Board of Directors

Rocio Zielinski, Secretary

Rocio is dedicated to leading the momentum of the rapidly expanding Indigenous economy in S‘olh Téméxw, the Stó:lo Traditional Territory, with her strong connections and relationships with Indigenous Communities, businesses, and entrepreneurs. Since joining Stó:lo Community Futures (SCF) in 2005, as Operations Manager and now in her role as General Manager since 2019, Rocio contributes to the social and economic well-being of S‘ólh Téméxw, by supporting and advancing the development and expansion of the Indigenous business economy. 

With the support of the SCF Board of Directors, Rocio has focused the activities of SCF on a grassroots foundation approach to building the business capacity of Indigenous Communities, businesses, and Community Members, by linking new and/or existing Indigenous businesses with business counselling, training, financing supports and ongoing aftercare. Rocio and her Team also provide Indigenous community development corporations with the financing and support services to proactively expand economic development projects and Community-owned businesses. 

Rocio, whose Indigenous background is from Mexico, has successfully held many diverse roles, including Chair of the former Aboriginal Business Services Network, a Provincial Board of Directors; played a key role in SCF‘s development and launch of the unique and powerful Brand initiative, STÓ:LO MEANS BUSINESSTM, created by SCF in 2014, which was shared on the provincial and national stages. Rocio played key roles in SCF‘s 2015 Community Futures of British Columbia Award for Excellence and Innovation as well as the 2016 Community Futures Investment Fund Portfolio Award. With her leadership, SCF was recognized by the Indigenomics Institute Inc.‘s 2020 Indigenomics 10 to Watch List, for organizations that have demonstrated excellence, innovation, leadership and committed action towards the growth of the Indigenous economy. 

Rocio has expanded SCF‘s services with Community Satellite Offices throughout S‘ólh Téméxw, giving Community Members the benefit of having SCF‘s services and assistance within their own community. She has facilitated unique and accessible business training programs for Indigenous businesses and entrepreneurs, including Aboriginal BEST, Each One Grow One with Vancity, as well as other training sessions in operations, finance, marketing, social media and opportunities in the energy sector and with drones. 

Rocio continues her work in leading SCF by providing capital to start-up and expanding businesses, with funds provided by Western Economic Diversification. Rocio has been instrumental in securing much-needed additional capital through beneficial partnerships, to support the Indigenous economy in S‘ólh Téméxw, with the development of innovative Indigenous business lending programs, such as the SCF Micro Loans Program and the Indigenous Impact Lending Program partnership with Vancity Credit Union. Rocio is a new Board Member of the BC Economic Development Association Board of Directors, and continues to build partnership on a provincial and national level with organizations such as NACCA, New Relationship Trust and CANDO.

Stacey Crawford, Director

For the past 12 years, Stacey has served as the Director of Economic Development for the District of Mission. In this role, he is responsible for economic development, tourism and film production services. His current focus is serving as the lead on the Waterfront Revitalization Initiative, a 300-acre master planning effort spanning 3km of the Fraser River shoreline. Stacey is also the lead on the District’s employment lands strategy, which will be completed in 2021.

He began his professional career in real estate and worked as a realtor and part-owner of the business over a period of five years. Following this, Stacey worked for eight years in community development with Community Futures Development Corporation in Mission, Abbotsford and Chilliwack. In this role he managed the environmental, First Nations and business lending and counseling portfolios. Following this, he was a commercial account manager with the Business Development Bank of Canada.

In addition to his professional career, Stacey has an extensive background as a community volunteer that includes past and current board governance roles including the Mission Regional Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Mission Midday, Kinsmen Club and Community Futures North Fraser. In addition, he currently serves on the board and is the former board chair of Prospera Credit Union, a $9B cooperative financial institution with presence in the Lower Mainland and Okanagan.

Stacey’s formal educational background includes a Diploma in Business Management from Thompson Rivers University, a Master of Arts in Leadership and Training from Royal Roads University, and has his ICD.D designation, having completed the Directors Education Program at the Institute of Corporate Directors. He also studied the Management of Cooperatives at the University of Bologna, Italy.

Jennifer Decker, Director

Jennifer is the Director of Planning and Engineering with the City of Fort St. John. Her portfolio also includes Economic Development and Tourism. Although relatively new in this role, Jennifer has had a 27 year career with the City of Fort St. John as a Planner, Project Coordinator and then Manager of Economic Development.

She works closely with the development community, nonprofits and business sector on a wide variety of initiatives. Recent projects include design and construction of Festival Plaza as a sheltered outdoor space for community events that incorporates First Nations and local art; concept development and creation of a 7 hectare dog park;  and extensive work on the downtown. Downtown projects include the creation of the Downtown Action Plan and the 100 Street Corridor Charrette as well as marketing plans for several City owned properties located in the downtown core.

Jennifer’s formal educational background includes a Diploma in Planning from the College of Geographic Sciences, Diplomas in Sustainable Community Development and Urban Design from Simon Fraser University.  She is also working on her Certificate in Economic Development through the University of Waterloo. 

Deklan Corstanje, Director

Deklan Corstanje is the Manager of Economic Development at the City of Terrace and is responsible for supporting economic growth and diversity for his community. His strengths in strategic planning, relationship building, research, and project management help him achieve his Council’s goals of optimizing Terrace’s investment readiness, improving Terrace’s position as an economic and cultural hub, and increasing and maintaining Terrace’s industrial tax base.

Deklan’s career includes some early achievements including two BC Economic Development Awards, one for Economic Resiliency and Recovery and one for Marketing Innovation; both awards were the result of collaborative initiatives fostered through his relationships with local and regional partners.

Proudly born and raised in northern BC, Deklan has his degree from the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George and currently lives in his hometown where he and his wife are raising their young daughter and taking advantage of the endless outdoor activities the region has to offer.

Pete Bourke, Director

With over 20 years of senior management experience throughout tourism, hospitality, non-profit and customer service sectors, Pete is a culture focused leader with a coach approach mindset.  He understands the value of enhancing organizations, managers, and leaders with the tools to succeed.  Having owned his own business and worked in senior roles with some of the larger employers in the East Kootenay region, Pete has a firsthand appreciation for what it takes to be successful in rural areas.  Pete places high importance on building a sense of community and giving back to others, as evidenced through his continued commitments with board roles and supporting non-profit organizations.

An alumnus of Royal Roads University, he holds a Graduate Executive Coaching Certificate (CEC) and is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF).  Pete is also EQ-i2.0 & EQ360 certified for Emotional Intelligence and undertaking his Masters in Business Administration.

Pete is the Executive Director for the Columbia Valley Chamber of Commerce, and along with his Chamber team they are the contract provider of the Columbia Valley Community Economic Development Office, a service of the Regional District of East Kootenay.