The Fondation Massawippi Foundation (FMF or the Foundation) was established in 2011 and is the primary fundraising arm of the Massawippi Conservation Trust (MCT or the Trust). The FMF is incorporated under Part III of the Quebec Companies Act as a not-for-profit organization. It has 11 board members. The FMF’s funds are managed by the Ottawa Community Foundation.
The Massawippi Conservation Trust (MCT) is a conservation entity established in 2011 that protects, preserves and conserves properties in perpetuity in the Massawippi watershed. The MCT is the sister organization of the Foundation. It is a not-for-profit organization which has a charitable status and can issue tax receipts for donations. The Trust has 3 Trustees, two of whom are also on the board of the Foundation.
The MCT employs a seasonal staff of trail builders who build and maintain public walking trails. Alongside the Foundation, the MCT runs an education program and authorizes research activities on its lands.
Our three founders recount their stories.
The Massawippi Foundation
The Foundation supports activities that benefit the people of the Massawippi Valley and that preserve the uniquely beautiful ecosystems of the Lake Massawippi watershed.
It is a community organization. Its assets are held by the Ottawa Community Foundation, a well-regarded community foundation that operates bilingually and handles both endowed funds and those donated for more immediate use. For a small fee (1.5% of funds managed per annum), using the services of the Ottawa Community Foundation allows us to keep our administrative costs very low and to serve our constituency in French and English.
Who we are and what we do.
What does the Foundation Do?
The Foundation’s primary focus is to grant funding to the Massawippi Conservation Trust to support its conservation efforts. The Foundation also provides grants to local community initiatives in the five municipalities surrounding the lake. Past funding has supported projects such as new playgrounds, library renovations, environmental reclamation, health and education programs, and arts initiatives.
Any project or activity that benefits the residents of the Massawippi Valley may be eligible for a grant. Funding comes from both the annual earnings of our endowed funds and from unrestricted funds.
Mission
Preserve the Massawippi Valley’s unique ecosystem;
Fundraise and principally, but not exclusively, financially support the Massawippi Conservation Trust in its operations;
Support community-based initiatives that are ecologically, socially, culturally and/or educationally valuable to the Massawippi Valley.
Vision
Within the next five years, the FMF will become a trusted and publicly recognized leader in the ecological stewardship of the Massawippi Valley. To be successful in its mission, the organization will be defined by the sustainability of its financial operations.
Margot is a founder and has been a volunteer Foundation board member since 2011, and a Trustee since 2022.
Margotand her family moved to the Massawippi Valley permanently in 2002. However, she had attended university and worked in the area in the 1970s. She is one of the founders of the Massawippi Foundation. Even before its legal inception, Margot played a key role in its establishment. For much of the last decade, Margot served as Chair and volunteer acting Executive Director at the same time – otherwise known as a “servant leader”. In 2023 Margot received an honorary degree from Bishop’s University for her “community service and outstanding leadership in the environment and the arts”.
Joff has been a volunteer Foundation board member since 2021 and is currently the Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. He has a secondary residence in North Hatley.
Joff currently holds the position of Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at the Montreal General Hospital Foundation. A business lawyer by training, he retired from Bell Canada in February 2024 where, over the course of a 33 year career, he practiced general commercial, IT, franchise, consumer protection, privacy and telecommunications regulatory law. Joff holds degrees from Université de Sherbrooke (Baccalaureat en droit (L.L.B.)) and McGill (B.A. – History).
Nadia has been a volunteer Foundation Board Member since 2023.
Nadia is one of the founding partners of i4 Capital Fund, an early stage deeptech fund which invests in innovative companies. Nadia Martel brings more than 25 years of legal and management experience acquired at various companies. Passionate about sustainable development and governance, she sits on numerous corporate and non-profit boards such as the Massawippi Foundation and EVOL. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Bishop’s University, and a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Taxation from Université de Sherbrooke. Nadia has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1994 and holds the advocatus emeritus distinction.
Claude Séguin
Treasurer of the FMF
Claude has been a volunteer Foundation board member since 2022.
Claude holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from HEC Montréal and a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Syracuse University in New York State. He began his career in the public sector in the 1980’s and ended as Deputy Minister of Finance for Quebec from 1987 to 1992. He is currently Chairman of the Board of the Solidarity Fund QFL since 2018. He has been involved in several fundraising events including Centraide of Greater Montreal and the 24 Hours of Tremblant Foundation.
Jane has been a volunteer Foundation board member since 2013.
Jane is a full-time resident of North Hatley since retiring from her law career with the Federal government. Her great grand-father’s family bought their first North Hatley summer home in 1920. Jane became involved with the Massawippi Foundation in 2012, one year after the Board was formed. She was invited to join in 2013 and served as its Chair from 2021-2024.
Eric has been a volunteer Foundation Board Member since 2021.
Eric has a Bachelor’s degree in agronomy, a Master’s degree in plant ecology and a PhD in water sciences, as well as years of experience in agri-environmental research before becoming the executive in charge of the scientific direction of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Research and Development Centres of Charlottetown, Fredericton, Sherbrooke, Quebec City and Normandin. Eric joined the FMF board to help us expand our conservation mission to include agricultural lands.
