Leaders

Alejandra Ruiz Vargas

ACORN Canada President

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.

Lisa Hayhurst

ACORN Canada Secretary

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.

Monica Bhandari

ACORN Canada Secretary

Monica was elected Chair of New West ACORN and sits on the National Board representing BC. Since getting involved with ACORN, Monica helped organise her apartment building into a tenant union that successfully fought to defeat her landlord’s attempt to pass on a million dollars in building repairs to tenants. She now helps lead the fight to increase tenant protections across BC.

Bader Abu Zahra

ACORN Canada Treasurer

Bader is 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 including affordable and livable housing and fair banking. He was an essential part of the push for a mobile COVID19 testing site in the east end of Ottawa. Since June 2023, he became part of the ACORN Canada National Board.

Nichola Taylor

National Board Representative

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. In addition to being ACORN’s (and working class tenants) primary spokesperson in New Brunswick, she is also a representative of ACORN's National Board.

Vanessa Badger

National Board Representative

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. Vanessa is also the Chair of Calgary East chapter.

Maggy Wlodarczyk

National Board Representative

Maggy lives in downtown Calgary with her son. She got involved with ACORN in early 2023 to fight back against the housing crisis in Alberta and across Canada. Maggy soon started leading meetings, actions and doing media interviews to increase the visibility of the issues ACORN is fighting for! She is also currently the Chair of Calgary City Centre.

Gary Rodden

National Board Representative

Gary Rodden got involved with ACORN when facing evictions and has turned into BC ACORN's strongest voices. A Sapperton resident, Gary brings his political savviness and calm demeanor to the New West Chapter. Gary was elected co-chair of New West ACORN in April 2024 and was selected as a rep on ACORN Canada's National Board in May 2024.

Vanessa Badger

Chair, Calgary East Chapter - National Board Representative

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 Chapter

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.

Maggy Wlodarczyk

Chair, Calgary City Centre - National Board Representative

Maggy lives in downtown Calgary with her son. She got involved in ACORN in early 2023 to fight back against the housing crisis in Alberta and across Canada. Maggy soon started leading meetings, actions and doing media interviews to increase the visibility of the issues ACORN is fighting for!

Linda Leger

Co-Chair, Calgary City Centre

Linda has been a low-income renter since she was 16 years old, currently living in Bankview. Linda got involved in ACORN after receiving a 100% rent increase and her involvement has since evolved to fight for effective changes to help all Calgarians facing issues with housing, food and utility payments and much more!

Chance Gillcash

Secretary, Calgary City Centre

Chance lives in the Beltine community of Calgary. He got involved in ACORN to fight back against landlords and for tenants everywhere!

Diana Bliss

Co-Chair, North West Calgary

Diana lives in Calgary Community Housing in the NW of Calgary. She got involved in ACORN because every person should have good housing and there are no excuses for the problems happening right now in Calgary, in Alberta, and in Canada.

William Gillies

Secretary, North West Calgary

William lives in the NW of Calgary and got involved because of the massive rent increases happening in AB. He wants to fight for solutions like rent control to address not only his rent increase, but the ones happening all over Alberta.

Monica Bhandari

Chair, New West Chapter - National Board Representative

Monica was elected Chair of New West ACORN and sits on the National Board representing BC. Since getting involved with ACORN, Monica helped organise her apartment building into a tenant union that successfully fought to defeat her landlord’s attempt to pass on a million dollars in building repairs to tenants. She now helps lead the fight to increase tenant protections across BC.

Gary Rodden

Co-Chair, New West Chapter - National Board Representative

Gary Rodden got involved with ACORN when facing evictions and has turned into BC ACORN's strongest voices. A Sapperton resident, Gary brings his political savviness and calm demeanor to the New West Chapter. Gary was elected co-chair of New West ACORN in April 2024 and was selected as a rep on ACORN Canada's National Board in May 2024.

Tabitha Naismith

Chair, Newton Chapter

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.

Leslie MacFarlane

Co-Chair, Newton Chapter

Leslie joined ACORN in 2020 and became a key leader soon after. She is motivated by the belief that no one should be forced out of their home because of negligent landlords or to make room for luxury condos. Leslie has been helping to lead the fight to license landlords and crack down on slumlords in her neighbourhood of Newton and across Surrey.

