Speakers

Registration   Accommodation   Program-At-A-Glance   Detailed Program   Speakers

Anjana Aery
Advisor, Strategic Initiatives, Regional Municipality of Peel

Anjana is an Advisor, Strategic Initiatives within the Health Services Department at Peel Region. She supported development of Peel’s Community Safety and Well-being Plan and is currently supporting health equity initiatives across the Health Services department. She has a Master’s in Public Health and Bachelor of Science in Global Health and Psychology from the University of Toronto. Prior to working at Peel Region Anjana worked in research and policy roles at the Wellesley Institute and the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital supporting projects focused on mental health services, immigrant and refugee health, the social determinants of health and health equity.

Dr. Lee Airton
Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies in Education, Queen's University

Dr. Lee Airton is an Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies in Education at Queen's University. Their research explores how Canadian K-12 education and teacher education are responding to gender identity and gender expression protections in human rights legislation. Dr. Airton has founded campaigns and created resources that have changed the Canadian conversation about transgender people and gender diversity, such as www.theyismypronoun.com in 2012, the No Big Deal Campaign in 2016, and [gee gee dot ca] www.gegi.ca, the first bilingual self-advocacy resource for K-12 students experiencing gender expression and gender identity discrimination at school. Most recently, Dr. Airton and colleagues released a white paper titled No for Now: Guidance for School Staff on Supporting Transgender Students and Parent-Child Relationships, available at www.nofornow.ca. Dr. Airton's first book, Gender: Your Guide offers practical steps for welcoming gender diversity and has been adopted as a key professional development text in teacher education programs, school districts, the public sector and private sector organizations. In spring 2024, a fully revised and updated edition will be published by Adams Media (A Division of Simon and Schuster). With Dr. Susan Woolley, Dr. Airton edited Teaching About Gender Diversity: Teacher-Tested Lesson Plans for K-12 Classrooms. Dr. Airton has been interviewed over 70 times nationally and internationally on topics related to gender diversity, and they were the first early career scholar to be invited to deliver the Annual Canadian Association for Teacher Education Keynote in 2021.

Emily Akerman
Consultant, Equity Unit, People and Equity Division, City of Toronto

Emily (they/them) is a Consultant with the Equity Unit in the People and Equity Division at the City of Toronto. Being a Two-Spirit, Metis person from the largely Indigenous-identifying Georgian Bay Region, Emily is a passionate advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ and Indigenous needs and rights, adult education and training in EDI, and equity and reconciliation broadly. Their background is in international and community development, having previously worked at the International Development Institute at Humber College in the areas of prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) and adult education. They’ve also worked more intimately with their home community at Chigamik Community Health Center promoting Indigenous, Francophone, and general community health and wellness.

Currently, they focus on training the Toronto Public Service on the City’s Equity Lens Tool, an online tool that supports users to undertake an equity analysis of their program, policy or service, as well as the City’s Equity Responsive Budgeting process. They’ve also recently begun supporting the development of an Indigenous Data Governance Framework to promote Indigenous data access and ownership.

Christine Alden
Program Director, Lawson Foundation

Christine Alden, M.Ed., Ph.D., has worked in the fields of early child development and education for thirty years. She began her career as an elementary teacher in Latin America which catalyzed her interest in child development. Over the last twenty years, she was worked in early child development in a variety of Canadian and international contexts involving early childhood educator training, child and family support services, government policy, network and relationship building, and philanthropy. Currently, she works for the Lawson Foundation as Program Director in the areas of early child development and outdoor play. In 2022, Christine received her Ph.D. in Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/ University of Toronto. Her doctoral dissertation explored outdoor pedagogy in three licensed childcare programs in Ontario.

Neda Ali
Ontario Works Caseworker, City of Windsor

Neda is an Ontario Works Caseworker who specializes in refugee claimants and working onsite at hotels in the City of Windsor. She also mentors all new staff members. Neda speaks Arabic and Spanish. 

Sheri Arseneau
Supervisor, Ontario Works, City of Windsor

Sheri Arseneau is an Ontario Works supervisor with the City of Windsor Human & Health Services Department. She oversees the asylum claimant team. Her goal is to make a difference in the lives of the clients we are fortunate to meet.

Serenity Ashton
Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound Graduate

Dimple Bal
Community Initiatives Coordinator, Social Development and Policy, City of Brantford

Dimple is a Community Initiatives Coordinator within the Strategic Planning and Community Development Department at City of Brantford. She supported the implementation of the Build Belonging EarlyON Pilot Project with the goal of increasing engagement opportunities between EarlyON staff and families from diverse backgrounds by offering culturally diverse programming in a pilot EarlyON location. Dimple has a Master’s in Public Service and Bachelor in Health Science from University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. Prior to working at the City of Brantford, Dimple worked as a Senior Policy Analyst in the Crime Prevention Branch at Public Safety Canada, supporting projects related to anti-money laundering and financial crime.

Dr. Andrew Boozary
Executive Director, Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine, University Health Network

Dr. Andrew Boozary is a primary care physician, policy practitioner, researcher, and founding executive director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine at the University Health Network. He completed his medical training at the University of Toronto and health policy training at Princeton University and Harvard University. His work at the intersection of health policy, social justice and equitable health care delivery aims to improve health outcomes for marginalized populations. 

During the pandemic, Dr. Boozary served as co-lead of the Ontario Health Toronto Region COVID-19 Homelessness Response and holds the Dalla Lana Professorship in Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Public Health Review and served in senior advisory roles for policymakers at various levels of government both nationally and abroad on public policy issues ranging from primary care reform to the implementation of pharmacare. 

Dr. Boozary has published in high-impact academic journals, and his writing and analysis appear in print and broadcast media. He has been the recipient of a number of national and international awards, and is the youngest physician recipient of the Louise Lemieux-Charles Health System Leadership Award and the youngest Convocation speaker for the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine.

Caitlyn Bourque
Special Projects Co-ordinator, City of Greater Sudbury

Caitlyn is the Special Projects Co-ordinator at the City of Greater Sudbury within the Children Services Section. In this role, Caitlyn provides project management and evaluation supports to various programs within Children Services and is passionate about increasing access to affordable, quality programs for children and families in Greater Sudbury.

