Great Creators Cooperative Directors
Larry Whaley
Founding Director and Board Chair
Nanaimo
“Coops are in my blood” says Larry Whaley, whose grandfather was a founding member of a retail coop in the Alberta town where Larry grew up. Larry’s father was also an active coop member. After moving to the Vancouver area Larry joined a credit union and a neighbourhood consumer cooperative. He was a founding member and first president of a housing cooperative while working for the BC Ministry of Consumer Affairs. In Nanaimo, he served four years as a director of the Mid Island Consumer Services Co-op and helped to establish the Island Roots Market Coop. Larry is looking forward to a quick and effective start to a very successful Great Creators Cooperative Canada.
Bryan Davies
Director and Legal Advisor
Sault Ste Marie
Bryan Davies and Tony Cavaliere (Kapptive Studios) co-lead Tagona Press, a North American award winning independent publishing house and intellectual property rights consultancy based in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. Bryan has also co-authored several successful books.
His passions include Lake Superior kayaking, basketball, and snowshoeing.
Cheryl Jordan
BEd, Director and Marketing Manager
Campbell River
Cheryl is a former elementary school teacher, self-published children’s author, and experienced project coordinator with a background in community outreach. Based on Vancouver Island, BC, she creates picture books that foster early literacy, spark curiosity, and celebrate the natural world.
Cheryl brings both educational insight and collaborative experience to her work, with a commitment to producing meaningful, high-quality books that resonate with young readers and their families.
Bill Yarbrough
ACIA, Director and CFO
Nanaimo
Bill has worked in the finance industry for nearly two decades and is passionate about helping small business owners, entrepreneurs and startups on their journeys. He has amassed experience serving on boards of directors over the past five years, and understands the unique opportunities and challenges for both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations.
When not working or volunteering as a board member, Bill enjoys living on and exploring the beauty of Vancouver Island, BC as well as travelling to other regions of the world.
Kristin Cota
Founding Director and Operations Coordinator
Nanaimo
Kristin enjoys helping connect people with opportunities and facilitating organizational success. Her diverse experience includes customer service, operations, and most recently, disaster management and recovery. She has a BA in Political Economy from UC Berkeley.
Having recently returned to Canada after living and working in the US, Kristin is excited to be back on the BC coast where she grew up, and to help grow a co-op platform for Canadian authors, creators, and consumers.
Richard Hoedl
BFA – Founding Director, Design & Technology
Nanaimo
Richard Hoedl is the artist, entrepreneur and game designer behind Tinker Troll Games. A former exhibiting artist who showed across Canada, he now channels his creative talents into game creation. Richard previously owned Dream Big Solutions, helped businesses map their path to goals, and ran an art gallery that brought together the Vancouver Island artist community.
He was a founding director of the Speaking in Chalks Art Festival and Radio Station CHLY. He served on many other boards including the Nanaimo Art Gallery and the Crimson Coast Dance Society.Now he’s helping fellow creators turn their passion into profit because every artist deserves their moment to shine (and pay their bills).
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