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Our Board x2

Universal Outreach is a humanitarian organization dedicated to providing quality educational opportunities and economic development initiatives.  We work with both a board of directors and a board of advisors to achieve our goals. 

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Meet Our Board of Directors
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Kent Bubbs Sr

Founder and President

After starting his first business at the age of 15 and following with a dozen more over the ensuing 45 years, Kent has settled into doing what he loves most; working on behalf of the UOF community. His business administration education and entrepreneurship experiences led him to the creation of UOF, 20 years ago, under the business principles that made his companies successful.  This mandate has led to industry low operating expenses with all outside donations going into productive projects and programs. 

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Kent Bubbs Jr

Executive Director

Kent has been a dedicated member of Universal Outreach Foundation since 2008, where he focuses on strategic planning and program development. With a passion for equality and social impact, Kent is committed to creating programs that are accountable, transparent and effective.  Kent brings over 16 years of experience in development work and holds certificates in International Development and Project Management from the University of British Columbia.

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Angela G. O'Sullivan

Board Chair

Angela O’Sullivan is a seasoned business executive and 24-year veteran of TransPerfect, a $1B global language services firm. At TransPerfect her roles include acting as VP of EMEA Sales from 2003 to 2011, before taking a sabbatical until 2016 when she returned as VP of EU Operations. Angie is a board member at Cross Culture Care and regularly volunteers at a local nursing home. Originally from South Florida, Angie currently resides in Zurich, Switzerland with her husband, daughter, Lola, and dog, Nora. 

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Landis Wyatt

Board Member

With over twenty years of marketing experience Landis uses her gifts for storytelling, photography and filmmaking to encourage people to give back to the world and see each other's successes as our own. After spending the past 15 years in Liberia, she fondly refers to it as home. Landis studied at the University of Regina and continued her education with courses in photography, graphic design, accounting and development work. 

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Dan Sebal

Board Member

Dan first visited Africa in 2007, exploring Tanzania and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, which sparked his enduring passion for the continent. After running a successful special event and hospitality business in Western Canada for over 30 years, he sold the business in 2021 and shifted to a new career in film and TV production. Dan is passionate about travel, yoga, self-defense, writing, and contributing meaningfully. His recent travels to Monrovia have strengthened his commitment to revising the travel advisory for Liberia and supporting the region’s growth.

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Prezton Gonkerwon  Vaye

Board Member

Prezton Vaye was born and raised in rural Liberia. He currently works as a Social Worker with the international NGO Red Meets Green, where he oversees reunification of children from institutional care with their families. He is a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and volunteers with the  WUBU Foundation for Deaf Children. Prezton holds an undergraduate degree in Social Work and a Masters in Public Administration. He is married with three children.

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Anne Gardner

Board Member

Anne first went to West Africa as a volunteer in 1980 and ended up working there for 40 years. She is an international development professional with particular experience in community-based natural resource management. She has been working in Liberia since 2014 on the conservation of the Gola Forest where she sees first hand the impact of Universal Outreach.  Anne currently resides in White Rock and continues to support development projects in Liberia, West Africa.

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Emma Johnson

Board Member

Emma first traveled to Liberia to volunteer with Universal Outreach Foundation in 2018. Since then, she has made annual visits to Liberia. In addition to her role as Head of Marketing for Superrare, Emma leverages her expertise in sustainability and marketing to develop impactful strategies and enhance UOF's communications. Her commitment to making a difference drives her to blend her professional skills with her dedication to supporting communities in Liberia.

Meet Our Board of Advisors
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Ian Rose

Board of Advisors

For over 30 years, Ian Rose was a trusted senior advisor to major organizations across North America, Europe, S.E. Asia, Africa and the Middle East, helping to solve their organizational problems, and to create their human resource management and development strategies.  His clients included 3M, Abbott Labs, Aventis, the BBC, BHP, BP, British Airways, Caltex Indonesia, Clorox, EDS, Eli Lilly, Honeywell,  the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (Nairobi), Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Pillsbury, Shell Oil, Unilever and the United Nations, as well as the British, Canadian and US Governments. 

