Caryl Arundel

Caryl is a policy and management consultant who works with funders, nonprofits, and public sector organizations on governance; organizational development; engagement, facilitation and training; strategic planning; research and policy analysis; and program review. She also has over 17 years of experience in municipal leadership roles including political support, operations, analysis, and policy development.

Her relationship with SPT started at Metro Toronto, where she provided leadership to the Social Development Division’s municipal grants program, community development, and social policy work, and developed its first Social Development Strategy. The division partnered with SPT to survey nonprofits to monitor and document the impact on nonprofits and communities of mid-1990s provincial cuts. As a consultant, Caryl supported our recent strategic planning work and helped support projects on trusteeship/shared platforms and planning networks.  

Caryl is the Academic Coordinator of the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Management Certificate at Ryerson's Chang School, developing and teaching courses on the sector, social policy, and municipal government and politics. She also brings nonprofit governance experience as a board member, officer, and chair.

Maria Serrano

Maria has extensive experience providing creative, innovative, and strategic leadership in the community sector in the areas of operations, and organizational and human resources. She's responsible for the development and implementation of systems, human resources, overall management of the administrative needs of Social Planning Toronto, and supervision of program support staff.

Mary Micallef

Mary brings decades of experience to Social Planning Toronto's offices. She provides program support to our staff operations.

Ryan Tilley

Ryan Tilley brings over six years of experience with fundraising and development within both non-profit and corporate environments. Passionate about engaging with Social Planning Toronto's diverse membership on social justice issues, Ryan has been serving our organization since 2012.

Lisa Ferguson

Lisa combines her love of storytelling with a passion for social change, community, and culture. Her journalism has appeared in publications such as NOW, CityLab, Spacing, Torontoist, and Ms. From 2014 to 2016 she wrote the annual Toronto’s Vital Signs Report (a city “report card” that drives civic engagement, debate, and advocacy). She has bachelor's and master’s degrees in communications, and a certificate in community engagement, leadership and development.

Shahina Sayani

Shahina Sayani has 15 years of experience as a funder, Executive Director, community development worker, facilitator, consultant, and researcher. She is passionate about increasing access to grassroots and formal education, as well as developing community capacity building initiatives that facilitate sustainable leadership. She enjoys volunteering as a mentor and raising funds for youth scholarships.

Saroja Ponnambalam

Saroja has over seven years of experience in resident engagement in Toronto's diverse neighbourhoods. She is dedicated to reducing barriers to civic participation through local governance, and has worked with numerous community groups and networks across the city to organize around systemic issues, ranging from racial discrimination to housing inequity. She holds a Master of Arts in Human Geography from the University of Toronto. Saroja also has a media arts practice which utilizes community arts and documentary film as tools for advancing social justice and influencing policy.

Israt Ahmed

Israt Ahmed is Senior Community Planner at Social Planning Toronto, coordinating civic engagement initiatives and building resident leadership. She coordinates city-wide campaigns and local initiatives to make the city equitable, accessible, and affordable for Torontonians. She holds an MA and a PhD from the University of Sussex. She has taught courses on diversity, civic engagement, community development, and social planning at the University of Toronto, York University, and Ryerson.

Beth Wilson

Beth Wilson is our lead on policy and research at Social Planning Toronto, starting at our organization in 2002. She has a Master of Social Work (MSW), Policy, Organization and Community.

Sharma Queiser

Sharma conducts community-based, action-oriented research and supports stakeholder engagement. Currently, her work focuses on academic streaming, access to recreation for equity-seeking groups, and community use of public spaces. A social worker by training, Sharma is dedicated to addressing the root causes of social injustices.

Angelica de Jesus-Bretschneider

Angelica is committed to driving social change through community based research. She has led and supported numerous qualitative and quantitative research initiatives on public policy and planning matters that affect marginalized populations in Toronto and in various countries around the globe. Angelica has extensive experiences in the non-profit, government, and academic sectors. She has a Ph.D. in Planning degree from the University of Toronto.