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June 19, 2025ZEIC Board Adds Former BC Hydro CEO Bob Elton and Climate Expert Deborah Harford
Introducing the new additions
The Zero Emissions Innovation Centre is thrilled to announce the appointment of two strategic leaders joining our Board of Directors.
- Bob Elton is an accomplished senior executive, with decades of experience working in clean electricity and other strategic sectors—including serving as BC Hydro's CEO. He is ZEIC's incoming Board Chair.
- Deborah Harford is a non-profit, academic, and corporate innovator, thought leader, and researcher with deep expertise in climate action and climate resilience.
Welcome aboard!
Outgoing board members
We would like to express our deep gratitude to outgoing members of the Board of Directors: Peter Robinson (who served as Board Chair), Karen Tam Wu, and Vancouver Councillor Adrienne Carr. Their leadership skills, vision, and deep climate action expertise have greatly contributed to the advancement of our mission.
Bob Elton
Former BC Hydro CEO
"As the incoming Board Chair, I’m excited to contribute to ZEIC’s uniquely practical and collaborative approach to advancing climate action and supporting progress toward emissions reduction goals."
Bob Elton has held a range of leadership roles, including serving as CEO of BC Hydro and in several executive positions at Vancity. He has also contributed as a board director with organizations such as the Minerva Foundation, BCI, and Simon Fraser University, where he served as board chair. In addition, he has taught leadership as an adjunct professor at the Sauder School of Business.
He currently chairs the Energy Advisory Board for YVR and recently served on Canada’s Electricity Advisory Council.
Deborah Harford
Senior Systemic Climate Consultant (independent)
"I'm thrilled to join ZEIC because of the leadership and momentum the team has built driving real action on emissions reduction across our region. From mentoring future sustainability leaders to advancing building retrofits and encouraging industry leadership, ZEIC is creating a system-scale movement that’s a model for Canada and beyond. I'm honored to contribute to an organization whose mission is more urgent than ever."
Deborah Harford is a systems change leader with experience in the non-profit, academic, and corporate sectors.
She co-founded ACT (the Action on Climate Team) at SFU, North America’s first think-and-do tank developing policy guidance for climate challenges spanning energy, infrastructure, water, food, and biodiversity, and served as EVP, Global Strategic Partnerships and Head of Sustainability at tech start-up Legible, where she led multi-capital accounting strategy while forging partnerships with multinationals.
A trusted advisor to governments and non-profits, Deborah consults on low carbon resilience strategy with federal ministries, and is a Climate Solutions/Technology & Society Fellow at SFU’s Centre for Dialogue, where she is building an initiative examining intersections between AI and climate change.
She served on the expert adaptation panel of the Canadian Climate Institute, the federal Expert Panel on Adaptation and Climate Resilience Results (EPCARR), and the Council of Canadian Academies’ expert panel on Top Climate Risks for Canada, and has authored numerous reports and articles including a book on the Columbia River Treaty.
Deborah holds a Master of Education in Contemplative Inquiry and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Communications and English, both from SFU, and a certificate in AI and Ethics from the London School of Economics.
