News Detail
Board of Governors Adds New Members
Shawnigan Lake School is delighted to announce the appointment of four new members to the School’s Board of Governors. Following the Annual General Meeting on October 23, 2021, Nawaf Bitar, Ross Gilmour, Jason Lee and Omar Mawjee have been elected to serve on the Board by members of the Shawnigan Lake School Society. They each bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise from their diverse personal and professional experiences, hold a deep love of and respect for the School, and reflect the diversity of Shawnigan’s student body. Their appointment maintains the equal gender balance on the Board while adding younger alumni to the team.
“We are adding a solid mix of needed skills and abilities with real strength in tech, marketing, finance, and capital infrastructure,” shares Suzanne Boyd, Chair of the Nominations Committee.
Our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude go to outgoing Board member Mike Waites, who served the School well during his tenure on the Board.
To learn more about our new Board members, please read their biographies below.
Nawaf Bitar – past parent
Nawaf is a Senior Advisor for Citadel Securities. He joined Citadel Securities in 2017 as Chief Information Officer, where he led all technology-related initiatives for the firm. Prior to joining Citadel Securities, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Cloud Platform Business Unit at VMware. Before that, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Security Business Unit at Juniper Networks. He has held senior technology roles at Cisco Systems, IronPort Systems and Network Appliance, and has also held roles at Silicon Graphics and Apollo Computer. Nawaf is a General Partner of NJP Ventures, a Venture Partner at AllegisCyber, a member of the Board of Directors of Plum, Inc. and a member of the University of Texas Computer Science Advisory Council. Nawaf’s daughter, Hannah, attended Shawnigan for five years, graduating in 2021.
Ross Gilmour ’77 (Lonsdale’s) – past and current parent
Ross is currently the Principal of Gilmour Infrastructure Consulting (GIC) located in Vancouver, BC, where he provides value engineering, constructability reviews, shadow bids/affordability estimates, critical path scheduling analyses, risk assessments and other services for both public and private clients on major design-build (DB) and P3 infrastructure projects and pursuits across western Canada and USA. Ross initially attended the University of Washington in Seattle and subsequently graduated from UBC in Vancouver where he received a BSc in Civil Engineering. During his time at both UBC and UW, Ross participated as a member of their varsity rowing teams, competing across Canada, the US and Europe. He is a professional engineer registered in the provinces of BC, Alberta, PEI, Washington and Hawaii. Ross previously worked for Peter Kiewit Sons for 14 years as a VP and Area Manager, and prior to that for the Aecon/SCI/Strait Crossing group of companies for 20 years. During these periods, he held senior management roles on the pursuit and/or delivery of some of the largest and most technically diverse design-build infrastructure projects in North America. Projects of note include Ottawa LRT Project, Confederation Line Ph. 2 (P3), and the Confederation Bridge Project from NB to PEI (P3). While at Shawnigan, Ross was Head of Lonsdale’s House and a School Prefect. He is current parent to two daughters at the School, and past parent to a recent graduate (Class of 2021).
Jason Lee ’04 (Copeman’s)
Jason leads the Finance & Strategy team at Square, a commerce technology company that provides payments, software, and financial services to help merchants run and grow their business. He also previously served in various roles over his nine years at Square, including Head of Corporate Development, Head of Investor Relations, and leading Square’s IPO. Prior to Square, Jason started his career in finance and investing, having worked at Morgan Stanley and TPG Capital. Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, Jason attended Shawnigan from 1999 to 2004 and boarded in Copeman’s House. After Shawnigan, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration and played on the collegiate rugby team. He currently resides in San Francisco, California, with his wife, Regina, and 1.5 year old daughter, Maxine. He enjoys traveling, snowboarding, and taking advantage of the outdoor and spectator team sports available in San Francisco.
Omar Mawjee ’00 (Lonsdale’s)
Omar is an alumnus of Shawnigan Lake School from the class of 2000 (Lonsdale’s House). He attended Queen’s University (B.A. Hons, Economics) and was inducted into the Tricolour Society as a recipient of the Agnes Benidickson Award, the highest tribute that can be paid to a student for valuable and distinguished service. Upon graduating from Queen’s he moved back to the West Coast to pursue a career in sports. For 10 years he was the Managing Director of the Seattle Seahawks Regional Marketing Office – Canada, overseeing all corporate/broadcast partnerships and fan development programs north of the border. He has worked with the NFL, Hockey Canada, and a handful of professional athletes. Omar has served as the volunteer Chair of the World Partnership Golf Tournament in support of AKFC, founded the 12 North Sports Classic, sat on the board of the Vancouver Canucks Alumni Cyclone Taylor Classic, and was instrumental in bringing the Russell Wilson Passing Academy to Vancouver. He currently resides in Bellevue, Washington with his wife Zaheera and two sons (ages 3 and 10). Omar is the CEO/Owner of Eventcorp Services, a research and analytics firm that works with leading events, venues, and sports organizations across North America. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf and cheering on the Canucks and Seahawks with his family.