Caitlyn holds a Master’s degree in Public Health (MPH) and a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) designation with the Project Management Institute. Caitlyn is also working towards the attainment of a Credentialed Evaluator (CE) designation with the Canadian Evaluation Society.

Shannon Brown
Manager of Children's Services, Counties (U/C) of Leeds & Grenville

Having worked for the County for over 23 years, Shannon has honed her expertise in the fields of child care, early learning, family support, community development and special needs resourcing through various frontline and management roles. In addition to her work with Leeds and Grenville, Shannon has also held several Professor positions in the Early Childhood Education diploma program, both in Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Growing up in the Canadian Air Force and now living in rural Ontario, Shannon has a passion for showcasing rural/remote innovation, expertise, resilience and ‘out of the box thinking’.

Jennifer Butera
Manager, Children's Services, Regional Municipality of Niagara

Jennifer Butera is the Manager of Children’s Services Community Strategy and Partnerships at the Niagara Region. Jennifer has been working within the children’s services sector for over 25 years with the majority of her career focused on supporting children with special needs and helping to build inclusive learning environments. Jennifer holds a degree in Developmental Psychology with additional studies in non-profit and public management.

Wayne Chu
Manager, Social Data Analytics, Social Development, Finance and Administration, City of Toronto

Wayne Chu is the Manager of Social Data Analytics in the City of Toronto’s Social Development, Finance and Administration Division. In this role, he leads a multidisciplinary team of technologists, researchers and policy professionals dedicated to advancing community safety and wellbeing in Toronto. Over the last 11 years at the City of Toronto, Wayne has worked at the intersection of social research, policy, technology and design, including leading the City’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, developed the City of Toronto’s Social Procurement Program, and adapted the UrbanHEART@Toronto indicator framework to create the Toronto Neighbourhood Equity Index.

Karly Church
Anti-Trafficking Advocate and Crisis Counsellor, Victim Services of Durham Region

Karly Church is an anti-trafficking advocate, crisis counsellor and well-known speaker. She is known for her work on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking and has been a leader in helping shift the perception of trafficked girls from criminals to victims and now to survivors and leaders. Karly is a graduate of two college programs including Social Service Worker Program as well as the Addictions Counsellor Program. She harnesses her lived experience, extensive knowledge of trauma-informed care and harm reduction, along with her passion to engage and work with survivors. Karly is a TED X speaker and has trained thousands of individuals globally on the issue of domestic sex trafficking. Karly is also the recipient of the Jennifer O‘Connell Women of Distinction Award for her dedication to supporting marginalized women and girls.

Lorraine Closs
Professor, Durham College

Lorraine Closs has been a Durham College professor in the Faculty of Social and Community Services since 2013. Prior to that she worked for 20 years providing services in the field of social work with the last eight years in senior management positions. She has engaged in research at Durham College in multiple projects since 2016, and was the research coordinator for the School of Health and Community Services from 2016 to 2018. Lorraine accepted the Durham College Researcher Award of Excellence in 2019. Her research passion is the social injustice issues related to poverty and homelessness.

Erika Corbiere
Former Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound Navigator, Hamilton Regional Indian Centre

Graham Cubitt
President, Flourish (Indwell)

Graham Cubitt is the President of Flourish, a social purpose real estate development services company deploying the accumulated experience of Indwell. Graham has overseen the housing development for over 1200 households in southern Ontario through his role as Director of Projects and Development with Indwell. Flourish is actively helping communities to realize that high-value, cost-effective and sustainable affordable housing with supports is possible when people work together for shared long-term benefits. Graham is also a Canadian leader in Passive House multi-residential design strategies, having overseen numerous certified projects since 2016.

Klaus Cumani
Business Analyst, City of Ottawa

Klaus is a computer science and business major who loves to solve problems using technology. This web scraping project was inspired when he was searching for his first car and wrote up code to automate his search across multiple listing platforms. He is the City of Ottawa’s resident Power BI expert and dabbles in GIS and developing applications from time to time. Needless to say, he is well-loved in social services!

Kurt DesRoches
Business Analyst, City of Ottawa

Kurt is a 14-year veteran of the City of Ottawa and has front-line experiences through many facets of the organization and understands data from its rawest form. He is a self-taught data analyst that applied his data curiosity to the work he was doing. For the last two years he has taken his ‘off the desk’ passion into a full-time position where he works for a centralized data, analytics and research team at the City of Ottawa. In addition to improving his machine-based languages such as DAX and SQL, he also enjoys more "human" languages and just achieved his JLPT N3 (intermediate) Japanese certification. 

Jennifer Dockstader
Executive Director, Fort Erie Friendship Centre

Jennifer is from the Oneida of the Thames Nation, Bear Clan, and a citizen of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She is a strong believer in her people, her Indigenous traditions, and that there is no higher honor than to be of service to the people.

Jennifer graduated from Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts as the top music student with a Major in Vocal Music. Jennifer went on to achieve an advanced degree in Psychology from Temple University with a specialization in Addiction and Childhood Sexual Abuse.

Jennifer has worked with her Indigenous community for over 30 years to help people become stronger and healthier. She has served as President of Niagara Chapter Native Women Inc., President of Survivor’s House of Hope, & prior President of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres.

Jennifer is the Executive Director for the Fort Erie Native Friendship Centre. Starting this role in 2014, she has worked to facilitate local paradigm shifts about Indigenous people and build a stronger community. She believes in the Vision and Mission statement of the Organization To Enhance All Aspects of Native Life While Extending Friendship to the Community and Together for a Stronger Tomorrow. A proud mother, Auntie, daughter, sister, granddaughter and friend Jennifer believes in the strength of women no matter which role they take in society.

Jenna Dolly
Program Manager, Community Development (A), Regional Municipality of York

Jenna’s professional experience at York Region spans over 13 years. In 2021, Jenna joined the Strategies and Partnership Branch in the position of Policy and Project Development Specialist focused on the implementation of the Region’s Corporate Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism and other DEI initiatives.

As a Community Development Project Specialist, Jenna implemented initiatives in York Region’s Community and Safety Well-being Plan, including supporting the launch of the Children, Youth and Families Situation Tables. Jenna became the Senior Policy Analyst on the Community Development Team in June 2023 and was promoted to Program Manager, Community Development (A) in October 2023, where she coordinates the implementation of community-based programs and initiatives outlined in York Region’s Community and Safety Well-being Plan.

