Who We Are
Executive team.
Wendy Beauchesne
Chief Executive Officer (Calgary)
Wendy joined the Alberta Cancer Foundation as CEO in 2020. She leads the Foundation with a passion for fundraising, building high-performance teams, and turning strategy into results. Wendy enjoys being part of this organization with its inspiring purpose to create more moments for Albertans facing cancer. She continues to deliver on the Foundation’s strategic framework that clearly articulates a path forward for game-changing transformation, including leading one of the largest health campaigns in Western Canada that is supporting the development of one of the largest comprehensive cancer centres in North America, the new Arthur J. E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Calgary. As well, Wendy continues to inspire giving to the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton and all of the other Alberta Health Services cancer centres across the province.
Wendy has spent the majority of her career working in the health-care sector, including at STARS Air Ambulance, a helicopter ambulance service providing critical care transport to patients across Western Canada, where she worked prior to joining the Alberta Cancer Foundation. Wendy joined STARS in 2011 to help expand the program into Saskatchewan and Manitoba and soon assumed the role of vice president Corporate Services, providing leadership for human resources, IT, communications and external relations. In 2017, she was named executive vice president for the STARS Foundation with a clear mandate: to transform the Foundation for long-term sustainability and to execute on a $130 million capital campaign.
Prior to STARS, Wendy spent a decade working within Alberta’s health authorities and worked to amalgamate and align 12 independent communications departments into one provincial team.
In 2020, Wendy was chosen as one of 250 Canadians to be a member of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference.
Christy Holtby
Vice President, Philanthropy
Christy leads a team focused on raising philanthropic support and maximizing donor impact for cancer care & research across Alberta. These efforts include the transformational $250 million OWN.Cancer Campaign in Calgary in support of the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre. And recently, the $30 million We Cross Cancer campaign in Edmonton to double the capacity for Clinical Trials at the Cross Cancer Institute. Prior to this, Christy held the roles of Managing Director of Investment and Partnerships at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, and Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Interim CEO at the University Hospital Foundation. Passionate about collaboration, Christy has built a career around innovative models of philanthropy bringing together industry, government and philanthropists through public private philanthropic partnerships (P4s) and venture philanthropy projects. Together, they accelerate Alberta’s innovations into solutions that impact the health of all Albertans and contribute to a robust and growing health innovation economy. In all of these roles, Christy has remained dedicated to the belief that philanthropic support has the power to make transformational change.
Christy has benefited from being a member of both the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy. She has completed the Johns Hopkins Medicine Philanthropy Institute and her Community Shift Fellowship at Ivey Business School. In 2018, Christy was selected to join the inaugural class of the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy’s 40 Under 40 Program.
At work and at play Christy loves to surround herself with interesting people for powerful conversations about big ideas…ideally this also involves food and great wine.
Ryan Kelly
Vice President, Communications and Community Partnerships
Ryan Kelly joined the Alberta Cancer Foundation as Vice President, Communications and Community Partnerships in 2023. He has over 20 years of experience in strategic communications and marketing, most recently as the Vice President of Strategy at FKA, a large marketing agency. Ryan’s unique skill set includes policy development, community building and government relations, honed during his work in civic politics as a campaign manager and Deputy Chief of Staff to Don Iveson, the former mayor of Edmonton. During the past four years, he also built a small consulting practice that helps clients bridge the gap between partnerships, public relations and communications. Ryan has received both the Advertising Club of Edmonton Fellowship Award and the IABC Edmonton Inspired Leader of the Year Award.
Ryan is an avid cyclist and enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and two teenaged children. In work and in life, he values meaningful relationships, hopeful conversations and continuous improvement.
Deborah Rhodes
Chief Financial Officer
Since joining the Alberta Cancer Foundation as Chief Financial Officer in 2022, Deb leads the overall financial strategy of the organization and oversees a team focused on delivering financial services, budget management and planning, facilities and operations, as well as information technology. Previous to her role at the Alberta Cancer Foundation, Deb was with Alberta Health Services for over 10 years where she led their financial strategy as vice president of finance from 2010 to 2014. In late 2014, she moved into the role of vice president of corporate services and chief financial officer, leading and overseeing a provincial team of employees in financial services, budgeting, planning and performance, facilities services, contracting procurement and supply, and as information technology. In the spring of 2020, Deb joined the Edmonton Public Library in the role of executive director of shared services and chief financial officer. Before moving to Alberta, Deb was with the Saskatoon Health Region from 1994 to 2010 where she held the role of vice president of finance and administration and before that, director of finance.
In Deb’s free time, she is heavily involved as a leader in sports as Director of Sherwood Park Major Lacrosse as well as in her role as Director for Hockey Edmonton’s Junior Oilers Program. If you can’t find her volunteering her time in those areas, you will find her and her husband Dick at the rink cheering on their daughter Cassidy at her hockey games representing the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds on the ice.