Leaders

Nichola Taylor

Chair

Since reaching out to ACORN to get help in fighting a renoviction Nichola has been a positive force to be reckoned with. Since being elected Chair of NB ACORN in June of 2022, Nichola has organized actions and rallies around NB ACORN’s groundbreaking Rent Cap and Renoviction Ban campaigns. She is ACORN’s (and working class tenants) primary spokesperson in New Brunswick.

Peter Jongeneelen

Co-Chair

Peter - along with his partner Vanessa Jones - have not so quietly turned Moncton ACORN into a well oiled machine for building working class tenant power. It’s rare that two weeks go by without Peter organizing an action that lands ACORN on the front pages of New Brunswick’s newspapers.

Vanessa Jones

Co-Chair

Vanessa Jones is the secret to the success of NB ACORN. With artistic flare Vanessa has been instrumental in planning the actions in the greater Moncton area since joining ACORN in early 2021.

Vanessa Badger

Chair - Calgary East

Vanessa is a Cree/Nakoda First Nations woman who has lived in the East End Calgary neighbourhood of Forest Lawn for 35 years. She is passionate about fighting inequality and racism in Calgary and is active in the community volunteer group Yethka Voices of the Greater Forest Lawn.

Sam Green

Co-Chair - Calgary East

Sam first got involved with ACORN in the UK and upon immigrating to Calgary was instrumental in the formation of Calgary's East End chapter.

Fable Dowling

Chair - Calgary City Centre

Fable was born and raised in Calgary. A recent graduate of the University of Calgary he now works in an elementary school library

Kavin Sheikheldin

Angelica Nightingale

Fox

Marie Lourdes Garnier

Chair of the South Ottawa Chapter

Marie is a strong, francophone ACORN leader from Haiti. She has been a fierce campaigner for child care issues. She has passionately led many of ACORN’s campaigns since 2012, on issues such as minimum wage increases and community benefits agreements.

Last Mazambani

Co-Chair of the South Ottawa ACORN Chapter

Having joined ACORN in January 2020 after an organizer knocked on his apartment door in Herongate, Last is our newest elected leader on the rise! Last quickly took on leadership roles by chairing local meetings, making presentations to other groups and speaking with the press in the fight to win a NO Displacement Community Benefits Agreement in his neighbourhood!

Ginelise Edouard

Chair of the Ottawa West Nepean Chapter

Ginelise has been an Ottawa ACORN member for over a decade. A mother of 11 children, Ginelise has made fighting for her Ottawa Community Housing neighbourhood a priority. She has also organized on other ACORN campaigns, including raising the rates for social assistance recipients.

Norma-Jean Quibell

Co-Chair of the Ottawa West Nepean ACORN Chapter

Norma-Jean joined ACORN in early 2018 after attending the launch of our municipal elections platform – the Agenda for Change. Over the past couple years Norma-Jean has quickly become one of our most active members pushing for justice on issues like the digital divide, low social assistance and MORE! Norma-Jean is currently studying law at Algonquin College.

Pascal Kakule

Co-Chair of the Central Ottawa Chapter

Pascal Kakule has been an extremely active member since joining the organization in December 2020. Pascal is a student and father of five living in Sandy Hill. He first became involved in developing Ottawa ACORN’s new campaign for municipal broadband. Since joining, Pascal has been vocal in fighting for #Internet4All by leading actions, presenting at townhalls and talking to the press! His aim is to influence more francophones to join ACORN.

Bader Abu Zahra

Chair of Ottawa-Vanier ACORN Chapter

Bader is Palestinian and a retired engineer. He immigrated to Canada in the early 70s and since then has been involved in community struggles for social justice. After being encouraged by his daughter to join ACORN, Bader has become a committed member on several campaigns. These include affordable and livable housing, fair banking and he was an essential part of the push for a mobile COVID19 testing site in the east end of Ottawa.

Meagan Wiper

Co-Chair of Ottawa-Vanier ACORN Chapter

Meagan Wiper joined ACORN after being frustrated with her landlord who neglected repairs and his tenants. Meagan quickly became an active member in the fight for healthy homes and has helped grow the organization in many ways – from doing data entry at the office, petitioning, phone outreach to other members to doing media interviews and co-facilitating meetings, Meagan has done it all!

Marcia Powell

Chair of Cooksville ACORN

Marcia was elected Chair of Cooksville ACORN in 2017. Since then, Marcia has pushed the City of Mississauga to enact a low-income bus pass and start a pilot program for proactive inspections of apartment buildings.

Alejandra Ruiz Vargas

Chair of the East York Chapter – National Leadership Representative

Alejandra is a housing worker originally from Colombia who has been involved with ACORN since 2015. She has led meetings and actions on issues such as. childcare, remittances, and employment insurance reform but her passion and advocacy on affordable housing, tenant rights and state of good repair issues is her passion.

