MAKE PROJECTS - Key Persons
Alan's love for building and construction started with a Lego obsession at the age of five. He later graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Applied Science in Structural and Civil Engineering, and his yearning dirt on his boots led him to work as a general contractor for 15 years where he grew into managing major construction projects up to $200M. Since 2013, he has represented owners, helping them with the strategy, planning, and execution of their projects. A leader in this field, Alan has a deft touch for strategic thinking and collaborative engagement through each phase of a project. He is an EGBC member and is a volunteer evaluator for P.Eng. applications.
In his spare time, Alan enjoys skiing, coaching his sons in soccer, and exploring the world. He is a musician and singer, and has a great story about how he met his wife as a stage performer.
Amir excels as an effective communicator and relationship builder, able to develop productive connections with people from diverse cultures. With an extensive medical and business background, he brings an adaptable, focused, and competitive approach, and his career has thrived in fast paced environments. As a poised, conscientious, and reliable problem solver, he understands the importance of meeting deadlines and consistently achieving high standards, ensuring the successful completion of every endeavour.
Amir loves sports and maintaining an active lifestyle, which is an essential part of his everyday life. He actively participates in leagues for volleyball, basketball, and football across the Lower Mainland. He's also an avid runner, cyclist, and swimmer, aiming to complete an Ironman Triathlon now that he's accomplished his first marathon!
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Coordinator
Amy's strong background in municipal government with land and business development has given her the experience to work in detail with capital, operating, building improvement, and infrastructure replacement projects. She has provided public engagement, open houses, communications, social media, surveys, and workshops while also planning project progress within occupied spaces.
While maintaining accountability for all areas of a project, Amy uses her excellent communication, interpersonal skills, and detail-oriented work to steer and clearly define responsibilities and communicate expectations on her successful project teams.
When Amy is not in the mountains or on the water, she has been known to spend a significant part of her income going to concerts and keeping the music industry alive.
Job Titles:
- Accounting Manager
- Accounting
Andre is a seasoned Accounting Manager with a wealth of experience in managing financial transactions, maintaining precise financial records, and upholding accounting standards. Proficient in budgeting and financial forecasting, he has demonstrated a consistent ability to enhance financial operations. With a background in accounting, Andre has effectively managed accounts receivable and payable while providing valuable support for internal audit activities. Known for his communication abilities, he fosters productive relationships with clients, vendors, and internal stakeholders. Equipped with an MBA, an accounting diploma, and pursuing CPA certification, Andre brings a robust skill set and dedication to achieving financial excellence.
In his free time Andre can be found building building Lego with his two children Alice and Thomas.
April is a passionate individual with a zest for life. Her role as an executive assistant and project coordinator showcases her exceptional attention to detail and her talent for orchestrating projects with finesse. Whether it's managing schedules, coordinating tasks, or ensuring everything runs smoothly, April thrives in her role, making her an invaluable asset to her team. Her passion for her work is evident in her dedication and commitment to excellence.
April's alter-ego is being a self-proclaimed Disney addict. Her heart belongs to the enchanting world of Disney, where dreams come true and imagination knows no bounds. Whether it's watching classic Disney films, planning magical Disney vacations, or collecting memorabilia, her love for Disney is a constant source of joy and inspiration.
Christine holds a degree in hospitality management and has extensive experience in managing large events and conferences. Her professional journey includes a role as an installation coordinator for residential HVAC projects, which honed her project coordination, reporting, and task management skills. In her current capacity, she collaborates closely with project managers, contributing to project coordination, report generation, and ensuring timely task completion. Christine's personal aspiration is to earn a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification while expanding her expertise in renovation projects and healthcare strategic reports and business plans. Her approach is rooted in efficiency, thoroughness, and effective problem-solving.
Located in Vernon, BC, Christine loves spending her leisure time hiking and enjoying the relaxed lake life, which rejuvenates her for the professional challenges she embraces.
Cristina's master's degree in engineering gives her a solid foundation to draw upon for any development. She has over a decade of experience in institutional and commercial construction projects. A results-driven project manager, Cristina is a confident communicator with strong interpersonal and analytical skills. She thrives on social interaction and client satisfaction and makes a significant impact on all projects she manages, bringing them in on time and on budget.
