NFU Staff
Meet the NFU Team
Mara Shaw is the Executive Director. Mara brings technical training and non-profit management to her work. Former Executive Director of a good food NPO in Kingston, Ontario that changed the conversation about food and the food system in the region. Mara managed the interface between agriculture, development, and the environment as Watershed Management Coordinator of the Cataraqui Region Conservation Authority. She holds a M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering Science from the California Institute of Technology and B.S. Honours in Chemistry from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. She has chaired the Food Policy Council for KFL&A and serves on other local boards. She is the recipient of the Rotary Paul Harris Award and the Inspiring Woman of the Year from the BanRigh Foundation.
Director of Research and Policy
Cathy Holtslander is the Director of Research and Policy at the National Farmers Union. In addition to policy research, analysis and writing articles and briefs on NFU policy issues, she convenes working groups of NFU members addressing policy issues. Prior to joining the NFU staff in 2011 she taught ABE in Northern Saskatchewan, was the Coordinator of the Saskatchewan Eco Network, co-published Synergy Magazine, and was a founder of, and worked for the Beyond Factory Farming Coalition, an organization promoting sustainable livestock production. Her Master’s degree focussed on social movement adult education and the history of women’s leadership in the farm movement in Saskatchewan. She also has degrees in Sociology and Regional and Urban Development. She and her partner have operated a certified organic grain farm near Mont Nebo, SK since 2009.
Darrin Qualman is Director of Climate Crisis Policy and Action for Canada’s National Farmers Union. He is a former farmer and the author of the 2019 report Tackling the Farm Crisis and the Climate Crisis and the 2019 book Civilization Critical: Energy, Food, Nature, and the Future. His research, writing, and educational pursuits over the past 25 years have all aimed at creating a long-term, big-picture view of food, farming, and energy systems. He is active in social justice and food system struggles and has helped organize many campaigns, including the successful struggle to prevent the introduction of genetically modified wheat into Canada. He has academic degrees in history, biology, and political studies.
James Hannay is the policy assistant at the NFU. He is currently based on the territories of the Anishinaabe and Mississauga, also known as “London”. James’ interest in agricultural issues and policy was kickstarted by a deep concern for a just food system during the COVID-19 pandemic, and strengthened by studying the politics and economics of climate change. He has particular interests in the effects of corporate concentration and financialization of agriculture, and completed his master’s thesis on the political economy of private-sector soil carbon sequestration programs in North America. While he is new to the space, he is keen to learn and eager to help the NFU further its mission of democracy, food sovereignty, positive environmental outcomes, and building vibrant communities in agriculture.
Gillian Cormier is the Communications Manager for the National Farmers Union. She has a bachelor’s degree in Community Development with Environmental and Sustainability Studies from Acadia University. Gillian is passionate about food sovereignty which has motivated her to start and run a farmers market in Hampton, NB from 2020-2022, and get involved in community farming with TOASA farm co-operative as a board member, learner and part-time worker/volunteer in Norton, NB. When not out in the community, Gillian loves to cook, bake, read, travel and learn in nature. Gillian speaks English, French and Portuguese. Any and all ideas for communicating with members and the public can be sent along her way at communications@nfu.ca.
Executive Assistant
Ann Smith is the Executive Assistant, working in the NFU’s national office in Saskatoon. She is the oldest of a large family, raised on a small mixed farm in northeastern Saskatchewan. She has worked with agricultural organizations for much of her career. For the last 22 years she has worked with the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan, first as a Senior Project Officer reviewing and furthering applications for federal funding programs designed to position Canada’s agriculture and agri-food at the leading edge to capture new and innovative opportunities, and then as Manager of Levy Central, a program created to assist Canadian agricultural organizations to accurately record and collect regulated agricultural levies. Ann retired from her position with Levy Central at the end of July, 2022, and is excited to be working on a part-time basis with NFU. Ann has two adult children and enjoys classic rock music, reading, gardening and landscaping, interior design and home improvements, beekeeping, cooking (and eating).
Terran Giacomini is NFU’s International Programs Committee Coordinator and a European settler learning how to live as a treaty relative on Haudenosaunee, Wendat and Anishinaabe territory. She is a long-time member of the NFU, formerly serving as the co-chair of the NFU’s Indigenous Solidarity Working Group. Terran is also a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto. Her community engaged scholarship explores the feminist transformative politics and activism within movements fighting for justice, life and liberation for all. She can be found most days doing what she loves best – walking in the woods near her family’s home, writing, cooking and in meetings collaborating for change.
Nasseem Hakimian is the co-lead for the NFU’s new national program The Exchange: Cultivating Diversity in Agriculture alongside comrade Nadia Bunyan. Nasseem is a trilingual organizer based in Montreal, QC and has a background in event production and communications. She has been farming throughout Ontario and Quebec since 2020 while she continues manage grassroots projects in agriculture and beyond.
Nadia Bunyan (she/her) is a fashion designer constantly learning, leading her to co-found Growing A.R.C.. This nonprofit uses the prism of farming, material culture, and fashion systems, to explore and create activities grounded in the farm-to-closet process. She will soon begin her Masters to study sustainability through the intersectional lens of education, economics, and design. To connect, contact Nadia at bunyan@nfu.ca
Sarah Marquis is originally from rural Nova Scotia, and now resides on the territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation, otherwise known as Ottawa, Ontario. She just completed a PhD in Environmental Sustainability at the University of Ottawa, where she researched the role of digital technologies, like AI and robotics, in transitions to sustainable agriculture in Canada. Sarah has also worked in the Senate of Canada, helping to set up an organization called Senators for Climate Solutions, which engages and educates senators on key aspects of climate change and biodiversity loss. Sarah is currently a climate activist and organizer in Ottawa with an organization called Climate Justice Ottawa. She also has degrees in human geography and environmental science.
The NFU also has staffed regional offices in NFU-New Brunswick (Region 1, District 2) and NFU-Ontario (Region 2).
