Board of Directors

Since moving into Ramers Wood Co-operative in 1984, Allison has been involved in the co-op sector. She volunteered on various committees, and credits constant encouragement from others for her motivation to assume leadership roles. After retiring from a career in teaching, Allison had more time to dedicate to the sector. She served as President of Ramers Wood, and sat as a non-resident board member at another co-op. In 2017, her work was recognized with a Brian Burke Community Builder Award. She served as President of CHF Toronto and was made an Honorary Lifetime Board Member in 2019. She was first elected to the Ontario Council in 2015. She also sits on the Governance Committee of CHF Canada.

With a knack for focusing on the big picture, Allison still believes that working at the grassroots level is important, and visits different co-ops to hear people’s concerns, and to bring many voices and perspectives back to the Board. “I give one hundred percent to whatever I’m doing, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of my time on the Ontario Council. Everyone treats everyone else with respect. I’m a people person, a strong listener. I genuinely care, and people sense that.”

Her top priorities are ensuring that Canada builds more affordable housing and sustains the existing co-operative housing stock. In particular, she wants to see Canada make more of an effort to provide affordable, sustainable housing for Indigenous people.

Member confidence is important to Allison, and she is committed to ensuring that members feel they have equal representation at the national level

Allison also sits on the executive for the Retired Women Teachers of Ontario and the social committee of the Retired Teachers of Ontario. She enjoys travelling to interesting places, and whether she’s en route, or comfortable at home, you are likely to find her absorbed in a good book.

A long-time labour union and LGBTQ activist, Don brings to the table a wealth of experience in governance and in representing diverse populations. As the Nova Scotia representative, he hopes to hear from co-ops in that province and find out what’s important to them. “In the labour movement, the focus is on looking after your members, ensuring people have a good quality of life, and co-ops have the same values,” he explained.

He and his partner have lived in High Hopes for only three years, but his familiarity with co-ops goes back to the 1980s when he was a founding board member of Needham Housing Co-operative. He wants to see the co-op housing movement expand in Canada, and feels that building the capacity for co-ops to work together to achieve common goals is critical to securing affordable housing for the next generation.

He would very much like to see co-ops position themselves to apply successfully for federal funding through the National Housing Strategy. Don also would support steps in Canada’s process of reconciliation with Indigenous people and believes that there is always room for improvement and growth as co-ops try to provide opportunities for people to live in safe and accessible homes.

Don is the vice-president of High Hopes. He also serves as the president for the Nova Scotia Retired Employees Association in Halifax, and as the secretary for the Nova Scotia Health Coalition.

A retired library technician and proud Cape Breton Islander, Don describes himself as “a nerd who loves books”. He’s also a gardener, and is enjoying assisting with the recently acquired raised beds at High Hopes.

As a first-time CHF Canada Board member, Coral is looking forward to bringing her listening and negotiating skills to the table. A member of CHF Canada’s Aging in Place Committee since 2016, she is committed to ensuring that co-ops maintain and expand on accessibility for seniors.

Coral has served on the board of Westboine since 2013, joined the Manitoba Co-operators Association in 2018, and acts as a provincial delegate to The Co-operators Insurance. She also sits on the Conference Planning Committee of the Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association and is a member of Quality Services for Seniors.

She was inspired to run for the Board after her own co-op went through a difficult experience. Coral believes it was the assistance from CHF Canada that made the difference for Westboine, which is now thriving. “We were on the brink. I felt that CHF Canada was instrumental in guiding the board, and helping us to get our priorities straight. After how much CHF Canada had given to Westboine, I felt it was time to give back. That was really the motivation.”

Her priorities will be to raise the profile of CHF Canada across the country, and expand the membership. “Everyone in Canada should know that CHF Canada exists, and what it does.” She does hold out hope for the National Housing Strategy, but believes that CHF Canada needs to be in the forefront of the push for affordable housing.

An avid gardener, Coral enjoys spending time with her family, including her two grown sons. She feels that personal connections are the key to resolving problems. “Often we forget that organizations, including government, are just made up of people. If you listen to people and understand where they’re coming from, it goes a long way.”

Fostering connections is important to Coral. “Covid-19 has forced us to abandon face-to-face meetings and learn to communicate in different ways. It is vital that CHF Canada provide the network to facilitate a continuing dialogue between its member co-op boards and managers.”

If you ask David, every human interaction has value. The challenge lies in determining what that value is so that we can learn something about ourselves.

David brings a unique perspective to his new role as a Board member for CHF Canada. As well as being a lifelong co-op member, he has managed several co-ops and has an insider’s perspective both on co-op living, and the management side of the equation. Understanding the intricacies of operating co-ops allows him to understand what he’s hearing from members, and helps him to match needs with what can be delivered.