Cristina comes from Eastern Europe and enjoys exploring the world by travelling when she can.
Job Titles:
- Construction Project Manager
- Project Manager
Dan is a highly experienced construction project manager with over three decades in the field. He's been involved in all aspects of construction from design through to project completion on transit, industrial, and military infrastructure projects. His electrical background involves hands-on experience with SCADA systems, traction power systems, ACER installations, EER layouts, fire alarm, CCTV, and public address systems.
A great communicator, Dan works collaboratively with each stakeholder. His technical and practical experience with delivering transit stations and infrastructure makes him an asset on any transit related project.
Dan loves spending his time with his wife and adorable golden retriever at their off-grid cabin in the Gulf Islands. When the world allows, he enjoys travel accompanied by family and friends, warm weather, a beautiful beach, good books, and a glass of Napa cabernet.
Darren co-founded MAKE Projects with a vision to improve the effectiveness of public and private sector clients by enabling more efficient use of their capital in their facility and infrastructure investments. His leadership and interpersonal skills, combined with his business, design, and construction expertise, makes him ideally suited for projects with a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach. He provides strategic planning on a range of social infrastructure and high technology projects including hospitals, research laboratories, education, mass transit, and industrial facilities. He has delivered projects under a wide range of methodologies including Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build, Construction Management, and Public-Private Partnerships. He leverages this experience to identify and control the opportunities and risks unique to each delivery approach.
On his days off, Darren is busy planning his next travel adventure with his family and friends.
Job Titles:
- Chief of Staff
- Project Manager
Diana is the Chief of Staff and Project Manager with an educational background that includes applied leadership and human resources. Through her years of experience with general contractors, design consultants, and owner's representative firms, she has managed project coordination from design procurement through construction completion to operational readiness. Her people skills and detail-oriented organizational abilities ensure every project runs smoothly. She enjoys working with clients on change management where she can guide stakeholder transition with fewer problems.
In her spare time, Diana is preferably on a soccer field cheering for her two teenage sons or riding her bike. She also likes to cook and spend time touring wine country.
Elise is a creative and solutions-driven manager with more than seven years of project management experience across a diverse range of industries. She fosters lasting client relationships through excellent interpersonal skills and by providing consistent, proactive, and open communication throughout the project. A competitive spirit, Elise enjoys the proposal process as much as project delivery. She thrives at finding innovative solutions to complex problems by managing each project and pursuit through a strategic lens.
Elise explores the great outdoors whenever she can. She is usually found in the Coast Mountains backcountry skiing, mountain biking, rock climbing, or hiking the local trails with her son, Evan. When she's not off on adventures or chasing after her energetic toddler, Elise loves to paint oil landscapes of her favorite West Coast scenes.
Emily is a certified project management professional and scheduling specialist with over 10 years of diverse experience in both private and public sectors. She has been extensively involved in large complex acute and tertiary care change management projects that include building new clinical facilities, move and transition of healthcare staff, oversight of multi-million-dollar equipment budgets, and early education, training and orientation planning for clinical teams. Her primary focus is on integration of best adult education practices and change management initiatives for successful change adoption and support of improved client outcomes. She is also experienced in agile project management through virtual health care projects, deploying technology based solutions. Currently, she is leading equipment planning and operational readiness for client projects in partnership with organizations such as STEMCELL Technologies, Douglas College, BC Ferries, VCH and others.
She is big shiba-inu dog lover and has raised two lovely shiba inus. She has a yellow belt in Krav Jitsu (a mix of krav maga and jiu jitsu martial arts).
Fiona is a seasoned project manager with more than eight years of experience in the construction industry. She has had exposure to every aspect of the project life cycle; from getting creative in the design and feasibility stage to managing the construction process and selling the end products herself. Her experience ranges from small-scale renovations ($3M) to large-scale multi-phase residential and commercial developments. ($800M).
Her diverse range of qualifications in Science, Project Management, Leadership, Management and Coaching enables Fiona to approach her projects with an analytical mindset that is solution-focused and results-oriented. Fiona is also known for her genuine person-centred collaboration, resulting in successful project delivery again and again.
