The Fundy Trail Parkway is a not-for-profit and charitable park, run by a skills-based volunteer board of directors appointed on three-year terms by the NB Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.
Meet the Fundy Trail Development Authority Inc. Board of Directors
Andrew Dixon
PRESIDENT
Adixon@sjport.com
Andrew Dixon is a native of Saint John, New Brunswick. He graduated with a degree in Business Administration from the University of New Brunswick in 1983, joining Sunbury Transport in Fredericton, N.B., and becoming General Sales and Traffic Manager in 1986. In 1991, he went to work for EMCO Distribution in the position of District Branch Manager. In February of 1997, he joined Logistec Stevedoring as Commercial Manager of the forest products and break bulk terminal in Saint John. This initial assignment was expanded to include Logistec operations throughout the Atlantic Region.
In June of 2004, Andrew joined the management team at the Saint John Port Authority, assuming responsibility for all Marketing and Operational activities. He currently holds the position of Senior Vice President, Trade and Business Development, and his current responsibilities include Cargo, Cruise, and Venues Business Development, as well as Property Management and Strategic Port initiatives.
Andrew completed the requirements to receive the CITT Certified Logistics Professional (CCLP) designation in 1989. He has been an instructor for “Integrated Logistics” at the local college as well as serving on the National CITT Board of Directors for several years, including a term as Board Chair. In 2015 he was honoured to receive the CITT Award of Excellence for lifetime achievement in the field of Logistics and contribution to CITT.
Andrew is actively engaged with local and provincial economic development agencies, and he also serves as Vice Chair of the Fort LaTour Development Authority. He and his family are avid hikers and have a strong historical connection to the St. Martins and Fundy Trail area.
Susan Layton Crossman
Vice President
Susan holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Laws degree, bringing nearly two decades of experience as a solicitor in both the private and public sectors. Her most recent roles include Director, Regulatory Affairs & Government Relations for Emera New Brunswick, Senior Solicitor for Emera Inc., and General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Chief of Staff at WorkSafeNB. During her time at Emera, she focused on government relations, indigenous affairs, and business development – implementing substantial change for our region. She also served as a Director and Chair of the Governance Committee for the Board of the Saint John Airport.
Ryan Kennedy-Treasurer
Ryan is Co-Owner/President of East Coast Private Lending – Corp. and Co-Owner/Director of Operations of Compass Patient Solutions, both of which are in the Maritimes. Ryan completed a BSc at the University of New Brunswick in 2000, a PharmD at the University of Maryland in 2004 and an MBA at the University of Baltimore in 2007. A Pharmacist by trade, he spent the first 4 years of his career working with CVS/Health in New England before relocating to Saint John, NB in 2008 to open his own independent pharmacy. Ryan grew the pharmacy from a 2000sf location with 2 employees to a 14000sf location with 35 employees at the time of its sale in September, 2021. Ryan lives in Saint John with his wife, Karen and their two children, Carson and Nolan. Ryan is also a founding Board member and current Board Chair of RECAP Health Services Inc, a non-profit harm reduction centre in Saint John. He is an active volunteer in his community and helps run a 19,000 sf commercial real estate complex that he and Karen co-own.
Tim Ryan-Secretary
As a Principal of Fundy Engineering & Consulting and Wellington Properties, Tim’s strength is developing market opportunities through networking and relationship building. He was a participant of cohort 7 of the ELP program offered through the Wallace McCain Institute. Active in the Community and Industry Associations, Tim is a Past President of Habitat for Humanity, Saint John Region Inc., Past President of the Association of Consulting Engineers of New Brunswick, and is currently on the Board of Directors of Uptown Saint John Inc.
Vanessa Paesani
Vanessa helps social-purpose organizations fuel their missions through financing, governance and leadership. Vanessa is a certified executive coach, certified teacher, completed certification in non-profit financial stewardship at the Harvard Kennedy School, certification in sales through MDBi, and has raised millions for clients during the last 10 years. She is trained in governance with the Canadian Council of Innovators’ Innovative Governance Program.
As part of Vanessa’s mission, she has been dedicated to giving back. Nationally, she served on the board of directors of Venture for Canada for 7 years. She chaired the Investment Readiness Program committee of the Canadian Women’s Foundation, who disbursed $2M to accelerate social finance in women-serving organizations nationally. Vanessa loves being active and is into ultimate, squash, and trail running and is honoured to have been appointed to the Fundy Trail Parkway board to help others access the beauty of NB.
