Board of Directors

OFFICERS:

Barry Zalmanowitz, President

I recently retired from Dentons Canada LLP where I spent my entire legal career (July 1979 – July 2025) . I served as managing partner of the Edmonton Office and a member of Dentons Canada Region Board of Directors. My legal practice was focused on Competition Law but I started out in a general litigation and administrative law practice. I was born in Edmonton and my wife June Ross and I moved from Edmonton to North Saanich in September 2019 as part of our plan to transition into retirement and be closer to family.

 My volunteer and community experience includes:

  • Congregation Beth Israel, Edmonton V.P. Finance and Board Member
  • United Jewish Appeal of Edmonton
  • Jewish Archives and Historical Society of Edmonton and Northern Alberta Board Member
  • Chabad/ Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island Light of Shabbat (Driver)
  • Edmonton Jazz Society, President
  • Canadian Bar Association National Competition Law Section, President and Executive Committee
  • Art Gallery of Alberta Board Chair
  • Art Gallery of Alberta Endowment Steering Committee Member

Lorne Mitchell, Vice-President

My wife Jan and I moved to Victoria from Toronto in December of 2024. Our two adult children have been here on and off for a number of years, and my sister has been here for 35 years. We have visited Victoria many times over the years, so it has been a relatively easy transition.

My working life was spent in retail. I was part of the family team that grew our jewellery business from one store to 25. I closed the last one in 1993 then spent the next 25 years in retail consulting. Working primarily with small to medium size retail and wholesale businesses, I helped the independent owners to maximize their assets as they retired or moved on to other opportunities. 

Our family involvement in the Jewish community has been at the synagogue level. I grew up in a large Reform synagogue in Toronto. Judaism really came alive for us when we joined City Shul, a small dynamic community in downtown Toronto. Both Jan and I were active in the day-to-day operation of the Shul as well as many worship and community activities. We are currently members of Kolot Mayim. We are active our new community.

Peter Freedman, Treasurer

Peter Freedman is a retired IT professional who moved to Victoria in 2011. He volunteers with a variety of organizations including the Jewish Burial Society, the Horticultural Centre of the Pacific and a prior stint as Treasurer of the JFVVI from 2019 to 2021.

Aaron Devor, Secretary

Aaron has previously served as the President (2012-2016) and Past-President (2016-2020) of JFVVI, as the Victoria Board Member of Hillel BC (2007-2017), and as the Jewish member on the Greater Victoria Police Diversity Advisory Committee (2005-2010). He was also President, Past-President, VP, and board member of Congregation Emanuel (1999-2003). In his professional life as a professor at UVic, Aaron founded and holds the world’s only Chair in Transgender Studies, founded and serves as the Subject matter Expert of the world’s largest Transgender Archives, and founded and hosts the international, interdisciplinary, and intergenerational Moving Trans History Forward conferences. He has published five books, many scholarly articles, and delivered more than 40 keynote addresses around the world. Aaron is a national-award-winning teacher and a former Dean of Graduate Studies (2002-2012).

DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE:

  • Sharon Katz – Sharon was born and raised in Israel, where she completed her Ph.D. in Life Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science. She moved to Ontario in 1999, and then to the Northwest Territories, where she was manager of research in Canada’s Western Arctic. She and her family went back to Ontario where Sharon completed a Master in Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology. Fast forward to 2021, they moved to Victoria, where Sharon works for the Public Service. Sharon loves hiking, nature, and animals, and beside her adorable teen has two adorable cats.
  • Selma Linzer – Victoria has been home to Selma and her husband Jack Mayer for 15 years now.  Selma’s career was in Property Management, GM of West Edmonton Mall for 12 years and VP of operations for Triple 5 Corp. for 4 years. Later, Shopping Centre development in China for Li Ka Shing for 5 years. Since moving to Victoria, she has served on the boards of Jewish Family Services, The Jewish Burial Society, The Jewish Federation of Victoria and Vancouver Island, CHW Victoria (Hadassah WIZO), and her home-based strata council. It has also been her honour to volunteer at the Jewish Community Centre of Victoria with their speaker’s program and the week-end fairs.  She has, with small committees, created and organized two End of Life Symposiums within the Jewish community and with Jewish Family Services, she introduced the Jewish Holiday Food basket program. Selma is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. 
  • Liron Traubman – I was born in a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley, Israel.

    At 18 years of age, after graduating from high school, I joined the IDF. I served as a troop commander in the Nahal Brigade for a year and 9 months.

    After serving in the army and a short trip to the USA I left the kibbutz life and moved to Tel Aviv. I learned holistic psychology and worked as an executive assistant in leading companies in Israel

    I moved to Canada in 2014 in my early 30s. After spending some time on Vancouver Island, I moved to the Yukon for a few years, where I helped the head of the Jewish community organize Jewish events. After a few years journey I came back to Victoria a couple of years ago, and now I am establishing my food catering business.

    I am married to Doron Pollachek, and am the mother to 3 year old Ethan.
  • Charlotte Sutker – I am a registered psychologist. I have led workshops and retreats, facilitated many therapy groups, and given seminars. Later, I started a clinical office practice, specializing in body-focused psychotherapy and women’s issues. Ongoing interest led me to working with people who had been traumatized, have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), also called Multiple Personality Disorder.

    In addition to my psychotherapy practice, since 2001 I have been a member of the Collaborative Family Separation Professionals, formerly the Collaborative Family Law Group Victoria. I work with lawyers, mental health professionals, and financial advisors to help clients find equitable and harmonious solutions for separation and divorce.

    Before I became a psychologist, I taught elementary school in Vancouver and trained teachers at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia. My education credentials are:
    B.A. Education, UBC
    M.A. Counselling Psychology, UVic
    D. Min. Spiritual Direction, Graduate Theological Foundation, USA

    I and my family have lived in Victoria for 40+ years. I have been a decades long member of Congregation Emanu-El, involved in many aspects of congregation life: Shalom Jewish Pre School, Hebrew School, family Shabbat gatherings, a member of the Board and President. I continue to offer tallith making classes.

    I have two children and two grandchildren.
  • Raisel Catherine Abbott – I was born and raised in Kingston, Ontario. I attended Queen’s University, where I loved being a varsity rower, before moving to Australia where I studied at the Australian National University and met and married my husband. After almost 8 years there, we moved to Ottawa with our young daughter in 2005 and then in 2007 we moved to Nanaimo. I am a federal research scientist and run a research lab focused on new genomics-based tools for sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems. Reconnecting to my Judaism has been a vital part of my personal growth in mid-life. I am part of the Chabad Nanaimo community and feel a deep love for my fellow Jew and sense of belonging that I cherish. I love attending shul on Shabbos and connecting every week with the Jewish community! I’m also an avid skier and enjoy a home yoga practice. I have done extensive one-on-one trauma integration work and am fascinated by the intersection of trauma healing and spiritual development and how these both relate to living a life of purpose. I currently live in Lantzville with my husband Scott and am proud to be mom to our three children, two daughters currently at university and one teenaged son.