Project Lead, Social Prescribing

• Dec 2022 - Present

Project lead for $3.7 million in funding to implement social prescribing for better mental health at 28 community-governed healthcare sites across Ontario and develop an online learning module on Equity Focused Social Prescribing for service providers. Project lead for $3.7 million in funding to implement social prescribing for better mental health at 28 community-governed healthcare sites across Ontario and develop an online learning module on Equity Focused Social Prescribing for service providers.

Director of Advocacy and Programs

• Aug 2017 - Nov 2022

I led programs in community and school spaces, ensuring our programs advance organizational advocacy goals around the right to food, racial justice, environmental justice, and reconciliation. I was responsible for securing funding & managing program budgets of ~$3 million each year, and directing a team of 30–40 staff who work across multiple city-wide program sites, providing them with training, mentoring, & performance support.I am very proud of the success we’ve had, together as a Senior Leadership Team, in guiding the organization from being a food security organization to a food justice organization. I’ve played a key role in developing many of our org’s statements & policies, and have led several of the community & staff consultation processes to make sure we are getting it right.I managed an Advocacy Team that ran winning campaigns on food justice issues, such as advancing the right to food in Toronto, pay transparency in the charitable sector, equitable access to public lands, & income security. I represented FoodShare in the media & am comfortable doing live segments on TV, radio, & in print, where I often explain complex social justice concepts in everyday language. I have developed & facilitated organization-wide trainings on anti-racism and food justice, white supremacy in the non-profit sector, the AODA & Ontario Human Rights Code, trans inclusive spaces, and fatphobia. I am most proud of the work I have led around body liberation & fat acceptance which included naming a problem in our sector, bringing in external trainers, chairing a taskforce of staff who generated a list of changes the organization needed to make, translating that into an action plan, & hosting public education opportunities for others to learn from our work. We’ve done this in a self-reflexive and transparent way, and sometimes I still can’t believe we’ve been able to come this far this fast.I started as Director of Programs in 2017 & added Advocacy to my role in 2021. Show less

Field to Table Schools + School Grown Senior Manager

• Jul 2016 - Aug 2017

In this role, I grew a team from 3 to 8 salaried staff and doubled our program budget, securing new multi-year funding sources – from the provincial government, private foundations, and corporations. I also negotiated new partnership agreements with the Toronto District School Board and got FoodShare added to the TDSB vendors list. I sat on the steering committees of both the Toronto Food Policy Council and the Coalition for Healthy School Food, pushing each of these organizations to pursue policy positions that advance equity. Show less

Field to Table Schools Manager

• Nov 2015 - Jul 2016

I initiated a full review and refresh of our food literacy lesson plans and, using an equity lens, created diverse learning materials that reflected the cultural foods of our participants, and then hired a staff team that reflected the communities we work with. I collaborated on the redesign of the staff personnel policies handbook and advocated for the addition of several equity based policies that centred decent work for staff. Taking a lead role in the fundraising campaign for the relocation of the organization, I was able to secure $250K in grant money and an additional $200K through a crowdfunding campaign to build a commercial kitchens at the new site. Show less

School Grown Senior Coordinator

• Nov 2012 - Oct 2015

Over my 3 years in this position, I created a schoolyard farming youth food justice social enterprise that provided 141 youth jobs, paid out $277K in youth wages, and generated $83K in social enterprise revenue.

Graduate Assistant

• Jan 2013 - Feb 2014

Farm Apprentice

• Apr 2012 - Oct 2012

Youth Engagement Coordinator

• 2009 - 2012

Finance Coordinator + Intake Worker

• Jan 2008 - Jan 2010

Group Facilitator

• 2009 - 2010

Coordinator - Summer Sizzlers Day Camp

• 2005 - 2008