Council Advisor

Name of Appointee First Appointed Term Councillor Andrew Knack Apr 17, 2018 (Remainder of) 2017-2021 Council Term

Charles Kelly (Chair)

Appointed May 1, 2016

Charles Kelly was born and raised in Northern Ireland and spent four years in England before arriving in Canada in 1972, and became a Canadian citizen six years later. Prior to his retirement in September 2015, he spent forty-four years as a Physiotherapist. His work was mainly in clinical practice, but also included teaching, and participating in many different capacities with the College of Physical Therapists of Alberta. As a visually impaired person, he has depended on ETS as his main mode of transportation during his more than thirty years in the Edmonton area, and watched with interest the growth and improvements of the system during that time. Being very interested in the subject of public transit he looks forward to being a constructive contributor of the ETS Advisory Board.

Isabell Hubert Lyall (Vice Chair)

Appointed May 1, 2017

Isabell is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta, where she completed her Ph.D. in 2019, and where she currently does experimental research (and a lot of number-crunching) to investigate how humans understand language. She also teaches courses in linguistics and data analysis/statistics, and has experience in public-sector communications, advocacy, and not-for-profit leadership. Since moving to Edmonton in 2014, Isabell has been commuting by public transit, walking, cycling, and e-scootering. She is passionate about making public transit and human-scale forms of transportation an attractive and preferred choice for Edmontonians. Whether for work-related or leisure travel, Isabell makes a point of using the local public transit system to get around, which has given her insight into transit in various cities across three continents.

Bob Turner

Appointed May 1, 2020

Dr. Bob Turner has lived and worked in Edmonton since 1977. He has used ETS (bus and LRT) regularly for over 40 years and has participated in community and online consultations on various transit strategies. He also has lived experience with transit in Montreal, Pittsburgh and Seattle. He has been extensively involved in medical research, healthcare worker education and peer-reviewed medical publishing. He looks forward to evaluating research reports and receiving input from stakeholders, other levels of government, neighboring municipalities and non-governmental organizations. ETS has always been forward looking but has many challenges that the Transit Strategy will need to mitigate. Dr. Turner was the COO of the Edmonton Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) that collected, tested and distributed blood products throughout Edmonton and northern Alberta. The BTS has a unionized staff including its transport division. He was also an MLA from 2015 to 2019. This reinforced his appreciation of collaboration between communities, municipalities and provincial/federal governments to meet social, fiscal and environmental challenges.

Bryan Shepherd

Appointed May 1, 2019

Bryan Shepherd is the Dean of Student Services and College Registrar at NorQuest College. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Alberta and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Royal Roads University. Bryan has spent most of his career in the post-secondary sector, with the past 19 years in various senior management positions. He has a wealth of experience working with boards and other governing bodies. Bryan has spent all of his professional life in the public sector, providing him with many opportunities to work with all three levels of government. Bryan is married and a father of three. He is involved in his community and over the years has spent a lot of time at various hockey arenas, sports fields and recreation centers in and around the Edmonton area. He truly understands what it means to live, work and play within our City.

Giselle General

Appointed May 1, 2018

Giselle immigrated from the Philippines and made Edmonton her home since 2008. She has her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and works to help people in poverty at the Edmonton Community Legal Centre. Unable to drive, transit is her primary form of transportation, supplemented with the occasional taxi or car ride. Through her employment, volunteering and personal experience, she has an appreciation of how poverty, status, trauma and knowledge impacts someone's access to services in the City. She is a board member of her neighbourhood’s community league and of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues. She is a columnist for the Alberta Filipino Journal, a blogger for FilipinaYEG and a frequent speaker and writer sharing her experiences as an immigrant woman. Her hobbies include abstract art, upcycling, and donating plasma at Canadian Blood Services.

Guy Milner

Appointed May 1, 2020

Born in the Alberta Avenue community, Guy graduated from the U of A with a BA. He currently lives in King Edward Park with his husband and their cat. Guy had a diverse career contributing to human development: as a UN volunteer in Tanzania, as a program specialist with Canada’s Vietnamese refugee movement, and as a MSW in a major urban HIV clinic. Drawing from both his work and volunteer experiences, Guy pays close attention to people who are low income, new immigrants or street involved. A transit user since his teen years, he has just learned how to mount his commuter bike onto the bus! He recognizes how much the system has grown to meet citizens’ needs over the 112 years of transit history, and appreciates the resource challenges facing Edmonton. Guy is excited about contributing to securing practical, doable solutions to ensure that the system is safe and available to every citizen of this great City.

