Rowena Materne

Rowena is proud to be a resident of Saskatchewan. She considers herself a ‘northerner’, having grown up in La Ronge. She believes a position on SaskCulture’s Board of Directors would be a great opportunity, and personal joy, to use her skills and abilities to contribute to the province and to share in celebrating the beauty of the cultures represented here. Rowena has a residence in both Saskatoon and in Buffalo Narrows.

Rowena’s story in Saskatchewan begins with her mother, Luz Orcajada, as she paved the way for her family to become residents of the province. Rowena’s mother came from one of the first waves of nurses who were recruited from the Philippines in the 1960’s.  Her father, the late Pab Orcajada, initially served in economic development for Northern Saskatchewan and then with Saskatchewan Agriculture as the Provincial Wild Rice Specialist, and Rowena and her two brothers spent many summers out on the northern lakes and visiting various communities with their father as shared his joy and enthusiasm of the work he was a part of.  Her family truly has a deep appreciation of the north, and of First Nations and Métis people. 

After several years studying at universities in Canada and internationally, as well as working and volunteering with NGO initiatives internationally, Rowena returned to Canada with her “Aussie” husband in 2003. Rowena and her husband eventually settled in the north-west region of the province where she worked for many years in a senior management role with the regional health authority.  Rowena resigned from her position in 2014 to spend quality time with her family and to begin graduate school in Australia. She completed her MBA there in 2018 in the top 15%, and was invited for membership with the Golden Key International Honour Society, the largest international academic society in the world. She was also awarded a full scholarship to a doctorate program where her focus is on exploring the use of design thinking in implementing business ethics programs for social enterprises. Rowena has been an Ethics Practitioner for many years, having leadership experience in organizational ethics, and participated on a provincial ethics committee for health services. She is also a long-standing member of the Ethics Practitioner’s Association of Canada.

Rowena also has an undergraduate degree in Communication Arts. She worked in a variety of media including radio and television. She worked for the Missinipi Broadcasting Corporation as a radio announcer and as a productions assistant, interned with CBN Asia in Manila, served as editorial leader for an international media group during the Sydney 2000 Olympics, and has experience in corporate communications as well.

In the area of governance, her previous senior management portfolio included board development and quality improvement/accreditation, which meant working with the board to ensure that the national accreditation governance criteria were met. She also recently completed the requirements for a Canadian-based Governance Consultant Certification program to build on her previous years of experience and expertise, and is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Rowena is committed to community involvement to contribute to society in a positive way and has served in volunteer roles in Canada and internationally for many years. She is currently a volunteer member of the Board of Directors of Luther Care Communities where she was appointed to the Foundation Board, is a member of the Ethics Advisory Committee, and was appointed as the Ethicist earlier this year. Rowena is currently the acting CEO of the Buffalo Narrows Economic Development Corporation which is a Métis corporation.