Fiona is passionate about diversity and inclusion and can be found supporting and empowering other women to grow and develop in the construction industry.
When she's not on the job, Fiona loves a balance of adventure and downtime which involves exploring the great outdoors of BC, practicing Yoga, or travelling further afield.
Greg is a proven leader with more than 25 years of multi-discipline expertise and leadership in project delivery of major civic infrastructure across local government and educational sectors. His passion for assembling reliable teams regardless of the project's size consistently produces successful programs. His extensive engineering and operations experience in public and private sectors, including land development, sustainable facilities, public works and building departments, municipal infrastructure, sewage and stormwater collection, and transportation have given him the perspective to ensure successful and on-budget completion of any project.
Greg enjoys getting away to his home in Whistler and chatting over a good glass of scotch. He also likes to bike in the latest form fitting cyclist gear and wear a cape, pretending he can fly.
Jared is an EIT with extensive experience in the commercial building construction industry. Upon graduating Queen's University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Jared's early years in the industry were spent working as a building designer where he honed his technical skills in structural steel design and mechanical systems design for commercial buildings.
He has since transitioned to a project management role where he is responsible for planning construction processes and managing procurement, and he excels at collaborating with architects, contractors, consultants, and other engineers.
Jared moved to Vancouver to continue his career in a place that offers exciting adventure opportunities in the backcountry. An avid outdoors enthusiast, he enjoys paddling, mountain biking, climbing, and just getting lost in the mountains for several days at a time.
Jean Luc is a dynamic and motivated problem solver with experience creating, maintaining, and improving business-to-business and business-to-client relationships. An active community builder and leader, he has been instrumental in managing non-profits and export and trade companies, and was the founder of an online accessories company. His strong skills in communication, relationship development, and strategic thinking makes him a great collaborative team player. Fluent in English, French, and three African languages, Jean Luc has a passion for creating meaningful intercultural collaborations that contribute to a more equitable world, and believes in promoting green building initiatives.
Jean Luc loves walking through the great outdoors and museums. He enjoys travelling, playing basketball, watching soccer, reading metaphysical books, and mixing with friends at social events.
Following years of practice as an architectural field services representative for the construction of large hospitality, education, and residential projects, Jerry expanded his role to include operations management of both new and existing facilities. His experience in the facilities management of large public sector portfolios ensures that requirements for efficient, long-term operations are integrated early into the project planning process and that the completed facilities will deliver better value to the owner over their entire life cycle. Jerry's background allows him to work collaboratively with design and engineering project professionals and to identify issues critical to the efficient operation of the completed project by the owner's facility management team.
Although Jerry is originally from the prairies, he is now an avid fan of water sports, spending his free time sailing in the Gulf Islands of BC.
John has worn many hats over his career. After completing a Communications and Graphic Imaging degree, he went on to become a Red Seal Electrician, taking on many roles from foreman to electrical coordinator. This experience added to his work as a project manager where he oversaw large and small capital expenditure projects for a utility and infrastructure provider in Alberta. His strong skills in communication and technical expertise provide him with a diverse knowledge base across a large variety of projects. John also has a National Construction Safety Officer designation and applies the principles of safety to all his projects.
John loves walking his dogs to visit the great outdoors and exploring all that the Lower Mainland has to offer. He enjoys travelling, playing soccer, and being a registered yoga teacher, which he loves to practice and teach.
Larry has over 15 years of experience practicing as a registered architect. He has worked on a variety of project types, including healthcare, civic, institutional, multi-family residential, commercial, and master planning projects. Having navigated complex projects, he's developed a firm belief that the people make the project. No matter how challenging a project, collaboration and communication are key. As such, he prides himself on being a leader by example, a strategic thinker, and a creative problem solver characterized by his active listening, desire to understand all concerns, and evaluation of potential risks before synthesizing considered solutions. His approachable nature allows him to be effective with a variety of stakeholder groups and multi-disciplinary teams alike, upholding the highest standards and delivering on all the projects he leads.
Larry recently picked up long-range rifle precision shooting as a hobby, otherwise, he can be found on his motorcycle for some open road two-wheeled therapy. Who doesn't love a project manager that shoots straight and rides fast!
