Our Team
Principal Investigator
Salomeh Ahmadi, (she/her), BHSc, CYCP, MBA, is a professor, consultant, researcher, and activist. She teaches in the fields of social services, child and youth care, police foundations, and community development. She is interested in equity-based issues, and the interrelations across health, community, justice and socio-economics. She is passionate about learning and holistic well-being. She has spoken at conferences and panels and is always open for partnerships and creative collaborations.
Current Team
- Natalie Pilla, Research Assistant
- Jasmin Dooh, LAMP CHC partner
Thank You to Past Team Members
- Charlotte Larisey, Event Support
- Vanessa Vejar, Outreach
- Daniel Plant, Outreach
- Jasmine George, Research Assistant
- Tasfia Naoshin, Research Assistant
- Johnathan Palmer, Outreach
Thank you to our Advisory Members
past and present
- Branislava Cosic
- Carly Bowie
- Epi Leibovitch-Opar
- Irene Jones
- Kristyn Farrell
- Sonja Schweiger
- Tenzin Khando
- Vanessa Keall-Vejar
- Sharvari Bhosale
- Karen McFarlane
- Tuku Matthews
- Bri Gardner
- Alan Duddin
- Abhishek Pundir
- Joseph Mele
- Carolyn MacLeod
Current Research Team
Learn more about the 3-year research project, process or ways to get involved.
Salomeh Ahmadi, BHSc, MBA, is an professor, consultant, researcher, and activist. A community organizer since she was a youth in the west end of Toronto, she’s passionate about radical change, authentic collaborations, and creative thinkers who imagine what’s not yet possible. She centres equity-seeking groups, and the interrelations across community, justice and socio-economics. As the lead researcher on this project, she is dedicated to amplifying community participation in the design, implementation and solutions surrounding their needs. She teaches in the field of social services, child and youth care, and community development. She is always open to creative collaborations and partnerships.
Salomeh Ahmadi
Project Lead
Jasmine Dooh
LAMP CHC Partner
Jasmine Dooh
LAMP CHC Partner
Daniel Plant
Outreach Worker
Daniel Plant
Outreach Worker
Johnathan Palmer, RSW, MSW, works in outreach for the research project. He supports community members by advocating for affordable housing and providing information about the research project. He has experience in the social services field supporting children, youth, adults, and seniors with various abilities, backgrounds, and needs. He has experience in schools, post-secondary institutions, shelters, group homes, non-profit agencies, government offices, and private residences. He has held many roles including social worker, counsellor, mediator, housing locator, assessor, student advisor, case manager, mentor, group home worker, personal care worker, and more. He is passionate about using his knowledge and skills to engage with vulnerable groups to improve well-being. He advocates for housing as a human right and believes in community engagement to ensure all perspectives are heard and understood to develop meaningful actions that address the needs of the community. Johnathan was raised in the Maritimes and also has interests in astronomy, sustainability, basic income, proportional representation, and advocating for children’s outdoor play.
Johnathan Palmer
Outreach Worker
Previous Research Team
Natalie was born and raised in Toronto, spent her early years attending school in South Etobicoke, and has personal experience of unstable & unaffordable housing in the city. She now lives in the north-west end of Toronto and hopes to continue living in the city she calls home – but current rent prices are proving that goal to be barely within reach.Armed with her background in Psychology and her Research Analyst post-grad certificate, she aims to support research that will lead to improvements in people’s mental wellbeing. She has worked on and hopes to continue working on projects focused on access to mental health support, education, and most of all – housing.She hopes that her work engaging with community members, and gathering, analyzing, and sharing research insights will help mobilize knowledge, raise awareness, and inform policy-making around housing issues across the city.
Jasmine George is a student currently working towards her bachelor’s degree in Film and Media Production at Humber College. In 2019, she completed the Media Foundations program at Humber’s North campus, receiving her certificate with honours. While in high school, she worked as a videographer for the Ottawa-based social enterprise Hot Shoe Productions. During her time there, she worked on projects for Shopify and The John Howard Society. In the summer of 2018, she worked as a documentary filmmaker for the Social Planning Council of Ottawa, making a series of short documentaries about issues facing Ottawa seniors, looking at bed bugs, ageing in place, learning English as a second language, and the benefits of owning a pet. Jasmine is a writer and storyteller who believes that stories have great power. As a storyteller, she believes that every story matters and that everyone has a voice, and story, that deserves to be heard. She believes that real social change will only happen once we learn to listen to the stories of our most vulnerable community members
Jasmine George
Daniel Plant
Outreach Worker
Daniel Plant
Outreach Worker
Johnathan Palmer, RSW, MSW, works in outreach for the research project. He supports community members by advocating for affordable housing and providing information about the research project. He has experience in the social services field supporting children, youth, adults, and seniors with various abilities, backgrounds, and needs. He has experience in schools, post-secondary institutions, shelters, group homes, non-profit agencies, government offices, and private residences. He has held many roles including social worker, counsellor, mediator, housing locator, assessor, student advisor, case manager, mentor, group home worker, personal care worker, and more. He is passionate about using his knowledge and skills to engage with vulnerable groups to improve well-being. He advocates for housing as a human right and believes in community engagement to ensure all perspectives are heard and understood to develop meaningful actions that address the needs of the community. Johnathan was raised in the Maritimes and also has interests in astronomy, sustainability, basic income, proportional representation, and advocating for children’s outdoor play.
