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Board of Directors

Chair

TOM RIEFESEL, MMM, CD

Senior Manager Security Operations, Canada Border Services Agency

About Tom

Vice-Chair

SERGE BERTRAND 

Retired

About Serge

Treasurer

LINAS PILYPAITIS

Wealth Manager, Nesbitt Burns

About Linas

Secretary

MICHELAINE LAHAIE 

Chairperson, Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP

ABOUT MICHELAINE

Directors

RANDY MAZE

Retired

About Randy

DAVID HUDOCK, OMM, CD 

National Director, PCL Construction

About David

TIM O’LEARY

Command Mentor

About Tim

MARTA MULKINS

Executive Director, Departmental Litigation Oversight in DND
About Marta

LAUREN COPELAND

Retired

About Lauren

CAL BRICKER

Chief Executive Officer, Brix Strategies

About Cal

HENG CHHAY CHAO, CD, MBA 

Director of Human Resources, Canadian Bar Association
About Chhay

Royal Canadian Naval Benevolent Fund Head Office

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Charitable number 107935181 RR0001

Chair

Tom Riefesel, MMM, CD, Manager, Canadian Border Services Agency

LCdr Tom Riefesel, MMM, CD (Ret’d) joined the Navy in 1982 as a Signalman Sea 261, and progressed to Yeoman Signals, Chief Yeoman of Signals NATO Standing Naval Force Atlantic, and Chief Naval Communicator at Sea Training Atlantic. He served in all classes of ships and in three operational deployments. Promoted to Chief Petty Officer 1st class in 2005, he served with Maritime Force Atlantic Headquarters as the Unit Chief and subsequently as Coxswain of HMCS Ville de Québec, Coxswain Sea Training Atlantic, Formation Chief Petty Officer Maritime Forces Atlantic/Joint Task Force Atlantic. He was appointed as the Royal Canadian Navy Chief Petty Officer in 2012. In 2016, he was commissioned and promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, assuming duties as the Ottawa Detachment Commander Personnel Coordination Centre Pacific. He retired from the Canadian Armed Forces in 2018 and is currently employed as Senior Manager Security Operations, Canada Border Services Agency. He and his wife enjoy sailing, skiing and beekeeping in Chelsea, QC.

Vice-Chair

Capt(N) Serge Bertrand (Ret'd), RCN

Capt(N) Serge Bertrand (Ret’d) served in the Canadian Armed Forces for nearly four decades. Before retiring in 2015 in the rank of Naval Captain, he served as an advisor to several successive commanders of the Royal Canadian Navy.

Treasurer

Linas Pilypaitis, Wealth Manager, Nesbitt Burns

Linas Pilypaitis served in the Royal Canadian Navy for 20 years and is currently a wealth manager with Nesbitt Burns.

Secretary

Michelaine Lahaie, Chairperson, Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Capt(N) Michelaine Lahaie (Ret’d) is a 30-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, retiring at the rank of Naval Captain. During her time in service, she was posted to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Esquimalt, Halifax, Kingston, and the National Capital Region. She participated in multiple NATO exercises, and deployments with the Royal Canadian Navy, including Operation SHARP GUARD, a naval blockade assisting United Nations’ peacekeeping efforts in Yugoslavia, and Operation APOLLO, Canada’s military contribution to the United States-led international campaign against terrorism. In 2014, Ms. Lahaie received the Chief of Defense Staff Commendation for Outstanding Leadership and Professionalism for her role as Commandant of the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean, Quebec, where she had the distinction of being the first woman Commanding Officer. Ms. Lahaie served as a member of the Veterans Review and Appeal Board for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and in 2019, was appointed to the post of Chairperson of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission.

Director

Cdr Randy Maze (Ret'd), RCN

Cdr Randy Maze (Ret’d) joined the Royal Canadian Navy in 1966 as an Officer Cadet and served in both west and east coast ships after graduation. He served in Squadron Staff, attended Staff College in England, and was XO in HMCS Mackenzie. Staff jobs followed in Maritime Forces Headquarters and National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa. After leaving Ottawa, he commanded HMCS Huron after her conversion to an air defense ship, and served in CFB Esquimalt, where he completed a master’s degree in Leadership. Randy was selected for command of the supply ship HMCS Protecteur in 1999. A highlight was a six-month deployment to the International Force East Timor, north of Australia. He finished his career in 2003 in command of the Naval Officer Training Centre in Esquimalt. Randy joined the RCNBF in 2007 and continues his lifelong involvement with Scouts Canada. He lives in Victoria with his wife Valerie and has three children and five grandchildren living nearby.

