Month: December 2018

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2018 YHS Alumnae Special Achiever Kirsten Sutton (Koopman-Osterreicher) ’83: Let Everyone Hear Us Roar

L-R Head Girl, Ava Grade 12; Alumnae Association Director at Large, Ishita (Kalia) Hayer ’98, 2018 Alumnae Special Achiever, Kirsten Sutton (Koopman-Osterreicher) ’83; Kirsten’s daughter, Olivia, Grade 8; and Alumnae Association President, Joanne Lee-Young ’90.

This year’s Alumnae Special Achiever, Kirsten Sutton (Koopman-Osterreicher) ’83, describes herself as “an unconventional tech leader.” From a professionally trained chef, Kirsten has navigated a significant career pivot to become one of Vancouver’s most celebrated tech execs. As she commented in a recent interview with Business in Vancouver, “I really love cooking: I love feeding people, which isn’t so different really to what I enjoy now at work: that collaborative environment, working together, creating things that are brand new.” Kirsten is also a mother and her daughter, Olivia in Grade 8, attends York House.

SAP is a global software company with 95,000 employees in 160 countries around the world. In her current position as Vice President and Managing Director of SAP Labs Canada, Kirsten is one of only two female Managing Directors within the global SAP Labs Network where she inspires innovation within the Canadian development organization and manages 3000 employees in SAP’s four research and development hubs across Canada.

Kirsten Sutton (Koopman-Osterreicher) ’83 at SAP Labs Canada’s headquarters in Yaletown

She is also the Global Head of Engineering for SAP Jam, leading a multinational development team working on a cutting-edge cloud collaboration software with over 51 million subscribers. Her role gives her a prominent voice in the technology industry. This year, she was recognized as one of Business in Vancouver’s Influential Women in Business and as a YWCA Woman of Distinction, which honours individuals whose outstanding activities and achievements contribute to the well-being and future of our community.

Kirsten actively promotes gender advancement at her company and generously provides both formal and informal mentorship to younger women interested in the technology sector. An advocate for girls in tech, she supports education initiatives like Templeton STEM and GIRLsmart4tech. Last June, Kirsten hosted a “Yorkies in Stem” evening at SAP Labs Canada’s headquarters in Yaletown, an invaluable networking opportunity for YHS alumnae. On YHS Alumnae Day, she participated in the “Breaking the Mold” panel discussion, offering practical steps to confidently navigate and push boundaries.

Kirsten, front row, far left, hosting “Yorkies in Stem” at SAP Labs Canada’s headquarters in June 2018

As a leader in promoting diversity, Kirsten has led the way for SAP Canada’s adoption of Autism@Work, an SAP initiative to hire and integrate 650 individuals on the autism spectrum into the workplace globally. Under her leadership, SAP Labs in Vancouver was recently awarded the Rick Hansen Foundations’ Certified Gold accessibility accreditation, making it the first business in Canada to be recognized. Outside of SAP, Kirsten gives her time as a Director of the Board of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade and Science World British Columbia, and as chair of the Minerva Foundation, which provides leadership development programs for women and girls, and partners with organizations to advance gender parity in BC.

In her Founders’ Day address to students, staff, and alumnae as this year’s Special Achiever, Kirsten, proudly wearing her YHS blazer, attributed her success to following an unconventional path. Before enrolling in university for a degree in linguistics and creative writing, she already had 24 diverse job experiences to draw from, including private investigator, retail clerk, instructor of Business English and computers, actor, playwright, stage manager, bartender, chef and technical writer. “YHS had and continues to have tremendous influence on me and was key to who I am and how I succeed today. I didn’t appreciate it then and maybe today you don’t either. The years you will spend here are truly transformative.”

2018 Alumnae Special Achiever Kirsten Sutton (Koopman-Osterreicher) ’83 speaking at Founders’ Day Assembly

York House, was not only the place where she lived (her family home was formerly located on the school grounds where the gymnasium is now), but a place where she had been able to thrive as her unique self, to express her passion for questioning the status quo and why things had to be a certain way. She always had the insatiable desire to “break the mold,” to be a disruptor, and spin wild ideas. At the time, this was not always so well received as demonstrated from a few report cards, suggesting that she had potential and the ability to be successful, if she avoided the temptation of being easily distracted and spending time objecting to what was happening in class.