Jenna holds a Bachelors and Masters in Social Work from York University. Jenna’s career expands over 17 years of frontline community work, program implementation/delivery and social policy analysis experience with a focus on social equity and justice.

Alex Dow
Director, Community Initiatitves & Partnerships, United Way Greater Toronto

Abe Oudshoorn, RN, PhD is an Associate Professor and Associate Director in the School of Nursing at Western University and the Arthur Labatt Family Chair in Nursing Leadership in Health Equity. Having worked as a nurse with people experiencing homelessness in London, Ontario, Dr. Oudshoorn’s research focuses on homelessness, health equity, housing, and mental health. Dr. Oudshoorn is Managing Editor of the International Journal on Homelessness and recent recipient of the Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence from CMHC.

Jean Doyle
Coordinator, Employment and Social Services, City of Ottawa

Jean Doyle is a Coordinator with Employment and Social Services in the Community and Social Services Department with the City of Ottawa. Jean currently supervises and supports a team of staff that deliver services within the Catherine Street Community Service Hub.

In 2022, Jean was asked to co-lead the implementation of the Catherine Street Community Service Hub. This undertaking was an amazing opportunity to bring together staff from across Employment and Social Services to think differently about service delivery and how we support vulnerable members of the Centretown community. This was also an opportunity to engage with staff to validate service gaps and how to transform service to fill those gaps as well as consult with community agencies and other internal and external stakeholders.

Jean has been in the position of Coordinator with Employment and Social Services for the past six years and has 20 plus years of experience within various fields of human service program delivery and coordination working with diverse populations from youth to the elderly.

Sandy Dupuis
Manager, Compliance and Community Engagement, Regional Municipality of Niagara

Sandy Dupuis is the Manager of Compliance and Community Engagement in the Community Services department at the Niagara Region. Sandy and her team support broader policy projects, and strategic level work that support decision-making across all five divisions of the department. She is passionate about opportunities for integration and modernization across Community Services and the broader Corporation to better meet the emerging needs of the community.

Kelly Emery
Director, Child Care and Early Years, Municipality of Chatham-Kent

Kelly Emery is a Registered Early Childhood Educator and is a versatile people person and problem solver with over 30 years of experience in the field of social services with proficiencies in project leadership, policy development, budgeting, and operational facilities management.  Not only does Kelly know how to create the conditions that allow children thrive during the early years, she is a ‘big-picture’ systems builder and community champion.  Having worked with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and Chatham Kent Lambton School Services, Kelly forged relationships among the many players in community systems, while navigating policy, budget and legislation to create local solutions for children and families.  Currently, Kelly is the Director of Child Care Early years  and Recreation Services with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, working with her provincial and local partners to implement the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement within Chatham-Kent.  Kelly is a champion not only of the multiple facets of children’s services within a community, but a passionate mentor for future child care leaders. 

Janine Gaunt
Senior Manager, Recreation Operations, City of Hamilton

Janine is currently the Senior Manager for District Recreation Operations with the City of Hamilton.  With 33 years experience in the municipal recreation sector, Janine has seen the industry change from being primarily focused on the physical side of a healthy lifestyle to include, social, intellectual, creative and spiritual experiences that enhance individual and community wellbeing. Recreation can be a valuable ally in tackling broader social issues by creating community partnerships that help facilitate and achieve goals for the broader community.

Mark Grant
Area Manager, Family Services Durham

Mark is an Area Manager with Family Services in the Region of Durham’s Social Service Department.  He has worked for the last 30 years with Family Services in various roles including Adult Protective Service Worker (APSW), Intake Worker, Family Counsellor, and Manager of the APSW Program.  Mark has embraced and promoted the APSW paradigm shift away from organizations waiting for individuals to be referred to actively seeking people suspected of having a developmental disability in the community and connecting them with the right services.

Kristine Greaves
Manager, Human Services, City of Cornwall

Kristine Greaves has been overseeing the Children’s Services portfolio since 2017.  Kristine’s 25+ years as an RECE has provided her with the foundation on which she uses to manage the child care and early years system in our service area.  Kristine is a dedicated leader with a focus on community engagement; her participation in the Better Together 2023 group has provided her with opportunities to make new connections and expand her reach within the community.  She fully believes that it ‘takes a village to raise a child’ and that the backbone of the modern village are the early childhood professionals that care for and educate our youngest learners.  Kristine is an advocate for the field of early childhood education and the dedicated professionals who work in the field.

Kendra Habing
Decision Support Worker, Regional Municipality of Halton

Kendra is a Decision Support Advisor for Halton Region with a Master of Public Health. Her team is responsible for the leadership of Halton’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan, as well as data and decision support. Her background as a Public Health Epidemiologist has fueled her commitment to utilizing data as a powerful tool and exploring social and health issues, particularly emphasizing the social determinants of health. Her experience in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University, where her research focused on Community Paramedicine, grew her love for community partnerships and collaboration. With over a decade of experience in research and fostering meaningful partnerships, Kendra's enduring passion lies in advancing the health and safety of the community.

Kristine Haines-Chiarello
Manager (A), Employment and Social Services Central, Community and Social Services, City of Ottawa

Kristine Haines-Chiarello is a Manager with Employment and Social Services in the Community and Social Services Department in the City of Ottawa.

Kristine has over 30 years experience within social services and is passionate about person-centred service, relationships and breaking down barriers to empower clients in achieving their goals.

This passion grew from her time working front line in the City of Ottawa’s childcare centres and working with Ontario Works as a Case Worker then Employment Specialist. She continued her career in other roles such as a Partnership Coordinator, Supervisor, Coordinator of the Child Care Fee Subsidy program and a Child Care and Program Development Specialist.

Recently, Kristine led the department’s Human Services Integration project to research, examine, engage, and test integration opportunities to guide the development of the City of Ottawa’s first Human Services Integration Roadmap. The Roadmap is a plan of action to advance human services integration and deliver outcomes for the residents of Ottawa.

Today, Kristine is managing one of four Employment and Social Services offices where she is committed to breaking down barriers to increase access to services, build capacity to deliver responsive services and strengthen a shared commitment across services through approaches such as outreach, colocation, integrated information sharing and teams.

