Gary Cote
Co-President
Gary is currently working for Wells Fargo Mortgage as a Home Mortgage Consultant. Gary was born and raised in a French suburb of Maillardville in Coquitlam B.C. He immigrated U.S in 1974 to pursue college. He graduated from Central WA. University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and did his post graduate studies at SPU. For the last 21 years he has been a mortgage broker / mortgage consultant first with his own company of 18 years and the last 3 years with Wells Fargo Mortgage. His wife and he have worked as a team for the last 19 years and when not working enjoys construction projects and running marathons. He has 2 daughters and currently follows his 6 year old grandson around in hockey.
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Jacqueline Pruner
Co-President
Jacqueline Pruner has over fifteen years of experience handling aboriginal, rural, urban, and international projects pertaining to social, economic development, governmental, environmental, policy, and legal issues based within and without North America. A Washington-licensed attorney who graduated from the University of Washington School of Law, she has a background as an international attorney, career planning specialist, entrepreneur, writer, and business and non-profit consultant whose legal experience includes work at small, medium, and large law firms in the states of Washington and Alaska as well as in Seoul, South Korea. Jacqueline is also founder and blogger for Heed the Hedonist – a quality of lifestyle blogazine that covers an array of hedonistic interests such as food, beverages, health, travel, and hospitality – and is currently in the process of founding a company. She is the immediate past Chair of the Washington State Bar Association’s International Practice Section, its website creator and former administrator, and the past editor-in-chief of its quarterly e-newsletter, The Global Gavel. Jacqueline also currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food.
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Tim Harris Vice President
Timothy Harris has practiced land use and environmental law for more than 14 years. He is an attorney with the Goodstein Law Group in
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Treasurer
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Naveen is a VP and co-founder of Pacifica Partners Capital Management, a cross-border investment manager that specializes in providing discretionary portfolio management and cross-border financial advice for Canadian Expats in the USA and American Expats in Canada. The firm is licensed as a Registered Investment Advisor with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and as a Portfolio Manager across several Provinces in Canada. Naveen holds an MBA in Global Asset and Wealth Management from Simon Fraser University. naveen@pacificapartners.com
Naveen Gopal
Board Member
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Debra Deir
Board Member
Debra was born in Vancouver, BC, and lived in Hawaii, Las Vegas and Memphis before settling in Seattle in the early 90’s. She attended the University of British Columbia and graduated from BCIT. After a rewarding career in business, Debra joined RE\MAX Northwest in 2006 as both a Residential and Commercial Realtor. She still travels often to Vancouver to visit friends and family. Debra can be reached at (206)465-5503 djdeir@nwlink.com.
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Ian BurkheimerBoard Member
Ian is the Director of Partnerships for the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER), a Canadian-American, public-private partnership. In this position he works with the organization’s members and sponsors on maximizing the value of their participation in PNWER. He oversees the Trade and Economic Development, Sustainable Development, Environment and Transportation Working Groups, as well as the Arctic Caucus.
Prior to joining PNWER, Ian organized the North American Alpine Snowboarding Championships. He has worked in a wide variety of roles in international events, including World Championship snowboarding, skiing and sailing, Continental Cup Ski Jumping, FIFA World Cup Soccer, and the WTO Ministerial Meetings in Seattle, WA. He is also currently the manager for the Kenyan National Ski team. He is a graduate of Willamette University, a Fulbright Fellow and speaks fluent Japanese and German. He and his family live in Federal Way, WA.
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Michael Herbst
Advisory Board
Michael, who grew up in New York, has been a business lawyer in Seattle for 17 years. He has served as Chairman of the International Practice Section of the WA State Bar Association and as a member of the Executive Board of the British American Business Council.
206-407-1570
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Susana Gonzalez-Murillo
Advisory Board
Susana Gonzalez-Murillo is Vice President and Country Manager at U.S. Bank, responsible for marketing services to banks and clients in the Americas and Iberia. She is currently on the board of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center and has held numerous board positions in the Pacific Northwest, including a term as the President of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce's PNW chapter. She is most recently the recipient of the Women of Color Empowered award. Susana has 30 years of international banking experience and is fluent in French and Spanish, and conversational in Portuguese. susana.murillo@usbank.com 206-344-4522
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Garth HornlandAdvisory Board
Garth is a native of Edmonton Alberta and a graduate of the University of Alberta. He moved to the Seattle area in 1992 as part of a management team to open up a new US Pacific North West operation for PCL Construction Services, inc. He has been in a finance and administration role with PCL family of companies for 31 years. He has supported the United Way as campaign coordinator and coordinator trainer in both Canada and US for 25 years and has served as Vice President of the Canada America Society. He is humbled once a year by the mysteries of curling (it’s all his ego can take). (425) 454-8020 GHHornland@pcl.com
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Advisory Board
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Chris Koh
Advisory Board
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