The Nova Scotia Sea School is governed by a dynamic group of community and business leaders. They include past-participants, parents, donors, sailors. They all have in common a commitment to providing youth in Nova Scotia with life-changing learning experiences.
Maggy is the Internal Director of the Ecology Action Centre. Before becoming a professional environmentalist she worked for many years in the field of community economic development as a business counsellor, manager, facilitator and entrepreneur. Maggy has a BA (Philosophy) and BSc (Biology) and has spent time chasing strawberry poison-dart frogs in the Costa Rican rainforest, and teaching English on rooftops in China. Her passion for the NS Sea School emerged while on a Sea School professional enrichment trip and has only deepened as she has gotten to know the organization.
Wilson Fitt has been a member of the Board of the Nova Scotia Sea School since 2004 and the Treasurer since 2006. In his professional life, Wilson provides project management for large construction projects to public and private sector clients as well consulting services relating to project feasibility and development. During the past several years Wilson has managed new construction and redevelopment projects that total in excess of $100 million. His qualifications include a Master of Public Administration from Dalhousie University, 1984; Bachelor of Law from Dalhousie University, 1979; and Bachelor of Science from University of Kings College, 1975. He is a member (non-practicing) of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society.
In addition to the Nova Scotia Sea School, Wilson has volunteered services for non-profit organizations with interests in mental health and housing. He has a lifetime of sailing experience including coastal passages and offshore voyaging, some of it single-handed. Wilson has built several traditional wooden boats including his current one, a thirty eight foot cutter.
Ella McQuinn is a business coach and management consultant with a special interest in working with organizations focused on sustainable and people- focused strategies. She has extensive experience in tourism planning and marketing across Canada and Eastern US and more recently has been working in a variety of sectors with business leaders committed to change. She is Chair of the St. Margaret's Bay Stewardship Association focused on building a strong quality of life, sustainable community development and coastal management, including protecting islands in the bay. She has been on the Sea School board since 2004 having previously consulted with the organization. She has also seen the remarkable impact the Sea School has first hand as the parent of a participant. Ella can attest to the profound and positive impact life at sea aboard the Dorothea with trusted instructors and crew can have on the life of a young person. Her own passion extends to the sea having grown up in a sailing family in Nova Scotia.
Educated at RMC and Dalhousie University and having been awarded the designation Certified Management Consultant, Mr. Robertson is a Professional Engineer with qualifications in other fields, including Management Consulting.
Mr. Robertson's career includes a variety of business management positions and consulting in addition to having started, owned and operated many businesses of his own in the fields of plumbing and heating, real estate development, manufacturing of hardware for electric utilities and energy management consulting. His energy management consulting has been international in scope and includes work on 5 continents since 1981 and led to hundreds of millions of dollars in reduced energy consumption. His utility pole line hardware business (Enerscan Engineering Inc) has grown consistently and rapidly since 1998, with sales throughout North America and a presence in South America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. Dale is a member of several boards and committees, including the Greater Halifax Partnership, the Mayor's Economic Strategy Committee, Kings View Academy and he is Vice President of Engineers Nova Scotia.
Dale sailed briefly in university but then purchased a J24 sailboat in about 2002 and has never looked back, participating in hundreds of races in Canada, USA and Bermuda. This new love of sailing, plus the impact the Sea School has on the development and enrichment of teenagers in their pursuit of finding themselves are what has inspired him to participate on the Sea School Board.
Crane grew up by the water in New York and Massachusetts, sailing and rowing small wooden boats. Being near water always makes him happy. He discovered as an adult that being around teenagers makes him happy too. So in 1994 he combined these joys with the aspiration to do something useful and founded the Nova Scotia Sea School.
Crane has a Masters of Architecture degree from Harvard University and practiced architecture in Boston for 8 years. In 1990 he took time off to pursue his interest in the study and practice of meditation, intending to return to his practice and a list of waiting clients.
However Crane returned, not to his architectural practice, but to his childhood love of wooden boats and sailing. He served as deck officer and seamanship instructor on tall ships in the US and Canada, including HMS ROSE, PRIDE OF BALTIMORE II, CORWITH CRAMER and others, and earned his US Master¹s license as captain of sailing vessels up to 200 gross tons.
In 1994 he settled in Halifax, the best move of his life. He says that Nova Scotia is a sane and decent place, and that his life has really blossomed since moving here, and that the Sea School is the fruit of it.
In 2003 Crane was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal for the Sea School's contribution to the Canadian community.
Zoë has been sailing with the Nova Scotia Sea School since its first year. She was part of the crew that built Dorothea, the Sea School's first expedition boat, and sailed as a student on the Dorothea's maiden voyage out of Halifax. Eight years later Zoë guided the second expedition boat - Elizabeth Hall - through her maiden voyage, this time as an assistant instructor. This past summer was Zoë's fifth season as expedition captain. A lifetime of working with young people and the sea has instilled in Zoë confidence, enthusiasm, respect and admiration for other people and the elements. The most valuable learning - the one she most wants to share - is an awareness of one's own abilities, interests, and the satisfaction of being engaged.
Zoë's passion for leading sailing expeditions is matched by a love of art and encouraging creativity. Currently, she is very excited about working with the Sea School to explore the transformative power of creativity with community groups. Zoë has shown her art internationally; she completed her BSc. in Environmental Studies and Philosphy at the University of Toronto; and her Master of Arts in Atlantic Canada Studies at St. Mary's University.
In 2009, Heather received a Bachelor in Recreation Management from Acadia University and was the recipient of a University Medal. Her focuses are outdoor education and leadership as well as community development. She is currently Supervisor for Community Engagement with The YMCA of Greater Halifax/Dartmouth. She is constantly organizing events and most recently coordinated the 2010 Recreation Nova Scotia 13th Annual Conference. She is also a trained Mezzo Soprano and enjoys listening to and playing music.
Heather has grown up in nature. No matter what type of boat she’s in, she’s happy. She has been on the water for as long as she can remember. Whether it was in the middle of a canoe between her parents at the age of two, or on family and friends' sailboats every summer, she loves the water and the outdoors. Through education and experiential learning in the outdoors, Heather’s values, strong will, and passion to help others has been formed. She believes in the importance of youth development and engaging youth with the environment around them.