Team Members
The Faith and Foundation Team is made up of committed community members from the school and parish communities. The Team is currently focused on raising funds for the new school and sharing our story with the school and parish community.
Steering Committee
Mary Margaret Bentley is mother to Georgina who graduated from St. Augustine’s in 2013. Mary Margaret is a marketing specialist and has provided significant project
support over the years -- helping us to ensure that our fundraising/stewardship practices are keeping
pace, ensuring good communication with our neighbours during the long construction period, and organizing several special events.
Marta Beynon has been a parishioner at St. Augustine's Church for many years, first as a child and into her school years, then again after she returned to live in Vancouver
where she has been a parishioner since 2008. Marta is an alumnus of St. Augustine’s, and her daughter is now in grade 7 at our school. Marta is very grateful to be a member of the Faith and Foundation committee, which includes serving as Chair of the Pass the Torch committee for the past five years.
Linda Cormano is a parishioner at St. Augustine's – and volunteers on the parish’s Finance and Building Committees. Linda led the preparation of our parish’s submissions to the Archdiocese for the new school’s project approval. She is a professional accountant and works closely with the parish’s Director of Administrative Services and finance committee to oversee the project’s financial requirements.
Geri Fujisawa has been a very active parishioner since 1951. This included volunteering in the Parish Office for more than 20 years, in addition to serving on the
Project Advance Committee. She is a longstanding member of the Catholic Women’s League and sat on its executive committee for 18 years, including time as its President.
Over the years, she was deeply involved in the Spring and Christmas Fairs. She has served twice on the Parish Council.
Lisa Hermanson joined Faith and Foundation in 2021 as our Fall Campaign Chairperson -- a role she held until this year. She and her husband John are parents to Ava who is now in grade four at St. Augustine school. Lisa has been involved in the Parish Refugee Committee since 2019. She helped to coordinate and settle a family of 9, formerly Rwandan refugees, into their new home in the Lower Mainland. She works in Group Life Health Insurance.
Jonathan Ma has been a parishioner at St. Augustine’s for 13 years and is the new Fall Campaign Chairperson for 2024. He works at a local apparel manufacturing company in business development and merchandising and is a volunteer with BC & Alberta Guide Dogs. You’ll most likely see Jon sitting with his wife Diana and children (Christian (10), Sydney (9), Robyn (7), and Oliver (10mos)) at the 9am Mass on Sundays.
Brian, Communications Chair, and Sonja Moylan have been active members of St. Augustine's parish for more than 30 years. Their son, Finlay, graduated from St. Augustine School in 2012. For many years now, Brian has brought his video production, marketing and communications expertise to help tell the story of building a new school. He also led the development of the Faith and Foundation logomark. Sonja is our long- time newsletter lay-out/designer and, in the past, supported the school website for many years.
Robert Napoli has been a very active member of our Faith and Foundation steering committee since 2011. He recently stepped down as Chair of our Fall Campaign after leading it for many years and continues to provide support. His three sons attended St. Augustine’s. He appreciates the fruition of so many people’s efforts and generosity and our new school which benefits our amazing teachers and children. Robert is a chartered accountant.
Catherine Oberndorf is our Director of Development, responsible for helping to steward new school families in the Faith and Foundation tradition. She’s also responsible for our newsletter and takes on special projects. Cathie was principal of St. Augustine School between 1989 and 2016. She’s been a member of the leadership team since its inception in 1999 and believes that when everyone works together, giving of their time, talent and treasure, that anything is possible.
Donna O’Hara, Alumni Liaison, is a long-time member of St. Augustine’s parish and member of the Parish Council. She’s been a teacher in the Catholic Independent
Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese for 46 years, with 32 of them at St. Augustine School. She has been deeply involved in many Faith and Foundation initiatives and provides a constant link to the school.
Lawrence Pillon, Chair of Faith and Foundation, has been a member of the team since 2002. He and his wife Maureen McEvoy are parents to Madison who graduated from St.
Augustine school in 2012. He’s been a member of St. Augustine’s parish since 1989 and was active in the construction of the Parish Centre that was completed in 1998.
Mark Wan, technology advisor. Parishioners since 2002, Mark and his wife Jeanie havetwo children who graduated from St. Augustine school. The family is very active in the
parish particularly as part of the music ministries. Mark provides guidance to the fundraising team on privacy of information and database security, in addition to helping
us meet our technology needs.
Helen Velazquez has been involved with the Pass the Torch Gala for over 20 years and recently assumed the role of Chair for the 2025 event. Helen also leads the church
decor team; Arts and Environment and is an active liturgy reader. She has two children who attended St. Augustine School and who are now pursuing post-secondary
education.
Administration
Christine Guzman, Campaign Administrator. Christine and her husband Scott Howard have two daughters who graduated from St. Augustine’s School. She brings much experience to this role having provided administrative support for the Campaign for nearly 15 years on such matters as liaison with the parish office, special events, donor liaison and database management.
Colleen Vinnick, Campaign Assistant, and her husband Jeff are parents to two children who graduated St. Augustine School. Over the years she has been involved in many aspects of the Campaign and Pass the Torch. Colleen works very closely with Christine in providing administrative and database support for over 800 donors, and supports the fundraising team on various projects. She also works part-time in the school office.
Ex-Officio Members
Linda Arnold, Director of Administrative Services, has served primarily as financial administrator at St. Augustine’s for more than 20 years. With her background as a Chartered Accountant, she was very involved in the financing proposal in support of the Parish Centre in 1997 and was a founding member of the initiative to build a new school and a member of Faith and Foundation. She is also a leader in adult faith formation and the RCIA program.
Father Ignacy Warias OMI, was appointed Pastor of St. Augustine’s Parish in the Fall of 2022. Having devoted his early ministry in Canada in both Saskatchewan and Alberta his
coming to our parish is a blessing. In all his previous Obediences, Father was in leadership in parishes that were attached to Catholic Schools. Coming to British Columbia, and to St. Augustine’s, has proved a joy for Father Ignacy. He believes that parishes that have Catholic Schools experience the hope, joy and life that children bring into a Catholic
community.
Michael Yaptinchay, was appointed principal of St. Augustine school in July, 2016. He was previously at Ecole St. Sacrament where he was vice principal, principal and teacher for 19 years. He has been a parishioner at St. Augustine’s since 2001 and is married with two young children who attend St. Augustine School.
Wills & Estate Panel
Ravinder Bains is an alumnus of St. Augustine's and has a son who now attends the school. Ravinder is a notary public who believes in serving the community. He has volunteered over a thousand hours coaching youth sports. He is a member of the team that delivers our Wills and Estates workshop.
Adam Beaudin-Ball has been a parishioner of St. Augustine’s since 1999 and whose children attended our school. As a graduate of Vancouver College and UBC, he
supports the important role that education plays in building a strong local community. Adam is a Certified Financial Planner and works in the financial industry. He is a
member of the team that delivers our Wills and Estates workshop.
Jennifer Ingham has a long history in Vancouver philanthropy circles who joined Faith and Foundation nearly 20 years ago; her daughter Jessica graduated from St.
Augustine School in 2011. She was also very involved in our Pass the Torch event, serving as co-chair, and helped to create our Wills and Estates Panel workshop while
continuing to provide general fundraising counsel. Though Jennifer has relocated to the Sunshine Coast, she continues to support us.