Bronia Kingsbury | Board Member
Bronia has been involved with the Jellyfish Project since its inception in 2011. She has a profound appreciation for the natural world and the arts. An environmental activist and artist, she uses the landscape as her palette. She is an ardent gardener of flowers and food, a long-time community volunteer and an active member of the Sunshine Coast Climate Action Network (SCCAN).

Her two grandchildren are a constant reminder of the importance of the work that she is doing and she strongly believes that individual and/or group action towards planetary health will create the hope we are longing for. She likes to think that we aren’t defending nature, but that we are nature defending itself.

Bronia is honoured and humbled to be living in xwesam (Roberts Creek) on the shores of the Salish Sea on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territories of the shíshálh (Sechelt) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) peoples, also know as the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia.

Joanna Linger I Board Member Joanna is a teacher at Claremont Secondary, specializing in the areas of biology and environmental science and is passionate about connecting students to the environment. She has been teaching in the Institute for Global Solutions program at Claremont for five years, combining science and social studies in an interdisciplinary offering where students learn skills to take on some of the world's greatest challenges like climate change.  Joanna also teaches at the University of Victoria in the secondary education department. 

Mark Neufeld | Board Member

Mark Neufeld comes from four generations of teachers and has been an educator for 27 years. He is one of the founders of the Institute for Global Solutions (IGS) at Claremont Secondary School. The IGS program teaches grades 9 to 12 students about the most pressing problems facing our world today while equipping them with the skills they require, through community partnerships, to create solution-based initiatives within their own communities and abroad. Mark holds a MSc. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Victoria through the Centre for Earth and Ocean Sciences, with a focus on helping young people take on the most pressing challenges of the world in a way that’s authentic but hopeful.

Steve Robins | Board Member
Steve is a former print magazine publisher who reintentioned his career into the tech and digital universe and then as a marketing consultant. As the President and Board Member of The Jellyfish Project, a national environmental/educational not-for-profit, Steve is compelled to contribute to environmental solutions that make a difference. He holds a Certificate for Advocacy & Training of The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Steve has sat on the Board of Directors and Foundation of a Private High School and College and chaired numerous committees. As a practicing mentor to young entrepreneurs, Steve is passionate about inter-generational collaborations.  

Laura Verhoeven | Board Member
Laura is an award-winning high school science teacher specializing in Biology and Environmental Studies.  She is passionate about engaging teens in relevant, project-based learning that connects students to the land and their part in nature. She hopes that they leave her program equipped to make sound choices and protect biodiversity while facing the challenges of a world in a climate crisis.  Laura has been teaching since 2006, starting her career in Sydney Australia and since 2008, in Sooke, BC on the traditional territories of the Coast Salish: T'Sou-ke Nation and Sc'ianew Nation and Nuu-chah-nulth: Pacheedaht Nation.

Laura’s favourite place is where the forest meets the sea and her favourite hobby is going to live music shows and festivals.  The Jellyfish Project’s mission to empower youth through live music and environmental education rings true and deep with Laura and she hopes to do her part on the Board of Directors to connect teens and their educators to the hopeful work of taking action for environmental change and stewardship.  

Naomi Fleschhut | Executive Director Naomi is an activist, social entrepreneur and community engagement designer whose passion is to contribute to an equitable, resilient and thriving local and global community. Her capacity-building work is informed by her academic background in biology, international development and environmental philosophy, as well as 30 years of experience working and volunteering in the non-profit sector in the areas of environmental protection, food sovereignty, and grassroots community development. She is the founder and principal of OneEarth Solutions, offering strategic leadership, project start-up and organizational development services to organizations and initiatives with environmental and social sustainability missions. She has volunteered with the JFP since 2018, and came on board as our part-time Executive Director in January 2021.

Sophia Whicher | 2024 Education and Communications Coordinator

Sophia is a philosopher, educator, writer, and community-builder. She is passionate about accessible education and community formation geared towards individual and collective liberation. She recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a masters degree in Philosophy, and has since helped to form a new public philosophy non-profit organization in Toronto called Being and Becoming: A Community for the Curious, where she now serves as the Director of Community Programs. Sophia is also a proud member of the Case Development Committee for the Canadian High School Ethics Bowl.

A common thread throughout her work is her belief in the importance of taking differing experiences and viewpoints, along with the insights they garner and the frameworks they operate within, seriously-- particularly those which have faced unjust exclusion from mainstream knowledge communities. 

Maren Tait l Communications Coordinator & 2023 Education Coordinator

Maren is a teacher working in Saanich and Victoria. She holds a BEd from the University of Victoria, specializing in Social Studies, and a BA from the University of Winnipeg, specializing in Human Rights and Urban Studies. During her time in Winnipeg, she worked at non-profits focused on education, youth, social justice, and the arts. Maren is passionate about empowering youth through social justice and environmental action, and exploring the intersection between human rights and climate justice. Outside of teaching, Maren is an avid tidepooler, skier and knitter.

Maren joined our team as our summer 2023 Education Coordinator, and is staying on to support our communications and teacher resource development efforts.

Tait Overeem | 2022 Education Coordinator

Tait is a pre-service teacher living, learning, and teaching on the traditional territories of the Quw'utsun and Malahat peoples. Tait graduated from the University of Victoria with a BSc in Biology and Environmental Studies. During her degree, Tait worked in Arctic research at UVic, examining the impacts of climate change on the ways of life in northern communities. Her studies and research experience influenced her decision to enter the world of education with the intention of connecting young people to the environment and teaching them about the complexities of the environmental issues we face today. Tait was the Jellyfish Project’s 2022 Summer Education Coordinator, and helped us develop curricular resources and materials for our In The Schools program.