Mitri Hanna
Program Manager, City of Ottawa

Currently serving as a Program Manager in the Community and Social Services Department at the City of Ottawa. With 16 years of experience supporting municipal programs, Mitri specializes in providing innovative solutions and strategic leadership of Employment Ontario Programs delivery.

Known for his ability to establish positive working relationships, empower team members, and apply critical thinking to analytical problem-solving, he saw an opportunity to drive innovation through data and analytics across the entire Ontario Works workforce in Ottawa.

Beyond his professional role, he is passionately dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion. Growing up racialized, he remains active with community programs for underprivileged youth and advocates for inclusivity through martial arts and sports. It is his way to give back to a community and drive change.

Karolyn Harris
Regional Program Advisor, Housing and Employment, Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres

Karolyn Harris is a program advisor at the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres, working with the Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound program. She works to improve the effectiveness and stability of Friendship Centre programs through liaising, program analysis and field support. Karolyn has an academic background in Indigenous knowledge, financial management and communications. She is passionate about building alliances between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, organizations and communities. 

Tineke Harrison-Hansraj
Training and Development Coordinator, City of Toronto

Tineke Harrison-Hansraj is a dedicated Training and Development Coordinator at the City of Toronto, leveraging her extensive background in education and mental health. With a Master’s in Education and an Honours Bachelor’s in Community Mental Health, she combines academic rigor with practical experience to create practical and exciting resources.

Currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education with a focus on social justice, Tineke is at the forefront of knowledge innovation. Her passion for education, training, and e-learning is evident in her years of impactful work within the non-profit sector, where she has excelled in training creation and facilitation, mental health and equity initiatives, and the development of an impactful e-learning program. Tineke is committed to making a positive impact through continuous learning and fostering Social Justice within educational contexts.

Christopher Hass
Community Support Worker, County of Norfolk

Christopher Hass has been servicing Ontario Works recipients in Haldimand and Norfolk counties for the past 9 years as a Community Support Worker. Christopher has completed this work since the inception of the role in 2015. Christopher previously worked with youth/adult in various justice programs and also in the employment services field. Christopher plays a lot of Slo-Pitch in the summer and is a long suffering Blue Jays, Dolphins and Montreal Canadiens fan.

Rachel Hirstwood-Judd
Supervisor, Adult Protective Services, Family Services Durham

Rachel is a Supervisor with Family Services in the Region of Durham’s Social Services Department.  She has worked for the past 16 years with Family Services in various roles including Adult Protective Service Worker (APSW), Supports Intensity Scale Assessor and Supervisor of the APSW program.  Rachel has a passion for supporting the APSW team with expanding outreach services and partnering with agencies to ensure individuals with developmental disabilities do not fall through systemic gaps.  Rachel and team work hard to combine generic community resources and developmental services to create circles of support for individuals with developmental disabilities to aid them in living as independently as possible in the community of their choice.

Kim Hiscott
Executive Director, Andrew Fleck Children's Services

Kim Hiscott is a registered Early Childhood Educator living in Ottawa, Canada and Executive Director of Andrew Fleck Children’s Services, a large not-for-profit multi-service, multi-site organization that includes licensed early learning and care, special needs resourcing and support for parents. She is passionate about outdoor play, learning about intergenerational programming, inspired by collaborative, reflective Educators and keen to investigate non-traditional partnerships for system building that respects all children and families.

Boun Inthavong
Sr. Statistics and Data Consultant, City of Ottawa

Boun is a trained economist and data scientist with a keen interest in local housing issues. He is currently a Senior Statistics and Data Consultant at the City of Ottawa and spends most of his data translating social services issues into data projects and analysis. He is an armchair political commentator and enjoys playing soccer and cuddling up with his cat Charlie.

Janisha Kamalanathan
Policy Advisor - Community Safety and Well-Being, Regional Municipality of Durham

Janisha Kamalanathan is social worker and social service researcher with experience fostering consensus in diverse environments. Her expertise lies in driving equity-building programs and policies. Throughout her career, she has played pivotal roles in strategic planning and community development initiatives for a range of organizations spanning both the public and non-profit sectors.

Marni Katzman
Lived Expert, Lived Expert Advisory

Marni Katzman is a lived expert, peer support worker, and advocate on the topics of homelessness, access to health care, and gender based violence. Marni has informed decision-making through her participation in the Niagara Region’s lived expert advisory and related initiatives since 2019.

Emma Kelly
Complaints and Research Analyst, Human Rights Office, City of Toronto

Emma is a human rights professional with a background in academic and community-engaged research. She works within the City’s Human Rights Office (HRO) to support the resolution of complaints through the provision of neutral, trauma-informed service that promotes human rights, equity, and reconciliation. She also supports the collection of HRO data and conducts research on related trends as well as social and legal change. Emma’s interests in procedural fairness, human rights, and equity have also shaped her previous endeavours prior to joining the City. Most recently, she conducted a study on 2SLGBTQ+ perceptions of procedural justice and police legitimacy and supported two programs of community-based research addressing responses to domestic sex trafficking and sexual assault/intimate partner violence against trans and gender diverse persons.

Pam Kent
Manager, Social Services, Prince Edward-Lennox and Addington Social Services

Pam Kent has been the Manager of Social Services overseeing the Children’s Services portfolio since 2011.  Prior to that she worked as an Early Childhood Educator at a multi-site child care organization for 23 years, where she held various positions such as Home Child Care Team Leader, Summer Camp Facilitator, Preschool Enrichment Coordinator, Childcare Resource Centre Coordinator, Child Care Supervisor, Summer Camp Leader and for the last 10 years of this tenure was the Executive Director.  Pam is passionate about building a high quality early learning and child care system that supports families, children, educators and communities. 

Nick Kerman
Scientific Associate, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Nick Kerman, PhD, is a Psychologist by training and a Scientific Associate at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. His research focuses on housing and support interventions, and service delivery in the homeless service and supportive housing sectors. His current work is examining person-centred, harm reduction-oriented approaches to managing risk in shelters and supportive housing programs.

Chris Kindy
Case Manager, Haldimand Norfolk Health Unit Health and Social Services Division, Norfolk County and Mental Health Worker, Canadian Mental Health Association 

Chris Kindy is a Case Manager for Haldimand Norfolk Health and Social Services and a Mental Health Worker for Canadian Mental Health Association -  Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk . He studied Sociology at The University of Guelph and Addictions Studies at McMaster University. 