Director

David Hudock, OMM, CD, National Director of Defence, Security and Federal Government Relations and Business Development, PCL Construction

Capt(N) David Hudock, OMM, CD (Ret’d) retired from the Royal Canadian Navy in 2013 after 32 years of service to Canada where during which he was a Navigator, Combat Officer, Executive Officer, and Commanding Officer (HMCS Winnipeg and Sea Training Pacific). He was Commander Maritime Operations Group 5 aboard ships and in Task Groups that saw service with NATO, in the first Persian Gulf War, in the Adriatic/Former Yugoslavia as part of Op Sharp Guard, and other patrols, operations and readiness generation deployments around the world. Ashore, he served in Halifax, Esquimalt, Toronto, London, the United Kingdom and Ottawa as a teacher/trainer, staff officer, student, Director, Chief of Staff and all-round semi-useful strategic-level mover/generator of ideas, policies, and operational outputs. David joined the Naval Association of Canada immediately upon retirement and served on the National Board of Directors 2013-2016. He was honoured to join the RCNBF and be elected to its Board of Directors in 2021. David is now employed by Canada’s largest construction company, PCL Construction, as their National Director of Defence, Security and Federal Government Relations and Business Development.

Director

Capt (N) Tim O’Leary, Command Mentor

Capt (N) Tim O’Leary has sailed in a number of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships with both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force, as well as with Strike Force NATO. He has enjoyed several command appointments. These happily included Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships MONCTON and YORK, and served as the Central Region Captain, responsible for the seven Naval Reserve Divisions and roughly one thousand five hundred officers and sailors serving throughout Ontario. Capt(N) O’Leary has deployed to 23 countries, including tours in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Afghanistan.

Director

Cmdre Marta Mulkins, Executive Director, Departmental Litigation Oversight in DND

Cmdre Marta Mulkins is a federal public servant in the Department of National Defence, serving since late 2018 as an executive in several portfolios, including in Data, Innovation and Analytics and more recently in enabling strategic oversight, management and coordination of specific complex, multi-organizational litigation activities. She is also a long-serving member of the Naval Reserve, starting as a Diesel Mechanic in 1985 and becoming a Maritime Surface (now Naval Warfare) Officer where, she served in both sea-going and shore-based positions of increasing responsibility, including commanding HMCS KINGSTON and SUMMERSIDE in 2003-2005, and a deployment to Afghanistan in 2006, until her eventual appointment as Commander of the Naval Reserve in 2015. A graduate of the United States Naval War College’s year-long Naval Command College (Class of 2012), she continues to serve in the RCN part-time. Ms. Mulkins is a member of the Naval Reserve Association of Canada, the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. She is married to Rear Admiral Jeffery (Buck) Zwick.

Director

Lauren Copeland

Lauren is originally from Boston, Massachusetts, where she earned a BA in Child Study from Tufts University in 1990.  She became the spouse of a Canadian Naval Officer over 30 years ago with postings to both Halifax and Victoria, as well as Windsor, Ontario.  When her husband retired from the RCN in 2009, they chose to remain in Halifax where they raised their two daughters.  She worked for the Halifax & Region Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) for 17 years, starting as their first Daycare Director in 1998 and their first Emergency Childcare Coordinator in 1999.  After earning a Certificate in Not-for-Profit Sector Leadership from Dalhousie University’s Henson College in 2005, she assumed the role of Services Team Manager. In 2015, she left the MFRC and she and her husband moved their family to the Ottawa area where they live today.  Lauren remains active in her community and is currently volunteering with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board at the Adult High School, assisting new immigrants to learn and improve their English skills.

Director

Cal Bricker, Chief Executive Officer, Brix Strategies

Dr. Cal Bricker is an executive with over 30 years of experience in regulated industries, focused on infrastructure services, entertainment and packaged goods.  Most recently, he was the President and CEO of the Ontario Cannabis Store, a government agency charged with buying, wholesaling and distributing over a billion dollars of cannabis in Canada’s largest province. His prior employment includes Senior Vice President at Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation and senior positions at Waste Management Canada, Labatt Breweries and Molson Breweries. Dr. Bricker is also a decorated military officer, currently serving as a reserve Captain (Navy) in the Royal Canadian Navy. During his time in the military, he completed three assignments in Afghanistan.  Dr. Bricker holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Alberta.  He graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University and studied business at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He has served on many private, public and non-profit boards, including chairing the Ontario Waste Management Association board.  He currently serves on the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy board and is an honorary governor of the Canadian Journalism Foundation.  He founded Brix Strategies, a multi-disciplined agency that focuses on crisis and issues management.

Director

Heng Chhay Chao, CD, MBA, Director of Human Resources, Canadian Bar Association

LCdr Chhay Chao (Ret’d) served in the Royal Canadian Navy between 2005 and 2022 in various staff and operational roles and many operational deployments and exercises in diverse locations such as Sudan, Ukraine, and the Middle East. Since retirement, Chhay has held human resources (HR) positions in various organizations, such as a large technology company and a non-profit organization, bringing a data-driven approach to his HR teams. He completed his Computer Systems Engineering Degree at Carleton University in 2004 and his MBA at the Rotman School of Management in 2021. Chhay is currently the Director of Human Resources at the Canadian Bar Association in Ottawa.