Our Team

Debra Gassewitz has been the CEO of Canada’s National Sport Information Resource Centre (SIRC) for the past 25 years. During that time she has had the privilege of engaging with all sectors, levels and participants within sport.

A bilingual sport leader, coach and volunteer, who embraces the concept to never stop learning, she championed the Centre’s evolution from library to innovative knowledge broker. Whether it was digitizing millions of pages of sport research, negotiating a multi-million dollar database sale or establishing an international network of sport partners, her focus has been to facilitate engagement and empower the sport system with knowledge.

Debra played a key role in the development of the Canadian sport policy. She is a member on numerous Boards and committees at the national and provincial level, including a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, working to enhance alignment and advance sport in Canada.

Her background in communications and digital technology has been a driving force in assisting sport organizations with recruitment. Her commitment to research, education and keeping sport leaders, sports associations and program developers well informed has led to the development of numerous resources, conferences and innovative delivery methods.

Greg has enjoyed over 25 years of diverse experience in the Real Estate industry, primarily in Vancouver and Toronto. His background ranges from agency and development, acquisitions and dispositions through to property and asset management. The last 15 years have been devoted to overseeing the property management and performance of investment portfolios on behalf of institutional and private investors together with organizational leadership and development.

Greg’s volunteer activities have centered on supporting the Building Owners and Managers Association of BC currently as Chair, and lengthy involvement with alpine ski racing in North Vancouver and as a volunteer during the 2010 Olympics in Whistler.

Melanie Matthews is a Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and has over 12 years of experience of providing audit and assurance services, working in multinational environments and working with major publicly listed companies in Canada and the United States. With an emphasis on collaboration, trust and quality, Melanie is committed to helping clients navigate through the demands of regulatory compliance changes, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, complex accounting issues and rise of new regulations.

Melanie is a former member of the Senior Women’s National Softball Team, having represented Canada in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as competing in three World Championships. Melanie was inducted into the World Baseball Softball Confederation Hall of Fame and the Softball Canada Hall of Fame in 2019.

Melanie earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and has been a Chartered Professional Accountant since 2013.

Laura is the Board Chair.  She’s been on the CSI Board since 2017 having served as the Chair of the HR Governance Committee and other assignment.  Laura’s strength is governance and strategy.  Laura is also a talented athlete with cycling and golf as her main pursuits, currently.

Laura’s day job is as the CEO of the BC Pension Corporation.  Laura joined BC Pension Corporation as chief executive officer in December 2008. BC Pension Corporation provides pension services for five of the largest pension plans in the province with assets in excess of $160 billion. The Corporation services over 680,000 plan members, 1,000 participating employers and pays out more than $450 million in benefits each month ($5.4 billion/year).

In 2020, under Laura’s leadership the Pension Corporation received Canada Awards for Excellence® (CAE) Platinum certification in Excellence, Innovation and Wellness, after receiving “Gold” recognition from Excellence Canada in 2016 and being named one of BC’s Top Employers several times.

In 2022, Business in Vancouver magazine recognized Laura as one of BC’s most influential business leaders, in 2018, as the public sector BC CEO of the Year and in 2017, she was named one of the Influential Women in Business, this after being identified as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the Women’s Executive Network.

Laura has the designation of Director with the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D) and serves on several other boards including Gustavson School of Business International Advisory Board, Excellence Canada, and the Conference Board of Canada.

Laura is an active mentor for women leaders and emerging leaders who look to her for guidance and direction on their leadership practice and career development. Laura is a PhD candidate at the University of Victoria where her area of research is the impact of sports on women’s career success.

Anthony Wright is Regional Vice President of Indigenous Wealth at RBC Royal Trust, where he is responsible for the administration of a wide range of Indigenous Trusts. Working closely with First Nation and other Indigenous clients across B.C. and Alberta, he is a trusted partner in the development and implementation of wealth management plans. Anthony joined RBC in 2016, after earning a law degree from the University of Victoria and articling at a national law firm in Vancouver. Prior to that, he completed his Bachelor of Human Kinetics, Exercise Science at the University of British Columbia, was a member of Canada’s field hockey team and competed in the European Hockey League winning the Championnat de France.

As the third generation of his family to represent Canada in an Olympic games, Anthony continues to be an advocate for sport at the community level and nationally, having participated in a number of Canadian Olympic Committee programs and served as a Director of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada and on the board of directors nominating committee for Hockey Canada.