Calling All Systems Disruptors

Dr. Alina Turner

Co-President & Co-Founder of HelpSeeker

Dr. Alina Turner is the Co-President & Co-Founder of HelpSeeker, a social enterprise harnessing tech innovation for the greater social good. She is recognized as a leading researcher and thinker on social issues with proven implementation results.

Alina is a Fellow at The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary and serves on the Board of Directors for A Way Home Canada and the Alberta Rural Development Rural Advisory Board on housing and homelessness. Her work on system planning is recognized as a leading practice and often called upon as a model across communities. Her drive and passion for this work are grounded in her lived experience of the social issues she continues to challenge in her professional work.

David French

Managing Director at A Way Home Canada

Multi-faceted professional with 20 years of experience leading, developing and refining initiatives/programs that target Canada's most vulnerable. Particular non-profit and government experience in strategy development across sectors, project management (PMBOK consistent), stakeholder engagement, program development/refinement and community mobilization.

Supervisors and colleagues would describe me as a results driven, resourceful individual who maintains a positive, proactive attitude when faced with adversity. Tireless when it comes to community engagement and relentless when it comes to issues facing Canada's most vulnerable. Specialties include: stakeholder engagement/management, technical and professional writing, small and large group facilitation, website development/improvement, public and social policy development, strategic planning, project management and community development/mobilization.

Anika Mifsud

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness

Anika Mifsud, PhD is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the COH, where her research activities focuses on community-based evaluation and content development for the Systems Planning Collective. She completed her PhD in Social Psychology at Macquarie University, in Sydney, Australia, where she received advanced training on qualitative and quantitative analyses. Prior to this role, Anika was responsible for coordinating a joint Point-in-Time Count and Registry Week for the Region of Durham, among other community-based research initiatives. In her free time, Anika enjoys reading, playing board games and painting.

Janet Gwilliam

Manager, Engagement and Partnerships Unit, Homelessness Partnering Strategy