Donna Borden

Co-Chair of the East York Chapter

Donna works in healthcare and has been involved with ACORN ever since she began fighting back against predatory lenders like CitiFinancial in 2014. Donna is a fair banking warrior, having led many actions against payday and installment lenders. She has also delivered deputations to different levels of government about the different ways the bank system excludes low and moderate income people.

Marva Burnett

Chair of the Scarborough Chapter – National Board Representative, President, ACORN International President.

Marva is the Chair of Scarborough ACORN and the National President of ACORN Canada. Marva is a child care worker, and a mother. She has been passionate leader with ACORN since it first started organizing in Scarborough in 2005 and has led countless campaigns over the years.

Kemba Robinson

Chair of the York West Chapter

Kemba Robinson lives in the Jane Finch neighbourhood and has been a leader in her chapter since an organizer knocked on her door. Kemba believes that landlords and politicians do not do enough for tenants, and that Toronto needs real affordable housing with proper maintenance. These beliefs have motivated Kemba’s work and drives her to continue to organize with her neighbours.

Marcia Stone

Co-Chair of the Weston Chapter

Marcia joined ACORN in 2019 and has quickly become an active leader in her community and chapter. She believes that your postal code should not determine the quality of your housing and that’s why she continues to fight for healthy homes for all and on other important housing campaigns led by ACORN.

Rikki LaCoste

Chair of the Weston Chapter

A relatively new member of ACORN, Rikki comes with lived experience in most of the issues that we fight for. Not only is he presently a Food Bank and Activities volunteer at the Weston King Neighbourhood Centre, but is also a Committee Member of the Canadian Mental Health Association's Green and Emergency Response committees. His enthusiasm and concern for his neighbourhood in Weston, North York, led Rikki to be elected by his neighbours to be the Weston Chairperson in December, 2022.

Peter D’Gama

Chair of the Etobicoke Chapter

Peter chairs the Etobicoke chapter of ACORN. He has knocked on countless doors in buildings, helping his neighbours fight back against greedy and negligent landlords. His advocacy has centred on the People Over Profit Campaign.

Ria Rinne

Co-Chair of the Etobicoke Chapter

Ria originally joined ACORN Ottawa, but after moving to Toronto she became a member of the Etobicoke chapter. Ria brings years of experience leading meetings and actions in her community. She has been an active voice in the media and has been an invaluable leader helping to organize effective local campaigns.

Alejandro Gonzalez-Rendon

Co-Chair of the Downtown Chapter

Alejandro Gonzalez-Rendon is a leader in the downtown chapter, living in North St. Jamestown. Alejandro believes in solidarity and social justice, and is passionate about fighting for more supports for mental health in his community, as well as affordable and healthy homes,! You can see him running actions, speaking to the media and representing ACORN all over the city!

Veronica Gonzalez

Mountain Hamilton Co-Chair

Veronica joined ACORN in 2019 after experiencing health and safety issues in her own apartment and wanting to see improvements in her housing complex on the Mountain. Since getting involved with ACORN, Veronica has fought for tenant justice in her community and at City Hall.

Marnie Schurter

Mountain Hamilton Co-Chair

Marnie joined ACORN during the founding organizing drive of the Mountain Chapter in 2018. Marnie recently retired as a Library Clerk with Hamilton Public Library. She is passionate about building a strong community for tenants living on Hamilton’s Mountain.

Zechariah Hockridge

Mountain Hamilton Secretary / Treasurer

Zechariah Hockridge joined ACORN during the COVID19 pandemic after reaching out with concerns about renoviction in Hamilton. Zechariah is passionate, caring, and willing to go above and beyond for the wellbeing of others. Having experienced episodic homelessness, Zechariah is passionate about preventing homelessness and tenant displacement.

Dayna Sparkes

East Hamilton Chair

Dayna lives with her family in the Red Hill neighborhood. She joined ACORN in 2019 and right away got involved in helping organize in her East Hamilton townhouse complex to fight renoviction. Dayna has been a leader in Hamilton ACORN’s city wide and provincial housing campaigns, Internet for All and modernizing EI.

Elizabeth Ellis

East Hamilton Co-Chair

Elizabeth joined ACORN in 2018 when she suspected her new landlord was trying to renovict her and her neighbors. Elizabeth has been a leader in Hamilton ACORN’s campaign against renoviction, helping run resist renoviction workshops, delegating at City Hall about her experience and supporting members in defending their homes. Elizabeth works in Hamilton as Personal Support Worker.

Christine Neale

Downtown Hamilton Chair

Christine joined Acorn in 2022 due to ongoing issues with the owner of the apartment building where she lives. She has had an ongoing LTB claim since 2019 and is still waiting for a decision. Another issue that the tenants of the building were dealing with brought Christine to ACORN. Affordable housing has always been an issue near and dear to Christine's heart. 'Rent or Food?' should not be a question people have to ask. Christine has been retired since 2018 after working at a law firm for 13 years.

