Cynthia Belaskie is the Managing Director of the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative (CHEC).

CHEC is a nationwide partnership of academics, government, industry, and non-profit organizations who are committed to creating high-quality research that can support housing policy development and inform future housing programming. CHEC is part of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation-funded Collaborative Housing Research Network that enables research on housing conditions, needs, and outcomes in the National Housing Strategy’s priority areas. 

Cynthia is a partnership builder and evidence translator. She helps accelerate the evidence-to-impact cycle for CHEC and its partners. She is an active member of Research Impact Canada and received a Lifetime Service Award from the Alcohol and Drugs History Society, an international academic organization. 

Cynthia received an MA and has done doctoral work in History at York University with a focus on gender, cities, and health.

Michelle Bilek is the National Field Organizer for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH),  providing policy, advocacy, and support to Canadian networks, organizations, and communities to elevate the needs and voices of our most vulnerable community members.

Her work to end homelessness started locally, by bringing activists, advocates, and stakeholders together to form the Peel Alliance to End Homelessness. 

She serves as a director on several boards, including the Regional Diversity Roundtable of Peel; Homelessness Strategy Partnership, Community Advisory Board; and MOYO Health. 

Michelle is also a host on Sauga News Talk 960AM radio show “Peel Matters,” which discusses issues and champions in Peel Region. She volunteers at Eden Food For Change, providing service and fresh food to those who are suffering from food insecurity.

Kaelen Boyd, M.S.W, R.S.W., is a Senior Policy Advisor for the Ontario Association of Social Workers, where she guides the Association’s policy work towards equitable mental wellness across Ontario’s social systems. 

She specializes in mental health, health education, and corrections policy in Ontario. Her experience as a frontline social worker in educational, health, and community settings grounds her policy work in the real experiences of people. 

Kaelen previously worked as the Policy and Government Relations Lead for the Institute for Advancements in Mental Health, with a focus on health system transformation. 

She holds a master’s degree of Social Work from the University of Toronto.

Michael Braithwaite is the CEO for Blue Door Support services, a charity in York Region working to rapidly rehouse men, families, and youth, as well as to provide them access to health and employment services. 

Michael has over 29 years’ experience in the non-profit sector.  For the last 11 years, he’s worked with organizations dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness. 

Michael’s past roles include a long-term stint at the YMCA, serving as CEO for 360kids, and, most recently, as CEO for Raising the Roof. 

He’s a Brock University and Georgian College graduate and is very proud of his board work both with Family Day GTA and A Way Home Canada.

Mamta Chail is CEO for Youthdale Treatment Services, which supports child and youth mental wellness.

Social Advocate/Disrupter and Mother of Two. These are just a few things that describe and drive Mamta’s passion for wellness and sharpen her focus on improving the mental health and quality of life of children, youth, and families. 

Prior to her role at Youthdale, Mamta’s background includes over 20 years’ experience in the not-for-profit sector in counselling, addictions, mental health, justice, and residential support. 

When she is not working, advocating, or disrupting, Mamta spends her time with her family enjoying copious amounts of coffee and chocolate.

Camara Chambers is the Senior Manager of Partnerships and Leadership Development at the Ryerson Leadership Lab. She has been chosen as one of 100 Black Women in Canada to Watch, she is a CivicAction DiverseCity Fellow, and was recognized as a national leader in The Philanthropist. 

Raised in England, Camara graduated with a law degree from the University of Liverpool before pivoting to build her career in the nonprofit sector. She was drawn to organizations that had a strong focus on equity and civic engagement, which led her to lead a national policy program for Europe’s largest LGBTQ charity and eventually become the Executive Director of Volunteer Toronto.

Her superpower is building relationships and her role at the Ryerson Leadership Lab involves creating community partnerships and designing leadership programs for the next generation of Canada’s leaders. 

When not in the office, Camara spends her time leading Let’s Hike T.O, the city’s first and only hiking community focused on inclusivity.

Diana Chan McNally (she/they) (Dipl. Of Community Work, BFA, MA, MEd), a former frontline worker, is the Training and Engagement Coordinator for the Toronto Drop-in Network. She oversees advocacy initiatives and learning opportunities for 56 organizations supporting unhoused people across the City of Toronto.

As someone with lived-experience of social services and of being unhoused, Diana’s work focuses on human rights and equity issues for people who are experiencing homelessness. She is particularly involved in rights’ protections for residents of encampments.

Diana is also an instructor in George Brown College’s Social Service Worker and Community Worker programs, and has served on the steering committees and boards of Justice for Children and Youth and Health Providers Against Poverty.

Sasha Elford is a nonprofit professional with experience spanning advocacy, communications, volunteer management, and fundraising. She brings an intersectional lens to her work as Public Affairs Manager for March of Dimes Canada, where she advocates for an equitable society for people with disabilities.