Jeff Klassen

Secretary, Newton Chapter

Jeff has been a steadfast member of the Newton ACORN chapter ever since joining during our Provincial Campaign launch in 2021. Now active on a wide range of campaigns–from our Municipal fight to License Surrey Landlords to our Provincial push to Raise the Rates–Jeff is always the even-keeled voice in the room helping to bring the conversations back around to the big picture plans. After serving as Acting Secretary for a number of months, Jeff was elected into the role in April of 2024.

Murray Martin

Co-Chair, Burnaby Chapter

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.

Michael Taylor

Chair, North Surrey Chapter

Michael joined ACORN and quickly rose to the challenge of helping to run a Surrey-wide Tenant Housing Forum and rally that got our Landlord Licensing campaign demands on the agenda at City Hall. Since being selected in May of 2024, he's led the way as Chair of North Surrey ACORN.

Patricia Harrison

Co-Chair, North Surrey Chapter

Patricia got involved with ACORN in 2022 to fight for Healthy Homes and Landlord Licensing in Surrey. She brought with her a life-time of fighting for social justice on a number of causes, and now helps hold Surrey landlords to account in her role as Co-Chair.

Kayla Leet

Chair, East End Chapter

Kayla Leet joined ACORN in 2025 to fight for repairs in her building and quickly became a passionate advocate for tenant rights. Since then, she has taken on major leadership roles in both provincial and municipal campaigns. Kayla is a firm believer in nonprofit building acquisition as a path to housing justice and long-term affordability.

Stewart Klazinga

Co-Chair, East End Chapter

Stewart Klazinga has been an ACORN member in the East End for several years. After a couple years of advocating for something to be done about extreme heat in apartments they proposed adding a maximum heat bylaw to ACORN Hamilton's citywide campaigns, & has been involved with the campaign at every step along the way. Stewart joined ACORN to fight for tenant rights in Hamilton & beyond, & is passionate about fighting for our most vulnerable neighbours & for the good of all.

Christine Horning

Secretary, East End Chapter

Christine joined ACORN in 2024 and has quickly become a dedicated and steadfast attendee of monthly chapter meetings and local actions. She's a passionate supporter of building community support right in her own backyard, and is the first to raise her hand for tabling and petitioning.

Liz Scott

Chair, Stoney Creek Chapter

Liz joined ACORN in 2021 after an organizer knocked on her door in her Riverdale apartment building. Since joining ACORN she has led Stoney Creek chapter meetings, canvassing parties, and actions at her building and MP and MPP constituency offices. She believes that basic human needs like housing, utilities, and food should never be unaffordable for anyone. Liz has also been heavily involved in moving forward ACORN's campaign on protecting tenants from extreme heat.

Hojay Byfield

Co-Chair, Stoney Creek Chapter

Hojay joined ACORN recently, and is passionate about organizing his community - and beyond. A fierce advocate for social and economic justice, he truly believes in the power of collective action. He is committed to bringing the Stoney Creek chapter to new heights; every meeting, every action, every petition signature brings power to the community, and people power is how change happens!

Taylor Korolenchuk

Secretary, Stoney Creek Chapter

Taylor joined as a member following a conversation with an organizer in their building’s partially-flooded parking lot. They immediately jumped into organizing their neighbourhood headfirst, and are passionate about organizing for better conditions in subsidized housing. They have taken on a leadership role in advocating for climate justice for tenants and beyond, particularly for Hamilton’s extreme heat campaign. They firmly believe that no one should be made to live in unsafe conditions, no matter their income level.

Bijan Shahir

Chair, Mountain Chapter

Bijan is a new member to ACORN, joining in September 2024. He is a strong believer in housing as a human right and the protection and expansion of social services. He is hoping to do more outreach and raise awareness of the issues faced by the people of Hamilton Mountain, and get more people in his community involved.

Nicole Myre

Co-Chair, Mountain Chapter

Nicole Myre joined ACORN in 2024 during the re-organizing drive in Hamilton Mountain. A long-time believer in community, fairness, and standing up for those who need it most, Nicole brings decades of life and work experience to the fight for tenant rights and social justice. She retired at age 70 after a 31-year career that included roles as a secretary, store manager, and building superintendent. Now, she volunteers her time with The Legion Branch 163 and is an active and engaged member of ACORN.

