Touchstone Exploration Inc. announced the appointments of Dr. Priya Marajh and Jenny Alfandary to the Board of Directors with immediate effect. Dr. Marajh will serve on the Board's Health, Safety, Social and Environmental ("HSSE") Committee and Compensation and Governance Committee and Ms. Alfandary will serve on the Board's HSSE Committee and Audit Committee. In conjunction with these appointments, Touchstone also announces that Mr. Thomas Valentine has stepped down from the Board with immediate effect and will remain the Company's Corporate Secretary.
Dr. Priya Marajh is currently the Vice President - Advocacy and Member Engagement at the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago and a lecturer of various international relations courses at the University of the West Indies. She has extensive experience in both corporate and academia in the energy sector, and in the areas of international business development, relations and law, diplomacy, advocacy, local content development, and social and economic policy development.
Prior to joining the Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Marajh served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago. She holds a Master of Science in International Relations from the University of the West Indies, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London and a Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations from the University of the West Indies.
Ms. Alfandary is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Westario Power Inc., where she has been providing leadership and expertise as the company works to fulfil its vision of growth, community prosperity and excellence. In addition, Jenny provides her expertise to several boards of directors, and is currently the Chair of the Advisory Council for the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science at the Toronto Metropolitan University and the Co-Chair of the Energy [X] Change, an advisory committee to the Ontario Energy Board. She also serves as a board member of the MEARIE Group and the Mackenzie Institute.
Prior to Westario Power, Jenny served as the Chief Information Officer at Metrolinx where she led the initiative to transform their technology department from a cost centre into a revenue generating asset. Throughout her career, Jenny has held senior leadership positions in the telecommunication, financial and security industries. She holds a Master of Science in Management Information Systems and Technology from Tel Aviv University.
John D. Wright, Chair of the Board, commented: "We are pleased to welcome both Jenny and Priya to the Board. Their varied experiences and skills will be extremely valuable to Touchstone as we deliver on our strategy to build a leading Trinidadian energy producer. We look forward to adding their expertise and knowledge to our strategic oversight during this time of transition and growth. On behalf of the Board, I would also like to extend my thanks to Tom for his significant contributions and oversight to the development of Touchstone since he joined the Board in 2015. We are grateful to have Tom's continued participation at Touchstone as our Corporate Secretary."