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Robert Wyckham

Board of Advisors

Robert G. Wyckham is Emeritus Professor of Marketing, Faculty of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University.  He has also founded and been involved in the management a number of entrepreneurial ventures in the construction, travel, newspaper, ski resort and coffee industries. In West Vancouver, Robert was a twice-elected Alderman; was Chairman of the Library Board of Trustees, was founder and Chairman of the Library Foundation, was founder and Chairman of the Citizens for Good Government. He currently dedicates his time to leading Bikes for Girls for World Bicycle Relief and advising Universal Outreach Foundation.

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Christiane Ahpin

Board of Advisors

Now happily retired, Christiane served as the Chief Operating Officer of the BC Medical Association for over 10 years. She has always been involved in philanthropic projects both locally and internationally. For many years she was active in an education and agricultural training project in rural Western Honduras. She has also served on the board of the Down Syndrome Research Foundation in Burnaby. She currently serves on the board of Saint John Paul II Academy in Surrey and has recently joined the advisory committee of Universal Outreach Foundation.

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Andy Szocs

Board of Advisors

Andy Szocs founded the successful company Norpac Controls which he transitioned to its employees in 2000. Now retired, Andy is an active philanthropist who has transferred his skills in sales, marketing to help a multitude of charities expand their impact. Andy resides in Whistler and has 2 sons and 5 grandchildren. Andy was born in Flin Flon Saskatchewan and studied engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. Andy is pleased to have Universal Outreach as one of the charities he advises.

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Robert McGill

Board of Advisors

Now retired, Bob enjoyed a stimulating career in Canada’s financial services industry. This included a short career in banking followed by 18-year commitments in stock brokerage and management at Dominion Securities Inc. and finally, investment management/ counselling at Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management Ltd. where he led the development of its private client division. In retirement, his interest in helping others achieve their financial goals has evolved into volunteering activities in the North Shore community including Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, Capilano University and Universal Outreach Foundation. 

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Roy Gordon

Board of Advisors

A resident of West Vancouver, Roy was CEO of a fully integrated fishing, seafood and frozen food business with operations in Southern Africa, Australia, Argentina, Chile, sales offices in North America and Europe. He held independent directorships in consumer goods businesses and two Children's hospitals in South Africa. Roy shares his knowledge with Universal Outreach Foundation and sits on its board of advisors.

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Ken Mc Cance

Board of Advisors

Ken McCance, a retired Professional Engineer/MBA, has had more than 30 years experience in the project/general management and sales of international industrial and software projects. Ken's career included extensive hands on experience in consulting engineering from detailed engineering design to business group and executive management. He managed or contributed to projects in pulp and paper, mining, defence,  energy, financial systems, oil refineries, e business, and transportation.   In his retirement, Ken has volunteered his expertise to  local and international charities

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Rick Barichello

Board of Advisors

Rick Barichello is a professor in the Food and Resource Economics group at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. His early education took place on his family’s dairy farm in Langley BC, but has since worked on analyzing government policies affecting agriculture and rural areas in Canada and developing countries. This work aims to provide local decision-makers with the information to choose policies that are the most efficient, equitable and effective on the ground for meeting their country’s objectives, such as sustainable development and the reduction of poverty. He has worked on economic development issues since 1981 in 14 mostly Asian countries.

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Gord Janzen

Board of Advisors

Gordon Janzen comes to UOF with a long history of leadership in technology and finance.   He led an IT consulting practice for IBM before co-founding and serving as President or COO of several software firms, with a focus on ecommerce, analytics, and payments.  Most recently he was a Managing Director with JPMorganChase with responsibility for partner payment systems.

His board experience includes BlueShore Financial, Elastic Path Software, BC Easter Seals Society, the BCIT Technology Centre, and others.

Gord recently moved from North Vancouver to Kelowna where he lives with his wife, Debra.   He is an avid skier, golfer, and runner with 20 marathons under his belt (including Boston twice!). 

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