Marnie Schurter

Secretary, Mountain Chapter

Marnie has been a member of ACORN for five years. She retired from the Hamilton Public Library in January 2020, where she worked as an Information Clerk. She earned a degree in Sociology from McMaster University in 2012. Her main concerns include how society treats elderly and disabled people, and she wants to see fair and equal treatment for everyone, regardless of perceived ability. Through her involvement with ACORN, she works to support stronger protections and more inclusive policies for people in her community.

Christina Erie

Chair, Downtown Chapter

Alex Ballagh

Co-Chair, Downtown Chapter

Alex Ballagh joined ACORN on May Day 2023 after his family and friends had their homes renovicted for the profit of their landlords. When he discovered the community of ACORN fights to protect its community members from being exploited by the rich and powerful, he joined the downtown chapter and took to work rallying support, coordinating with other chapters, and delegating to city council to protect tenant rights and the dignity of his fellow Hamiltonians. Within a year, he was able to delegate on behalf of the province’s first anti-renoviction bylaw; which, through overwhelming support, was able to be passed into law in 2024. Alex believes that through solidarity, democracy, and a strong sense of community, localized organizations like ACORN can make the voices of their members matter to lawmakers. Together, we can make the change we want to see in the world!

Pauline Roberts

Secretary, Downtown Chapter

Pauline has been a proud ACORN member for five years, first joining when an organizer knocked on her door in the downtown core. Hearing about ACORN’s tenant-led fight for housing justice was exactly what she needed at the time. Since then, she has become a powerful voice in the movement—delegating at Queen’s Park, City Hall, and at actions across Hamilton. She is passionate about uplifting the voices of those who are too often unheard, and about building relationships that help push ACORN’s mission forward. Pauline is also the founder of Pauline’s Potpourri, a small business she launched in 2024, and a dedicated animal lover. As a long-time volunteer with Pantry for Paws and a cat foster parent, she brings the same compassion to her activism that she brings to the animals in her care. Pauline’s media presence and strong relationships with allies like Matthew Green and Sarah Jama have helped ACORN connect with the wider community and grow stronger together.

Jordan Smith

Chair, Carling-Stoneybrook Chapter

Jordan first joined ACORN in 2021 when he needed help fighting his own abusive and negligent landlords, but quickly became an active leader in the fight for tenants’ rights across London. Jordan has helped grow London ACORN from the ground up and was elected by fellow members as the city's first neighbourhood chapter chair in Spring 2023.

Nawton Chiles

Co-Chair, Carling-Stoneybrook Chapter

Nawton has been the co-chair of the Carling-Stoneybrook chapter since June of 2023, and joined in the summer of 2020. Nawton has been active in a variety of ACORN campaigns, but his favourite so far has been London's landlord licensing initiative, to help get tenants the healthy, safe, and secure homes they deserve. Nawton is currently a student of computer systems technology at Fanshawe College.

Claire Wittnebel

Chair, London-at-Large Chapter

Farrah Sherrard

Secretary, London-at-Large Chapter

Farrah has been a member of ACORN since January 2024, when they moved to London for education. They took on leadership responsibilities immediately and was elected Secretary for the London Central and Surrounding in the summer of 2024. Farrah is currently a Master’s of Library and Information Science student at Western University.

Nichola Taylor

Chair, New Brunswick ACORN

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, New Brunswick ACORN

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.

Glen Harris

Secretary, New Brunswick ACORN

Glen joined ACORN in 2022 and quickly showed a passion to get things done, in an organized fashion, and was elected secretary months after getting involved!

Syd Blum

Acting-Chair, Halifax-Peninsula Chapter

Syd, joined ACORN in April 2020 after collecting 10,000 names on an online petition calling for a COVID Rent Freeze. She quickly became a force in ACORN and has been active ever since.

Heather Clark

Chair, Halifax-Mainland Chapter

Heather joined ACORN in 2023, motivated by the housing crisis in Nova Scotia. Frustrated with the lack of tenant organization in her community, Heather took matters into her own hands. Working with existing and new leadership, she helped re-establish HRM Mainland ACORN as a place for tenant action.

