Hi, I'm Aleks! My training and first work experiences were in the domain of education (both children and adults) and this foundation still serves me well. I continue to learn and share insight and experiences with others every day.

During the dissolution of ex-Yugoslavia, I entered the field of social justice as a trainer in the gender and human rights field, while co-founding a national organization in Serbia for women's political and economic rights. Coordinating country-wide get-out-and-vote campaigns in the 2000s, and collaboration with residents of remote and under-represented regions, opened up my path into community development and policy advocacy. Upon immigration to Quebec in 2003, I worked in autonomous social justice organization in Montreal, which allowed me to dream big once I settled in Waterloo Region in 2011.

The knowledge and skills I gained in the anti-racism field, housing advocacy, and anti-poverty organizing in the last 20 years changed me as I was guided by the lived experience and expertise of the people I worked with. Respect for people's autonomy, rights, and dreams strengthen my dedication to supporting decent and resourced social justice work in Waterloo Region.

Hi, I'm David! I started working for SDC in January 2022 as the Facilitator of the Lived Expertise Consultancy. I work with a cohort of talented lived experts and mutual aid groups on advocacy, policy development, and consultation with governments. In 2024 I am taking the lead on grants and program development so please keep me posted if you see an opportunity for new or expanded advocacy, research, or consulting.

I practice a therapeutic model of community engagement informed by principles of transformative mediation and nonviolent communication. You can read more about that model here. I am also a queer community theologian and organizer, so if you ever want to talk about reclaiming experiences of the divine in the fall of empire, please reach out.

Hi, I'm Heather! I coordinate the Festival of Neighbourhoods. The festival was founded in 1994 and is going strong - we just celebrated our 30th Anniversary and look forward to the next 30 years! I support neighbourhoods and neighbours to consider what they need in order to create inclusive gatherings that encourage people, who may be different from them but live near enough, to each other enjoy social and civic engagement.

Before taking on this position, I was a community-based documenter for A Better Tent City in its start-up year. I then moved on to another project called Covid Safe Pop-Up, which resulted in the establishment of the COVID Safe LIVING Room, an exercise in public education place-making.

My passion is working with groups experiencing marginalization, using applied theatre techniques to help animate their experiences to produce knowledge, build awareness, and encourage system change. I often collaborate with groups and projects associated with the Civic Hub and the Social Development Centre through the Kaleidoscope Two Minute Play Laboratory and our current proof of concept, The Housing Project.

Hi, I'm Jen! I grew up in Waterloo and have been an active member of the arts, advocacy, and activist communities in Waterloo Region for many years.

I'm a certified bookkeeper and run my own virtual bookkeeping business, serving diverse charity and not-for-profit organizations across the continent of Turtle Island.

Hi, I'm Leah! I am currently working on my PhD in Social Practice and Transformational Change at the University of Guelph. I have an undergraduate degree in Social Development Studies with two specializations; one in Social Work and the other in Social Policy and Social Action. I completed my Master’s in Public Service at the University of Waterloo. I have worked in a variety of roles in different fields including municipal government, post-secondary education and most recently at the local public library.

I care deeply about the Waterloo Region community and have been active and vocal on many issues including femicide in Ontario, local policing, trans rights, BLM movement and the housing crisis.  

Hi, I'm Megan! I came to Waterloo Region for a graduate degree in Literature and Film studies 15 years ago. I’ve since moved on from academia but I’ve developed deep roots here and care very much about our community. After I had my son in 2014, I became very active in climate organizing and, because everything is connected, I am also active around land back, disability rights, trans rights, police abolition, and, my current focus, housing. I live in Kitchener with my husband, son, and three cats. I also garden and I very much love plants.

I work in Eviction Prevention supporting the rest of the team but also building and prototyping a program to empower tenants to organize themselves. My goal is to build the grassroots infrastructure and resources to upend the power imbalance that landlords and property owners have over the rest of us.

Hi, I'm Michelle! I am many things to many people. But how I see myself is what matters most to me. I spend my life trying to be the best person I can be. I work hard to make the world a little better every day and of being aware of how I move through life. I am new to the world of social justice and social development and am learning more about the world and myself every day and through every interaction. I enjoy helping people and love the work SDC does and is committed to doing. I am learning to find balance between the emotional work we do with the rest of my life. 

Hi, I'm Ritika! I came to Canada as an International student from India to pursue a PhD from York University in the field of Marxist Political Economy and Agrarian Development Studies. Based on my doctoral dissertation, I published my first book in 2021 in which I provide a critique of corporate capital’s entry in agriculture and its implications for small and marginal farmers in rural India. I have taught in universities and worked in social planning sectors across Ontario.

Currently I am the Coordinator of the Civic Hub at Social Development Center. The mission of the Hub is to facilitate the civic engagement of communities that live in Waterloo Region. The Hub's is crucial in supporting social inclusion through capacity building, shared resources, and the development of outreach and educational tools. Civic Hub also supports grassroots and activist initiatives working to ‘fill the gaps’ in social support created by unjust and unequal systems.

My job is to create an environment that is conducive to the growth of the Civic Hub's community partners, create opportunities to share ideas, work, find more collaborations, follow up on conversations, and find opportunities for the community partners. At Civic Hub we are trying to create an ecosystem to facilitate grassroot organisations to grow.

Listen to the podcast here to know more about the Civic Hub.

Hi, I'm Suhanya! I joined SDC at the end of 2023 and feel privileged to be a part of the team. As Communications Coordinator, I hope to increase public awareness of the injustices SDC and our community allies are working to combat, the solutions we're pursuing together, and the opportunities that exist for Waterloo Region residents to join in this work.

Prior to joining SDC, I worked in community outreach, crisis support, and other frontline roles for more than 10 years in Toronto and York Region before starting an 8-year stint at the United Way here in Waterloo Region, where my work included fundraising, marketing, and community engagement. In addition to my current role at SDC, I also run my own business providing short-term marketing support for non-profits and small businesses, and I volunteer on a couple of Boards, including the Board at the AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo & Area (ACCKWA).