Board member and trustee of Massawippi Conservation Trust
Normand Brière returned as a volunteer to the FMF Board and to the MCT as a Trustee in 2024. (Past Board Member and Trustee 2019-2022)
In a career spanning more than 30 years, Mr. Brière has acquired extensive knowledge and skills in the commercial real estate and finance sectors. Mr. Brière is a member of the real estate advisory committee of the Hydro Québec pension fund and a member of the investment committee of Fiera Fonds Immobilier (Funds II and IV).
Mr. Brière held the position of Vice-President, Mortgage Investments and Institutional Financing at Desjardins Sécurité Financière for 15 years. He has also held commercial real estate management positions with the Royal Bank and the Caisse de Dépôt et placement du Québec. Mr. Brière holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Université du Québec à Montréal and is a chartered appraiser (retired).
Alan Capes
Chair of the FMF Planning, Communications & Engagement Committee, Member of the Agriculture Committee
Alan has been a volunteer board member since 2022.
Alan is a Civil Engineer (Concordia University) with an MBA (McGill University). Alan retired from a successful 35 year career at CN Rail where he led technology strategy and implemented multi-million dollar business transformation projects. In retirement, Alan co-founded and serves as a director of the Fondation Ruisseau Bouchard in Dorval and is a director of the Ayer’s Cliff Fair.
Member of the FMF Agricultural & Advancement Committees
Hamnett has been a volunteer board member since 2020 and has a secondary residence in HatleyHamnett is an entrepreneur and investor who has built and scaled early-stage technology companies for decades. He co-founded TotalNet, Zero-Knowledge Systems, Radialpoint, Smooch Technologies, and has supported many others as a director and investor through his investment firm edo Capital and as a Fellow at Diagram Ventures. Through edo Capital and the HPH Family Foundation, Hamnett has supported a variety of social and impact entrepreneurs building organizations that increase the awareness of, and contributing to the creation of more sustainable food systems.
Member of the Planning, Communications and Engagement Committee
Caroline joined the board as a volunteer in 2024. Caroline has been a senior executive in media and cultural companies for over twenty-five years. After years in publishing, she joined Radio-Canada where she is currently head of Radio & Audio. She holds a degree from Concordia University (Bachelor of Arts with a specialization in Communication). Caroline is a member of Concordia University’s Board of Governors and the École nationale de la chanson.
The Massawippi Conservation Trust
“Our conservation efforts were initially focused on undeveloped land on the west slopes of Lake Massawippi. The government of Quebec has identified this particular area as containing old growth forest of significant interest. We are currently overseeing properties in the entire watershed of the lake. Biologists employed by the Appalachian Corridor Association have identified a wide variety of rare or threatened flora and fauna on these lands.”
Founding Trustees early conservation stories.
The Trust follows the 4 tenets of conservation:
Protection
Recreation
Research
Education
The Trust protects land adjacent in the Lake Massawippi watershed:
acquiring land through either purchase or donation
establishing easements or servitudes on land
helping landowners understand the ecological and tax benefits of limiting the types of activities permitted
helping landowners understand the potentially disastrous effect of over-development on the overall well-being of the Massawippi watershed.
Massawippi Conservation Trust
Trustees
All trustees are permanent or part-time residents of the Massawippi Valley
Normand Brière
Normand Brière returned as a volunteer to the FMF Board and to the MCT as a Trustee in 2024. (Past Board Member and Trustee 2019-2022)
In a career spanning more than 30 years, Mr. Brière has acquired extensive knowledge and skills in the commercial real estate and finance sectors. Mr. Brière is a member of the real estate advisory committee of the Hydro Québec pension fund and a member of the investment committee of Fiera Fonds Immobilier (Funds II and IV).
Mr. Brière held the position of Vice-President, Mortgage Investments and Institutional Financing at Desjardins Sécurité Financière for 15 years. He has also held commercial real estate management positions with the Royal Bank and the Caisse de Dépôt et placement du Québec. Mr. Brière holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Université du Québec à Montréal and is a chartered appraiser (retired).
Margot Graham Heyerhoff
Margot is a founder and has been a volunteer Foundation board member since 2011, and a Trustee since 2022.
Margotand her family moved to the Massawippi Valley permanently in 2002. However, she had attended university and worked in the area in the 1970s. She is one of the founders of the Massawippi Foundation. Even before its legal inception, Margot played a key role in its establishment. For much of the last decade, Margot served as Chair and volunteer acting Executive Director at the same time – otherwise known as a “servant leader”. In 2023 Margot received an honorary degree from Bishop’s University for her “community service and outstanding leadership in the environment and the arts”.
Martin was a Foundation board member from 2022-2024 and he is currently an MCT Trustee since 2022.
Martin is currently the Chief of Operations of the Fire Protection Service, City of Sherbrooke where he has worked for close to 25 years. He also served with the North Hatley Fire department as Captain from 2002 -2005. Martin was involved in local politics from 2005-2021 and ended his term of office as the Mayor of Canton de Hatley. Martin holds a B.A. from Université de Sherbrooke and has a multitude of educational certificates in the field of fire prevention and safety.
The Fondation Massawippi Foundation (FMF) has an Honorary Council. It is in the nature of a hockey hall of fame, a distinction, its purpose being to recognize people’s contribution to the work of the FMF and MCT, whether it be by their gifts of land or servitudes or their exceptional volunteerism with the organization.
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