A Grateful Farewell!
At Amici’s 2024 Annual General Meeting, we bid farewell to three retiring board members who have left a lasting impact on the Amici community. Their fellow board members penned heartfelt messages celebrating their successes, achievements and unwavering commitment to Amici Children’s Camp Charity. Please join us in congratulating Gillian Krause, Kyle Magee and Jamie Vallance on their tenure on Amici’s Board of Directors.
GILLIAN KRAUSE
“It is my honour to celebrate someone truly awesome—Gillian. She's been an incredible part of the Amici Board since she joined i2014, and her dedication to Amici has been an inspiration for many – in fact, she is the one who convinced me to consider joining the board!
Gillian has been the team captain for Raised on GV Sunshine at Amici’s Canoe Heads for Kids, for an impressive 10 years. Her leadership and enthusiasm have inspired many GV girls and donors to get involved with Canoe Heads and with Amici, to support her efforts to make a difference in the lives of the children we send to camp.
Gillian has been a superstar when it comes to securing grants from Adobe, thanks to her advocacy in maximizing the generosity of Adobe and her own volunteer hours and service. These grants have been a huge help to the Amici mission and bottom line – supporting the staff team’s work and their efficiency.
As a Director and a key player on the Governance Committee, Gillian has helped shape and guide Amici’s organization's policies. Her insights and expertise have been invaluable, and we could always count on her to ask the right questions or point to the answer that we had been seeking.
Gillian, along with her family, are proud members of the Leadership League, and are now in their second five-year pledge. Gillian was the trifecta of Board Directors as she provided her time, treasure and talent.
On a personal note, I had the pleasure of working with Gillian, or Samson as I should call her in this context, at Camp Gay Venture, and I have been thrilled to have her as my Raised on GV Sunshine team captain. I'll really miss her energy on the board and her engineering approach to problem scoping and solving. Gillian, your willingness to help, your valuable perspective, and problem-solving skills have been an asset to Amici throughout your time on the board.
Your dedication, hard work and generosity have made a huge impact on Amici and the lives of the children we support. On behalf of the entire board and staff, thank you for everything you've done. We're so grateful for your support and we look forward to finding new ways of working together in the years to come.”
- Nenone Donaldson, Chair
KYLE MAGEE
“It’s my honour to share a few words to recognize Kyle and to thank him on behalf of us all, for the leadership he has provided to Amici during his tenure on the Board.
Kyle Magee joined the Amici board in 2016. Just a year later he became the board Secretary, taking on the Vice Chair position in 2021 and becoming Chair of the board in 2022. During Kyle’s tenure as Chair, he led Amici through the pandemic, pivoting Amici’s strategy to ensure the organization continued to achieve its goals. On a cold November Saturday in 2022, Kyle chaired a pivotal Board Retreat which kicked off two very important initiatives that transformed Amici and set the organization on a path for continued growth. The Communications and Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Task Forces that stemmed from the retreat led to a new name, new brand identity, and a proper EDI mandate which have helped us gain new partner camps, a legacy fund, and in many ways a renewed sense of purpose.
These are extraordinary achievements for any organization, but for one with such a small (but mighty) staff team and volunteer board, it’s truly extraordinary. These achievements are directly attributable to the way Kyle led Amici – he brought the necessary structure, feedback, emphasis and humour to support the board and the staff to achieve Amici’s goals. Furthermore, Kyle played a major role in recruiting new Board Directors during his tenure. In initial calls with prospective Directors, his passion and dedication to Amici would shine through.
Personally, Kyle has been a great mentor on the board, always up for a phone call, whether at his desk, in his car, or out walking the dog, he’s ready to give feedback and asks the right questions to guide you in the right direction.
Thank you Kyle, for your dedication to Amici, to the staff team and to the Board, and for your belief in our mission of making overnight camp a reality for as many kids as possible. You have left Amici a far better place than when you found it and for that we are all grateful.”
- Caroline Stern, Vice Chair
JAMIE VALLANCE
“Many, many years ago, in a previous professional life, I was Amici’s Program Manager. At that time, the Amici Board of Directors was a little smaller than it is today, but no less committed to giving the gift of summer camp to children from low-income families.
As I remember it, there wasn’t much turnover among Board Directors. Many had been involved for a long time, which meant that opportunities for new members to join were rare. But when a seat did open up, none other than Jamie Vallance stepped forward. And from that moment on, Amici has benefited immensely from his commitment.
Jamie is actually a two-time Amici Board Director. Personally, when I joined the Board three years ago, I was grateful to see a familiar face—especially one as thoughtful and dedicated as Jamie’s—at the Board table.
What has struck me most since then is that Jamie’s commitment to Amici remains as strong as ever. He has dedicated countless years to the Finance Committee and served as Treasurer, guiding Amici through remarkable growth as well as challenging times. Thanks in no small part to his leadership, Amici is in the strong position it is today.
One of the qualities I admire most about Jamie is his thoughtfulness. At Board and Governance Committee meetings, he listened intently, taking in every perspective. He wasn’t the first to speak—but when he did, it was always at the right moment. Whether he was offering an insight we hadn’t considered, providing encouragement to help us move forward, or asking a question that pushed us to see things differently, Jamie consistently elevated our conversations and decision-making.
Simply put, Jamie has made us a better Board, and he has made Amici a better organization.
As he steps away from the Board—perhaps with a few more evenings to spend with his family—I hope Jamie knows the indelible mark he has left on all of us. We will miss his wisdom, care, and thoughtfulness. And most importantly, we recognize that so many Amici campers have had life-changing experiences, in part because of him.
Jamie, thank you for your many—many—contributions to Amici’s success.”
- Mike Stewart, Director
