Workshops

Heather is happy to be part of the Tamarack team as the Associate Director for Cities Deepening Community practice. Before this position she was a Manager in the Learning Centre where she organized Community of Practices, learning opportunities, tools and resources for community change.  Heather brings over 12 years of public health knowledge to this position and 16 years of experience generating action at a grassroots level using ABCD and Collective Impact.

Dr. Ian Mauro is the Executive Director of the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions and Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. He holds a BSc in Environmental Science, Doctorate in Geography, is a former Canada Research Chair, and has held Faculty positions at Mount Allison University and the University of Winnipeg. 

 As a scientist and filmmaker, Mauro’s climate communications scholarship and multi-media research projects explore climate, energy, water and food security issues and the vital role of local and Indigenous knowledge.  

 His award-winning multi-media and documentary film projects include Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change (Co-Directed with Zacharias Kunuk), Beyond Climate (with Dr. David Suzuki), and The Climate Atlas of Canada (with the Prairie Climate Centre). 

 He has led numerous community-level and province-wide climate risk assessment and adaptation planning studies and is focused on applied efforts to increase social and ecological climate resilience across local, regional, and national scales. 

 Dr. Mauro can be contacted at ianmauro@uvic.ca 

A mixed-methods geographer by training whose research focused on Canadian UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, Sharmalene has worked for several interdisciplinary research centres focused on advancing community well-being and social justice through community partnerships, program evaluations, and learning opportunities. At Laurier, she ran the Program Evaluation Certificate and Summer Institute of Research Methods and developed an applied research agenda on equitable approaches to evaluation. At We All Count, founded by Heather Krause to promote data equity, Sharmalene coached not-for-profits on collecting and storing social identity data and other ways to think of and embed equity in data projects. Sharmalene is passionate about the not-for-profit sector and building community and is currently the Co-Chair of the International Cultural Research Network and the Board member of Reep Green Solutions after having been one of the staff who developed the community-engaged pilot RAIN stormwater management program in Kitchener-Waterloo.  

sharmalene.mendis-millard@uwaterloo.ca 

Laura leads Tamarack's Community Climate Transitions network. She is passionate about supporting cities and communities in their journeys towards ensuring a just, equitable and sustainable future for the next 7 generations and beyond. Through events, publications, communities of practice and other learning opportunities, Laura is helping advance the Sustainable Development Goals in Canada with a specific focus on the goals related to equity and climate change.

Prior to joining the Tamarack team, Laura was Advisor to the President & CEO at the McConnell Foundation where she contributed to building the fields of social innovation and social finance in Canada. She was previously with several federal government departments, including Employment and Social Development Canada's Social Innovation Division where she supported reconciliation efforts.

Laura completed a Bachelor of Commerce at Concordia University and a Master's in Global Studies through the University of Freiburg in Germany, which led her to study in Buenos Aires, Bangkok and Bologna as well. She has worked at the United Nations and co-authored a book on UN reform published in 2018, entitled A United Nations Renaissance: What the UN Is, and What It Could Be. Laura runs a social enterprise promoting women's economic empowerment in Uganda, which she co-founded in 2010. She currently lives in Montreal with her partner and daughter.

Zahra is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Vantage Point, a non-profit organization that provides training and capacity building support to other non-profit organizations across BC. She has worked in the non-profit sector for over 15 years with experience in international development, housing and homelessness, community development, youth entrepreneurship, fundraising, and microfinance. She has a master's in globalization and international development from the University of Ottawa, a bachelor's in history from UBC, and an associate certificate in fundraising management from BCIT. Zahra sits on the board of Lookout Foundation, Cuso International and Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society, and is a member of the Honorary Governor’s Council of Vancouver Foundation. She is the Chair of BC’s Poverty Reduction Advisory Committee, an independent committee that advises government on policy developments related to poverty reduction and prevention. Zahra was recognized as one of Business in Vancouver’s Forty Under 40 in 2019 and was nominated for a Women of Distinction Award in the Non-Profit category in 2022.  

  Zahra and her family are grateful to live on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples.  She spends her free time enjoying the outdoors, doing yoga, kayaking, traveling, or playing board games with her 8-year-old daughter. 

Champion male traditional dancer from the east coast, Emele, is a member of the Mi'kmaq peoples of Chapel Island Potlotek. He comes from the Moose clan of Marshalls that gave him his love of the Mowi'omi or pow-wow, which shaped his culture and world views. Emele has been an Indigenous ambassador since the age of 7- knowing his mission at age 5 - making him the ultimate fit for his role as Indigenous Liaison, where he will be informing RDN on the history and narrative of Indigenous peoples and relating this to our work. 
With his Child & Youth Care degree from Grant MacEwan University, Emele developed his strength-based developmental approach to people. The theoretical developmental knowledge gained informed a more in-depth understanding of barriers inhibiting Indigenous peoples through intergenerational trauma. Emele aspires to connect Indigenous peoples' stories to our actions and hopes to create healing within communities and share this narrative. 
Emele enjoys narrative-based role-playing games such as D&D for their therapeutic benefits and cooking for friends & family with his 10+ years of experience as a professional cook. His favourite meals include pasta, homemade ravioli and focaccia bread with jalapeno.

