We are led by a capable group of community-driven people who are investing their time, expertise, and connections into building a resilient organization.
Our Board of Directors
Melinda Zytaruk, Chair
Melinda’s 30-year career has centred around environmental, community, social, and economic sustainability. She is a Certified Passive House and Net Zero Builder and a BCIN designer with a Master’s in Environmental Studies. Professionally, Melinda is the co-founder and CEO of Tooketree Passive Homes. Previously she was General Manager of the innovative worker cooperative, Fourth Pig Green & Natural Construction.
She is a founding board member of the Lake of Bays Renewable Energy Coop, founding member and Chair of the Muskoka Community Land Trust, and Vice Chair of the Muskoka Housing Task Force.
Margaret McLaren, Secretary
Margaret has years of experience in environmental research and policy development for the Ministry of Natural Resources. She also has significant Board experience with the Muskoka Conservancy, Muskoka Heritage Trust, and works with community organizations, including Probus Club of South Muskoka, Opening Doors for Young Women of Muskoka, and the Gravenhurst Elderberries Choir.
Burkhard Mausberg, Treasurer
Burkhard is the President of Small Change Fund, Canada’s only charitable crowdfunder, focusing on the environment, poverty and Indigenous Reconciliation. He was previously the founding CEO of the Greenbelt Foundation and the Greenbelt Fund, making the Greenbelt Ontario’s most popular and successful environmental initiative in its time.
Burkhard cut his teeth at Pollution Probe in the 1980s, has served on many NGO boards, and writes widely on vital issues in diverse settings. Mausberg studied environmental science at the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto, where he also taught for eight years. He lives in Huntsville and he spends as much time as possible with his daughters in Toronto.
Ben Jardine
Ben Jardine is the founder & president of the BestLife Group, a construction company that builds efficient affordable homes customized to suit the needs of homeowners in Muskoka.
Emily Blackman
Emily moved to Muskoka in 2010 to pursue a career in green building, working with many talented builders, manufacturers and designers. Six years ago she transitioned into a new career helping a wide variety of Muskoka businesses as an account executive at Well Known Marketing and Advertising.
Finding adequate housing has been a challenge for Emily and her family and she has seen the implications of insecure living situations firsthand. This experience, plus her history volunteering with women and children at the Orangeville Women’s Community Centre, has inspired her to lend her unique set of skills and perspective to the MCLT.
Kathleen May
Kathleen has worked and volunteered in the Violence Against Women sector in Muskoka for over a decade. She is a front-line counsellor at Chrysalis, Huntsville’s women’s shelter, where she sees the need for affordable, accessible housing every day. That experience is behind her joining the MCLT Board as well as starting Hexagon Women’s Land.
Kathleen is a recipient of the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Award for Community Development and Social Activism. Her other passions include writing, for which she was shortlisted for the 2020 CBC Non-Fiction prize, and gardening, where she is committed to habitat building with native plants.
Chris Jordan-Stevens
Chris is a social activist, writer, and researcher based in Huntsville, Ontario. His current focuses include community land trusts, disability advocacy, and housing first.
He is Manager for Supported Group Living at Community Living Huntsville. He holds a PhD in Philosophy and approaches complex problems in non-reductive ways.
Jaden Hollingshead
Jaden was born and raised in Muskoka. He knows the importance of being involved locally and has a passion for advocacy within the business community. Jaden is the Executive Director at the Bracebridge Chamber of Commerce where he supports the business community in various ways including advocacy with a specific focus on addressing the housing needs in Muskoka.
Jaden has an advanced diploma in public relations from Humber College and has five years of experience in marketing and communications. In the past Jaden served as Vice-President of the Gravenhurst Chamber board and currently volunteers his time to support various community organizations and events. Jaden has seen the impacts of the housing affordability crisis both in his personal life and from other young people in the area, he believes that we all need to do our part to build a resilient Muskoka for everyone.
Tatiana Sutherland, District of Muskoka Representative
Tatiana moved to Muskoka to raise her young daughter in a community that is welcoming for all walks of life, and is concerned about the rising costs of housing for local families.
Tatiana is a digital marketing professional and a District and Town Councillor representing Bracebridge. She acts as the MCLT Board's liason with the District Municipality of Muskoka.
Tatiana has a background in municipal politics with a specific focus on land use planning and affordable housing, and hopes to see more affordable housing options for both seniors and those trying to raise families in Muskoka.
Our Staff
Sandi Martin, Executive Director
Sandi grew up in Gravenhurst, and after a couple of years in Toronto returned here to raise her three children. She’s been a grateful beneficiary of and in turn has helped deliver programs essential for the well-being of the Muskoka community, including the Volunteer Tax Clinic and Circles out of Poverty.
Sandi comes from a two-decade career in finance and helped found the Financial Planning Association of Canada, an organization created to advocate for higher standards and increased regulatory oversight of the financial planning profession.
She has experienced first-hand how desperately important the work of investing in diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities is, and joined the MCLT to make a difference in Muskoka.