Members' meeting - AGM of Équiterre 2023

A former senior official of the Government of Quebec, Charles served for seven years as Assistant Deputy Minister with the Ministère du Développement durable, de l'Environnement, de la Faune et des Parcs (now MELCC). There, he was primarily responsible for the fight against climate change. His career also took him to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Comité ministériel des affaires régionales et territoriales and the Comité ministériel de la région de Montréal. He was also President and CEO of the Société d'habitation du Québec.

During his career, he has served on various Canadian and international bodies, as well as on the boards of directors of a number of NPOs, including the Institut de recherche et de développement en agro-environnement (IRDA) and the Fonds d'action québécois en développement durable (FAQDD). For three years, he also chaired the board of directors of the Ouranos Consortium on Regional Climatology and Adaptation to Climate Change. Charles is currently a member of the Advisory Committee on Climate Change, which was established by the Quebec government in 2021. He is also a volunteer member of the Board of Directors of Sentiers Québec-Charlevoix and of his municipality's Urban Planning Advisory Committee.

Etienne Ladouceur is an Associate Partner, Pension Administration, with Aon. He has over 20 years' experience in various leadership positions in project management, strategy, organizational change and operations. Etienne has contributed to various environmental causes over the years. He is extremely concerned about climate change and speaks out against inaction in all the various forums. He is the father of two adult daughters, a proponent of buying local, and a passionate skier and urban cyclist.

• Skills Profiling
• Project Management
• Business Strategies
• Organizational Transformation
• Budgeting and Operations

A graduate in Journalism, and holding a master's degree in Environmental Management, Colleen Thorpe has 25 years of experience in environmental advocacy and social change. She has excellent knowledge of sustainable food systems, circular economy and corporate social responsibility. During her career, she has led numerous programs aimed at influencing decision-makers and mobilizing citizens towards an ecological transition.

Colleen joined Équiterre in 2018, first as Senior Project Manager, then Program Director, before becoming General Manager in 2019. Previously, Colleen worked as a journalist for several television channels covering events in Quebec. She is also fluent in German, having worked and studied in Berlin for several years.

Colleen is a trustee of the UPA-Fondaction Agricultural Land Trust and sits on the board of directors of the Maison du développement durable. She was also a board member of the Centre des services partagés du Québec, the Système alimentaire montréalais and the Espace de concertation sur les pratiques d’approvisionnement responsable.

With a master's degree in political science, Marc-André has worked as a political strategist at various levels of government. After an internship at the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels, Marc-André worked for several years on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in various capacities, including as senior press officer in the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons.

He subsequently contributed to the victory of Valérie Plante, the green mayor of Montreal, and worked as director of communications and senior political advisor. Since joining the Équiterre team in 2019, Marc-André has led the development of political advocacy, regularly making presentations to parliamentary committees and meeting with ministers, elected officials and other political decision-makers.

With a graduate degree Environment, Marilène is the Assistant Director of Educational Programs, where she is primarily responsible for setting up awareness campaigns and developing partnerships that affect sustainable mobility. Outside of her mandate at Équiterre, she has worked with the public and several socio-economic stakeholders in the field of energy efficiency, and has been involved in the consultation of stakeholder groups on various environmental issues and urban problems.

During her studies, she participated in various projects and field surveys addressing social and environmental issues related to the problem of drinking water in Latin America. In Quebec, she was also examined the impacts of air pollution on natural ecosystems and human health.

In her third year of a bachelor's degree in international studies at the Université de Montréal Julie-Christine got hooked on environmental policies, which led her to a master's degree in applied political studies - environmental pathway - at the Université de Sherbrooke. During her master's degree, she was part of the Université de Sherbrooke's student delegation to COP25, which allowed her to become familiar with international climate negotiations and to grasp the importance of citizen pressure on governments.

It was the link between scientific research and activism that led Julie-Christine to join Équiterre. She completed her first internship in the fall of 2020 within the mobility team, before staying on as a part-time research assistant. In the summer of 2021, still at Équiterre, she began her final master's internship, on source reduction and circular economy issues. In July 2021, she took on the role of full-time Research Advisor, before being promoted to the position of Project Manager, Source Reduction in May 2023.