Action Canada and the Public Policy Forum are proud to announce the 2022/2023 Action Canada Fellows.
The Action Canada Fellowship is Canada’s top accelerator of policy leaders that aims to enhance the leadership and policy skills of the Fellows and their understanding of the country.
Over the next 10 months, the Action Canada Fellows will visit a number of communities with a particular focus on current housing challenges and strategies for change and renewal.
“The Action Canada Fellowship is a program that counters polarization,” says PPF’s President and CEO Edward Greenspon. “The Fellowship brings people from different parts of the country to work in leadership policy and engage with people from diverse backgrounds and regions, creating more empathetic leaders with broader perspectives.”
“An impressive cohort of passionate and solutions-oriented individuals have been selected to participate in the Fellowship this year. These Canadians, leaders in their communities, will come together to learn more about their country and the policy challenges it faces,” says Ayesha Malette, the Chair of Action Canada’s Board of Directors and a 2015/16 Action Canada Fellow. “At a time when polarization and entrenchment are growing, Action Canada Fellows will engage experts and activists from all walks of life and with distinct perspectives who have the common purpose of working to improve this country.”
This year’s Action Canada Fellows are:
| Sakariya Ahmed | Veronica Fynn Bruey, PhD |
| Sara French | Jessie Gill |
| Jasmine Irwin | Deanna Matthews |
| Catherine Maurice | Merryn Maynard |
| Dr. Aliza Moledina | Leslie Muñoz |
| Naheda Sahtout, PhD | Benjamin Sanders |
| Émily Soulières | Scott Stirrett |
| Trevor Tessier | Anh-Khoi Trinh |
| Ian Van Haren |
Action Canada Welcomes a New Chair and Executive Director
The Public Policy Forum is delighted to announce the appointment of Sara-Christine Gemson as Executive Director of the Action Canada Fellowship and PPF Academy. She is a 2015/16 Action Canada Fellow and a long-serving member of the Action Canada Board. “I’m delighted to join the PPF team and serve the Action Canada community,” Gemson, a proud Franco-Ontarian, says. She will take up her new position in August. “I will bring my passion for impactful programming to the Action Canada Fellowship to further develop the skills and policy understanding of leaders from across the country.”
The Action Canada Board has also elected Ayesha Malette ’16 as Chair. “Action Canada is a program that truly values and promotes diversity and inclusion, and I am thrilled to become the first person of colour to chair the organization,” says the incoming Chair. “As a proud alumnus of the fellowship, I have a sincere appreciation of how transformative this program has been for me personally and professionally, and I look forward to ensuring others benefit from this unique experience and join Action Canada’s active and engaged alumni network.”
The Board thanks Past Chair Annie Sabourin ’12, who has done a wonderful job leading the organization for the past four years.
The Fellows are heading to the Magdalen Islands for their first study tour June 21-25, where they’ll meet each other and a community that is dealing with housing shortages and concerns about long-term sustainability in the face of climate change.
Read Fellows’ full biographies on the Action Canada website.
