within the STEM fields.

Robyn Quinn, APR, MA, Fellow CPRS (she/her)

iWIST Director | Storyteller | Leader

Excited to return to a role with the Island Women in Science and Technology Board, President of Big Bang Communications and longtime Chair of IWIST, Robyn Quinn is a dynamic communications professional with 20 years experience working in education, research, technology, government, not-for-profit, association and transportation sectors. 

Originally from Nova Scotia, she developed and delivered award winning public relations and marketing campaigns from coast to coast and is passionate about supporting the growth of women in leadership roles. Volunteer Victoria recognized her commitment to IWIST with a Leadership Award in 2018 presented by Lt Governor Janet Austen.

A graduate of Royal Roads University (MA Professional Communications) and Saint Mary’s University, Robyn is a long time accredited member of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) and named Fellow in 2018. She was CPRS National President 2004/05. While working at Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency in Nova Scotia she was recognized several times for her unique approaches to making funding announcements for innovative labs. No animals were harmed in the process.

While working at Natural Resources Canada (Pacific Forestry Centre), in 2008 Robyn co-chaired National Science and Tech Week for BC & Yukon.

In 2015 and in 2020 Robyn was nominated for the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards.

Supporting women in STEM on their career path is an important role for Robyn - she has delivered sessions for national conferences (Canadian Coalition for Women in Engineering Science Trades and Technology) and been a featured speaker for other women’s organizations (Women in Leadership, SFU-WWEST, GirlBoss). Robyn is also a longtime mentor for the Gustavson business program at UVic.