A number of changes have occurred recently on the SelfDesign Learning Foundation Board of Directors.
Sherry Elwood, who joined the board two years ago, has left to pursue other opportunities. We offer her our heartfelt thanks for her contributions to SelfDesign and wish her the best in her next endeavours.
We are delighted to welcome two new members to the board, Lara Kehler and Werner Knittle who both bring diverse experience, skills and expertise to help provide governance and oversight to SelfDesign, says Board Chair Verena Gibbs:
“A balanced board brings a range of perspectives to the table,” Verena says. “Ideally, our own ideas are stretched by the ideas of others, and collectively we make well-informed decisions. In the short time since they have joined the board, both Lara and Werner have done just this — broadened and enriched our conversations with their experience, perspective and curious questions. I’m thrilled and deeply appreciative that they have volunteered to join our board.”
Lara and Werner join fellow Board members Verena, Carlos da Ponte, Devon Girard and Frank Heinzelmann.
As with all boards of directors, the role of SelfDesign’s Board of Directors is to provide governance and oversight of the organization’s overall direction and strategy. Its membership, structure, and processes exist to advance the organization’s mission, vision, and long-term viability.
Lara Kehler
Lara has years of experience in designing the user experience of games and education technology and in leading teams and companies through all stages of design and production.
“One thing I’ve learned through my career is how to design and think about things as systems and understand how the system interacts with and impacts people at different stages and in different places,” she says. “I bring that perspective to SelfDesign’s Board of Directors and the way we think about how we’re governing and how we impact the thinking, decisions, ideas, strategies and solutions that are brought forward.”
Lara grew up as an unschooled learner in the forests of the B.C. Fraser River Valley’s Sumas Mountain. In 2014, when her own young family moved from Vancouver to Mission, Lara co-founded Fraser Valley Free Learners (FVFL) – a self-directed learning community rooted in democratic free-school principles and informed by practices from her career in gaming and education technology.
Similar to SelfDesign’s approach to personalized learning, democratic free schools operate on the principle that children learn whatever they want and at their own pace. In addition, democratic free-school learners are considered the equals of their educators and school staff and participate in decisions around how the school is run.
“I didn’t know about SelfDesign at the time,” Lara says, “but parents started telling me about it. And as I started learning more about SelfDesign, I recognized the similarities between SelfDesign’s and FVFL’s core motivations.
When her family moved to Vancouver Island, the opportunity to join SelfDesign’s Board of Directors seemed like a good fit with her own experience and values.
Lara now lives in the Comox Valley with her husband and children. There, she works online as a youth and organizational coach. In her free time, she likes playing board and card games with her children, creating art, crafting, exploring nature, and connecting with people in her community.
Werner Knittel
As an entrepreneur and executive leader, Werner brings considerable first-hand business expertise in the private sector, industry associations and government to SelfDesign’s Board of Directors.
Throughout his three-decade-long career, he has worked closely with and coached senior executives of hundreds of businesses and firms around the world to implement strategies, tactical plans and long-term solutions to make organizations more competitive and effective.
His ties to SelfDesign Learning Foundation go back to about 2017. At about that time, he worked as an organizational consultant with Sandy Steward, who is now our Chief Operating Officer, and with President & CEO Amber Papou. Through those interactions, he came to know and understand the organization’s goals, values and approach.
“One of the key drivers for me is that if I’m volunteering with an organization’s board of directors, I have to really understand and believe in the organization’s mandate,” he says. “It has to resonate with me personally and be something that I can speak enthusiastically about with friends or colleagues or the public. Can I be passionate about it? Do I feel it’s bringing real value? I’ve become a very strong supporter of SelfDesign, and I believe in what it is doing.”
In his regular work as a consultant, he works with clients to identify ways to bring about positive change. He looks at the big picture. This, he says, involves looking at the structure, then the systems and processes, the roles and people to identify what works and what doesn’t work. Then he works with the client to map out strategies and tactics for bringing about the desired changes without disrupting what is working well.
He says that, by serving on the Board of Directors, “If I can help the organization to improve its structure, process or systems — if that ends up helping all of the learners at the very end — who are our real clients — that kind of feeds my soul,” he says. “If, by the end, I can say, ’Look, we’ve improved all these things, I was a small part of that,’ that would be very rewarding.”
Werner has previously served on the boards of directors for Family Services of Greater Vancouver, the Quality Council of BC, and the Industry Training & Apprenticeship Commission.
When he’s not working or volunteering, he cycles and plays volleyball and pickleball. He and his wife live in the Lower Mainland. They have two adult children.
