Darlene Thorburn
Vice-Chair of the Board
May 12, 2020
Darlene Thorburn of Victoria, BC, was first elected to the FCL Board in 2020 and was elected as Vice-Chair of the Board in 2025. She is one of the directors elected by District 2, which is comprised of 20 member co-ops in British Columbia and Alberta. Darlene has primary responsibility for seven member co-ops.
As an FCL Director, Darlene is currently Chair of the Board’s Governance, Credentials and, Code of Conduct and Ethics Committees and is a member of the Human Resources Committee. She has served in the past as Chair of the Audit committee.
Darlene was first elected to the Board of Mid Island Consumer Services Co-operative in 2009. She served as Board Chair/President for nine years. She has strong experience and education in board governance and corporate performance management.
Darlene worked for 26 years in Labour Relations and Human Resources with experience in labour relations, human resources, mediation, arbitrations, workplace investigations and negotiations. She also worked as a Board of Referee for Services Canada as part of a three-person adjudication panel in hearing appeals for Employment Insurance.
She holds the Institute of Corporate Directors Designation (ICD.D) through the Rothman School of Business at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and the Canadian Centre for the Study of Co-operative (ICD.D) through the Johnson Shoyama at the University of Saskatchewan.
Darlene also serves as a Board member with a local non-profit housing association – Duncan Housing Association. This association provides housing for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. She was elected to the Board in 2018 and is currently Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of the Finance committee.
Darlene has five grown children and eight grandchildren.