CVAN Volunteers

We are extremely fortunate to have a group of dedicated volunteers who devote their time, skill and energy in coordinating new programs, events and resources for our members. We thank all of them for their continued support of the Canadian Virtual Assistant Network.

We're proud to introduce our CVAN volunteers!
Click on the links below and learn more about our fabulous volunteers!

• Lisa Farley, Membership Director
• Jill Chongva, Forum Coordinator
• Karen Barker, Newsletter Editor
• Laura Sandham, Website Coordinator
• **Available**, Director of Marketing
• Shelley Schmidtke, Forum Moderator, Teleclass Assistant
• Renay John, Forum Moderator, Newsletter Contributor
• Ann Rosin, Teleclass Assistant, Website Maintenance
• Laurie Matechuk, Live Event Coordinator
• Theresa Scholes, Website Maintenance, Newsletter Contributor
• Tiffeny Russell, Newsletter Contributor, Forum Moderator
• Shannon Clark - Forum Moderator

Lisa Farley of Off Your Desk became a Virtual Assistant in 2004 after spending seventeen years in the real estate/legal administration field. After having her third child Lisa decided to finally fulfill her dream of self-employment. She was fortunate enough to take part in the SEB program where she learned the vital steps to starting a business. Lisa had lived in Ontario all of her life and, due to a career opportunity for her husband, recently made a family move to beautiful New Brunswick. The virtual nature of the VA industry made it possible for her business to make a seamless transition to her new province. Real Estate remains a focus and passion for Lisa and she also specializes in association management, software training, office organization and project assistance. When not in her home office, Lisa enjoys being a soccer/hockey mom, depending on the season, volunteering at her children’s schools, taking in as many movies as possible and exploring her new province. You can reach Lisa at lisa@offyourdesk.ca or her toll free number 1-866-552-2740.

VADiva Jill Chongva has been a Virtual Assistant for five years, after 12 years in the Medical Administration field. She offers a variety of services, from bookkeeping to Coach support, and thoroughly enjoys the wide variety of tasks her clients need completed. As the mother of four beautiful and talented [of course! :)] children, Jill has little spare time, but devotes herself to volunteer positions with her local Group Committee, school Band Parent Association and Minor Baseball Association. Jill has a weakness for Coach handbags and "Dora the Explorer". She can be reached through her website, www.vadiva.com or by calling toll free 1 888 627 5659.

Karen Barker uses her unique blend of more than 15 years of corporate communications and graphic design expertise to help organizations deliver clear, concise messages to their customers and employees. Karen’s extensive experience comes from working with national and international companies across a variety of industries and geographic markets.

Karen has experience in all phases of the communication project cycle and brings careful attention to detail to all her projects. Her project management skills and creativity are complemented by her technical expertise. She has assisted numerous clients in the financial services, oil & gas, forestry, tourism, manufacturing and not-for-profit sectors, as well as several federal government departments.

Karen is a Marketing graduate with post-secondary education in Public Relations, Journalism and Mass Media and Communication studies. She is a member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and a winner of two Silver Leaf Awards. http://www.optrix-cd.ca/

Laura Sandham provides virtual assistance to both national and international clients, specializing in bookkeeping, desktop publishing, website maintenance, and word processing.

Laura joined the profession in early 2002 after providing support for small businesses for 8 years. She is committed to creating awareness and providing professional, high quality service in this growing profession.

Shelley is a wife and mom to two teenagers, which is her most favorite role. She loves the VA industry because there is always something new to learn. She is a VA student at Red Deer College in Alberta and looks forward to starting her practice in about one year, when she completes her certificate. She wants to niche in bookkeeping since she has helped in her mom's bookkeeping business for many years. She loves animals, volunteers on a wildlife hotline and acts as a moderator for the CVAN forum. evshell@netscape.ca

Renay John, Essential VA brings over 10 years of administrative experience to the VA profession. Becoming an entrepreneur and starting her own business has always been her dream and finally it’s become a reality. After her son was born, like most mothers, she just knew there had to be another way to continue contributing her many skills all while keeping work/life balance.

Currently enrolled in the VA Program at the Red Deer College, Renay hopes to expand her already vast knowledge of Wordprocessing, Event Planning, Travel Planning, Presentations, Project Assistance, Database Management, and Data Entry. By working in many different industries i.e., Not-for-Profit, Law, Oil & Gas, Human Resources, and Manufacturing, she has gained invaluable experience; which in turn has prepared her to support the many different needs of her clients.

Laurie Matechuk is the owner and operator of Go Virtual Admin in Red Deer, Alberta. Laurie has an Office Administration certificate with an Administrative Assistant major. She is always keeping her skills current and is currently working towards her Virtual Assistant certification. She has experience working in an office environment for approximately 17 years and, therefore; brings a variety of experience with her; handling such positions as Administrative Assistant, Customer Service Representative, Systems Operator, Payables and Receivable Clerk.

Theresa Scholes is the owner of Click Virtual Assistance; a full service virtual assistant business providing online support to coaches, consultants and small business owners. With a strong desire to learn, Theresa obtained a Bachelor of Commerce in Consumer Studies from the University of Guelph in Ontario, and a Virtual Assistant Certificate from Red Deer College in Alberta.

Over 12+ years of Executive Administrative experience has helped me fine tune my knowledge and communication skills. With a love for sales and marketing, I value the idea of “thinking outside of the box.”

Tiffeny Russell lives in Victoria, BC with her husband (Stephen) and their two children (Avery and Kelsey-Rae). In October 2005, Tiffeny started her VA practice, Above & Beyond Virtual Assisting. In her spare time, she enjoys family walks, cooking, collecting cookbooks, gardening and crafts.

Shannon Clark of Clark Administrative Services has over eight years of administrative experience in various roles and industries. As a graduate of Office Administration and Accounting from the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), she enjoys helping people get organised and assist with the administrative overload that small business owners deal with! In her spare time, Shannon enjoys snowboarding, biking, camping, and baseball.

Get involved

Do you want to give back to the community? Do you want to make a difference? Then become a CVAN Volunteer. For more information click here.