Chris has talked about his own struggles with Epilepsy and Mental Health and feels privileged to have a job where his goal at the end of the day is to advocate for those who need it the most in our community and provide the best resources to those individuals. 

Chris serves on multiple boards and committees for local organizations, Rotary Sunrise Norfolk, Epilepsy Ontario, Youth Unlimited YFC Norfolk, Cupe 4700. When Chris is not working, he loves walking his dog, Penny, and travelling the world with his wife Emily and daughter Maren.

Whitney Kitchen
Coordinator, Housing and Administration and Development, City of Windsor

Whitney Kitchen is a Registered Social Worker who graduated from the University of Waterloo with an MSW in 2021. Currently Whitney is a Coordinator of Housing Administration and Development with the City of Windsor responsible for co-leading the Housing Hub project which currently provides housing, health and support for over 100 unique individuals daily. Whitney has an extensive history of frontline social work experience in justice, mental health, addictions and homelessness. She has led a number of local initiatives including: chairing the local situation table which collaboratively addresses risk mitigation, providing mental health training for law enforcement and seminars on justice involvement and its impact on disenfranchised populations. Her passion for underserved populations drives her work for advocacy and system change.  

Satinder Klair
Director, Children's Services, Regional Municipality of Niagara

Satinder Klair is an experienced public sector leader with the extensive experience in municipal and provincial government. Currently, he is the Director of Children’s Services with Niagara Region. 

Prior to joining Niagara Region, he held leadership positions with Halton Region, Peel Region, the City of Toronto, and the Ontario provincial government, where he led and managed strategic and transformational files and projects.  Satinder’s diverse background allows him to bring a unique perspective to social services that is grounded in strong public service, evidence- based policy analysis, and strategic thinking. Satinder is passionate about the human services and making a meaningful impact on complex issues impacting our society through policy, strategic thinking, and service integration.  

Previously, Satinder Klair has served as a Board of Directors with the Peel Leadership Council. He holds a Hons. Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Public Administration and certificates in Business and Project Management. 

Sandra Lee
Manager, Community Services, County of Simcoe

Sandra Lee is the Manager, Strategic Partnerships with the County of Simcoe. In this role, Sandra oversees the community-based planning activities of the Simcoe County Local Immigration Partnership and other community initiatives. Sandra has been working with the County of Simcoe since 2011, when the LIP was established in Simcoe County. 

Sandra has a B.A. from the University of Toronto with a major in Sociology. Prior to joining the County of Simcoe, Sandra was the Executive Director of ONESTEP, a provincial umbrella organization that supported a network of over one hundred not for profit employment service delivery agencies in Ontario. She also worked for several years at Georgian College as Manager of Government and Employment Programs. 

Tineka Levy
Manager - Community Safety and Well-Being, Regional Municipality of Durham

Tineka Levy is a program and policy development professional with over fifteen years’ professional experience. She has experience supporting system strengthening and emergency assistance initiatives across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the South Pacific, through various technical, operational, and leadership roles. In particular, her experience has focused on building resilience and meeting emergency needs in the education, health, and child protection sectors. Tineka has a passion for engaging in localized community responses, and lives in Durham Region.

Miranda Mackie
Manager of Children Services, City of Greater Sudbury

Miranda Mackie has been actively working in the early learning field for 27 years. Her experience ranges from Resource Consultant, Director, Leadership Development Facilitator and now as the Manager of Children Services in the role of Consolidated Municipal Services Manager with the City of Greater Sudbury.   She holds a BA in Psychology and a master’s in leadership development from the University of Guelph.

Miranda has immersed herself in the early learning and child care sector with a deep focus on inclusion and system integration for children and families.  She has led local and provincial advisory teams as a Leadership team member  with a focus on advocacy for the quality provision of services for children with exceptionalities.  She holds a particular passion for facilitation in the areas of leadership development and organization culture having trained over 350 Educators, Supervisors and Directors across the North.

Miranda is a graduate of Cambrian College as a Child and Youth Worker and holds a BA in Psychology, and an MA in Leadership Development from the Graduate Degree Program at the University of Guelph.

Anna McGregor
Director, Community Services, Dufferin County

Anna joined the County of Dufferin in 2010. She is currently the Director of Community Services and oversees programming for Ontario Works, Housing, Homelessness, Early Years and Child Care. Many in the human services field recognise the Dufferin accent on conference calls. The County of Dufferin is one of Ontario’s smallest social services Service Manager Areas in Ontario. Anna would argue small and mighty. Before joining Dufferin, Anna had a few years’ experience as an Ontario Works Manager and before that, nearly two decades of experience in Scottish local government; working for three different local government bodies. Her roles have included everything from the office go to person, administration officer, secretary, development officer, accountant, auditor and college lecturer, in departments as mixed as Finance to Social Work to Housing. Overall, more than 30 years in local government. Anna has worked in housing systems that worked well and some that didn’t. All of which resulted in a very broad and eclectic work experience, just the sort of experience needed for a small and mighty municipality.

Colin McMullan
Manager, Performance, Planning and Evaluation, City of Hamilton

Colin is the Manager of the Performance, Planning & Evaluation team, Children’s & Community Services Division, within the Healthy & Safe Communities Department at the City of Hamilton.  Colin has an Urban Planning diploma from Mohawk College, a BA in Urban/Environmental Geography from Brock University, and received his PhD in Geography from McMaster University in 2002.  Since completing his PhD, Colin has been employed as a Population Health Consultant with the Central West Health Planning and Information Network (CWHPIN) and as a Research Associate with the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University before coming to the City of Hamilton where he has worked for the past 17+ years.  In his current role, Colin manages the Division’s research and evaluation activities and leads the Division’s work on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. 

Abigail Miller
Consultant, Human Rights Office, City of Toronto

Abigail (she/her) is a Consultant with the Human Rights Office in the People and Equity Division at the City of Toronto. Abigail is a disabled, queer human rights advocate and researcher with a passion for international and domestic human rights law, anti-racist pedagogies, inmate rights, and decolonization. Her undergraduate degree is in criminology and her master’s degree is in international law and human rights. She previously worked as a Human Rights Officer with the Yukon Human Rights Commission and a Human Rights Advisor with the Human Rights Legal Support Centre. At the City of Toronto, Abigail focuses on supporting discrimination and Code harassment-related complaints and inquires, as well as on special projects to promote and protect human rights on an organizational level.

