Management Team
Sarah Martin – Executive Director
Sarah Martin joined the LSCSS Team in 2008. During her 14 years with LSCSS, Ms. Martin has acted as Finance Clerk, Coordinator of Volunteers and Meals on Wheels, Coordinator of Affordable Housing for Seniors and People with Disabilities, and Administrative Assistant. In December 2016, Ms. Martin was honored to succeed Ms. Eileen Oliver-Bauer as the Executive Director of this organization.
Along with her Business Administration education and experience, Ms. Martin brings an entrepreneurial spirit to the LSCSS management team. Ms. Martin is passionate, creative, and dedicated to her role as a non-profit leader providing client focused services. Ms. Martin has been an active community member in the Lower Similkameen for over 20 years. Her two children attended school in Cawston and Keremeos from playschool through Grade 12. Ms. Martin is grateful to have lived, farmed and enjoyed the lovely people and beautiful landscapes of the Similkameen Valley for many years, and for the opportunity to provide and facilitate programs and services that enhance the lives of people in our communities.
Julie Ellison – Manager of Finance & Operations
Julie Ellison started with LSCSS in 2016 as a Finance Clerk and Community Partner with the Legal Services Society. In 2018 she became the Manager of Finance and Operations.
Ms. Ellison earned a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree in 2000. She worked as an Environmental Advisor for oil and gas, and diamond mining for 10 years, at remote facilities in the Northwest Territories, as well as corporate offices in Calgary and Vancouver. Through this experience she gained skills in operational logistics, and the interaction between many different trades and specialties and how they work together to accomplish a common goal. As a second career, she joined the wine industry, working as a cellar hand, gaining skills in the laboratory, and in hospitality in a tasting room.
After moving around and experiencing a diversity of living arrangements, Ms. Ellison put down roots in the Similkameen Valley in 2012, and feels grateful for the opportunity to work locally and strengthen community ties through this organization. She loves details and logistics, and one of her strengths is developing systems that are rigorous but not onerous. She uses these skills in her work at LSCSS, and at her home based business, which is a creative outlet in making soaps and bath and body products. She brings a diverse set of skills to the LSCSS workplace, and feels that her previous experiences have well equipped her for a position which is broad in scope and ever evolving, as the organization adopts new programs and responds to the changing needs of our community.