Profiles
Research Team
Izumi Sakamoto, MSW, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. A former Fulbright Scholar from Japan, she received her Ph.D. from University of Michigan. Dr. Sakamoto’s expertise includes community-based research, anti-oppressive practice and empowerment, and her recent research focuses on skilled immigrants’ employment and homeless women.
Josie Ricciardi, MSW, RSW, is the Coordinator of Community Services at the Regent Park Community Health Centre, and has long years of experience working with women who are homeless and has also coordinated a successful art program, Adelaide Women’s Art Program.
Natalie Wood, MA, is an Independent Visual Artist who works on the community economic development of women who are low income or homeless through arts, and teaches in the area of Social Services at George Brown College.
Jen Plyler, MSW, is a Community Worker and activist. She’s currently working for The Stop Community Food Centre and also coordinates the project Shape Your Life, which is a free recreational boxing project for women and trans survivors of violence. In 2007 she was part of the Women’s Housing Takeover organized by the Women Aainst Poverty Collective (WAPC). Jen is an active member in No More Silence (NMS)- a group that works to raise awareness about violence against Indigenous women- and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP). She has a Bachelor’s Degree in International Development Studies (IDS) and worked for several years in both Palestine and Lebanon with grassroots women’s rights NGOs before coming back to Toronto to complete a Master’s in Social Work (MSW).
Billie Allan, MSW, is a PhD student at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, focusing on anti-oppressive practice and indigenous knowledge in social work education.
Rose Cameron is a PhD candidate at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, focusing on Aboriginal parents’ experiences with the child welfare system.
Aisha Chapra, MSW, is currently living in Karachi, Pakistan teaching yoga and teaching undergraduate university students in various subjects such as World History & Postcolonial literature. She is active in the volunteer community, devoting her time to teaching yoga to women in the Karachi Prison, and coordinating computer donations to community based schools.
Matthew Chin, BA, is a Research Assistant at the University of Toronto Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work where he has been involved in the research project, “Coming Together: Homeless Women, Housing and Social Support” since 2006. Matthew holds an Honours B.A. in International Development Studies with an additional Major in Socio-cultural Anthropology from the University of Toronto. Currently, he is the Co-Coordinator of the event, “Homelessness – Solutions from Lived Experiences through Arts-Informed Research.
Lily Grewal, MSW.
Bixi Lobo-Molnar, BA.
Advisory Board Members
Tiesha Anderson is a transwoman with experience of homelessness who is a member on our Advisory board and has been actively involved in presenting at Coming Together public events.
Brandi Nashkewa is an Aboriginal woman with experience of homelessness. Brandi is involved in many peer harm reduction efforts in Toronto and has been part of a number of research studies in Toronto such as the Street Health Report 2007.
Sheila Samuels is a transwoman with experience of homelessness who has been involved with the Coming Together project. She is an advocate and a community leader.
Leahanne Swan is a transwoman with experience of homelessness who has been involved with the Coming Together project.
Katherine is an Aboriginal transwoman who has experience with homelessness and is an Advisory Board member of the Coming Together project.
Lida is a transwoman who has experience with homelessness and is an Advisory Board member for the Coming Together project.
Marie is a woman with experience with homelessness who is an Advisory Board member for the Coming Together project.