Hives for Humanity is governed by a group of dedicated, skilled, passionate people with a diversity of experiences and skills that support our vision of connected communities.
Board of Directors:
Hilary Ison (she/her)
Chair of the Board
3 Things you really like: Friendship, food, and music
Who, what or where is home for you? Home is East Vancouver
What is your relationship to land and water? How I connect with spirit, holiness, the greater than human; a felt sense that we are all connected
What does community care mean to you? I dream of building true solidarity across difference - growing the power of the people to take on capitalism, colonization, and climate change
What is a piece of art, literature, film, or music that changed you in some way? My grandmother's paintings instilled a love of colour and appreciation for beauty from a young age
What is a moment or project at H4H that felt inspiring or exciting? Connecting community members to the garden and seeing their eyes and spirit light up.
Jim McLeod (he/him)
Co-Chair of the Board and Member of the Community Engagement Committee
Jim McLeod believes the Downtown Eastside is brimming with talent the rest of the world overlooks. He is an active community member, working with Hives for Humanity and has served on the boards of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users and the Drug Users Resource Centre. He is excited about his work with Megaphone Magazine’s Speaker’s Bureau project, working with audiences and participants to help them see People Who Use Drugs as just that -- people. Jim is also a cast and research member of the Illicit Theatre project – a shadow play about peer first responders and the overdose crisis in the DTES. Jim notes that he is not a “functional addict” but that his functioning, all of his community advocacy, beekeeping and gardening, is possible because he is self-medicating with pain medication. Chemically dependent since elementary school, people are often surprised to learn that Jim has a spotless criminal record. Jim was born and raised in Vancouver and his ancestry is Açorean Portuguese on his dad’s side, and on his mother’s Haida, Kwakiutl and Inuit, with Irish and some British and French.
Paula Cruise (she/they)
Secretary of the Board
I love to spend time growing food for people and pollinators, hiking through the forest with my two-legged and four-legged family, and sitting by the ocean watching and listening for the constant changing of nature. I have the privilege of living on the Sunshine Coast in the shared space of xwésám (“when the water bubbles”) and stelḵáya (“place of the wolf”) on the traditional, ancestral and unceded land of the shíshálh and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh peoples, respectively. While this is not my ancestral home, I feel the connection to this land and water by learning about its living communities, especially plant-pollinator relationships. As I accept this gift from nature, I accept my duty to share this knowledge and support equitable access to nature and meaningful opportunities to share in its gifts and in its stewardship. Community care is not a single act but a branching tree of small words, gestures, touches, ideas, thoughts, and actions that link us together and root us to earth to be sustained by water and air.
Lacking creative talent myself, I get excited when science and art meet and am in awe of two very talented nature journalists — Jasna Guy and Jo Brown. These artists not only faithfully depict the physiology of flowers, birds, bees, pollen, mushrooms, rotting logs, but they also infuse a captivating beauty and energy that lures viewers regardless of where we’re at on our knowledge journey. It is this beauty and energy of nature that brought me to Hives for Humanity in 2018 through the Downtown Eastside Seed Library. The colours, shapes, and textures of seeds and their ability to exist patiently waiting for the perfect conditions to germinate and develop into the plant kingdom that sustains all life fills me with excitement and reminds me of the strength and resilience of the natural world.
Jess Boon (she/her)
Member of the Board
Jess Boon (she/her) is a graduate from the UBC School of Social Work, and has extensive experience in working with children and youth in non-profit, community and academic settings. Her interest in joining the board at Hives for Humanity comes from a deep love in working with organizations committed to community care, environmental justice and Truth & Reconciliation. She also just loves bees and thinks they are little cuties. Jess currently resides on the traditional, ancestral and unceded Coast Salish Territories – Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
Oona Krieg
Member of the Board
Deborah Tin Tun
Member of the Board
Deb works as an elementary school music teacher in south Vancouver, and loves building relationships with her students by having the most fun possible! She learned to beekeep by working on a farm on Vancouver Island, and remembers fondly the different beekeeping mentors she has been fortunate to learn from over the past decade or so. She now keeps bees in East Vancouver as a hobby, and likes best the aspect of building community around bees, beekeepers, and neighbours. Deb is passionate about climate justice, and volunteers with grassroots organizations to try and bring about positive change. She enjoys hiking, gardening, and learning about nature.