She has built her career working on issues of gender equity and gender-based violence at Interval House, Girl Guides of Canada, and as co-founder of femifesto. 

Sasha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies and a Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Toronto.

Tiffany Fearon is the Policy and Research Manager for Family Councils Ontario (FCO), a provincial nonprofit organization dedicated to leading and supporting families in improving the quality of life for residents in long-term care. She also leads the organization’s Diversity and Inclusion and Conflict Resolution portfolios.

She joined the FCO team in 2018 to head Client Services and transitioned into the Policy & Research Manager position in fall, 2021. 

Tiffany is passionate about transforming the long-term care sector through policy dialogue and community engagement, and she hopes to leverage her experience and connections with family caregivers to drive change through her current role. 

Tiffany holds an Honours BA from the University of Toronto in Gender Studies, Sociology and Criminology, and a Post Graduate Certificate with Honours in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Humber College. Her most recent academic feat was the completion of a Public Policy and Administration certificate from the University of Guelph.

Berkha Gupta is Executive Director for LGBT YouthLine, a youth-led organization that provides peer support and leadership opportunities to 2SLGBTQ+ youth across Ontario. 

As a transmasculine nonbinary queer south Asian, most of their work has been focused on bettering the day-to-day experiences of 2SLGBTQ+ youth and people of colour. This has included creating community groups like A Colour Deep (for queer, trans south Asian people in the GTA), and QTBIPOCsauga (a monthly QTBIPOC meetup in Missisauga). 

Berkha is also an experienced facilitator primarily focused on supporting organizational and individual change to create more anti-oppressive, anti-racist, queer, and trans-positive spaces. 

In the last few years, Berkha’s interest has continued to move away from only building and organizing (i.e. doing things) to finding ways to prioritize healing, joy, and community (i.e. being present) in all of their spaces.

Sandani Hapuhennedige is a Senior Policy Advisor for Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO). This organization represents publicly-funded child and youth mental health centres across the province and advances policy solutions that are rooted in promoting a coordinated and high-quality system of care for children, youth, and families. 

Since joining CMHO, Sandani has continued to deepen the organization’s engagement with members, stakeholders, and those with lived experience on issues of access and continuous care. Through her role, she has also advanced capacity-building efforts within and across child- and youth-serving sectors. 

She is passionate about finding meaningful solutions to complex policy issues and applies the lenses of systems thinking and social determinants of health to her work. 

Sandani holds a Masters of Public Health from the University of Toronto and has extensive experience working with diverse, multi-sector stakeholders, both locally and globally. 

Her strategic planning and advocacy skills have benefited the advancement of several notable policy agendas and programs.

As Director, Strategic Initiatives for MakeWay, Todd Jaques collaborates with colleagues to develop, refine, and launch organization-wide initiatives related to a broad range of subject areas such as policy, impact investing, new programs, research and evaluation, and overall organizational strategy. 

Previously at MakeWay, Todd provided day-to-day operational and strategic supports to a diverse portfolio of community-led initiatives. Before joining MakeWay, Todd was the Director, Operations and Agriculture Partnerships at the Ontario Association of Food Banks, where he led the development of provincial food programs. 

Todd has a BA in Cultural Studies from Trent University and he lives in Hamilton with his wife and two children.

Krys Maki is an activist-scholar specializing in mixed-methods community-based research in the areas of gender-based violence, poverty, and surveillance. They recently published their first book: Ineligible: Single Mothers Under Welfare Surveillance. 

They currently work as Director of Research and Policy, Women’s Shelters Canada.

Janet McCrimmon is a strategic and transformative leader with over 20 years of senior leadership experience in not-for-profits in health, social services, and international development. 

Janet led the merger of two child and youth mental health (CYMH) agencies, forming Strides Toronto in 2020. As CEO of Strides Toronto, Janet supports the organization’s Lead Agency team, which plans for the effective delivery of Toronto’s CYMH services in collaboration with 23 organizations. 

Janet has a master’s degree in social work.

Chris Persaud is a Human Services Counsellor who has worked in the mental health sector for the past 21 years. He is currently the Program Director, Contract Monitoring and Intake Program for Habitat Services, a non-profit agency which contributes to the quality of life of consumer/survivors of the mental health system by improving housing standards and by providing supports. 

He has worked on community-based research projects exploring employment barriers for low-income tenants and developing peer support models. 

Chris is a member of the LGBTQ2+ community and embraces a harm reduction and recovery-based approach.

Trisha Scantlebury is Senior Manager, Research, Public Policy, and Evaluation (RPPE) at United Way Greater Toronto (UWGT). She has over 10 years’ experience leading research and policy studies while working collaboratively with the not-for-profit, public, and private sectors. Trisha currently oversees research committed to housing policy; specifically, how it strengthens the social infrastructure within low-income tower communities. 