Today in her professional life, the Kirsten from 1983 isn’t much different from the Kirsten of 2018. She is championed as a disruptor, who inspires creativity and innovation, and leads her team to think differently, pushing them out of their comfort zones. Kirsten shared the 3 most important lessons she learned at York House:

“1. Be Unique: We are all Tigers (YHS Sports team) here and no two tigers have the same pattern of stripes. Every tiger in the world is unique. Being at an all-girls school wearing a uniform everyday, with everyone looking the same, studying the same subjects, competing in the same sports, engaging in the same shared experiences, you have no choice but to figure out what makes you stand out.

2. Be Yourself: Often girls feel that they have to present themselves in a certain way, like certain things or downplay their talents. To be your best self you have to be your true self. York House was a safe place for me to be me and is a safe place for you to be you.

3. Be Ferocious: We all have fears. It’s what you do with those fears that matters. At YHS you have the chance to try many things you may be afraid of. This is your time to experiment. Sink your teeth in, give it a try and be ferocious. When a tiger wants to be heard, you’ll know it, because you can hear them roaring as far as three kilometer away. Let everyone hear us roar!”

In closing, Kirsten expressed her gratitude for her time at York House and “the unique ferocious tiger that was brought out in me.” She encouraged teachers past and present, “to entertain the innovative, disruptive ideas of your students, as you never know where they may end up and the influence they may have thanks to your influence today.” Based on the spontaneous clapping and laughter of the audience of staff, alumnae and our Golden Alumnae, and students, Kirsten’s inspiring words and great sense of humour, clearly resonated with all who attended this Founders’ Day. Congratulations Kirsten on yet another achievement!

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Public Health, Nutrition and FED: Q+A with Saba Marzara ‘07

 

You graduated from YHS in 2007. Where did your post-YHS journey take you?

After graduating from York House I went straight to UBC. I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do, but knew I wanted to study a field related to science and food. In my 3rd year I took an International Nutrition course which got me interested in Public Health, specifically looking at the immense impact nutrition can have on health at a population level. After finishing this course I knew I wanted to work in Public Health. I decided to get my Masters in Public Health Nutrition in The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where I focused primarily on epidemiological research methods, statistics, and policy. As part of the LSHTM curriculum, I took a position with the International Potato Centre (CIP) where I worked with the sub-Saharan Africa team in Kenya on a unique Bill & Melinda Gates funded project, which was looking at the effects of providing new agricultural techniques on the health status of pregnant women.  From there I stayed in Europe for the next 4 years and worked for the World Health Organization in Geneva and The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations in Rome. At FAO I was involved in the nationwide integration of a new indicator: the Minimum Dietary Diversity Women (MDD-W) in the national survey of Tajikistan. We helped build awareness around the importance of eating a varied diet and nutrient dense foods, especially for women of a reproductive age.

Now I’m back in Vancouver and I’ve co-founded Fed, a nutrition startup that produces ready to eat meals. Our meals provide 100% of all your daily nutrients through real food! Fed has allowed me to bring together my passions in health and nutrition, and apply them in a fast-moving startup. Our vision is to improve people’s health at a micro and macro level—all through real food.

What are your fondest memories of York House?

My fondest memories of York House would have to be our yearly camp trips. Every year starting in Grade 5 the whole class would go to a different campsite in BC. Having a sense of independence at such a young age was so exciting and being able to experience that with your closest friends is something I’ll cherish forever.

With your background in nutrition, can you give us three top tips for good health?

  • Don’t restrict yourself or follow any “rules” or diets when eating, just eat what makes you feel good. Try to avoid eating processed foods and too much meat. Its best to eat more vegetables and fruit. Also try and stick to the 80-20 principle, eat clean 80% of the time and allow for a few more “fun foods” 20% of the time.
  • Drink lots of water!
  • Variety is key! Switch it up every day and eat a variety of different foods. It will help you get different nutrients throughout the day.

