Policy Advocacy Director
Heather Fast
Resource Manager
Alexandra Caporale
Accounts
Derek Bassey
Executive Director
James Beddome
Policy Advocacy Director
Heather Fast
Heather (she/her) transitioned from Board Member to Policy Advocacy Director in July 2021. She is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Manitoba’s Natural Resources Institute and teaches the Environmental Law 3600 course in the Faculty of Law. Heather has three prior degrees from the University of Manitoba from the Faculty of Arts (Global Political Economy) and the Faculty of Law (J.D. and LL.M.). She was called to the Bar in 2014 and undertook legal and policy work for a number of organizations including the Manitoba Law Reform Commission, the Public Interest Law Centre and The Great-West Life Assurance Company (now Canada Life) before returning to her graduate studies.
Resource Manager
Alexandra Caporale
Alexandra (she/her) joined the MbEN on a full-time basis in September 2021 after contributing to the Building Community Climate Resilience project in the spring of 2020. Alexandra is a recent graduate from the City Planning program at the University of Manitoba, and has previously worked with the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ on many placemaking projects.
Accounts
Derek Bassey
Derek Bassey (he/him) and Gudrun Antosh (she/her) of A3 OfficeWorks Financial Management joined MbEN in August 2018. With over 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector, both Derek and Gudrun have a unique and firsthand understanding of the nuanced requirements the sector possesses. Such as grant sourcing, management, and reporting. Derek is a graduate of Canadian Mennonite University and brings to the table a refreshed and resilient approach to financial management. Gudrun has over 25 years of experience in management that included the overseeing of non-government and government organizations budgets. Their combined skillset provides MbEN the reassurance, security, and competency of knowing their finances are compliant with the C-GAAP, and non-profit accounting standards.
Executive Director
James Beddome
James (he/him) joined MbEN as Executive Director in August 2024. He also previously served as a board member from 2014-2018. Before joining MbEN as Executive Director James spent 10 years practicing as a lawyer. His practice focused primarily on serving Indigenous governments, organizations and individuals in a broad variety of areas. This includes experience assisting First Nations to draft their own environmental laws under the First Nations Lands Management Act and representation of tribal organizations at Clean Environment Commission and National Energy Board hearings. Prior to entering law school, Beddome was a founding partner of Wheely Green, a bike taxi service and ecologically focused marketing company in Winnipeg. During law school, Beddome worked as a research consultant for Manitoba Wildlands, a member organization of the Manitoba Eco-Network. James was born and raised on a mixed livestock operation near Rapid City, Manitoba before moving to Winnipeg in 2001 to pursue his academic studies. James has two degrees, both from the University of Manitoba, a L.L.B. (2013) and BA(Hons) with a double major in political studies and economics (2006).