Since 2018, David has served on the Ontario Council, where he ended his term as President. He sat on the board of Homeownership Alternatives for three years, and has been a director-at-large for CHF Canada. From 2007 to 2019 he worked as a manager with Homestarts, then managed Bain Apartments and Arcadia Housing Co-op. He currently serves as President of the Peel Halton Co-op Housing Federation.

“I want to continue to strive to meet the objectives we set in consultation with our members, to meet the needs they’ve expressed. An important part of governance is bringing all the pieces together. How do we bring people together and find resolutions to issues? The goal is to address needs, and solve problems.”

Fostering productive relationships with government at all levels in efforts to expand the sector and develop more co-ops is another goal for David. He believes that providing as much information as possible, soliciting feedback, and encouraging more member involvement will go a long way towards helping members realize that they are well represented by the new Board.

When he’s not working, you might find him hanging out with his two young children, enjoying some walking trails, or working out at the gym.

Tina Stevens has dedicated her life to Aboriginal leadership, both in and out of the co-op housing context. Her contribution includes advocacy for an Aboriginal seat on the CHF Canada board while living at Native Inter-Tribal Housing Co-operative, tenure as first Aboriginal community director for CHF Canada and work as second director appointed to the Ontario Council. Throughout her roles, Tina has maintained a belief that housing co-ops provide a safe family environment for members to connect with their culture and community, maintain self-respect and respect for Mother Earth, find employment, access higher education and nurture the seeds for future generations.

Tina is an Algonquin-Ojibwe woman from Kitigan Zibi, Kettle and Stoney Point, who has lived in London, Ontario her whole life. She has three strong sons and attributes her energy to having been raised by a strong mother, a great elder in her own community.

Tina moved into her first co-op with her mother around the age of 12. As a young adult she moved into Native Inter-Tribal Co-op and worked with the co-op to secure a seat for the Aboriginal community on the CHF Canada Board of Directors. In 1996, she became the first Aboriginal community director. As the second director appointed to the Ontario Council, Tina did “double duty”.  Tina then took on the role of fighting the Harris government cuts on behalf of the Ontario members including Indigenous co-op communities as the Ontario Council President. In one example of her advocacy work, she met with the provincial MPPs to stop housing cuts and the download of housing from the province to the federal government.  In recent years, Tina took her advocacy role to the City of London to fight on behalf of her own housing co-operative.

Tina began to see how Aboriginal communities living on reserve could benefit from the co-op model. She created alliances between the Ontario Non-profit Housing Association (ONPHA) and Aboriginal communities for the purpose of networking for the larger housing sector.

Fast-track to the present, and as a result of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee recommendations, there must be a priority in creating an alliance between ONPHA and CHF Canada to address the crisis of Indigenous housing through the creation of more Aboriginal housing co-ops.

Tina credits former CHF Canada Aboriginal Director Linda Campbell with bringing more education and awareness of Indigenous issues and assisting housing co-ops to reduce barriers to accepting Indigenous members. Indigenous people find it “hugely challenging” to secure affordable housing in BC due to the discrimination of public landlords.

As a CHF Canada Board Director, “my priority is to be able to continue that education that (outgoing Aboriginal Director) Linda Campbell started and keep acknowledging our Seven Grandfather Teachings and how CHF Canada can incorporate the connection between these teachings and the Seven Co-op Principles.” Tina says she will also continue Linda’s work in educating the community about true Indigenous history.

When considering the need for more co-op housing for Indigenous people, Tina notes the movement toward urban centres for Indigenous people seeking better housing conditions including clean water, education and employment.  In the matter of the murdered and missing women of BC and across Canada, it is imperative to create more affordable housing which would further address our much needed protection. She cites the issue of homelessness and personal power as key points to be addressed.

Her biggest wish is that all levels of government unite to create a strategy to maintain subsidies for Aboriginal co-op housing rather than terminate that housing with the end of operating agreements. Currently, CMHC funding contracts do not allow Aboriginal co-ops to retain any surplus from year to year, unlike the initial federal operating agreements when co-operative housing was created.

Tina brings to the board the strength of her advocacy and a commitment to communicate to CHF Canada on behalf of members of Aboriginal housing co-ops. “It’s a priority for me to keep building bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people within the housing co-op movement.”

She is also as a member of the CHF Canada Diversity Committee and Governance Committee.

Tina works for the Ministry of the Attorney General, where she addresses issues such as the high number of Indigenous people in prisons and within the child welfare system. As part of the OPSEU Indigenous Circle, she is focussed on bringing education and awareness to the union about Indigenous members.

