Rosanne Balsom
Born and raised in a coastal community in Newfoundland, Rosanne’s entrepreneurship took the form of a cafe / mobile food vendor and shortly thereafter, owner/operator of a safe community space for at-risk teens.
Possessing decades of community development and startup experience, they pursued studies in community recreation, community development and indigenous issues at the college and university level.
For twenty years Rosanne focused their efforts on community development with urban non-governmental organizations. From fundraising / fund development to project development, Rosanne made their home in Alberta, operating a successful painting and remediation company, as well as a project management business.
Returning to their roots in community development and sustainability, the current partnership with Planetary Harvest is a natural extension of their lifelong desire to effect positive, sustainable change.
Mark Rushton
Mark is a curious mix of capabilities, with cross-sector experience in media, communications, cross-cultural development, publishing, and academia. He began stocking shelves in a small-town Co-op, seeing first-hand the importance of a community pulling together in the often challenging drive to ‘get by’ in the face of regional and global economic policies that rarely benefitted the little guy.
Moving into broadcasting and later news reporting, and also television production, Mark found a creative outlet and developed skills that would underpin all future work and community engagement activities. Sliding into the world of academia, Mark would learn the serious side of research and international living, spending over thirty years working in the Caribbean and Latin America before returning to Canada and building a family close to his
roots in Nova Scotia.
The Living Well CDC Collective Inc. 