Tonya Millsap
Manager, Children Services, Early Learning and Child Care, County of Simcoe

A Registered Early Childhood Educator, Tonya Millsap is a Manager in the Children Services Department at the County of Simcoe.  In this role, Tonya provides strategic leadership to all aspects of municipal service management for the licensed Child Care and Early Years system across Simcoe County. 

In addition to over 10 years of work with municipal government, Tonya’s several years of strategic leadership and project management in human services has produced a number of highly innovative and transformational outcomes across sectors in the care work economy.

Bilqees Mohamed
Policy Development Officer Social Data Analytics Social Development, Finance and Administration, City of Toronto

Bilqees Mohamed is a Policy Development Officer in the Social Data Analytics team at the City of Toronto. Prior to joining the City of Toronto, she worked as a monitoring and evaluation specialist for the violence prevention and intervention programs and was a researcher supporting the development of SafeTO, Toronto’s ten-year community safety and well-being plan. In her current role, she centres community-based research methods, and equity approaches to identify the ethical use of data with community partners. Bilqees is passionate about youth justice and has led policy advocacy on youth issues such as child welfare, education reform for Black youth, and addressing community violence and trauma.

Geraldine Morrison
Policy Analyst, Regional Municipality of Durham

Geraldine Morrison is a Policy Analyst in the Business Affairs and Financial Management Division of the Social Services Department at the Regional Municipality of Durham. In this role, Geraldine directs policy-based decision making and training, and supports a variety of research and quality related initiatives, including facilitating collaborations with internal and externals partners, colleagues, and residents.

Leanne Morton
General Manager, Family Support, YMCA Greater Toronto

I have worked in various roles in the field of Early Learning for the past 35 years. Most recently as the General Manager of Family Supports for the YMCA of Greater Toronto. My education background is BA from Ryerson in Early Childhood Education and certificate in Teaching and Training Adults. As a registered Early Childhood Educator, I continue to advocate for the benefits of embracing an outdoor pedagogy for children and families. 

Danielle Neilson
Manager, Housing Stability Services, City of St. Thomas

Danielle Neilson is the Manager of Housing Stability Services for the municipality of St. Thomas-Elgin, which is her home community. She has been working in housing and homelessness in both the public and private non-profit sector for the last 25 years and has held leadership positions in multiple municipalities of varying size and scope. Her education and experience are in public administration with a focus on local government and social services. Danielle is passionate about her work in housing and homelessness and believes that hope and resiliency are invaluable parts of solutions to ending homelessness. 

Kristina Nickel
Program Evaluation and Data Analyst

Kristina Nickel has been a Program Evaluation and Data Advisor with the Homelessness Services team for 7 years. She lead the implementation of the HIFIS database in Niagara and supported the development of Niagara’s By-Name List after the Region joined Built for Zero Canada in 2019.

Juliette Nicolet
Acting Director, Policy, Education, Monitoring and Outreach, Ontario Human Rights Commission

Juliette Nicolet is a seasoned social policy professional with extensive experience in public affairs, government relations, advocacy, strategic foresight and planning, and communications in urban Indigenous, non-profit and the broader social policy sector. She is currently Acting Director of Policy, Education, Monitoring and Outreach at the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Prior to this, she was the Director of Policy and Government Relations at the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres, and Counsel at the Ministry of the Attorney General. Juliette holds an MA from the University of Toronto and an LLB and a BCL from McGill University, and has two children who keep her on her toes more than any work ever could.

Abe Oudshoorn
Associate Professor, Western University

Abe Oudshoorn, RN, PhD is an Associate Professor and Associate Director in the School of Nursing at Western University and the Arthur Labatt Family Chair in Nursing Leadership in Health Equity. Having worked as a nurse with people experiencing homelessness in London, Ontario, Dr. Oudshoorn’s research focuses on homelessness, health equity, housing, and mental health. Dr. Oudshoorn is Managing Editor of the International Journal on Homelessness and recent recipient of the Gold Roof Award for Housing Research Excellence from CMHC.

Jaclyn Piper
Community Support Worker, County of Norfolk

Jaclyn Piper has been servicing Ontario Works recipients in Haldimand and Norfolk counties for the past 5 years as a Community Support Worker. Prior to this, Jaclyn worked for over ten years in front line shelter work, in both homeless and violence against women shelters. Jaclyn has a degree in psychology from Athabasca University and studied Addiction Education at McMaster University. Jaclyn is passionate about women’s rights, mental health and housing insecurity. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and traveling with her husband and son.

Emily Recoskie
Outdoor Program Coordinator, Compass Early Learning and Care

Emily is the Outdoor Program Coordinator with Compass Early Learning & Care where she lives, plays and collaborates with children and adults on the traditional territory of the Michi Saagiig Anishinaabeg peoples in Nogojiwanong, Peterborough, ON. She has been in relation with children from all ages and stages for 15+ years, primarily connecting children with the natural world, through long periods of uninterrupted play on the land. Emily is a RECE & Forest School Practitioner and believes that we should be instilling kinship with that land and introducing this idea of relationship with children in our early years’ programs based off her learning from indigenous people. Being outdoors, we see the freedom and space children have to move, explore, climb and embrace all living things though the activation of their senses. We see children as the best version of themselves when in the outdoor environment. Emily feels a responsibility to do this work, by connecting children with the natural world they begin to notice and understand our pedagogy through the seasons, and then they too will be able to share the stories that they learn from the land with others. 

Rebecca Richardson
Detective Constable, Durham Regional Police Services

Detective Constable Rebecca Richardson has been employed with the Durham Regional Police since 2005. She has worked in uniform front-line capacity in both Oshawa and Whitby. Rebecca has been a criminal investigator since 2014 working in various investigative fields: Homicide; Criminal Investigation Branch; Crimes Against People in both Oshawa and Ajax/Pickering; Street Robbery; Break and Enter/Property Crimes, and for the last 3 years with the Human Trafficking Unit/CARE Team. Rebecca has presented on HT related topics not only in Canada, but on the international stage with the OSCE in Italy, the Netherlands and Iceland. During her time off work she enjoys escaping the city and spending time with family at the cottage.

