Willowbank’s Board of Directors is a distinguished group of local and international representatives who provide the staff and students with a broad range of expertise and experience.
Emily Bright
Home Economist, Sears Canada, Virgil, ON
Emily was a member of the Niagara South/Lincoln County School Boards and taught at Niagara College before becoming a full time consultant in 1987. Her contracts have included media promotion for the Niagara Film Festival, Sears Canada, Beckett Technologies Inc. and LG Electronics. She is a published author and newspaper columnist, and was a Library Board Advisor in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Emily was an active volunteer with the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Centre, the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Foundation, and was President of the Ridley College Women’s Guild.
Clinton Brown
Heritage Architect, Clinton Brown Company Architecture, FAIA, Buffalo, NY, USA
Clinton is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies and the University of Virginia School of Architecture. He founded Clinton Brown Company Architecture. Clinton is a member of the Board of the Richardson Center Corporation that is rehabilitating the former Richardson Olmsted Asylum Complex in Buffalo and its Buffalo Architecture Center. He is a commissioner of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission having been appointed by three Secretaries of the Interior. Clinton was involved in creating the New York State Historic Tax Credit program. His firm has surveyed more than 18,000 potential heritage resources and nominated more than 8,000 for heritage designations, including the Elmwood Historic District in Buffalo, one of the largest historic districts in the US, where nearly 2,600 property owners can access historic tax credits.
Sasha Knight, ’14, Alumni Chair
Construction and Finishing Carpenter, Nestworks Construction Ltd
Sasha grew up in Mannheim, Ontario where he lived in a heritage stone house designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. He learned at an early age how to restore and maintain the building’s architectural features and took a natural interest into carpentry and masonry. After completing an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Archaeology at Wilfrid Laurier University and working in the archaeological consulting field for five years, he stumbled upon Willowbank’s diploma program and decided to refocus his career into carpentry and the restoration of older buildings. His tutelage under Julian Smith and Paul Jacobsen completely changed his perspective around the concept of ‘heritage’ with the realization that cultural places are prone to evolve as their uses and the way people value them change over time. After graduating from Willowbank in 2014, he spent time working on a variety of heritage projects across England, Southwestern Ontario and British Columbia. He is currently a carpenter working in Vancouver where he engages much of his skill in renovation and newbuild construction projects within the Point Grey and Kitsilano areas. He has taken an interest in learning about sustainable and energy efficient construction methods and how they can be applied to heritage buildings while also navigating the complicated realm of current building codes and by-laws. He recently finished his Level 2 Carpentry Apprenticeship and is actively working toward his Red Seal.
H. A. Patrick Little
Senior Partner, Heelis, Little & Almas, LLP, St. Catharines, ON
Patrick is Chair of the Board of Directors. He began his legal career with the City of St. Catharines in 1976, and entered private practice in 1979, concentrating his efforts in the areas of administrative, municipal and criminal law, government relations, real estate development and wills and estates. Patrick has served the community as the President/Chair of several organizations, including the Lincoln County Law Assocation, St. Catharines Chamber of Commerce and St. Catharines Club and as Director of the St. Catharines General Hospital, St. Catharines Downtown Association, St. Catharines Museum and St. Catharines Golf Club. He is a past Chair of the United Way of St. Catharines and District, past President of Croquet Canada, Chair of several organizing committees for the Tall Ships visits to Port Dalhousie. He is also an Honourary Trustee of Trinity College, University of Toronto and former Governor of Trinity College School, Port Hope.
Elizabeth Oliver-Malone, M.D.
FRCPC Retired Anesthesiologist, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
Elizabeth was born and raised in Southern Ontario. She graduated in Medicine from the University of Toronto in 1957 (M.D.) and achieved specialty in Anesthesiology in 1964 (FRCPC). Elizabeth was on staff at Toronto General Hospital before moving to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados. She returned to work in Toronto and St. Catharines before retiring to Niagara-on-the-Lake with her late husband Dr. Ralph Malone, (OB/GYN). Her avocations include history, heritage and museum volunteering. Influenced by Willowbank Founder Laura Dodson, she joined the Col. Butler Parkette committee. She was invited by Laura Dodson to join the Willowbank Board in 2002, and to serve on the Archives, Collections & Library committee which she currently chairs. Her notable accomplishments include helping the Niagara Historical Museum curate the permanent exhibit of the United Empire Loyalists Beginnings of Butlersbury, which includes the Hamilton family of Willowbank. Elizabeth is a member and artifact contributor to the Barbados Museum, St. Kitts / Nevis Museum, Jordan Pioneer Museum of the Twenty and Doon Pioneer Village Museum at Kitchener among others.
Frank Racioppo
Founding Partner, RZCD Law Firm LLP, President of Queenston Quarry Reclamation Company Ltd., Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
Frank is active in the community as a real estate developer, constructor and lawyer. He practices real estate and development law and is founder of RZCD Law Firm, a full service firm with offices in Mississauga, Kingston and Niagara-on-the-Lake. His academic career includes a B.Comm. from the University of Toronto, and MBA and LL.B from the University of Windsor. Frank has a passion for building and architecture and was the founder and construction consultant for the restoration of the historic Coliseum at Exhibition Place, Toronto. He served on the Board of the Living Arts Centre, Mississauga and was a member of the Committees of Adjustment and Land Division for the Region of Peel. Since moving to Niagara-on-the-Lake in 1999 Frank has been active in the Niagara building community. Currently, he is President and co-owner of Queenston Quarry Reclamation Company, which is in the process of rehabilitating and developing the Queenston Quarry, a national historic quarry on the Escarpment in Niagara-on-the-Lake.