BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sarah Carriere (she/her/they) 

Sarah is a 43-year-old woman of Indian heritage who immigrated from India to New Zealand at five and later settled in Canada. She discovered both skiing and rock climbing at 28, and quickly fell for the freedom and challenge of the backcountry and the vertical world. While she sport climbs and boulders, she’s one of the rare few who genuinely enjoys slab climbing and prefers multipitch alpine routes in the mid–5 range.

Based in BC’s Sea to Sky region, Sarah is a passionate community builder. She serves as a board director for the Sea to Sky Community Services Society, provides winter mentorship with Mountain Mentors and co-facilitates avalanche safety courses with Incluskivity and co-leads BIPOC Rocks.

Professionally, she works as a healthcare manager and is a non-practicing registered nurse. She’s also  a wife, auntie, sister, daughter, and proud fur-mum  to her special-needs cat, Puma.

Taraneh Erfan (she/her) 

Taraneh is a first generation immigrant of Iranian ancestry. She is mom to two magical humans, a registered clinical counsellor, certified expressive arts therapist, and writer.

Taraneh is grateful to live and work, as a guest, on the unceded lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people. Since her move to the Sea to Sky, Taraneh has dipped her toes into rock climbing, which she became interested in order to get outside, meet new people, and connect to the land and a community, particularly one that welcomes queer and BIPOC folks from all walks of life. 

Although new to climbing, Taraneh is grateful to support the vision and mission of BIPOC Rocks and brings with her two decades of experience in program design and facilitation, as well as years volunteering for youth and arts  based non-profit organizations both locally and abroad. 

While not working, you can find Taraneh hiking the trails with her dog, writing poetry by the river, working on her book or script ideas, and singing out loud in the car with her kids while shuttling them to and from dance classes. 

Julia Pei Tzu Szutu (she/her)
 

Julia is a queer immigrant  who moved to Canada from a small rice farming village in China and now lives on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) people. She became passionate about rock climbing in her mid-40’s.

Having grown up in poverty and faced barriers to access herself, Julia is committed to increasing representation and supporting others to succeed. She’s mentored with Mountain Mentors, volunteered with Atira and the Immigrant Services Society of BC, and recently founded BIPOC Rocks to help create space and community for underrepresented climbers.

Julia brings over three decades of experience into her role at BIPOC Rocks. She has held positions in project management, graphic design, and records and data management. She also holds certifications with the AMGA and ACMG, which she pursued to help open doors for others because she knows it’s vital for climbers to be guided and mentored by leaders who share their lived experiences.