Myriam is the Consulting Director for Quebec at the Tamarack Institute. She’s passionate about community innovation and development and brings her understanding of the diversity of experiences made in Quebec into Tamarack’s five interconnected areas of practices (collective impact, community engagement, collaborative leadership, community innovation and evaluating impact) leading to community change. She believes that we can accelerate our effectiveness by learning from one another, thus increasing our social impact and even inspiring others beyond our borders.

Prior to joining Tamarack, she was the lead on the Collective Impact Project (CIP), Montréal’s neighbourhood-based strategy to reduce poverty, an initiative operated by Centraide of Greater Montreal and supported by a major philanthropic, public and community collaboration. This experience gives Myriam practical knowledge of what it takes to navigate complex partnerships and engage with different types of stakeholders in city-wide change.

With 15 years of experience as a project manager in the field of social impact, she loves to explore new and creative pathways to collaboration across sectors. She contributes her experience in philanthropy to changemakers aiming to support collective impact, capacity building and transformative community change.

Derek Cook joined the Canadian Poverty Institute in 2015, bringing over thirty years of leadership experience in the government, academic and non-profit sectors.

Derek holds an M.Sc. in Rural Planning and Development and a Certificate in Knowledge Mobilization from the University of Guelph,  a B.A. in Political Studies from McGill University, and is a Registered Social Worker with the Alberta College of Social Workers.

Derek’s work includes extensive experience in social research and policy development at The City of Calgary and in community development with various organizations across Canada.

Previously he served as the Executive Director of the Calgary Poverty Reduction Initiative, leading the Mayor’s task force on poverty reduction.  

Currently, Derek is a member of the Commission on Justice and Peace of the Canadian Council of Churches, serves on the Board of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Alberta, and is an Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Poverty Research and Management (InsPeK) at the University of Malaysia - Kelantan.

Tiara Letourneau is CEO for Rewrite Capital Advisors, a private investment and advisory firm dedicated to creating employee ownership for mid-market companies. She has extensive experience in financial strategy and innovation. Previously, she consulted at the UNFCCC’s Green Climate Fund on the design of its Private Sector Facility, which was tasked with private sector engagement in the Paris Agreement’s climate goals. Her work there included the design of their flagship micro-, small-, and medium-size enterprise engagement strategy and Mobilizing Funds at Scale Programme, resulting in a pipeline of more than $43 billion USD in proposals globally.

Prior experience includes strategic consulting in Islamic banking, microfinance, retail banking, and Aboriginal Markets in Canada. Tiara holds a Master of Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, and a Master of Finance from Cambridge University.

In 2010, Tiara was awarded an Action Canada Fellowship and chaired the Action Canada Task Force on Canadian Household Debt. She was also awarded a Financial Leader’s Award in 2014 from the People’s Bank of China School of Finance at Tsinghua University, Beijing. She is passionate about reducing poverty and unleashing potential among the underestimated.

Souleik Kheyre is a Policy Development Officer in the Community Benefits Unit, in the Social Development, Finance and Administration division at the City of Toronto. Souleik leads and coordinates strategic policy analysis, research and program development to advance City of Toronto equity initiatives that contribute to Toronto’s inclusive economic development. Working at the intersections of community development, social policy, and project management, Souleik also has experience working as a Community Development Officer and has contributed to the City’s efforts to create and implement meaningful youth violence prevention programming.

Souleik holds a Master of Industrial Relations & Human Resources from the University of Toronto. She brings her experiences working in the grassroots and non-profit sectors focusing on youth employment and community engagement. She is passionate about working collaboratively with community members and decision makers to create more equitable and accessible spaces for all. In her spare time, Souleik volunteers as Management Consultant with Endeavour Consulting, helping to build capacity for non-profits across Canada. 

Rachel Dick is the Senior Manager, Social Purpose Business Innovation at Coast Capital, Canada’s largest federal credit union, and is responsible for a portfolio of business innovation and transformation initiatives that serve to enrich the lives of people and businesses in Canada.  Rachel has over 15 years of experience in the financial sector in a wide range of roles including leadership, retail banking, sponsorship and events, volunteer management, community investment, corporate campaigns, and employee programs.  

She currently serves as a member of the Volunteer Canada Board of Directors and as the past-Chair of their Corporate Community Engagement Council.  She is also a member Coast Capital’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Council. She holds a degree in Communications and a certificate in Public Relations from Simon Fraser University. 

Karenveer is a community animator supporting Tamarack’s Participatory Grantmaking project in Peel. She is a longtime GTA resident and brings a deep understanding of the Peel region. She is also a community organizer and is excited to apply her perspective to this project. Karenveer received her BA from the University of Toronto, where she double majored in political science and diaspora studies and minored in English. She is completing her M.Ed at OISE (U of T), where she is studying curriculum and pedagogy. Karenveer is particularly passionate about liberatory education and knowledge-building processes grounded within community.