She has held various roles at UWGT since 2015. She started as Research and Policy Specialist with the Peel Newcomer Strategy Group before becoming a Manager on the RPPE team. In those positions Trisha focused on immigration policy while identifying ways to better coordinate formal and informal services to strengthen immigrant and newcomer communities.

Trisha volunteers with the multi-service community agency Sistering, supporting socially isolated women and trans people who are unhoused or precariously housed in Toronto. 

Trisha holds a Master of Arts in Sociology and International Development from the University of Guelph.

Tim Smuck began his career in the public service in management and social housing for the City of London. He also worked with the largest public housing provider in the city, where he supported systems and policy change.

He is now the Director of Programs for Choices for Youth in St. John’s, Newfoundland, where he oversees a diverse staff team who deliver innovative programs in housing, family supports, and prevention. 

Tim completed an Honours BA in Political Science, with a minor in Social Justice and Peace Studies, from King’s College at Western University and then a Master of Public Administration at the School of Local Government at Western University, with a focus on Public Housing Policy. He is the first in his family to enter and graduate from university.

Rebecca Stulberg is the Chair of The Neighbourhood Group’s (TNG) Advocacy Committee. TNG develops and delivers a range of highly effective and innovative programs that aim to alleviate social and economic problems and to provide a better quality of life for all. 

As chair of the Advocacy Committee, Rebecca works with staff and stakeholders to identify policy and law reform issues that stand to impact the communities that TNG serves, and she is responsible for shaping the advocacy agenda for TNG.

Rebecca is a lawyer by training, and she currently works as a Senior Human Rights Consultant with the City of Toronto’s Equity and Human Rights Unit. Prior to joining the City, Rebecca worked on access to justice projects as a lawyer and outreach manager for Community Legal Education Ontario and as the Director of Centennial College’s Legal Information Centre.

Jen Turner is Manager, Research and Public Policy for BGC Canada (formerly Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada). BGC Canada provides safe, supportive places where children and youth can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, build positive relationships, and develop confidence and skills for life. 

She leads BGC Canada’s mental health and child poverty policy engagement strategies, which aim to make positive federal and provincial/territorial policy changes and investment in these two critical areas. 

Jen has six years of non-profit experience in public policy, research, government relations, evaluation, and community engagement. Jen is about creating system level change in support of marginalized communities. 

She has an MA in Public Policy and Administration and a Bachelors of Applied Science in Family and Community Social Services.

Pamela Uppal is the Director of Policy for the Ontario Nonprofit Network, which focuses on policy, advocacy, and services to strengthen Ontario’s nonprofit sector as a key pillar of our society and economy. 

She cares deeply about community, allyship, and equity. Over the past ten years, she has focused on bridging frontline work, research initiatives, and policy advocacy to help build equitable systems.

She has led a nonprofit organization as a student volunteer; she started her career in the nonprofit sector as an intake worker at a multi-service agency; she has designed diversity trainings, and she has collaborated on multiple gender equity research projects. 

She holds a master’s degree in Women Studies and Feminist Research.

Born in Chile and raised in North West Toronto, Pablo Vivanco is Director of Programs and Community Development for the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre.

Pablo has spent over 20 years working as a communicator and activist for numerous causes, as well as community and social organizations. Before joining the Jane/Finch Centre, he headed a 24-hour media organization based in Ecuador and he also worked at Toronto City Hall as Executive Assistant to a City Councillor. He held the role of Director of Programs at the Centre for Spanish Speaking People and he has served on the committees and boards of various community groups and institutions. 

Pablo holds a bachelor’s degree in History and Latin America and Caribbean Studies, as well as a master’s degree in Environmental Studies with a Planning Diploma, both from York University.

Michelle Westin is the Senior Analyst, Planning, Quality, and Risk for Black Creek Community Health Centre. 

With over 20 years’ experience in the not-for-profit health sector, she provides leadership and expertise in areas of strategic and operational planning, data analysis, quality improvement, research, and integration initiatives. 

Michelle’s volunteer experience includes serving on the boards of the Self-Help Resource Centre and Health Interpretation Network. She also is an Accreditation Reviewer with the Canadian Centre for Accreditation.

Elodie Young is the Director of Impact and Innovation for Prosper Canada, a national nonprofit focused on expanding the economic opportunity for those living on a low income through program and policy innovation. She supervises three critical teams: research and evaluation, learning and training, and policy. 

She started her career as a Deloitte consultant providing strategy development and business process analysis to large public and private entities. She found her true passion when she joined a leading financial empowerment player in New York City. 

She has a bachelor’s degree from the Richard Ivey School of Business and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Columbia University.