Climate Action

Her experience includes working on local, national and international fronts with large and small size public and private sector organizations. This wide scope of work is continually being enriched by volunteer activities that include FoodShare Toronto (former) and Toronto Food Policy Council (past chair).

Hélène’s work on solid waste started with the introduction of the Blue Box in Ontario. From that point onwards she has helped municipalities around the province and across the country to marry householder behaviour with diversion services. In addition to classic recyclables, this included household organics, leaf and yard waste, household hazardous waste, E-waste and unwanted textiles/apparel.

Hélène has a unique, wide ranging perspective on strengthening the local food system from ‘field to table’ and stemming the massive loss of edible food. She also has chaired the Food Waste Reduction Working Group of the Municipal Waste Association and spoken to many groups about reducing food waste. Hélène is also a member of the City of Toronto’s Solid Waste Department’s Circular Economy Working Group representing the National Association of Charitable Textile Recyclers. She has a B.A. (University of Waterloo) and an M. Ed. (University of Toronto).

With more than three decades of sustainable design experience, Paul is uniquely qualified to lead a highly collaborative design team for projects of diverse scales, types, and complexities. Sustainable creates architecture for a healthy planet, by utilizing non-toxic materials and dramatically reducing carbon-emissions. At the core of Paul’s philosophy and practice is the belief that design and construction solutions should be simple, sensitive, and sustainable.

Jon has an extensive background in early-stage and high-growth alternative energy companies. Prior to joining MaRS, he led business development for Hydrogenics Corporation, where he focused on strategic partnerships, product development, and sales and marketing. He was also involved in the introduction and launch of the company’s fuel cell and hydrogen generation divisions. Jon also previously worked with The Pembina Institute, leading corporate-consulting services on low-impact renewable energy and energy policy. In 1997 he co-founded Sustainable Energy Technologies, a leading Canadian provider of power electronics for the solar power industry.

Jon has degrees in civil environmental engineering from Queen’s University and in marketing and product management from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

She is currently a PhD student at the Institute of Health, Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. Her research is on the use of eHealth to deliver person-centered care for individuals requiring long term medications.

She is a founding member of Emerging Leaders for Environmental Sustainability in Healthcare (ELESH), a group raising awareness amongst healthcare stakeholders to drive systems change on issues related to environmental sustainability in healthcare. She is also an intern at the Centre for Sustainable Health Systems which has a vision for health systems characterized by practices and policies that are environmentally, socially, and financially sustainable, allowing us to address the health and care needs of today without compromising our ability to address those needs tomorrow.

Victoria holds a Masters in Public Health from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and worked for several years in Singapore as a health services researcher. She also has UX research experience working with healthcare, government and industry clients across Asia.

He has an international reputation as an expert in the intersection of forest management and human rights. He was one of the first in his field to focus on sustainability and the social aspects of forest management. In Ontario, he played a key role in modernizing the province’s forest tenure and stumpage systems. Mr. Kant has also worked extensively with Canada’s First Nations. He is a follower of Gandhiji. His values include love, respect, equity, fairness, non-violence, and collective responsibilities. He is committed to global sustainability.

Tina grew up in Germany, but while raising her three children in Toronto she realized that our environment in which children are growing up today is in dire need of support. She decided to change careers and completed a Master in Environmental Education with internships at the TDSB EcoSchools Program and Green Thumbs Growing Kids. She has volunteered extensively for school garden programs and green initiatives at elementary schools.

Tina works at the High Park Nature Centre to help connect children and adults with nature. For Tina waste reduction and nature connection are very closely related topics: It’s the lack of connectedness with nature that has created a culture in which we neglect to care how our actions impact nature. The creation of huge masses of plastic waste that linger for hundreds of years in our landfills and pollute our waters is a direct result of our nature disconnect. Tina strongly believes that cultural change is possible if we all take responsibility for what we leave behind and how we use nature – essentially how we live with nature in mind. Reducing waste in our daily lives is one of the first and most tangible things we can do to transform our unsustainable mindsets into sustainable ones.