I'm Jodie (she/her) and I am the Project Coordinator for the Communities Building Youth Futures Oxford County initiative. In my role, I guide and support a team of youth and community leaders through the Collective Impact process to improve high school graduation rates and youth outcomes locally. I have frontline experience in mental health and addictions, supportive housing, justice, child welfare, and hospital settings, all of which involved working with youth. I am passionate about social justice work and creating systemic change. I firmly believe that systems-work is people-work. Approaching systems-work with similar values to frontline work, such as focusing on building relationships and understanding the stories of the people and the greater systems around them, are critical in order to make meaningful change.  

In my personal life, I live with my partner of nearly seven years and our two fur babies Morty (our cat), and Archie (our dog). We love playing golf, going for trail walks, learning about other cultures through the art of food, and playing board games. I'm also a die-hard Hamilton (the musical), Pittsburgh Steelers, and Lord of the Rings fan (if you can't tell I'm more of a generalist than a specialist when it comes to my interests!). I'm so excited to get to spend some time with you all talking about the importance of engaging with youth to support change efforts.

Clairice Tuckanow (she/her) is a Youth Engagement Coordinator with Communities Building Youth Futures Regina in Saskatchewan. Clairice is a Metis Cree woman originally from the Okanese First Nation in Treaty 4 Territory. She finds her passion by learning more about her culture and the people that she comes from. Clairice spent her early professional years learning about multimedia and capturing stories from Indigenous voices. she is currently involved with engagements and creating opportunities for youth from diverse backgrounds across Turtle Island to help develop and strengthen each of their unique gifts. Clairice also serves as a member on the Indigenous Leadership Circle with United Way Saskatoon and Area and is also an Anti-Racism Coordinator for VIDEA’s Rise-Up Team. In her free time, Clairice likes to write poetry or explore new surroundings with her sons and enjoy life in the prairies. 

My name is Hale Ferguson, and I use they/them pronouns. I'm a Youth Engagement Coordinator in Prince Edward County working predominantly with 18-30-year-olds in my community. I work for a not-for-profit organization called Prince Edward Learning Centre which focuses on programs that increase literacy and essential skills and offer educational and employment upgrading and training. My role as youth engagement coordinator has given me ample opportunities to connect with folks in PEC who are wanting to create a better rapport within their community. I was able to be a part of the first youth-led pride event in our community that brought over 300 people in attendance. One of my passions other than working with youth is creating events within my community. I'm currently building a trailer that will house a mobile bar for pop-up events in PEC for the summer. 

Lisa Helps is the former two-term Mayor of Victoria, British Columbia, currently working as Housing Solutions Advisor to BC’s Premier for the start-up of BC Builds. As mayor Lisa worked hard to create deep collaboration across the community to get Victoria ready for the future. Areas of focus included climate action, housing, resilient infrastructure, reconciliation, and economic prosperity and inclusive economies. Learn more about Lisa at www.lisahelpscities.ca .

Kristin is a helper, speaker and advocate, specializing in Indigenous knowledge sharing, intersectional diversity and Afro-Indigenous identity.

Kristin is experienced in community development both personally, professionally and in her current role on the City of Timmins Council. Kristin was the first person of colour to become the Mayor of the City of Timmins, and is now a City Councillor.
As a Black and Indigenous woman, Kristin’s intersectional identities help her empathize with diverse communities and bring compassion and kindness to her work. She is the descendant of a signatory to Treaty 9, who speaks with kindness and passion about integrating every individual’s personal responsibility into action toward reconciliation and decolonization.

With over 19 years of professional experience coupled with lived experience, she holds a BA in Equity, Diversity, and Human Rights.
Based in Timmins, Ontario, Kristin enjoys spending time with her daughters and being on the Land.

Melanie Burner has over 25 years of experience working in not-for-profit organizations and municipal government with a diverse background in the arts, seniors services, accessibility and poverty reduction. In her current role as Program Manager of Social Development with the City of Richmond, Melanie oversees policy and planning to advance poverty reduction, ensure accessibility and respond to the needs of seniors in collaboration with local community organizations and residents.  

Meaghon Reid started as the Executive Director of Vibrant Communities Calgary in September 2019, bringing diverse experience in organizational leadership, advocacy, collective impact initiatives and policy change. Before working at VCC, Meaghon was the Executive Director of the Brenda Strafford Centre, the province's largest second-stage domestic violence shelter. She experienced firsthand the critical work being undertaken under the Enough for All Strategy has positively impacted the lives of people experiencing poverty. Before moving to Calgary, Meaghon was the Associate Vice President at the National Council for Behavioral Health in Washington, DC, where she led the expansion of the Mental Health First Aid USA Program. Meaghon also worked as the Mental Health First Aid program director at the Mental Health Commission in Ottawa, Ontario. Meaghon is a proud Memorial University of Newfoundland graduate who studied economics and political science.