You moved back to Vancouver from Italy and set up a business? Can you tell us a little about that?

Working at the UN, especially FAO was a great experience! But I felt like I needed to be in a more challenging setting in order to grow as a professional and work on a project that can demonstrate measurable impact in people’s daily lives. While in Rome, I got a call from an old friend at UBC who was thinking about a specialized meal concept, focusing on nutrition and taking a food as medicine approach and he asked me if I want to help. I decided to take a risk and leave my job in Rome; I moved back to Vancouver and we started Fed. That was 2 years ago. We now have a team of 10 people and an entire operation set up from our industrial kitchen to our delivery system. It has definitely been a challenging experience and one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had thus far.

What is your five year plan?

Over the next five years, I’ll continue working on making our vision for Fed a reality. Our goal is to be in five cities in five years, and to have a number of specialized offerings for those dealing with a variety of diet-related diseases such as diabetes.

 

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Irene (Triandis) Harvalias ’52 awarded 2018 Alumnae Lifetime Achievement Award

Irene (Triandis) Harvalias ‘52, was nominated for the Alumnae Association’s Lifetime Achievement award by her class of 1952. For their nomination, they prepared an amazing handwritten book, including many photos of Irene at work in the community and of her exquisite handmade quilts.

When Irene arrived in Vancouver in 1948 from Greece after World War II, she knew no English beyond “hello”, “good-bye”, “please” and “thank you”, and “my name is Irene.” Before starting Grad 9 that September, she recalls having 10 lessons with Miss Langridge. From the beginning of her time at York House, Irene showed remarkable determination and by the end of the school year, she was well on her way to speaking, reading and writing in English and very much involved in school activities.

Irene Triandis Harvalias ’52

By graduation she was Vice-Prefect of Iroquois, President of the Drama Club, and was the YHS Chronicle’s Language editor as she excelled in languages. Her remarkable determination was not forgotten by her classmates. Irene attributed her success to the smaller classes, and her wonderful teachers. Her all-time favourite was one of the founders, Mrs. Gerhardt-Olly – Mrs. G.O. as she was called. “She was the best teacher in all my years of schooling, and that includes university.”

 

Throughout her life, Irene has always striven towards furthering her education and it was heartbreaking to have to return to Greece and not continue on to university. When she was able to return to Vancouver, she attended night school, while her children were little, then went to UBC when they were in school to reach her goal of becoming a teacher. “I taught in three different schools, then went back to UBC and got a Diploma in teaching children with learning disabilities. I taught everything from K to Grade 5, and French to Grade 7. I LOVED teaching and adored my students. I am proud to say that I am still in touch with many of them today.”

L – R Beverley (Graham) Hurd, Bobbi (Pritchard) Coates, Ann (Paterson) Bostock, Irene (Triandis) Harvalias, Marilyn (Pipes) Cassady, the late Pam (Rose) Metal, and Penny (Bell-irving) Wilson.

It was only after Irene retired that she was introduced to quilting. ‘I became an avid quilter and have made hundreds of quilts in the last 23 years.”  Irene soon found herself back in the classroom teaching students how to quilt. Her daughter, who was teaching in an inner-city school asked her to teach in her class too, which eventually led to the Maywood Mom’s Monday group of 25 ladies from all over the world. This group is now in its 12th year. Much of the finished work of the students is donated to hospitals, homeless shelters and other deserving places. Through her love of quilting and education, Irene has not only lived the school motto, Not for Ourselves Alone, but also shared it with people from all over the world.

Nirmala Mehta, Irene Harvalias’ quilting student 2018

One of Irene’s students, Nirmala Mehta in India, sharing her joy at being able to create a stall of items to raise funds for those in need. Nirmala has been in Irene’s quilting group for three years and has deep gratitude for her ability to make a difference through quilting.

Irene commented, “Sharing my love of quilting has been a great joy to me, and being able to do what I do with my “Maywood Moms” gives me a very good reason to get up and get going every Monday morning. This has been a real “gift” for me, and I am SO grateful that I can still do this little bit.  My giving has been my gift to myself!” Congratulations Irene, you are an inspiration to us all!