Lori Richer
Improvement Advisor, Built for Zero Canada, Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness

Lori Richer is an Improvement Advisor for Built for Zero and a recognized leader dedicated to ending chronic homelessness. Prior to joining Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, Lori was the Housing Stability Manager for Wellington County Social Services and Built for Zero (BFZ) Lead for the Wellington-Guelph Community. Wellington-Guelph Built for Zero has been recognized nationally, for outstanding work in ending homelessness. Lori has been a part of system change that has led to a reduction in chronic homelessness and continues to drive for system improvements. Throughout her 25+ year career in Social Services, Lori and her team delivered federal, provincial, and local funding to Homeless System Service Providers and homelessness prevention programs, as well as collaborating with community partners to improve the homeless serving system for the City of Guelph and the County of Wellington. Lori believes that ending chronic homelessness is possible and is excited to bring this passion to the BFZ team.

Patrick Roncal
Policy Development Officer Social Development, Finance and Administration, City of Toronto

Patrick Roncal is an interdisciplinary mathematician whose public service career over the last decade has spanned analytics portfolios in community wellbeing, safety, equity and justice sectors. Patrick has enabled government data strategies like the City of Toronto's SafeTO Strategy and Data for Equity Strategy, the Toronto Police Service’s Race-based Data Collection Strategy and the Ministry of Labour's COVID-19 Occupational Health and Safety Data Strategy. Patrick is the 2023 recipient of the Community Safety and Wellbeing Spatial Analytics Leaders Award from Toronto Metropolitan University.

Heather Sheridan
Director, Social Services, City of St. Thomas

Heather Sheridan has 25 years experience in a municipal social services setting, beginning her career as an Ontario Works caseworker. As the Director, Heather oversees the administration of Housing Stability Services, Ontario Works and Children’s Service for St.Thomas and Elgin County. Heather is dedicated to working collaboratively with community partners, engaged citizens and all levels of government to create unique opportunities for those in need of Housing Stability, Affordable Childcare and Income Security. The partnership with Indwell is a great example of passionate people coming together with a shared vision and purpose. 

Mohamed Shuriye
Director, Community Safety and Wellbeing, City of Toronto

Mohamed Shuriye works at the City of Toronto as the Director of Community Safety & Wellbeing. Since joining the City in 2012, Mohamed has been a driving force behind transformative initiatives. He was the first employee in the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Unit and was instrumental in embedding the Action Plan across the corporation. In his most recent role as Manager, Policing Reform, Mohamed led a team implementing the Toronto Community Crisis Service, Canada’s first community-based response to mental health crisis calls to 911. The program has successfully responded to more than 10,000 calls for service, successfully diverting mental health calls from police response and connecting residents to community supports. 

In 2019, Mohamed was chosen to participate in the Action Canada Fellowship where he engaged with emerging leaders across the country to tackle public policy challenges. His volunteer work includes advisory roles for the United Way’s Bhayana Family Foundation Award and mentoring aspiring leaders through the Muslim Youth Fellowship. Mohamed also served as the co-chair for Positive Change Toronto, an organization dedicated to addressing youth violence in the Somali-Canadian community.  

Jeffrey Sinclair
Housing and Homelessness Action Plan Advisor, Regional Municipality of Niagara

Jeffrey Sinclair is the lead for Niagara Region’s Housing and Homelessness Action Plan. Since 2018 he has supported the engagement of lived experts in Niagara’s homeless services system planning.  

Karine Silverwoman
Social Worker and Consultant

Karine Silverwoman, MSW, is a passionate practitioner, consultant and educator with over 20 years of experience in the social work sector. Her work is informed by an understanding of how  trauma and oppression how impact our bodies and communities. She has extensive training in trauma-informed therapeutic approaches, clinical supervision and leadership and in applying strategies to assist front-line workers and other practitioners to deepen their skills and align their  work with their values.She has worked in a wide variety of settings and roles including, Director of Counseling for a gender based violence clinic, consultant , street outreach worker, therapist,  youth worker and social work instructor at Toronto Metropolitan University and George Brown College. Her approach is guided by a social justice, anti-colonial, queer/trans affirming and strength-based lens. As a trainer, she embeds a trauma-informed lens and creates brave, reflective learning spaces. She interweaves practical examples, a sense of humour and an ethic of care into all her training, believing, as she does, in a world where everyone should be able to live with dignity, safety and belonging.
-- 
http://karinesilverwoman.com/

Yana Skybin
YMCA Simcoe Muskoka

Yana Skybin was born and raised in Ukraine, and is a graduate of Zaporizhzhia National University. In 1997 she traveled to Toronto to pursue postgraduate education at the ISC, an affiliate member of the University of Toronto. During the three-year program, Yana actively worked with Ukrainian Canadian Social Services, the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program and the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto.

In 2009, Yana joined the YMCA of Simcoe/Muskoka as a settlement counselor. In this role, Yana has served immigrants throughout Simcoe County and has served on a number of committees with Simcoe County's Local Immigration Partnership, as well as serving on the Special Advisory Committee with the local District School Board. Yana has resided in Simcoe County with her family since 2002.

John Smith
Manager, Community Development, City of Toronto

John Smith is the Manager of Community Development in the City of Toronto’s Social Development, Finance and Administration Division. John oversees the implementation of the Community Coordination Plan, the Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy, Keele Community Hub, and Community Development Plan Framework.

Kirby Steinhoff
OMSSA Trainer, Integrative Consulting Inc. 

Kirby Steinhoff has been in the employment and social services field for over 10 years, starting as a frontline crisis counsellor in a domestic violence shelter transitioning to Ontario Works case management with Norfolk County and is currently employed with Halton Region as an Integrated Case Manager. Kirby has worked as a trainer and policy developer within Halton Region and is considered a subject matter expert and has trained both front-line and supervisory staff on various SAMS modules and directives, while with Halton Region.

Kirby has completed an Undergraduate degree from Western University in Women’s Studies and Feminist Research, a diploma in Human Resources from Fanshawe College and Master of Arts in Labour Studies from McMaster University with research focused on social policy, inclusion and contemporary work.