Jarret Esslinger

Appointed May 1, 2019

Jarret is a born and raised Albertan and has lived in Edmonton since 2010. He has a Bachelor of Management degree from the University of Lethbridge and his career has largely been focused on climate change in addition to working directly with Indigenous communities and organizations. He has previously worked at the municipal and provincial government levels which has provided him with a broad perspective on the issues and policies relating to public transit in Edmonton. Jarret is an avid daily user of the Edmonton Transit Service and believes that an expansive, barrier-free yet cost-efficient transit system is paramount to the success of Edmonton’s future. He is greatly interested in regional transit systems, the continuing development of the Valley Line LRT project and the future implementation of smart technologies within Edmonton’s transit system.

Lindsay Vanstone

Appointed May 1, 2020Lindsay Vanstone is a knowledge worker focused on delivering and managing projects across the private and public sectors. Most recently she has worked at the provincial and municipal levels on projects to promote innovation in urban transportation, urban land redevelopment, and the effective use of data in making urban planning decisions. Her past experience includes market research and consulting for large North American corporations and nonprofits. Lindsay received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto, her Master’s degree in Urban Planning from McGill University, and completed an intensive program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design focused on Urban Planning and Design.

Michelle Peters-Jones

Appointed May 1, 2020

Michelle moved to Edmonton in 2010 from Liverpool, and has since been raising a family in the City. She is a sociologist, with an MPhil and MA in sociology, media, international relations, and globalization, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology, sociology, and English literature. As a mother, an immigrant, a woman of colour, and with a partial sight disability, she is very reliant on transit to get around the City. She is particularly passionate about transit being a draw to attract young people to Edmonton, and its role in creating a vibrant culture within the City. As the mother of a 12-year-old, she would like to see more young people, including younger riders, use transit as a viable, safe, and alternative way to traverse the City. As a result, she is passionate about working towards an affordable, safe, and accessible transit network that is sustainable, forward thinking, and geared towards future generations of riders and users.

Philip Reid

Appointed May 1, 2016

Phil Reid has been an Edmonton resident since 2013. He has previously lived in four different provinces across Canada, and has been active in those communities. He has a college and university educational background in emergency management. He has been involved in emergency services at the Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels of government, and currently works for the Alberta Wildfire Management Branch with the Alberta Government. He has extensive experience working on high-level issues and initiatives, acting as a group, committee, board or association member in varying capacities with large-scale implications. Phil is passionate about Edmonton, its development, and overall success as a community. His belief is, for Edmonton’s growth to remain stimulated, an efficient, effective and convenient transit system is one of the main key elements.

Serena Tang

Appointed May 1, 2020

Serena Tang is a freelance illustrator, who studied at the University of Alberta, completing a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Design. She grew up in Edmonton after immigrating to Canada, and has watched the City grow into a lively Western Canadian hot spot for arts, technology, and ideas. After graduation, she developed a passion for urban development particularly in how people in cities commute and the wayfinding designed by transit to direct locals and visitors. She is a firm believer that visual cues and smart design enhances all aspects of life, especially when it comes to transportation. She is also interested in seeing public transit in Edmonton be integrated smoothly with other forms of commuting; to help all Edmontonians be multimodal and have more options when it comes to moving around the City. On her days off, she likes to fill the hours with biking, trying new foods around Edmonton, and scoping out new plants for her indoor garden.

William Agbakoba

Appointed May 1, 2019

William is a Management Consultant who located to Edmonton in 2010 from the USA, where he worked and obtained an MBA from Case Western University. Originally from West Africa, he is an avid public transit user, and has continuously observed the opportunities and challenges which abound in metropolitan transit systems on his trips to other countries. William’s core areas of expertise are in business strategy and process re-engineering, which has led him to work on several transformational projects. With diplomas in Innovation, Organizational Change and Human Resource management, he hopes to leverage his professional and educational experiences to help position the Edmonton Transit system in line with global standards and provide unique rider experiences to Edmonton’s citizens.