Johnathan Palmer
Outreach Worker
Housing Advisory Committee
Carly is a life-long resident of South Etobicoke. Since 2018, she has been an active member of the Lakeshore-Area Affordable Housing Advocacy Group (LAAHAG) with LAMP Community Health Centre. Carly holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Ryerson University and is currently pursuing a Master of Social Work from the University of Toronto. Carly joins this research and advocacy project with an extensive background in human rights and housing justice from her previous work with The Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA). Through this experience she has worked with hundreds of people facing eviction and/or discrimination in housing and conducted numerous public education workshops across the province. Carly is deeply motivated to use her skills in her local community using principles of community development to create lasting and sustainable changes for positive housing outcomes for residents.
Carly Bowie
A resident of Central and South Etobicoke since 2005 and have extensive capacity building experience from partnerships within the TDSB, Youth Sports and The Gardens Lakeshore. Currently an Honours Bachelor of Community Development and Global Citizenship student, having previously studied at UBC and Ryerson. A mother, small business owner and outdoor/gardening enthusiast, I am particularly interested in research surrounding housing access and affordability inclusive of green space and food security development systems. South Etobicoke community sustainability and how we can collectively work with existing community stakeholders is a passion I am grateful to be a part of within this advisory research group.
Vanessa Vejar
Kristyn is graduating with her Social Service Worker diploma in 2021 and will be pursuing her Bachelors of Social Work degree starting in September. Kristyn is passionate about supporting individuals experiencing social issues including mental health, addictions, incarceration, homelessness, and housing affordability, and she is interested in analyzing the intersection of these social issues. She is hoping to apply her SSW skills through this project, to engage in research and advocacy surrounding housing affordability. Kristyn is also passionate about community development and strives to implement anti-oppressive framework in her practice, while engaging the community through assets-based practice and Community Based Participatory Research.
Kristyn Farrell
Sonja Schweiger is an active member of the Martin Luther Church community in Mimico and a recent graduate of the Waterloo School of Architecture. A strong belief in the ability of the built environment to be a part of progressive social change and roots in South Etobicoke sparked an interest in applying to join the advisory committee. As a renter who has been challenged with mental illness and a volunteer who has seen the complex challenges neurodiverse and low-income individuals face, Sonja is curious about the points of intersection between mental health, food security, and housing – both in terms of barriers and avenues of holistic support. Sonja brings a background in design and communications to the team and is excited to learn more about community based participatory research, as well as policy and how it can be affected for the benefit of the community.
Sonja Schweiger
Irene emigrated to Canada in 1967. As volunteer she helped create the New Toronto Nursery School and the YMCA Childcare Centre at Lamp. She became the Director of Storefront Humber Home Support Services during the 1980s and also volunteered as the Chair of Home Share Etobicoke. Irene became a City Councillor in 1988. In 1993 she championed a Land Exchange which helped Humber College (south campus) expand. As Chair of the City of Etobicoke Board of Health she led Etobicoke to become a Smoke Free community. She also helped develop a Lodging House By-law. In 1997 she was appointed to the Toronto Board of Health, Urban Environment and Development Committee, Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA) and helped develop the Animal Services By-Law. She supported increased funding to combat domestic violence against Women. She also championed the restoration of the Assembly Hall. In February 2002, Irene was appointed as the new City of Toronto Water Advocate and Chaired the Wet Weather Advisory Committee. Irene also volunteered with the TRCA as Co-Chair of the Etobicoke Mimico Watershed Coalition to fight for creek preservation and reclamation and is currently volunteering in her community with CCFEW and the South Eatonville Residents Assoc.
Irene Jones
Tenzin Khando is located in Ontario, Canada living in the Etobicoke area. Originally, her nationality is Indian but is of Tibetan descent. She’s familiar with the languages Tibetan, English and Hindi. In her 2nd year of the Social Service Worker program at Humber College, she’s passionate about fighting for social justice, and improving the lives and communities by advocating for their needs. She also feels that a major issue in the community is accessibility to housing. With this committee, she hopes to be able to assist finding where we lack as a community, to provide affordable housing. She feels that her experience in the Advisory Committee will help her become an experienced and knowledgeable Social Worker. She hopes, in the future, to be able to work with all age groups, in being able to help them with their issues. In her spare time, her hobbies are reading manga and novels, cooking, and spending time outdoors visiting new places. She and her family share a love for food. They love various types of cuisines. Recently, they’ve tried Afghan food and fell in love with the food. But most of all what they enjoy from eating these many cuisines is sharing these moments together as a family. Tenzin’s also a fan of International T.V. dramas, she loves watching Chinese Soap Opera Dramas, Kdrama and Japanese and Thailand and many others.
Tenzin Khando
Branislava is a Registered Early Childhood Educator. She is resourceful, innovative, and a dedicated educator. As an energetic and enthusiastic person, she hopes to contribute to advocacy for affordable housing. Well-traveled and very culturally sensitive, she’s a strong believer in early childhood education as the key to further education and success in life.
Branislava Cosic
Sonja Schweiger is an active member of the Martin Luther Church community in Mimico and a recent graduate of the Waterloo School of Architecture. A strong belief in the ability of the built environment to be a part of progressive social change and roots in South Etobicoke sparked an interest in applying to join the advisory committee. As a renter who has been challenged with mental illness and a volunteer who has seen the complex challenges neurodiverse and low-income individuals face, Sonja is curious about the points of intersection between mental health, food security, and housing – both in terms of barriers and avenues of holistic support. Sonja brings a background in design and communications to the team and is excited to learn more about community based participatory research, as well as policy and how it can be affected for the benefit of the community.
Sonja Schweiger
