The Northern Community Land Trust was founded in 2020. We are a dedicated group of people who care about diversity within our communities, and believe that everyone deserves access to sustainable, secure housing.
Meet Our Board
Laird Herbert (MaEd, Ba) owns a small hotel property called Black Spruce, in Whitehorse, Yukon. Black Spruce features four night-to-night rental units and a caretaker suite built in the style of a landscape hotel. Laird has a passion for house design and construction, and enjoys a variety of outdoor pursuits in the Yukon wilderness.
Tyler Heal (M.Eng., P.Eng.) is passionate about the built environment and its impacts on community wellbeing. His day job is as a structural engineer specialized in mass timber, prefabrication and building science. He has been the structural engineer-of-record for over 200 housing units in Yukon and 40 housing units in BC, ranging from single family homes to six-storey condo buildings.
Duncan Martin (MSc, RPP, MCIP) is an Urban Planner and Project Manager who dedicates his work to developing communities where people thrive. Duncan’s work with First Nation governments, northern communities and urban developers has given him a broad understanding of Yukon’s development context. He believes that all people deserve comfortable, secure, affordable housing. Duncan enjoys spending time in the mountains, gardening and cooking in his spare time.
Sarah Newton is a passionate, dedicated advocate for environmental protection and restoration through the advancement of indigenous rights. Their interest in this project is as a social and climate justice opportunity. They are a former Lands Manager for Liard First Nation and a Climate Reality Leader. They currently work as a Research Assistant investigating the potential of ground source heat pumps for heat production and storage. Sarah is also working on a portable solar energy system for hosting on-the-land events and was recently featured as 1 of 100 women working on the Energy Transition through the Pembina Institute and Globe Series.
Sheelah Tolton (BAS, NCIDQ) is an architectural and interior designer with professional experience in Canada, USA and New Zealand. She has over 6 years of Yukon specific project experience, including work on a range of scales of affordable multi-family projects, from tiny house communities to multi-building complexes. She is currently a project manager and space planner with the Yukon Government, and believes everyone should have access to safe, sustainable, and comfortable housing.
Executive Director
Vladyslav Hryhorenko is Executive Director of the Northern Community Land Trust Society, where he leads the organization’s work to develop and steward permanently affordable housing in the Yukon. He guides projects from development through occupancy to owner-led governance, drawing on established commons governance principles to build durable institutional structures for affordable housing. His current work includes Project 1096, a 32-unit permanently affordable condominium development in Whitehorse’s Whistle Bend. Vlad leads work across Yukon’s nonprofit and volunteer sector, and is Principal of Rigoré Consulting, an advisory practice spanning strategy, culture, and governance. In recognition of his contributions to the nonprofit and voluntary sector, he was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal in 2025.
Trusted Consultants