Tabitha Naismith

Chair – Newton ACORN and National Board Representative

Tabitha Naismith has been very active with ACORN since she signed up in 2013, as a champion of anti-poverty issues and both disability rights. Thanks to her tireless advocacy, BC ACORN’s Disability Rights Group won their first major victory on their End the Child Support Clawback Campaign. Tabitha currently lives with her two. children in the community of Newton in Surrey, British Columbia.

Murray Martin

Acting Chair of Burnaby ACORN

Murray has been involved with stopping Demovictions in Burnaby, since getting involved with BC ACORN in 2013. His ongoing efforts have resulted in the development of Burnaby’s Tenant Assistance Policy which included many of ACORN’s policy proposals. To this day this policy remains the gold standard for municipal tenant policy in Canada.

Hannah Wood

Chair of the Halifax-Peninsula chapter

Originally hailing from New Brunswick, Hannah has been a fierce and effective disability advocate and is an urban chicken-keeping enthusiast. Hannah was elected chair of the Halifax-Peninsula Chapter in 2020 and is passionate about tenants rights and fair and affordable housing.

Janice Pace

Co-Chair of the Halifax-Peninsula Chapter

Janice Pace is from Sackville and has lived in Nova Scotia her whole life. Being low-income and disabled herself, Janice got involved with ACORN in 2016 to help fight for equal rights for other disabled and low-income people in her community. She’s pictured with her daughter and honorary co-co-chair, Angel.

Aidan Tompkins

Treasury-Secretary of the Halifax-Peninsula Chapter

Aidan has been a member since March of 2020, he hails from Cape Breton but has lived in Halifax for over a decade. He became passionate about rent control and tried his hand at petition-making after he got a 29% rent increase in late 2019. Since joining forces with ACORN he has become treasurer of the Halifax-Peninsula Chapter and is a strong advocate for rent control, affordable housing, and political reform.

Fabian (Pat) Donovan

Co-Chair of the Halifax-Mainland Chapter

Born in Glace Bay Nova Scotia, Pat grew up in Halifax, where he moved after his father was laid off from the coal mines. His childhood in the 60s and 70s during the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war, as well as the music of the time, helped form the beliefs he holds today. Pat has been fighting for rent control and rights for marginalized people for the last 50 years.

Marjorie Pemberton

Secretary of the Halifax-Mainland Chapter

Marjorie has been a member of ACORN for 4 years, and was inspired to help lead her chapter by the amazing members she has met in her time here. From a young age she has believed in the power of the people, and has dedicated her senior years to fighting for our rights! She believes honesty, hard team work, and a lot of putting one foot in front of the other will bring us justice, and she’s ready to fight for it!

Lisa Hayhurst

Chair of Dartmouth ACORN

Lisa brings her experience helping lead Nova Scotia ACORN’s successful Rent Control Now campaign to the ACORN Canada national board, where she sits as a Nova Scotia rep. Lisa is currently focussed on winning a landlord licensing system in the Halifax Regional Municipality and being a thorn in the side of her negligent landlord.

Tim Allenby

Co-Chair of Dartmouth ACORN

Tim brings his activist knowledge to the table at every meeting and assists Lisa and the other leaders in the HRM in developing strong campaigns for housing justice. Tim was very active in Nova Scotia’s ACORN successful rent control campaign, and continues to help lead up the provincial housing campaigns in the province.

Marva Burnett

ACORN Canada President

Marva is the Chair of Scarborough ACORN and the National President of ACORN Canada. Marva is a child care worker, and a mother. She has been passionate leader with ACORN since it first started organizing in Scarborough in 2005 and has led countless campaigns over the years.

Tabitha Naismith

ACORN Canada Secretary

Tabitha has been very active with ACORN since she signed up in 2013, as a champion of anti-poverty issues and both disability rights. Thanks to her tireless advocacy, BC ACORN’s Disability Rights Group won their first major victory on their End the Child Support Clawback Campaign. Tabitha currently lives with her two. children in the community of Newton in Surrey, British Columbia.

Bader Abu Zahra

ACORN Canada Treasurer

Bader is Palestinian and a retired engineer. He immigrated to Canada in the early 70s and since then has been involved in community struggles for social justice. After being encouraged by his daughter to join ACORN, Bader has become a committed member on several campaigns. These include affordable and livable housing, fair banking and he was an essential part of the push for a mobile COVID19 testing site in the east end of Ottawa.

Hannah Wood

National Board Representative

Originally hailing from New Brunswick, Hannah has been a fierce and effective disability advocate and is an urban chicken-keeping enthusiast. Hannah was elected chair of the Halifax-Peninsula Chapter in 2020 and is passionate about tenants rights and fair and affordable housing.

Alejandra Ruiz Vargas

National Board Representative

Alejandra is a housing worker originally from Colombia who has been involved with ACORN since 2015. She has led meetings and actions on issues such as. childcare, remittances, and employment insurance reform but her passion and advocacy on affordable housing, tenant rights and state of good repair issues is her passion.