“I will keep walking in Linda Campbell’s footsteps and continuing the journey that she started. I’m quite the humble person, being re-elected. I come with a lot of humility, working with vulnerable people and placing the importance on their survival.”

“All my life has been housing, from the very first day I went to work,” says David Boyde.

This accountant has been working for Newfoundland’s CHANAL as both bookkeeper and Financial Service Manager since 2003, the same year he moved into Mount Pearl’s Freedom Housing Co-op.

David does the books for 13 of the 21 co-ops in the province and previously sat on the CHF Canada board for six years (2004-2010). He says that with all his experience in accounting, housing and finances, assessing costs for co-op housing is easy. “It’s like picking up a cup of coffee at Tim Horton’s or falling off a log.”

David began with a degree in economics then got his CRA from the Appraisal Institute of Canada. His goal on the board is to promote and advance co-op housing in Newfoundland while also looking at the bigger picture.

His focus is the end of operating agreements in Newfoundland and on building more unitsespecially for seniors. He says the agreements of all of the co-ops in the province will end soon, and co-ops must choose between refinancing and operating without mortgages. There are no units for seniors and few that are accessible, with no condos or apartments available either. The last co-ops built in the province were in 1991-1992, so there is a big demand for new housing at this time.

David has a vision for the co-ops in his province and the part he would like to play in supporting them. “I’d like to see co-ops prosper after they come out of their agreements, and I’d like to be there to help with the knowledge of my 40 years in the accounting and housing industries.”

He has a wife and three grown children.

Sarah is thrilled to be part of the team at CHF Canada. Elected to the Ontario Council just last year, she was also chosen as a Canadian representative for the International Co-operative Alliance 25 Voices Under 25 Project. Her Ontario Council experiences included an opportunity to attend a campaign and community organizing course through the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. She’s hoping to bring the tools and skills she’s acquired to the CHF Canada Board.

A member of Castlegreen Housing Co-op since she was seven years old, Sarah’s co-op experiences have contributed to her sense of social justice and her strong belief in the values of community engagement.

Sarah found her passion for advocacy when she had a chance as a member of Canada’s Emerging Co-operators to lobby MP’s to invest in the co-op sector. The dynamics of government intrigued her, and the positive feedback she received from parliamentarians with whom she spoke led her to believe she had found her calling. She hopes to:

• Expand and strengthen the network of co-operative communities across Canada
• Advocate for government support for co-op programs, including support of continued subsidies for low-income housing.
• Facilitate the conversation between emerging co-operators and established co-operators to allow for knowledge sharing and growth of the co-op sector.
• Inspire more youth and people of all generations to join and strengthen the movement to create leadership renewal and growth.
• To serve members by working as a team of co-operators across Canada to achieve the CHF Canada goals and bring the co-op housing movement into the future.

Now in her third-year of the pre-law program at Lakehead University, Sarah’s other keen interest is biology, so when she’s not busy promoting co-ops, she can often be found working with her bees, enjoying a hike, or kayaking one of northern Ontario’s many waterways.

Youth engagement holds the key to the future of co-op housing. That’s what Sahara wants everyone to understand, and part of her work on the Board of CHF Canada will centre on finding ways to effectively engage younger members. A young member herself when she first became involved in governance, Sahara ran for the Board of The Cooperative Federation of BC when she was only 26. Although the day-to-day administrative duties and responsibilities were hefty, she learned a great deal from others who were well-versed in the role, mentors who helped her to gain knowledge and experience.

Sahara soon realized that she didn’t have to be an expert to get involved, that a person can develop the necessary skills to successfully serve in a leadership role. Her motivation to run for the Board of CHF Canada stemmed partly from her own difficult search for affordable housing, and a strong desire to effect changes so that others don’t have to go through that process. Growing more co-ops and relieving the housing crisis are top priorities.

An MBA graduate student, Sahara is a marketing manager by profession with ten years’ experience in marketing, finance, and communications. Along with the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC, she has served on CHF Canada’s Finance and Audit Committee, Governance Committee, Aging in Place Committee, and Enterprise Risk Management Committee. She has an external appointment to the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, and has presented workshops focused on younger members at CHF Canada’s AGM.

“I think we need to find ever more effective ways to engage younger members, whether that’s through new video apps, or things like the existing discount for attendance at the AGM. Younger members are the future.”

Sahara is also an artist who enjoys oil painting, pottery, and calligraphy, and mandala art. She hopes her tenure on the Board of CHF Canada will allow opportunities to collaborate with various levels of government to bring about much needed changes to Canada’s housing market.