Laura Urso
Co-ordinator of Quality and Early Years Programs, City of Greater Sudbury

Laura is a proud Registered Early Childhood Educator with a degree in Psychology and Sociology. She has over 35 years of experience in the early years’ sector and 10 years serving on the College of Early Childhood Educators’ Council and committees.  

As a Coordinator of Quality and Early Years Programs in the City of Greater Sudbury’s Children Services Section, Laura continues to work passionately in pedagogical leadership, inclusion and coordinating opportunities for sectoral reflection and professional learning.

Barb Vanry
Manager, EarlyON Child and Family Centres, City of Brantford

I have had the opportunity to work in an early learning and childcare centre with children birth to age 6 years and as an EarlyON Facilitator supporting young children and families in Hamilton. I also have Director experience in Licensing and Standards of Practice, as well as Child and Family Programs at Today’s Family in Hamilton Ontario. I love my current vocation as the General Manager of the EarlyON Child and Family Centres and the Professional Learning Hub at Community Living Brant in Brantford Ontario.

My passion is the emergent curriculum and How Does Learning Happen pedagogy and ensuring that inclusive and diverse programming happens for all children and families with my team of early learning professionals and community partners in Brant. Our community recently participated in an environmental scan to assess inclusivity, diversity and equity in the early learning and childcare sector in the Brant community.  We had very good results.  I am a member of the Best Start Network, Recruitment and Retention Committee and Supervisor’s Network which are all working together to develop a cohesive plan to meet the identified goals from the Inclusion Awareness Report.

In addition to supporting children and families, I am an advocate for Early Childhood Educators.  I have experience as the President of the local AECEO in Hamilton and am the current leader of a committee to create a public marketing campaign in Brant to heighten awareness and recognition of the important role of an early child educator.

I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Developmental Psychology, a Bachelor of Education Degree in primary/junior education, a diploma in Early Childhood Education and am a Certified and Registered Early Childhood Educator.

 I believe that the cornerstone for quality is dependent on establishing positive, caring, responsive relationships with each individual child and family and an inquiry play based learning environment that supports learning through play.

Nicole Watson
Manager, Policing Reform, City of Toronto

Nicole Watson is Manager of the Policing Reform Unit at the City of Toronto. She holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Queen’s University, and a Honours BA in Psychology and Sociology from York University. Nicole first joined the City of Toronto in 2014 where she championed the inaugural Toronto Newcomer Day, developed the AccessTO policy for undocumented Torontonians and established the City of Toronto’s Refugee Resettlement Program. In her current role with the Policing Reform Team, she has been instrumental in the development and implementation of the Toronto Community Crisis Service. Nicole is a results-oriented management professional committed to the implementation of innovative, equity-based programs and initiatives with a firm grounding in anti-Black racism and Truth and Reconciliation.

Jill Wickins
Organizational Link for Operations, Compass Early Learning and Care

With 40 years of experience, Jill is a committed Early Childhood Educator. In her role as an organizational link within a multi-service organization, she provides mentorship to 42 licensed Early Learning programs and the Outdoor Early Learning initiative. Emphasizing strong connections with community partners, families, children, and colleagues, she envisions welcoming spaces for all. Guided by her values, Jill fosters vibrant, healthy communities across her work. Her proactive approach, focusing on "how can we," boosts successes in day-to-day operations, licensing, and program expansion. Jill recognizes the pivotal role of relationships in intentional program development and strives to create enriching, inclusive learning environments for children, families and educators.

Tricia Williams
Director, Research, Evaluation and Knowledge Mobilization

Tricia Williams brings a strong background across anthropology, sociology and economics disciplines to her role as Future Skills Centre’s Director of Research, Evaluation and Knowledge Mobilization. She has particular expertise in the future of work including digital economies, skills development, migration and gender.  

At the FSC, Tricia leads a pan-Canadian research strategy focused on advancing the FSC’s strategic goals. She also collaborates closely with our partners on the broader evidence agenda, ensuring that knowledge is both generated and mobilized effectively for uptake and usage.

Prior to joining FSC, Tricia spent seven years with the Mastercard Foundation, leading research, evaluation and knowledge mobilization initiatives related to youth employment and digital economy across Africa and with Indigenous communities in Canada. She has authored and overseen numerous reports, events and research programs to generate evidence and action around inclusive employment and development.

Tricia previously worked for the federal government in evaluation and policy functions, which she joined through the Recruitment of Policy Leaders program. She also spent several years supporting immigrant rights organizations in the United States and community organizations in Haiti, where she lived for several years. 

In addition to an undergraduate degree, Tricia holds a Master’s degree in International Development Studies from the University of Guelph, and Master’s and PhD degrees in Sociology & Anthropology from Florida International University in Miami.

Jenn Wynne
Case Coordinator, Human Trafficking Response Team, Income, Employment and Homelessness Supports Division, Regional Municipality of Durham

Jenn is a dynamic and passionate advocate in the field of human trafficking.  She has two decades of social service experience in diverse capacities such as Forensic Mental Health, Addictions, Crisis Response, Housing and Homelessness and Human Trafficking. For the past four years, Jennifer has been a Case Coordinator on the Human Trafficking Response Team, with the Region of Durham’s Income, Employment and Homelessness Supports Division. As part of Durham Region’s Human Trafficking Response Team, Jennifer provides rapid response to support Ontario Works clients who have identified experiencing Sex Trafficking, to access financial resources and deliver intensive wraparound support to these clients in partnership with agencies such as Victim Services and DRPS. She is skilled in providing client-centred supports and strives to promote systemic change that makes safe spaces for our community’s most vulnerable, such as the Monday Night Project. Her work is grounded in social justice, sex positive, anti-oppressive, harm reduction and trauma informed approaches and she is genuinely invested in supporting her clients to achieve their goals. 

Armine Yalnizyan
Fellow on the Future of Workers, Atkinson Foundation

Armine Yalnizyan is a leading voice on Canada’s economic scene. She is the Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers and writes a bi-weekly business column for the Toronto Star. She served as a senior economic policy advisor to the federal Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada in 2018 and 2019, and has been a member of a high-level task group on women in the economy convened by the federal Ministers of Finance and Middle Class Prosperity during the pandemic. Armine helped shape and advance the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Inequality Project from 2006 to 2016, provided weekly business commentary for CBC from 2011 to 2018, and served as Vice President and President of the Canadian Association for Business Economics from 2013-2019.