MEET THE 2023-24 GFOABC BOARD OF DIRECTORS!

Nyla Attiana

Nyla became Chief Administrative Officer for the District of Tofino in 2022 after serving as their Chief Financial Officer for over 12 years. Nyla is the Past President of GFOABC and she sits as a board member for the Tofino Housing Corporation where the mandate is to provide affordable and attainable housing to the community. Being born and raised on Vancouver Island, Nyla declares the Island as her lifelong home. She is honoured to live in Tofino with her family and can be found outside of work enjoying the outdoors and volunteering within the community.

Julia Aspinall

Julia is the Director, Financial Services and Deputy Director of Finance in the City of Vancouver. She joined the City three years ago after working 20+ years in the private sector and found the local government sector inspiring and purposeful. Her transition from the private to public sector right at the onset of COVID reaffirmed her choice of making this leap with the evident impact and importance of local government has on its local communities and people. Julia has been an active member of GFOABC since she joined local government and enjoys being part of this network that brings together talented people who are passionate about local government. Julia’s part-time job is chauffeuring her kids to their activities while volunteering in non-profit organizations. She hopes to be paid as a hobby gardener and an outdoor enthusiast one day.

Corrine Bomben

Corinne is the Chief Financial Officer at the City of Prince Rupert, her home town, and has held the position for 10 of her 12 years in local government. Prior to her adventures in municipal finance, she spent 14 years in public practice. Finding herself in a senior position at the municipality and actively helping to improve her home community is a surprising passion she feels fortunate to have stumbled across. A far cry from her early adult aspirations of international business, she finds fulfillment in helping to chart a course for community renewal and is blessed to have an amazing finance team assisting those efforts. Outside of City Hall, you can find Corinne playing hockey, walking her dog, and most recently, dipping her toe in musical theatre.

Nicole Gervais

Nicole Gervais is the Manager, Client Services with the Municipal Finance Authority of BC (MFA) and has extensive background in the financial services industry, serving over 18 years in various roles in commercial and retail banking. She is responsible for managing the Client Service functions of the MFA and supports a wide array of activities relating to investing, borrowing, and education. The MFA, through its strong interest in building capacity in local government, and in conjunction with KMPG, is proud to be a founding member of GFOABC. Nicole is passionate about community outreach and has been fortunate to be able to support local non-profits through volunteering and securing donations and corporate sponsorships throughout her career in financial services. She has also had the honour of facilitating financial literacy and other community-focused programs. Prior to joining the GFOABC leadership, she sat on the Board of Directors for the Victoria Cool Aid Society.

Mike Kennedy

Mike Kennedy is a coffee-fueled, systems-thinking CPA, CA, and is passionate about making righteous mischief at the place where accounting and social impact meet. He currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Rossland, British Columbia. His career journey to date has included twenty years of progressive leadership roles in public, private and third sectors. Immediately prior to taking on the role of CFO, Mike served as a tenure-track professor in accounting at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. He has also worked as an assurance, strategy and operations consultant with Deloitte, a public servant with the Province of Nova Scotia (Departments of Health, Finance, and Public Engagement Support Unit) and been owner of several small businesses, including a bacon sandwich shop on the Halifax waterfront. In his spare time, he loves cycling, cooking, playing music and is a marginally talented but highly enthusiastic skier.

Rianna Lachance

Rianna is the Senior Manager of Financial Services for the Capital Regional District, Capital Regional Hospital District and the Capital Region Housing Corporation. She joined local government in 2011 after leaving private industry and has held a variety of roles both at the municipal and regional levels of local government. Rianna is currently the President of the GFOABC Board of Directors and has always been an active member since joining local government. She is particularly passionate about the education of our members and continues to make direct contributions in support of the wide variety of professional development opportunities the GFOABC delivers every year. Above all else she has a deep respect for the role GFOABC has in supporting its members and the role its members have in improving the lives of British Columbians in communities across the province.

Lenora Lee

Lenora is an audit partner with KPMG in Victoria where she provides financial statement audit and advisory services relating to technical accounting, internal audit, and internal control for private companies, not-for-profit and public sector organizations. Lenora has been an important contributor to the success of the Government Finance Officers Association of British Columbia (GFOABC). She has served on GFOABC’s Board since 2015 and over her Board tenure, Lenora has also served on the Finance & Administration, External Relations, and Education Committees. Lenora not only shares her time and expertise with GFOABC and its members, but she is also active in the community, serving as a director with the Royal BC Museum since 2021 and as an ambassador for the University of Victoria from 2002 to today. In 2021 Lenora was awarded the fellowship designation (FCPA) by CPABC for her many outstanding professional achievements and community contributions, and an Outstanding Contribution Award from GFOABC in 2022 for her support of GFOABC and its members.

Jeffrey Lovell

Jeffrey is the Director of Finance for the City of Port Coquitlam, taking on all the statutory responsibilities of the Chief Financial Officer as well as overseeing Procurement and Risk Management for the City. Working in local government management for over 13 years, Jeffrey has been part of organizations both small (CFO/ DCAO, Fort St. James) and large (Division Manager, Metro

Vancouver) with an ongoing focus on financial planning, capital, and fiscal sustainability. Returning to the City of Port Coquitlam after a 6-year hiatus, Jeffrey now enjoys living, working, and raising his young family in beautiful PoCo. Outside of work, Jeffrey can be found at the local soccer pitch watching his son play or finally completing home renovations long overdue. He is looking forward to getting to know other GFOABC board members and giving back to the association of which he is a longtime member.

Charlotte Osborne

Charlotte Osborne, CPA, CGA, has been the Director of Finance and CFO for the City of Cranbrook since 2013. She first joined the City team in 2006 as the Financial Services Manager. Before deciding to make the leap to local government, Charlotte worked for BDO Dunwoody, LLP as an audit manager. Charlotte’s accounting career started at Maki Staudt Chartered Accountants where she was hired as a co-op student, moving up to the position of senior manager before the firm was bought out by BDO Dunwoody. Charlotte was late to the accounting table. The first ten years of her work-life were spent with the federal government working in employment programming and GST collections. Charlotte was one of the original members of a group that built an 18-unit condominium on the beach in rural Mexico - a project that was at times a great source of frustration, but one that has ultimately resulted in a cherished home-away-from-home.

Talitha Soldera

Talitha has been in local government finance for 22 years, beginning with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs. She is now the General Manager of Corporate Services for the District of North Cowichan; overseeing the Legislative Services, Information Management, Information Technology, Human Resources and Finance Departments. Talitha enjoys sharing her experience working in both Regional Districts and Municipalities with those attending GFOABC Bootcamp each year. Talitha also actively contributes to organizations supporting women, volunteering on the Board of the Cowichan Women Against Violence Society for many years.

Elio Iorio

Elio Iorio is the Revenue and Taxation Manager at North Vancouver (District). His biography is not available currently.