Council Advisor
| Name of Appointee |
First Appointed |
Term |
| Councillor Erin Rutherford |
Nov 10/21 |
Organizational Meeting in 2023 |
Giselle General (Chair)
Appointed May 1, 2018
Giselle immigrated from the Philippines and made Edmonton her home since 2008. She has her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and works to help people in poverty at the Edmonton Community Legal Centre. Unable to drive, transit is her primary form of transportation, supplemented with the occasional taxi or car ride. Through her employment, volunteering and personal experience, she has an appreciation of how poverty, status, trauma and knowledge impacts someone's access to services in the City. She is a board member of her neighbourhood’s community league and of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues. She is a columnist for the Alberta Filipino Journal, a blogger for FilipinaYEG and a frequent speaker and writer sharing her experiences as an immigrant woman. Her hobbies include abstract art, upcycling, and donating plasma at Canadian Blood Services.
Serena Tang (Vice Chair)
Appointed May 25, 2020
Serena Tang is a freelance illustrator, who studied at the University of Alberta, completing a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Design. She grew up in Edmonton after immigrating to Canada, and has watched the City grow into a lively Western Canadian hot spot for arts, technology, and ideas. After graduation, she developed a passion for urban development particularly in how people in cities commute and the wayfinding designed by transit to direct locals and visitors. She is a firm believer that visual cues and smart design enhances all aspects of life, especially when it comes to transportation. She is also interested in seeing public transit in Edmonton be integrated smoothly with other forms of commuting; to help all Edmontonians be multimodal and have more options when it comes to moving around the City. On her days off, she likes to fill the hours with biking, trying new foods around Edmonton, and scoping out new plants for her indoor garden.
Michelle Peters-Jones (Vice Chair)
Appointed May 25, 2020
Michelle moved to Edmonton in 2010 from Liverpool, and has since been raising a family in the City. She is a sociologist, with an MPhil and MA in sociology, media, international relations, and globalization, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology, sociology, and English literature. As a mother, an immigrant, a woman of colour, and with a partial sight disability, she is very reliant on transit to get around the City. She is particularly passionate about transit being a draw to attract young people to Edmonton, and its role in creating a vibrant culture within the City. As the mother of a 12-year-old, she would like to see more young people, including younger riders, use transit as a viable, safe, and alternative way to traverse the City. As a result, she is passionate about working towards an affordable, safe, and accessible transit network that is sustainable, forward thinking, and geared towards future generations of riders and users.
Emily Batty
Appointed May 1, 2022
Emily completed her PhD in Experimental Psychology at the University of Alberta, studying comparative cognition, learning, and behaviour. After completing her doctorate, she accepted a position as an analyst with the Edmonton Police Service, responsible for analyzing data and creating monthly, quarterly and annual reports that are used internally and by city stakeholders.
Emily grew up in St. Albert and moved into Edmonton as an adult; transit has been a common mode of transportation throughout her life. She is mother to two elementary aged children. Emily and her family use multiple forms of transportation on a regular basis; including buses and LRT, cycling, walking, and driving. She believes that basic mobility should be convenient and accessible to all, and is passionate about ensuring that transit is safe, sustainable, and affordable for everyone.
Bailey Gerrits
Appointed May 1, 2023
Bailey Gerrits is an Edmonton resident and transit enthusiast. After living away in different parts of Canada and the world, Bailey recently returned to her hometown to nuture her young family. Top of their list for new locations to live - walking distance to the LRT and close to bike paths. Bailey is deeply invested in ensuring affordable, accessible and inclusive Edmonton Transit Services and non-car routes for residents of Edmonton today and into the future.
Bailey researches, writes, and teaches about gender, race, public policy and media. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Political Studies from Queen’s University and a master’s and bachelor’s degree from the University of Alberta. Her expertise focuses on gender-based violence, policing, discrimination on and offline, and political leadership. Bailey has applied strategic thinking to tackle community problems through a number of volunteer roles and projects. Through these, she honed her skills in gender-based analysis plus, cross-sectoral collaboration, and mixed-method research.
Zohra Jabeen
Appointed May 1, 2022
Zohra Jabeen is presently working with the Edmonton Police Service as a supervisor in the Information Technology Division. She is passionate about supporting the community by volunteering, mentoring and motivating youth, women, and immigrants. She is driven by her vision to see others become successful in their lives and wants to offer support however she can. The ETS has been her primary mode of transport for over 16 years and she sees it as the underlying structure for individuals in Edmonton's workforce or education system.
Zohra completed her Bachelor of Engineering, and Software Engineering Masters in Pakistan, and later completed a Master of Computer Science at the University of Alberta in 2012. Zohra worked as a University Professor for over seven years in a reputable Engineering University, Pakistan. Before joining the City, Zohra worked with a not-for-profit organization for ten years where she performed various roles in Information technology, including Business Analyst and Team Manager roles.
