Profile

Nola–Kate Seymoar has a background in community economic development and social psychology and has worked in sustainable development at the international level since the late 1980s. Before becoming President and CEO of the International Centre for Sustainable Cities, she was Senior Advisor and Deputy to the President at the International Institute for Sustainable Development in Winnipeg, Canada. In the early 1990s, Dr. Seymoar developed and directed the "We the People: 50 Communities Awards Programme" in honour of the 50th Anniversary of the UN, and was the Executive Director of ECO ED (World Congress for Education & Communication on Environment and Development), a follow–up to the Earth Summit. Between 1986 and 1991, as a senior executive in the federal government she served as Director General of Special Projects for Environment Canada; Special Advisor to the President of the Asbestos Institute; and Executive Director for the Commission of Inquiry on Unemployment Insurance.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Seymoar’s focus on communities is reflected in her postings with the City of Edmonton, the Alberta Department of Youth, and the Government of Saskatchewan where she was Executive Director of Regional Social Services. In the 1970s she taught and served as a counsellor at the University of Saskatchewan. In the mid–1980s she worked in the private sector as a management consultant and founded three successful businesses in the film, video and interior design fields.

Dr. Seymoar serves on a number of boards and committees. She chairs the Arbutus Lands Advisory Panel in Vancouver, is a member of UBC’s Advisory Board to the Faculty of Land and Food Systems and of SFU’s Advisory Council for the Urban Studies Program. She sits on the Boards of the Arctic Children & Youth Foundation, Canadian Landmines Foundation, and Global Urban Development (formerly The Prague Institute).

Dr. Seymoar served on the National Advisory Committee and the Vancouver Working Groups of the World Urban Forum 2006 and the Joint Steering Committee of the World Peace Forum. She founded and chaired the monthly Sustainability Community Breakfasts in preparation for the WUF. Other previous board memberships include: the Advisory Board to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (1996 to 2000); Canadian Committee for UNIFEM; Peacefund Canada; the Smartrisk Injury Prevention Foundation and various Advisory Boards to the Organization of the American States (OAS) (on public participation); and Royal Roads University (on peace and conflict studies).

In addition to acting as keynote speaker and lecturer, Dr. Seymoar has authored and edited a number of articles and books on community and sustainable development and taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels in North America. She received the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2002.