.jpg){kind=logo}
NUQO TEAM
Rory Richards, M.G.C.
PRESIDENT & CEO
Rory Richards has dedicated more than twenty years to founding and leading numerous successful, cross-sector Canadian businesses. A proud Coast Salish woman of Shíshálh (Sechelt) descent, Rory’s work at NUQO blends her community-first, values-led mentality with modular construction methods to tackle one of society’s biggest challenges: affordable and Indigenous housing.
Honoured with the Medal of Good Citizenship by the Province of British Columbia, as well as the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, Rory’s history of heart-led work is long. The outstanding, female-led construction team she’s built at NUQO reflects Rory’s integrity, passion for social justice, and fierce advocacy for quality, culturally appropriate Indigenous housing. Rory is also a vocal supporter of quality childcare and has worked alongside respected advocates for many years to increase access.
“Designing and building someone’s home is an intimate act. Homes have the ability to heal, to change the trajectory of a person’s life journey. Tremendous trust is given to us by our partners and I consider it an honour to do the work that we do.”
Krista Ferguson
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Krista Ferguson wields over 30 years of managerial, developmental, and communication experience in the real estate, non-profit housing and construction sectors.
At NUQO she has a hand in every part of the preconstruction process, from budgets, to design, to business development. Her high-energy and hit-the-ground running approach found its perfect match in NUQO: a combination of providing social and community benefits with the drive, ambition, and fast pace of the private sector.
Karla Fraser
DIRECTOR OF CONSTRUCTION
Karla Fraser has worked in construction for 30 years, leading teams across the civil engineering, road construction, and modular sectors. Throughout her entire career, she has proved herself as a bold adopter of new construction technologies and methodologies that help move the industry forward.
Her experiential education in road construction coordination and surveying laid a strong foundation for her eventual pivot to project management. Karla is a member of the Mass Timber Advisory Board for the Province of British Columbia and an internationally recognized public speaker on the topic of mass timber.
Mark Sundin
CSA/QUALITY CONTROL
Mark has spent over 25 years sourcing products and manufacturing sourcing for industrial and construction material, consumer goods, and steel fabricated components in residential, commercial and multifamily modular construction. His previous roles include General Contractor for residential, Design & Install Project management for residential and commercial, and Offshore Director of Manufacturing of modular units for multifamily mid-rise, in all cases to Canadian CSA A277 standards. Part of his expertise is dealing with QA/QC documentation requirements, CWB certification for welded steel, CSA A277 certification for the factory and building codes for various municipalities.
Cory Douglas
CULTURAL & DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Cory Douglas is involved with the decolonization of the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (MST) by providing art and cultural knowledge. Cory Douglas is a Squamish/Haida artist who practices both Northwest Coast Formline and Coast Salish design. He offers presentations/workshops on the differences to design teams in the city. Cory has an associate degree in Civil Engineering Technology and in Architectural Engineering and Technology, including +25 years of experience in the BC building industry and +15 years of art and culture.
Since October of 2006, Cory has been focused on developing his ancestors’ roots in artistry and refining himself as he merges his academic architectural vocation with his innate creativity.
Preethi Thati
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Preethi’s career started in her home country of India, where she overcame systemic gender inequity by earning a degree in civil engineering and charting her own path into the construction industry. In 2021, she immigrated to Canada, earned her postgraduate degree in construction management, and began seeking roles that prioritize public service.
Preethi is driven to succeed by the excitement she feels when submitting bids to prospective clients. She firmly believes that countless Canadian communities can benefit from NUQO’s expertise.
Ashley Mendoza
EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
Cindy Ieong, CPA, CA
CONTROLLER
Cindy Ieong takes the lead on all of NUQO’s numerical tasks, from tracking budgets to performance-based goals to payment invoices. She’s a Certified Public Accountant with over a decade of experience in real estate, but NUQO is the first company she’s partnered with that does not prioritize their bottom line over their mission.
Cindy comes from a family steeped in the construction industry. She’s been a part of NUQO since its earliest days and values the unique combination of adaptability, problem solving, and objectivity she utilizes within the team.
Cindy is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, and is excited by the exponential growth prospects of the modular construction industry.
Natasha Dempsey-Ceron
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER FOR CHILD CARE
Natasha has been involved in Child Care for nearly 10 years. Her roles include Early Childhood Educator, Aboriginal Supported Child Development Consultant, and Child Care Licensing Officer (VCH). In addition to these career paths, Natasha is also a graduate of the Community Care Licensing Program at the Justice Institute of BC. Combining her career experience and higher education makes Natasha a pioneer in the childcare Industry.
Mehdi Kamali
DESIGN INTEGRATION
Mehdi is NUQO’s in-house designer for our modular building units. He received his Masters of Architecture in Iran and Certificate in Architectural and Building Engineering Technology from the British Columbia Institute of Technology.Mehdi is considered an expert in modular design.He brings years of residential and commercial design experience to NUQO and extensive experience working with computer-aided design software such as Autodesk Revit and Autocad. Mehdi has strong knowledge of building codes and construction methods both in modular and conventional construction systems.
Rob Fisher
PROJECT MANAGER
With more than 20 years of experience, Rob Fisher is one of the most experienced modular project managers in the construction industry. He first entered construction by following in the footsteps of his father, and subsequently began building his own career on a foundation of drafting, designing, and site superintendent roles.
By pursuing more diverse positions, Rob found his way to his niche: social housing. He’s studied construction management and earned a diploma in architectural technology, and now is primarily driven by the opportunity to provide new, high-quality, and energy efficient homes to people who need them.
Nikki Vincent
JUNIOR PROJECT MANAGER
Nikki Vincent has worked in the construction industry for 19 years, with 16 of them focused on modular construction. She got started as a multidisciplinary modular designer with several notable Canadian companies. Years of field training led her to crave the front-end influence that project management offers. As a project manager she breaks big picture projects down into step-by-step, attainable goals that help even the most complex cases go smoothly.
Kate McInnes
COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING LEAD
Kate McInnes is a communications manager and former journalist with 20 years’ experience working in B.C. media, covering everything from politics to housing for outlets such as The Province, Metro News and News1130. She has a passion for researching and writing about clean tech and sustainability, which fit perfectly with NUQO’s triple-bottom-line mission.
Kate is also a former factual TV story editor, story producer, production manager and development producer. Her development credits include Wild Bear Rescue and the hit documentary Dinosaur Cold Case for The Nature of Things and Smithsonian Channel, which made the CBC's top 10 list of most-watched documentaries in 2020.
Taylor Myers
PROJECT COORDINATOR
Taylor Myers is a proud Cree woman from the Red Pheasant Nation. Her career has taken her from mechanical and electrical administration to modular project coordination, where she is loving the meticulous, fast paced coordination of modular construction.
In addition to her full-time role, and with the encouragement and support of her NUQO work family, she is also pursuing her Project Management Professional certificate at the First Nations University of Canada.
While supporting some of the most notable producers and directors in the film industry, Ashley Mendoza developed the skill set she’s now using to succeed at NUQO: maintaining clear lines of communication, keeping tasks tailored to each day’s overarching objectives, and nurturing relationships with stakeholders.
Ashley spent the first five years of her life navigating two cultures as she traveled between her hometown of Victoria, British Columbia and her family’s home in Manila, Philippines. Today, she’s embracing every opportunity to develop her understanding of the construction industry and continue her professional growth as a part of the NUQO team.