As a mother of three, her kids all have used - and continue to use - the ETS as their main source of transport. Consequently, she understands a robust myriad of ETS experiences and the challenges therein. She has participated in community and online surveys on various transit strategies. She is passionate about sharing her ideas as part of the advisory committee to bring meaningful improvements to the program. The ETS has experienced a decrease in use over the course of the pandemic but Zohra anticipates that more and more citizens will switch to ETS in 2022 and onwards due to the spike in gas prices, which might result in ETS reviewing current strategies to accommodate the larger groups and improve performance. This is an opportunity to attract the public, so they continue using ETS regardless of economic conditions.
Joshua Jackman
Appointed May 1, 2022
As a native Edmontonian and lifelong user of transit services, Joshua brings a customer-centric perspective to the Edmonton Transit Service Advisory Board. He is passionate about the possibilities of transit for future generations in the city and surrounding area. As a graduate of the University of Alberta MBA program (finance), he has over ten years of diverse experience in investment management, accounting, and financial services. He is also actively involved as a volunteer for financial literacy, transferring his knowledge and experience to peers, adults, and the next generation of business leaders. In order to maintain some balance, Joshua is an avid runner and continues to reach new heights in his marathon ambitions.
Eugene Masakhwe
A
ppointed May 1, 2023
Eugene is a recent Human Geography graduate from the University of Alberta who has called Edmonton home for the past 17 years. Having lived in various locations within the city during his time in Edmonton, from the heart of the city to the suburbs, he has developed an appreciation for Edmonton and all it has to offer. His life experiences and education, paired with a passion for urban spaces and how we interact with them, have given him the drive to continually look at how these spaces can be more accessible and equitable for Edmontonians. When not working Eugene enjoys a variety of hobbies within the city, including, cycling, running, and camping. Eugene is looking forward to helping make Edmonton transit more accessible and equitable for all.
Maria Owczarek 
Appointed May 1, 2023
Dr. Maria Owczarek is a scientist in the field of Social Psychology and serves as a peer reviewer for medical and psychological publications. Her second passion and profession are graphic design and painting, especially after graduation from the Visual Arts program at the University of Alberta in 2022.
Maria loves using public transit for commuting and also for pleasure. She has experience in the everyday use of public transit not only in Edmonton but also in cities with the best public transit in Canada and the world, like Montreal and Warsaw.
Because of her commitment to service to the city, Maria served as a Civic Director in the Hamptons Community League. Maria is always eager to use her experience and knowledge to cooperate with others in improving public transit in Edmonton to make it more efficient, safe and user-friendly.
Mudasser Seraj
Appointed May 1, 2022
Mudasser Seraj recently obtained a PhD in Transportation Engineering from the University of Alberta. After finishing his doctorate, he joined ATS Traffic as Innovation and Applied Research Manager and developing innovative strategies to implement research outputs in improving roadway operational efficiency and road user safety. Earlier, his PhD research focused on integrating Connected-Automated vehicle technology with traditional transportation systems to measure expected mobility and safety benefits from mixed traffic operations. Mudasser has published multiple research articles in reputed journals and conferences from his research and projects. He is extremely passionate about improving transit operations using innovative technologies and establishing ETS as a practical transportation mode for the majority of Edmontonians.
Madeleine Stout
Appointed May 1, 2022
Madeleine is a community engagement coordinator with a background in urban planning. She recently completed her MA in Human Geography at the University of Alberta exploring questions around winter, housing, and mobility, particularly in Canadian prairie cities. A long-time Edmonton resident, Madeleine currently serves on the boards of Paths for People and New Music Edmonton. She loves exploring Edmonton’s art venues, bakeries, and parks by bus, train, and bicycle.
Bob Turner
Appointed May 25, 2020
Dr. Bob Turner has lived and worked in Edmonton since 1977. He has used ETS (bus and LRT) regularly for over 40 years and has participated in community and online consultations on various transit strategies. He also has lived experience with transit in Montreal, Pittsburgh and Seattle. He has been extensively involved in medical research, healthcare worker education and peer-reviewed medical publishing. He looks forward to evaluating research reports and receiving input from stakeholders, other levels of government, neighboring municipalities and non-governmental organizations. ETS has always been forward looking but has many challenges that the Transit Strategy will need to mitigate. Dr. Turner was the COO of the Edmonton Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) that collected, tested and distributed blood products throughout Edmonton and northern Alberta. The BTS has a unionized staff including its transport division. He was also an MLA from 2015 to 2019. This reinforced his appreciation of collaboration between communities, municipalities and provincial/federal governments to meet social, fiscal and environmental challenges.
