49ͼ¿â

Joe Baker is multi-passionate leader within Canada’s education, tourism and hospitality sectors and a vocal advocate for an inclusive, future-forward workforce.

Prior to joining 49ͼ¿â School of Business, Joe was an active entrepreneur and consultant. Splitting his time between national and provincial workforce development projects, media and publishing, and leadership speaking engagements; Joe brings a wealth of diverse experience to his role as Dean.

He was previously Dean at Centennial College’s School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts where he led the most meaningful transformation in the school’s over 50-year history including the creation of a dynamic experiential learning eco-system.

Joe has held senior management roles at George Brown College’s Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts including Director of Operations, Services and Partnerships. Before joining higher education, he worked in hotels and managed restaurants.

He has a Master of Education, a Bachelor of Commerce and extensive executive education and certifications. Joe serves proudly on the board of directors for Tourism HR Canada (THRC) and Co-operative and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL).

Danielle Robinson has PhD from the University of Guelph in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, a Masters of Education from UBC, a Wine Business Management Certificate – Foundation Level from Sonoma State University, and Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) level three. She lives in the South Okanagan (British Columbia, Canada) where she explores the relationships between local food cultures, sustainability and rural tourism. Danielle teaches courses in tourism planning, wine and food tourism and sustainable tourism at 49ͼ¿â.

Credentials:
MEd, UBC
BA, SFU

Kerry Rempel brings a variety of experiences to her current role as Associate Dean of Business. Prior to taking on the Associate Dean role in 2023, she taught primarily in the management and human resources areas of the BBA, coached competition teams, and was a faculty lead for the Scotia Bank Centre for Nonprofit Excellence. She served as the Chair of the Business Department from 2019-2022 and led the development of several new programs for. In addition to roles with the Business Department, Kerry also led the 49ͼ¿â Strategic Planning process for 2015-2020.

Her early industry experience was focused on operations management and management consulting in the fields of recreation, athletics, print and digital media and tech. In 2003, she moved to Kelowna to transition from corporate work to build a consulting practice focused on nonprofit organizations. That fall she made her first connection with 49ͼ¿â and by January 2004 was teaching in the Business Department. She continues to work with industry by supporting work-integrated learning opportunities for students.

Kerry is also active in the region conducting community-based research, developing and leading workshops, and consulting with nonprofits and social enterprises. Along with other colleagues, she works to integrate her research into the community through the creation of teaching cases and the production of community reports and toolkits.

Christine comes to 49ͼ¿â with a breadth of experience in post-secondary education, most recently serving as Vice-Chair, Academic at Capilano University for the School of Business.

As a strong proponent of student-centered teaching and learning, she is looking forward to working with our faculty and staff to enhance the School’s portfolio of business programs.

Her background includes program redesign and development, academic process improvement and quality assurance, work-integrated learning, and strategic planning in alignment with organizational goals.

She strongly believes that career-oriented post-secondary education has the power to change learners’ lives. She looks to collaborate with our faculty, staff, employer partners, and students to support quality business programs that serve the needs of the community.

Christine’s favourite courses to teach have been Managing Change and Workplace Preparation and her primary research interest is in work-integrated learning.