Maple Leaves Forever has a Board of Directors as well as the support staff team listed below.
Deb Pella Keen
Executive Director
Deb Pella Keen is the newly appointed Executive Director for Maple Leaves Forever. Previously she was Director of the Niagara Escarpment Commission, a provincial agency that works to preserve the Niagara Escarpment as a continuous natural landscape through south-central Ontario and convenes the designation as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.
Deb is an experienced senior executive, having worked with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change throughout central Ontario, where she led environmental planning, community engagement and natural resource policy and program development and implementation.
Deb continues to pursue her passion for environmental stewardship as Board member of the Oak Ridges Moraine Land Trust, a registered charity that partners with land owners to conserve ecologically sensitive land on and near the moraine. Deb has also been a member of the Canadian Council for UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere Committee (biosphere reserve program), and continues to work with the Landscape of Nations 360° Indigenous Education Initiative and Plenty Canada, a non-profit that promotes social justice and environmental protection in the lives of Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world.
Deb holds a Bachelor of Science (Forestry) from the University of Toronto and enjoys exploring the out of doors by foot, paddle, bike or skis with family and friends.
Deb can be reached at deb@mapleleavesforever.ca.
Carl Mansfield
Tree Consultant
Carl Mansfield has joined Maple Leaves Forever (MLF) in a consulting capacity as a tree expert, and liaison between MLF, its customers and its Nursery Partners.
Carl brings with him more than forty years of comprehensive experience dedicated to the production of tree seedlings and nursery stock at provincial nurseries in Ontario and with Somerville Nurseries Inc. He is well-known and respected for his cultural knowledge and expertise.
Carl graduated from the Ontario Forest Technical School at Dorset with a Diploma in Forest Technology. In 1968, he joined the Department of Lands and Forests, working as a nursery technician at the Midhurst Forest Tree Nursery (near Barrie). Post graduate studies included plant propagation principles and practices for bare root and greenhouse seedling culture; nursery management and administration course(s); nursery soils management; advanced tree physiology; weed science and management; seed collection and utilization; WHIMS and the care and use of pesticides.
He advanced through several positions at Midhurst before becoming Operations Manager in 1984. As Manager he provided leadership and technical direction to staff in all areas of nursery stock production; prepared annual work plans for the nursery and ensured expenditure control. This involved planning for, directing and implementing the annual production of twelve million seedlings.
Carl is licensed by the Ministry of the Environment for the application of herbicides, fungicides and insecticides in the nursery environment.
He worked with peers within the provincial nursery organization and outside consultants to facilitate the development of standards for seedling production, growing prescriptions, cultural and operational improvements and the introduction of new technologies that resulted in the production of improved planting stock for the Ministry and its many customers.
Carl finished his MNR career as Operations Manager at the St. Williams Forest Tree Nursery near Simcoe.
In 1998, Carl joined Somerville Nurseries Inc. to lead the development of its new Bare Root Seedling Division at Everett, near Alliston. Today, Somerville Seedlings has an annual production of close to four million seedlings and is recognized as the industry leader in the production of high quality trees seedlings.
Stephanie Douglas
Administration
Stephanie Douglas joins Maple Leaves Forever overseeing its administrative duties. Stephanie has worked in Finance for over 14 years and continues to strive for excellence. She has earned her diplomas in Accounting as well as Marketing & Business Administration and is actively pursuing her Chartered Professional Accountant designation.
In her spare time, Stephanie enjoys gardening, knitting and participating in animal rescue whenever she can. She also volunteers in tutoring elementary school children and is active in her church’s community outreach program.
She looks forward to continuing her efforts with Maple Leaves Forever.
Mary Bella
Webmaster, E-News and Social Media
Mary Bella runs her own company – Maestra Web Design – which has specialized in creating and maintaining websites for non-profits, small businesses and arts organizations for nearly 20 years. She has created more than 100 websites for clients ranging from community organizations and registered charities to musicians, music ensembles and artist agencies.
In addition, Mary is a professional singer and choir conductor, and volunteers with a variety of community organizations. She loves nature and hiking, and strives to reduce her carbon footprint by using transit, recycling and reducing single-use plastics.
Emad Ali
Marketing
Emad Ali is on a mission to create awareness of the significance of planting Native Canadian Maples through digital and traditional marketing methods. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University of Windsor and helps organizations stand out with deep impact in their market. Emad is interested in conversations about preserving our national tree.
You can find him walking in the woods and enjoying the view from Killarney. Emad is keen to see more Native Canadian Maples planted along the rural roads and laneways of Ontario.