DesignMeets X OCAD U: Design & The Love Economy

Rev. Bri-anne Swan is the Lead Minister of East End United Regional Ministry in Toronto, an Affirming congregation of the United Church of Canada that offers food and community programs responding to neighbours experiencing poverty and food insecurity with attentiveness and care.

A diaconal minister, writer, singer-songwriter, and digital creator, Bri-anne is deeply committed to reaching those who have been told they do not belong—especially in spaces where traditional church models feel inaccessible.

Bri-anne has created several projects exploring the intersection of spirituality and social justice, recently partnering with Broadview Magazine on a new Substack called Wilderness Times.

As a spiritual accompanier to incarcerated individuals on Texas’ Death Row, much of Bri-anne’s theological and creative work is shaped by her engagement with the death penalty in the United States. The questions that guide her work are: Who is being forgotten? Who benefits? And how are we being called to respond?

Fion brings a blend of technical acumen and strategic vision as co-founder of Asenion, an end-to-end AI governance solution trusted for driving innovation and risk management. Recognized for her board memberships and governance leadership, Fion has guided Fortune 500 companies toward ethical AI adoption and has earned accolades for her role in digital policy, ethical technology, and sustainable innovation. Her experience spans leadership roles in high-growth technology companies including Intuit, Sapient, ATG, and Fairly AI, where she has built and scaled teams while navigating competitive, fast-evolving markets.

Dr. Mark Nowaczynski is the Clinical Director of House Calls, an interprofessional program providing ongoing comprehensive home-based primary care to frail, marginalized, and house-bound seniors whose needs cannot be met by typical office-based primary care delivery due to a combination of medical, social, and cognitive frailty. House Calls is based at SPRINT Senior Care, a non-profit community support services agency in Toronto. 

Using photography to raise awareness and advocate for change, his work has been profiled in national print, radio, and television media as well as in the Gemini Award winning National Film Board of Canada documentary film ‘House Calls’. A solo exhibit of his photographs, ‘House Calls with my Camera’, opened at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2010 and remained on display for over a year.

He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto.

Having experienced firsthand the trauma of homelessness and addiction, Ryan doesn’t just talk about change — he lives it. Ryan launched Tiny Tiny Homes out of a simple conviction: everyone deserves a safe place to sleep. Ryan has over fifteen years of experience within the construction industry. He devotes time and energy to building hope through Tiny Tiny Homes — while maintaining a full-time role as Health & Safety Advisor at EllisDon.

Under Ryan’s leadership, Tiny Tiny Homes designs and builds mobile, dignified transitional housing that replaces unsafe tent encampments with a secure place for individuals to breathe, rest, and rebuild. Whether he’s refining a trailer-frame layout, advocating at City Hall, or guiding a volunteer crew, Ryan is tireless in creating a path from crisis to stability — grounded in lived experience and powered by skilled craft. For Ryan, it’s more than construction and logistics: it’s about dignity, mobility, and possibility. He believes sustainable transitional housing requires both technical excellence and human empathy. Storytelling, system design and community building all intersect in his work — because he knows that housing is not just a structure, but a platform for transformation.

Sarah Tranum is an Associate Professor of Social Innovation Design at OCAD University and Founder/Design Strategist of TrickleUp Design. She is an expert in participatory design projects for women’s economic empowerment and has collaborated with a broad range of international stakeholders to assess the needs of organizations to develop systems-based solutions to complex challenges. Sarah is part of a SSHRC-funded multi-disciplinary research team investigating food waste and exploring opportunities for creating a circular food economy in Canada. She also co-led a SSHRC-funded project focused on implementing a systems-based approach for delivering menstrual hygiene products and education in low-resource communities in Zimbabwe.

Sarah conducted a multiyear study, funded by Grand Challenges Canada, focused on women’s health and women-centred production, which was based in India. She has worked with diverse communities as a microfinance practitioner in the U.S. and Canada, implementing community-based, small business lending, savings, and training products. Sarah has also developed products from the ground up and consults with a broad range of clients to help them strengthen their design processes and business strategy.

Sarah has created and taught courses across OCAD University’s Faculty of Design that focus on guiding undergraduate and graduate students as they imagine and develop innovative and sustainable models for using design as a tool for social change. She co-authored and guides the OCAD University’s popular Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation Minor program and spearheads the Social Innovation Design Pathway. This includes the Design Abroad course that has brought 70 OCAD U undergraduate students to work internationally with local communities in India, Costa Rica, and Nepal. 

Sarah received a Master of Design in Designed Objects degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, a Certificate in Interdisciplinary Design Strategy from the Institute without Boundaries, and her undergraduate degree in Policy Analysis and Management from the School of Human Ecology at Cornell University. She also earned a Certificate in Residential Design and Construction from the Yestermorrow Design/Build School.