YPE Vancouver Leadership
Welcome to YPE Vancouver, a city that proudly utilizes all energy sources to provide a high quality of living for its citizens!
YPE would like to invite those employed, looking to be employed or curious about our provinces energy resources to join us for networking, educational and philanthropic events geared towards furthering energy education across the province. Be it bio fuels to natural gas to hydro, we, and these sources of energy, are all part of our living, breathing economy.
Let us learn to respect all of BC’s energy resources, and work with each other in understanding how we bridge our current energy demands to future energy demands, doing so in a environmentally and fiscally respectful and responsible way.
YPE Vancouver Board
ypevancouver@gmail.com
Zahra Pirani
President
Zahra is an environmental engineer with 12 years of post-graduate experience. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree related to contaminated soil remediation. Zahra’s main area of focus is contaminated site assessment and remediation, as well as the management of multi-disciplinary projects; howver, she began her career by spending a few years with Petro-Canada (now Suncor Energy) as a natural gas production and completions engineer. In 2017, Zahra received the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies BC (ACEC-BC) Young Professional Award for excellence in consulting business practices, and she is currently the President and Conference Chair for the Science Advisory Board for Contaminated Sites (SABCS).
Zahra is an environmental engineer with 12 years of post-graduate experience. She ...
zahra.pirani@gmail.com
6043581379
Izzah Khan
Vice President
Izzah is a Public Policy and Government Relations Analyst at FortisBC. Her team is currently involved with advancing climate change objectives inside FortisBC and externally. Her team often works with various stakeholders that include municipal, provincial and federal governments, NGOs, non-profits and academic institutions. A key priority for her team is advancing the production of renewable gases to decrease the footprint left by conventional natural gas, and expanding LNG infrastructure to replace diesel and other more carbon intensive fossil fuels.
Izzah recently completed a Master’s degree in Public Policy from SFU and wrote her thesis on the CleanBC 15% renewable gas target. Prior to her Masters, Izzah worked at the Alberta Energy Regulator on the Climate Policy team. She also holds an undergraduate Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary, with a specialization in Energy Management.
Izzah is passionate about engaging with young professionals, youth and students and getting them more involved in the energy industry and increasing energy literacy among other young professionals. Outside of her career, Izzah enjoys hiking, yoga, running, biking, snowboarding, trying new foods and traveling.
Izzah is a Public Policy and Government Relations Analyst at FortisBC. Her ...
Izzah.Khan@fortisbc.com
Tariq Ahmed
Director, Treasurer
Tariq is a lawyer in Fasken’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution group. He frequently assists clients with matters related to energy regulation and construction disputes. In addition to representing clients before the courts, and in arbitrations and mediation s, Tariq has assisted clients with matters before regulatory tribunals including the British Columbia Utilities Commission, the Alberta Utilities Commission, and the National Energy Board.
Tariq obtained his law degree from the University of British Columbia. Prior to his legal career, Tariq earned a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Victoria.
Tariq is a lawyer in Fasken’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution group. He ...
tahmed@fasken.com
604 631 4983
William Hyde
Director, Partnerships and Outreach
Will leads an external relations team in planning and executing major projects for FortisBC. An strategic communicator and experienced leader, Will believes in engaging locally impacted municipalities, communities, and regulatory authorities to develop projects that meet the needs of stakeholders and customers in a financial and socially responsible manner.
Will has a background in political science and government relations with a focus in federal, provincial and municipal legislative processes as well as stakeholder engagement. He has a keen eye for policy impacts and opportunities, and is knowledgeable in a number of different regulatory processes that energy projects are accountable to.
An avid skier, trail runner, and all around fresh air junkie, you’ll often find him bothering his friends about the future of energy on the uphill as well as the downhill.
Will leads an external relations team in planning and executing major projects ...
william.hyde@fortisbc.com
Adam Bastick
Board of Director
Adam has over 12 years’ experience in corporate Human Resources and the Recruitment industry. He has held progressive roles in HR Management for multiple Fortune 500 Companies in the oil & gas, mining, and heavy industrial construction sectors. He has led teams on multibillion dollar construction projects including the Kearl Oil Sands Project in Fort McMurray, Alberta and the Trans Mountain Pipeline Project in Vancouver, BC.
Prior to his positions in corporate HR, he has led business development and sales teams in the Recruitment & Talent Acquisition consultancy space in Canada and the UK.
Originally from London, England, he holds a bachelor’s degree in History and Journalism and resides in Vancouver, Canada.
Adam has over 12 years’ experience in corporate Human Resources and the ...
abastick@realtalkcareers.com
Madison Grist
Director
Madison is a Vancouver-based energy lawyer at Fasken. Her practice focusses on the areas of Aboriginal, regulatory, and environmental law. She assists clients with matters before regulatory tribunals, including the BC Utilities Commission, and with disputes before the courts.
Madison is a graduate of the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. She also holds a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Biology and came to law after working in academia and industry.
Madison is a Vancouver-based energy lawyer at Fasken. Her practice focusses on ...
mgrist@fasken.com
Daniel Hall
Director
Daniel holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary with a specialization in Finance and Economics. He also holds a Masters degree from the Technical University of Munich in Germany in Sustainable Resource Management. He currently works as a Policy Analyst at FortisBC, on the Public Policy and Climate Change team.
Daniel holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calgary ...
Bonita Chester
Director
Bonita Chester is the director of communications and media at Oklo Inc., a company
developing advanced fission clean technology. As the director of communications and
media of Oklo, Bonita leads communications, external events, and media relations
efforts. Bonita has attained features and strong relationships in the press, including
TIME, CNN, Politico, Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg, Newsweek, and more.
Before joining Oklo, Bonita was the Commercial Lead for the small modular reactor
commercial program at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL). At CNL, Bonita
helped launch one of the largest Canadian national lab programs, the Canadian Nuclear
Research Initiative, to accelerate advanced reactor deployment in Canada.
Bonita Chester is the director of communications and media at Oklo Inc., ...
Rob Legge
Director
Rob is a lawyer at Fasken based in Vancouver. He is a member of the firms Energy and Natural Resources group. He has worked with clients in the energy, mining and natural resource sectors on a variety of commercial and regulatory matters.
Rob assists with due diligence for acquisitions and other corporate transactions, as well as environmental assessments, permitting and compliance issues.
Rob is a lawyer at Fasken based in Vancouver. He is a member of ...
Previous Directors of YPE Vancouver
Richard Dieu (2020-2021), Parmjot Gill (2017-2021),Jesse Unke (2018-2021), Joanna Shea (2016-2019), Sanjeet Sanghera (2016-2018), Tanya Gutmanis (2016-2017)