Your Servas Canada Team

Your Servas Canada Team

Servas Canada Board

Christine Fernie: National Secretary
I am in my bliss on my motorcycle. I read Untamed Spirit, Around the World on a Motorcycle by Doris Maron which frequently referred her amazing visits with Servas hosts. I looked up Servas and was instantly hooked on the concept of creating peace by making connections. As a retired military Captain, I have seen first-hand the negative mental and emotional impact of war on my friends. I joined Servas in 2007. I served as the Servas Canada Treasurer from 2017 – May 2025. In June 2025, I stepped into the National Secretary role and hope to learn even more about Servas through my volunteer work in the year to come.

Vacant: Deputy National Secretary

Paul Bruhn
It was my Quaker friends in Helsinki who suggested I join Servas in 1979. Servas was an underground organization, and not recognized by the Polish government, when I stayed with my first host in Warsaw that year. I had just finished a year in a Finnish Folk High School and was off to teach in Poland. After this, I lived in Eastern and Northern Europe for most of the 1980s, and am interested in East West peace relations. 

I have also volunteered with international peace organizations in the USSR, East Germany, the UK, and with Emmaus in France and Finland. I have also volunteered with the Vancouver Jazz and Folk festivals. While my spouse pursued her career, I home schooled our two daughters. 

My participation with Servas has been as a traveler and I look forward to the very steep learning curve of being on the board and, through that, to give back to the organization. When not traveling, I live in a rural setting (complete with firewood, mice, 10 ft garden fences and large rain barrels) on Saturna Island in the Gulf Islands. A BC ferry trip is necessary to find my place!

Michael Johnson: Youth and Family Secretary; Volunteer Coordinator
Servas is a big part of my life – through it I met friends and my wife. I love people, tennis and art. My life is ruled by my heart. It is nice to go to many places, but best to see smiling faces.

For 20+ years I’ve been a Servas Canada board member and have hosted more than I can remember. I enjoyed 13 years as the National Secretary and have attended 7 Servas International Conferences. I enjoy my current “jobs” as Servas International Newsletter editor, and a member of the Servas Canada Recruitment and Nominations Committee, the board, and the long-stay coordinator. I have loved to escape our winters, to other warmer continents, often finding Servas hosts

Sylvia Krogh
After becoming a teacher, I spent 5 years travelling and working around the world. I became a member of Servas in 1984 and shortly after, was asked by Canada Servas leader Duncan Meikle to be the Northern Alberta Host Coordinator. I attended the Servas International Conference in Montreal in 1989 and was asked by Canada Servas leader Micheal Johnson to be on the board – which I did for 17 years. As well, I became and continue to be an interviewer. I host an annual gathering of all Servas members in the Edmonton area.

I have attended Servas International Conferences in Montreal, Thailand, Spain, Italy and Argentina. My life has been enriched tremendously by the wonderful people and experiences I have had through Servas.

Now that I have retired from teaching, I am happy to be able to contribute to continue making Servas a successful organization.

My husband, Alan and I spend the summers with family in Edmonton, Alberta and the winters in Victoria, BC.

Jim Leask: National ServasOnline Manager; Communications 
My wife Andrea and I have been Servas members since 1987. We were on a world trip and enjoyed Servas hospitality in several countries, then joined as hosts upon our return. We very much enjoy having visitors stay with us, from Canada or anywhere else in the world.

I have been helping with Servas Canada as the Host List Coordinator, where I ran our database for managing and producing the Canadian host list, the paper booklets many Canadian members will remember. I am now actively involved with the Servas International’s ServasOnline team, the membership system used today to manage memberships, hosts, and travellers. I am also in the Servas International Executive Committee team as part of the “Membership and Technology Secretary”. In this role I help oversee global membership issues, as well as oversee all of technical infrastructure that runs Servas today and for tomorrow. 

Lisa Liu: Treasurer
I grew up in Shenyang, China and moved to Canada in 1999 because I love traveling, seeing new landscapes, discovering new foods, different cultures, and meeting new people.

I was introduced to Servas by friends in 2024. So far I have had great experiences meeting new people and wonderful hosts in Canada, Ireland and Italy. I love the spirit of Servas of building peace through friendship, individual connections and love.

I currently live in Ottawa where I enjoy gardening and long walks. I joined the Servas board in 2025 to be the treasurer to contribute to the growth of this wonderful organization.

Jane Mangle
I have been a member of Servas Canada since 2018, and was attracted to it because of the core values of peace and friendship and the opportunity to connect through travel or online programming with people worldwide. I live in Wolfville, Nova Scotia and have two children, now adults. I have always enjoyed both adventuring and hosting new friends.

Taking the road less travelled has always peaked my interest, with the wonder of the unknown around the next bend. In my professional life I was a dental hygienist and co-founder of Just Us Coffee Roasters, Canada’s first fair trade and organic coffee roastery. My spare time gets filled with continuing to learn to play several musical instruments and keeping active with hiking, skiing, and racquet sports. 

I presently sit on the board and chair the online program committee. 

 

Jane A. Slinger
Greetings from Galiano Island, BC, where I have lived since I retired as a teacher in Vancouver in June 2022.

My membership in Servas began in the 1990s. In 1995, my travels took me
to South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand to work and explore. Connections with Servas hosts in each country and community made my travels much richer and more meaningful. I have lived and worked in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific.

In 2017, with my partner George, I embarked on a seven-month circumnavigation of the world, connecting with numerous people through
Servas. Our Servas hosts treated us like family and provided us with unique opportunities we could not otherwise have experienced.

In February 2025, I took part in a regional meeting of Servas Costa Rica, which included participation from North and Central America. The meeting was inspiring. We were like-minded individuals from many countries celebrating and enhancing the Servas mission. This experience reignited my passion for promoting peace and intercultural dialogue through hosting and travel.

I joined the Servas Canada board in the late spring of 2025, and I look forward to contributing to this organization in my role as International Liaison.

Marcia Tait
I’m an avid traveller and when I first heard about Servas and the
philosophy of making peace through making connections it seemed like a good match for me. I first joined Servas about 9 years ago, however I
let my membership lapse during the Covid years and have subsequently
re-joined. I’m a new board member on a steep learning curve.

I enjoy visiting and learning about different countries and cultures.
I’ve travelled throughout the UK and much of Western Europe, Australia
and New Zealand, and a few countries in Asia. I’ve also travelled
extensively in Central and South America and, since 2010, my husband and I
live several months a year in Arequipa, Peru where I have taken social work students to do their practicum. We live in Edmonton the rest of the year.

 

Other Key Positions

Suzie Bogos: Peace Secretary 

Vacant: Translation Coordinator

Beth Quesnel, Janet Morlock: “contact@canada.servas.org” responders

Chris Winter: Website Administrator

Vacant: Facebook English

Vacant: Facebook French

Nora McKnight: Interviewer Coordinator

John Whidden: Online Administrator (Online support, eStamps, host lists)

John Spinelli: Bookkeeper (membership payments)

Committees

Program Committee: Jane Mangle (chair), Jill Davies, John Whidden, Aurelie Renaudin

Recruitment & Nominations Committee: Julie Dotsch (chair), Debora Durnin-Richards, Michael Johnson

Outreach Committee: Vacancies

Making Connections Committee: Michael Johnson, Vacancies

Conflict Resolution Facilitators: Paul Bruhn, Aleida Whidden