Job Titles:
- Principal
- Healthcare Sector Leader
Mandeep Edmonds is the healthcare sector leader and a principal at MAKE Projects. She holds a Masters in Engineering from Dalhousie University, and designations of Professional Engineer (Engineers and Geoscientists BC), PMP (Project Management Institute), and LEED AP (Canada Green Building Council). An electrical engineer by training, Mandeep brings a well-rounded background in design, construction, engineering, and management to create and lead teams for effective outcomes. She has held progressive leadership positions in private and public sector organizations in Canada, including her most recent role as Deputy Chief Project Officer at Fraser Health. Her experience includes successful projects in complex renovations and new builds with both traditional and alternative project deliveries, and project budgets up to $1.5+ billion.
Mandeep thrives on stakeholder collaboration and engagement within the non-profit sector where reporting and communication to senior administration and government officials is critical. She takes pride in her ability to proactively identify and manage risk and support effective decision-making.
On her days off, Mandeep loves to be outdoors on the North Shore with her two boys.
Job Titles:
- Senior Project Coordinator
Marisa has eight years of municipal and BC Building Code review experience as a Commercial Plans Reviewer and an active member in Building Officials' Association of BC. She is Building Code Qualified (BCQ) and her experience includes technical BC Building Code reviews, zoning calculations, and permit coordination on projects ranging from interior alterations to new developments for residential, commercial, and industrial projects. She is passionate about ensuring the intent and vision of a project comes to fruition, as well as teaching and providing support for other members in the construction industry.
Before her two young children took up the majority of her spare time, Marisa used to play Nintendo frequently. She discovered the world of Pokemon and actively played Pokemon-Go while on maternity leave, and still enjoys playing today. Gotta catch ‘em all!
With over fifteen years of experience in project management, Nicole is recognized for delivering high-quality results across diverse client portfolios. She oversees multiple projects from initiation to closure, ensuring adherence to scope, budget, and schedule requirements. Collaborating with internal and external stakeholders, she adeptly manages risks, issues, and financial reporting, fostering seamless project execution.
Nicole's professional journey includes pivotal roles as a Project Manager, where she honed her expertise in handling complex, large-scale projects spanning commercial, healthcare, education, and transportation sectors. With a solid foundation in accounting, she holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Grant MacEwan University, equipping her with skills in financial accounting, reporting, and reconciliation.
Passionate about project management and accounting, Nicole continually seeks to enhance her proficiency in these domains. Fluent in English and French, she communicates effectively with diverse audiences, further enriching her collaborative capabilities. Her aspiration is to leverage her extensive project management experience and accounting background to enhance the success of MAKE and its clientele.
Job Titles:
- Proposal Manager and Business Development Coordinator
Niki is a seasoned marketing professional with a passion for crafting captivating brand stories and driving business success. She has honed her skills and expertise turning ideas into impactful campaigns. Specializing in strategic planning, she excels in creating high-impact marketing initiatives that leave a lasting impression.
Niki brings a wealth of experience from her time working with some of the most renowned brands in the business. She understands the nuances of both established businesses and startups, offering tailored solutions that resonate with diverse audiences.
In her free time, Niki enjoys practicing yoga and seizing every opportunity to travel and experience new people, places, and food.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager
- Professional Engineer
Sohrab is a Professional Engineer with seven years of experience in building design, construction, and project management. Specializing in mechanical systems, he has successfully managed projects in recreational, healthcare, and education sectors, overseeing new builds and renovations from inception to completion. Sohrab's expertise and dedication ensure that each project is executed to the highest standards, exceeding client expectations at every stage.
With a background in mechanical engineering and over 15 years of construction experience, Warren has developed a unique skill set in effective communication, proven client liaison, outside-the-box problem solving, and strong leadership. Having successfully completed numerous projects in the healthcare, retail, hospitality, and government sectors, Warren continues to strive for professional excellence through honesty, hard work, integrity, and trust. Project management isn't just a job to him, but something Warren truly enjoys, which is evidenced by his easy integration with design teams.
Warren enjoys most sporting activities and is a keen participant in all associated refreshments. His English Bulldog Guinness also likes to accompany him on outdoor excursions.