Ruth Charleson may be the new kid on the block where NEDC’s board of directors is concerned, but at 67 with a lifetime of experience to draw on, she brings a lot to the table.

The NEDC board numbers 14 people — one representative each from each of the 14 Nuu-chah-nulth community’s located on the west side of Vancouver Island.

“I knew about them,” she says of NEDC, “but I was never really curious enough to approach them. I was working ...