Nathalie Allaby
Natalie Allaby joined Port Saint John in November 2016. As part the Business Strategy & Innovation Team, her role as the Cruise Development Manager has her overseeing all aspects of business development and cruise passenger experience enhancements for the Port’s cruise sector. Her role includes marketing Saint John and the Bay of Fundy region as a marquee cruise port of call to the world’s largest cruise lines, as well as travel trade partners throughout the United States. Port Saint John is a popular cruise destination as part of the ‘Canada / New England Cruise Itinerary’ and therefore, Natalie works closely in collaboration with regional port partners and stakeholders to increase overall cruise ship deployment in the US Northeast, Atlantic Canada and St Lawrence River regions.
Born and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick, Natalie graduated in 2004 from the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia with a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing. She lived in Toronto, Ontario after graduating, holding positions in Brand Management, Hospitality, Communications and Account Management.
In 2007, Natalie was feeling the undeniable pull of the charm and unmatched lifestyle of the Canadian East Coast calling her back. She returned to her hometown of Saint John and loves being back closer to friends and family. Natalie and her husband have 2 daughters, a dog and an aquarium full of tropical fish. You’ll find Natalie skiing the local slopes in the winter and exploring the breathtaking Bay of Fundy region in the summer.
Matthew McCaie
Mathieu has been in the financial industry since 2002. He is a licenced Mortgage Broker, owner of Expert Mortgage Group and co-founder/owner of East Coast Private Lending – Corp.
In its 12th year of operation, Expert Mortgage Group is a Full-Service Mortgage Brokerage Firm that offers both Residential and Commercial Lending. Expert Mortgage Group also offers their commercial expertise to outside brokers by offering their service and vast knowledge by co-brokering with others in Atlantic Canada.
Mathieu has seen many successes in his career. This includes numerous Mortgage Industry awards, achieving the Top 5% in Canada year over year and being awarded The Mortgage Group’s (TMG) Philanthropist of the Year 2018. He was also inducted in the President’s Club in 2022. This is just to name a few.
Mathieu is also a proud alumnus of the WMI Wallace McCain Institute – Entrepreneur Leadership Program; a director on the board of the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Moncton and he also serves on the Planning Advisory Committee for the City of Dieppe.
Mathieu is a firm believer in giving back to the community, by way of donating and contributing to various community betterment causes whenever he gets the opportunity.
He also has a great desire to help the Greater Moncton Area grow, both personally and professionally as he looks towards the future for not only his young family, but for all families in the area.
Mathieu is always striving for excellence and exceptional performance.
Amy London
Amy London joined the Port Saint John team in April 2016. As part of the Business Development & Port Operations Team her role as Customer Strategy Specialist has her managing the Venues sector along with assisting the Cruise Development Manager in cruise passenger experience for Port Saint John’s cruise sector. Her role includes managing a team of Welcome Crew members who are the front line faces welcoming cruise ship passengers and assisting with local wayfinding enhancing the overall guest experience for our beautiful Bay of Fundy region.
Amy was born and raised in Saint John, New Brunswick and graduated in 2010 from Eastern Collage. Amy has a very invested passion for the customer service industry and has been working in customer facing positions for more than 15 years.
Amy has 2 sons who have a love for the great outdoors and can be found exploring the beautiful sights that our amazing province has to offer.
Paulette Hicks
Paulette Hicks is dynamic business leader with over 25 years of experience in the tourism industry where she was recognized for her bold thinking and leadership. As the inaugural CEO for Envision Saint John: The Regional Growth Agency, Paulette brings a passion for her community and the ability to lead transformational change, drive economic growth, and deliver return on investment for the Saint John region. Paulette leads a high-performing, unified team with a strategic focus on attracting people, business, visitors and investors to accelerate growth for the six municipalities of St. Martins, Grand Bay-Westfield, Hampton, Quispamsis, Rothesay, and the City of Saint John. The Agency is designed to scale and will be one of the largest regional economic development agencies in Atlantic Canada.
Paulette has also led community economic growth initiatives throughout her career. She initiated the first voluntary hotel levy in New Brunswick which was the catalyst for a public-private partnership with the City of Saint John, resulting in the formation of Discover Saint John. She also was the driving force to secure the $10 Million Social Innovation Fund.
Yenna Hurley
As an entrepreneur, Yennah Hurley started Walking Proud Inc. in 2005 bringing the sport of Nordic Walking to be an event in Marathons across Canada and Eastern United States. She continued to grow her business and was the founder of Daytripping@Rockwood an outdoor adventure company in Saint John. After developing the business over 5 years, Yennah sold Daytripping in 2012. She then accepted the position as the Manager of MindCare NB with the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation, preparing her for her role as the Executive Director of the KV Oasis Youth Centre. A start up charitable community organization with 2 social enterprises. Youth ages 12-25 access recreation, entertainment, social interaction and physical, sexual and mental health services and resources.
In February of 2019 accepted the position of Senior Advisor to the Premier for Tourism and in January of 2020 she was appointed to Acting Deputy Minister for the Department of Tourism. She sits on the FTDA board as an ex-officio member.