Our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude go to outgoing Board member Mike Waites, who served the School well during his tenure on the Board.
To learn more about our new Board members, please read their biographies below.
Nawaf Bitar – past parent
Nawaf is a Senior Advisor for Citadel Securities. He joined Citadel Securities in 2017 as Chief Information Officer, where he led all technology-related initiatives for the firm. Prior to joining Citadel Securities, he was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Cloud Platform Business Unit at VMware. Before that, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Security Business Unit at Juniper Networks. He has held senior technology roles at Cisco Systems, IronPort Systems and Network Appliance, and has also held roles at Silicon Graphics and Apollo Computer. Nawaf is a General Partner of NJP Ventures, a Venture Partner at AllegisCyber, a member of the Board of Directors of Plum, Inc. and a member of the University of Texas Computer Science Advisory Council. Nawaf’s daughter, Hannah, attended Shawnigan for five years, graduating in 2021.
Ross Gilmour ’77 (Lonsdale’s) – past and current parent
Ross is currently the Principal of Gilmour Infrastructure Consulting (GIC) located in Vancouver, BC, where he provides value engineering, constructability reviews, shadow bids/affordability estimates, critical path scheduling analyses, risk assessments and other services for both public and private clients on major design-build (DB) and P3 infrastructure projects and pursuits across western Canada and USA. Ross initially attended the University of Washington in Seattle and subsequently graduated from UBC in Vancouver where he received a BSc in Civil Engineering. During his time at both UBC and UW, Ross participated as a member of their varsity rowing teams, competing across Canada, the US and Europe. He is a professional engineer registered in the provinces of BC, Alberta, PEI, Washington and Hawaii. Ross previously worked for Peter Kiewit Sons for 14 years as a VP and Area Manager, and prior to that for the Aecon/SCI/Strait Crossing group of companies for 20 years. During these periods, he held senior management roles on the pursuit and/or delivery of some of the largest and most technically diverse design-build infrastructure projects in North America. Projects of note include Ottawa LRT Project, Confederation Line Ph. 2 (P3), and the Confederation Bridge Project from NB to PEI (P3). While at Shawnigan, Ross was Head of Lonsdale’s House and a School Prefect. He is current parent to two daughters at the School, and past parent to a recent graduate (Class of 2021).
Jason Lee ’04 (Copeman’s)
Jason leads the Finance & Strategy team at Square, a commerce technology company that provides payments, software, and financial services to help merchants run and grow their business. He also previously served in various roles over his nine years at Square, including Head of Corporate Development, Head of Investor Relations, and leading Square’s IPO. Prior to Square, Jason started his career in finance and investing, having worked at Morgan Stanley and TPG Capital. Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, Jason attended Shawnigan from 1999 to 2004 and boarded in Copeman’s House. After Shawnigan, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he graduated with a degree in Business Administration and played on the collegiate rugby team. He currently resides in San Francisco, California, with his wife, Regina, and 1.5 year old daughter, Maxine. He enjoys traveling, snowboarding, and taking advantage of the outdoor and spectator team sports available in San Francisco.
Omar Mawjee ’00 (Lonsdale’s)
Omar is an alumnus of Shawnigan Lake School from the class of 2000 (Lonsdale’s House). He attended Queen’s University (B.A. Hons, Economics) and was inducted into the Tricolour Society as a recipient of the Agnes Benidickson Award, the highest tribute that can be paid to a student for valuable and distinguished service. Upon graduating from Queen’s he moved back to the West Coast to pursue a career in sports. For 10 years he was the Managing Director of the Seattle Seahawks Regional Marketing Office – Canada, overseeing all corporate/broadcast partnerships and fan development programs north of the border. He has worked with the NFL, Hockey Canada, and a handful of professional athletes. Omar has served as the volunteer Chair of the World Partnership Golf Tournament in support of AKFC, founded the 12 North Sports Classic, sat on the board of the Vancouver Canucks Alumni Cyclone Taylor Classic, and was instrumental in bringing the Russell Wilson Passing Academy to Vancouver. He currently resides in Bellevue, Washington with his wife Zaheera and two sons (ages 3 and 10). Omar is the CEO/Owner of Eventcorp Services, a research and analytics firm that works with leading events, venues, and sports organizations across North America. In his free time, he enjoys playing golf and cheering on the Canucks and Seahawks with his family.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
