Meet the team
Digital Indigenous Sport Gallery Team
About Me
Michelle Kitchen is an executive leader with 25 years of business and marketing leadership experience. Her prior experience included serving as COO for Sparkit Media, a disruptive technology company that created the first platform using crowdsourcing and non-branded content to revolutionize Influencer marketing. Previously as the EVP & Managing Director at global advertising agency DDB Canada, Michelle was responsible for leading the agency’s operations and growth strategies along with the strategic leadership of global, national and local brands across an array of sectors. Michelle currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Jericho Tennis Club, and for 5 years had served on the Board for Dress for Success.
CEO
Michelle
Kitchen
About Me
Jason Beck has been with the BC Sports Hall of Fame since 2003 and has served as the Hall’s Curator and Facility Director since 2006. Working with Allison Mailer, he helped lead the Hall of Fame’s renovation efforts and major gallery/exhibition projects including the Indigenous Sport Gallery which won a CMA Award for Outstanding Achievement in 2018. His 2016 book, The Miracle Mile: Stories of the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, was a BC Best-Seller and was featured on an episode of the television game show Jeopardy! He is currently working on his second book on a series of 1950s and 1960s Olympic medal-winning rowing crews from Vancouver.
Curator and Facility Director
Jason
Beck
About Me
Working at the BC Sports Hall of Fame since 2017, Shelby was a part of the team that launched the Indigenous Sport Gallery in 2018 and is currently the Project Lead for the Digital Indigenous Sport Gallery. She earned a BA in History from Simon Fraser University, as well as a Diploma in Cultural Research Management and Professional Specialization Certificate in Collections Management from the University of Victoria. Shelby is passionate about community engagement and inclusive storytelling to ensure everyone has a place in cultural heritage.
Project Lead Indigenous Sport Gallery digitization
Shelby
McCannel
About Me
Lara Mussell Savage (MBA, BKin) is a member of Sqwá First Nation (Stó:lō/Pelolxw) and is a two-time World Champion in the sport of Ultimate. Lara was awarded the National Tom Longboat Award in 2005 and in 2016 was inducted to Chilliwack’s Sports Hall of Fame for her contributions on and off the field. Lara’s career in sport has included management roles with the Air Canada PGA TOUR Championship, and the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC). Lara was one of five experts invited to join the BC 2030 Feasibility Team with the Four Host First Nations to explore an Indigenous-led bid to host the 2030 Winter Games. She also served on her Nation’s elected council for nearly 10 years including 3 years as Chief. Lara is currently the Director of Sport for I∙SPARC and serves as a Trustee for the BC Sports Hall of Fame.
Steering Committee Member
Lara
Mussell
About Me
Pete was born and raised in North Vancouver, proudly carrying the ancestral name Sxw’alhkin gifted to him from his late Grandparents. Pete graduated from Sutherland Secondary School and continued his studies at Capilano University completing the Retail Marketing program with a focus in Marketing and Communications. Pete played and competed in various lacrosse leagues and tournaments for the last 25 years, learning the importance of hard work, dedication, commitment, and teamwork through lacrosse. Pete has a passion for working within First Nation communities and is currently the Sport & Physical Activity Coordinator for I-SPARC’s Vancouver Coastal Region.
Steering Committee Member
Pete
Natrall
About Me
Alex Nelson is a member of the Musgamagw Dzawada’enuxw tribes of the Kwakwala- speaking people. Alex currently resides in Victoria with his wife Nella, daughter Tasha, and grandsons Gigalis and Komanagila, and great grandsons Marcus, Alex, twins Braiden and Jaiden, and their mother Brittany. Alex has a vast history in the field of sports, recreation, and physical activities. He believes strongly in the correlation between active lifestyles and leadership and tribal pride. One of Alex’s greatest achievements was hosting the 1997 North American Indigenous Games in Victoria. He was the Chairperson of the NAIG Council 1995, Blaine Minnesota; 2002, Winnipeg; and 2008 NAIG, Cowichan. He was also co-founder and Executive Director of Aboriginal Sports and Recreation Association of BC for twenty years. Alex continues to guide I·SPARC as a respected Elder and Senior Advisor. A master’s soccer player himself, Alex has also coached community youth, men’s, and women’s soccer for 42 years. In recognition of his contributions to sport, Alex was inducted into the Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame in 2017 in the Builder category, the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2018 as the W.A.C Bennett Award winner, and the North American Indigenous Games Hall of Honours in 2023.
Steering Committee Member
Alex
Nelson
About Me
Richard Peter, member of the Cowichan Tribes, competed at five Paralympic Games for Canada’s wheelchair basketball team, leading the team to three gold medals in 2000, 2004, and 2012 and a silver medal in 2008. Richard played over 15 years at a provincial, national, and international level, even playing professionally with RSV Lahn-Dill in Germany. For his accomplishments and contributions to wheelchair basketball, Richard was awarded the Tom Longboat National Award for Top Male Indigenous Athlete (2000, 2004), Indspire Award (2012), Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s Male Athlete of the Year, and was inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. As a proponent of sport for life, after retiring from wheelchair basketball Richard started playing para badminton. Using the skills he developed in wheelchair basketball led to his success, winning a bronze medal in men’s doubles at the 2019 Parapan American Games. Outside of sport, Richard is an ambassador for BC Wheelchair Sports Association’s Indigenous Bridging the Gap program and works as the Indigenous People’s Liaison for Praxis Spinal Cord Institute. Richard is passionate about sport and hopes to help reduce barriers for youth to access positive sport experiences.