STAFF
Meet the Team
Making the Shift values diverse, educational, professional, and lived experiences. We are person-centred, equity-minded, action-oriented, and evidence-based.
Stephen Gaetz
Scientific Director
Stephen's Bio
Stephen Gaetz (President & CEO, Canadian Observatory on Homelessness) is the MtS Scientific Director (SD) responsible for research excellence and financial accountability, ensuring a fair and equitable process for creating Requests for Proposals (RFPs), distributing funds across themes, and adjudicating proposals.
Melanie Redman
Partnership & Implementation Director
Melanie's Bio
Melanie Redman (Co-founder, President & CEO, A Way Home Canada) is the Partnership & Implementation Director (PID), and is responsible for ensuring that end-users in the government, not-for-profit and private sectors play key and meaningful roles in planning, directing, and managing the research agenda and KTEE activities.
Katie Davies Jorgensen
Chief Operating Officer
Katie's Bio
Katie Davies Jorgensen is the Chief Operating Officer at Making the Shift. She joins us from Trellis Society for Community Impact, where she had a long history of leading innovative solutions to prevent and end youth homelessness as well as other complex social challenges. Her background in leadership, change management and not-for-profit management as well as MA in Psychology will be valuable additions to our collective work.
Teresa Gerner
Projects and Events Coordinator
Teresa's Bio
Teresa Gerner is the MtS Project and Event Coordinator. Teresa leads various special projects & events that advance the mission of MtS, and works closely with the Board of Directors and Committees to ensure good governance of the organization. Connect with Teresa about MtS events, including the In Conversation Webinar Series and governance.
Anna Jacob
Senior Manager, Finance and Compliance
Anna's Bio
Anna Jacob is responsible for ensuring robust financial management and compliance through the development and implementation of effective and efficient policies and procedures, facilitation of projects, budgeting, and annual financial and corporate reporting. Connect with Anna about any reporting, policy, budgetary, or financial matters.
April Xie
Training Coordinator
April's Bio
April supports training development and delivery for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to build their capacity for preventing youth homelessness. April liaises between content creation and delivery of learning to meet cross-sector needs to shift towards prevention. Connect with April on training and technical assistance, research personnel training, capacity-building in prevention,
Abisola Olaniyi
Research Services Officer
Abisola's Bio
Abi is passionate about research, community and international development. She is motivated by principles of equity and learning. Abi is keen to use her project management, research, communication and administrative skills to support the work of Making the Shift. Abi has a variety of experiences in the non-profit and education sectors. Abi holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Toronto and completed her post-graduate from Humber College in International Development.
Star Gale
Coordinator – MtS Scholars with Lived Experience (LivEx)
Star's Bio
Star is the Coordinator for MtS Scholars with Lived Experience (LivEx) Network. She draws from her own lived experience of youth homelessness as well as her academic and professional background to support the LivEx Network in its efforts to leverage and apply experiential knowledge to improve the services and policies that concern them. Contact Star for questions around LivEx activities or joining the LivEx Network.