Kwasi Asare

Co-Chair, Halifax-Mainland Chapter

Kwasi joined ACORN in 2023 and became active in HRM Mainland chapter meetings right away. Kwasi works closely with HRM Mainland Chair Heather Clarke, is a mainstay at ACORN actions around HRM, and has a special interest in politics.

Brin Jones

Secretary, Halifax-Mainland Chapter

Brin became active in ACORN in 2021 when NS ACORN was engaged in large fights for rent control and affordable housing. She lives in Spryfield and takes time out of her busy schedule to help the chapter stay on track in her role as secretary.

Tim Allenby

Chair, Dartmouth Chapter

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. He was elected Chair of Dartmouth ACORN in August of 2024.

Lise Hachey

Secretary, Dartmouth Chapter

Lise is a Highfield Park tenant that has been helping ACORN get organized in North Dartmouth since 2021. A mainstay at Dartmouth ACORN meetings and actions, Lise was elected Chapter Secretary in August 2024

Marie Lourdes Garnier

Chair, 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.

Edward Roue

Chair, Central-Ottawa Chapter

Eddy was born and raised in Ottawa and has been fighting for social justice since he was 18 years old. He joined ACORN in the late 2010s after seeing the power of grassroots organizing at first hand. He is passionate about climate justice because by building more sustainable communities, we can help not just our neighbours but tenants and workers around the world

Sara Laviolette

Chair, Ottawa-Vanier Chapter

Sara Laviolette is the Chair of Ottawa-Vanier ACORN, a single parent and longtime community advocate. She joined ACORN while facing a renoviction and quickly became a leader, fighting for tenant rights and stronger housing protections. With 20 years of experience in education and leadership, she believes in the power of collective action to create change. As Chair, she’s committed to building tenant power and ensuring affordable housing for all.

Bader Abu Zahra

Co-Chair, Ottawa-Vanier Chapter

Bader is 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.

Mel Battison

Secretary, Ottawa-Vanier Chapter

Mel Battison is the Secretary of Ottawa-Vanier ACORN and a dedicated tenant advocate. She joined ACORN after receiving a renoviction notice, feeling scared and unsure of her rights. Through ACORN, she learned the power of organizing and collective action, inspiring her to help others facing eviction. Passionate about tenant protections and housing justice, Mel is committed to fighting for stronger laws and building community power.

Marcia Powell

Chair, Cooksville Chapter

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, East York Chapter – ACORN Canada President

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, 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.

Kelly Lalande

Secretary-Treasurer, East York Chapter

Kelly has organized her Toronto Community Housing building to win repairs and pest treatments! Kelly organized other tenants in community housing to win $10 internet a month program!

Marva Burnett

Chair, Scarborough Chapter – ACORN International President

Marva is the Chair of Scarborough ACORN and the President of ACORN International. 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.

Sheila Prospere

Co-Chair, Scarborough Chapter

Sheila is a dedicated leader who runs tenant meetings and conducts outreach across all of Scarborough. Sheila has guided other ACORN members and tenants to win campaigns in their buildings!

Khadijah Al-Maqdisy

Secretary, Scarborough Chapter

Khadijah leads other tenants in outreaches, meetings, petition signing, and more to win changes in the community. Khadijah is passionate about speaking up for rights and encourages her chapter to do so!

Rama Fayaz

Chair, Downtown Chapter

Rama lives in Downtown Toronto in St. Jamestown. He has been a member of ACORN and Downtown Chair for years. He has organized outreaches, actions, and tenant rights workshops. Rama has fought on all Toronto ACORN's campaigns and continues to represent the downtown ACORN members in interviews with with reporters, in meetings with city councillors, and more

Cristiano DaSilva

Co-Chair, Downtown Chapter

Cristinao originally joined Hamilton ACORN in Hamilton in which he helped organize the Stoney Creek neighbourhood. After moving back to Toronto Cristiano organized his building on the Beat the Heat campaign. Whether he is doorknocking, fliering, or holding the megaphone, Cristiano is passionate about organizing!

Jacquie Mitchell

Chair, York West Chapter

Jacquie was born and raised in Toronto. She joined ACORN because stuff needed changing in her apartment building. She’s come to realize that change can happen with the right people, and that’s certainly the case here. She’s honoured to stand with her ACORN family and make changes happen.

Kemba Robinson

Co-Chair, 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.

Marilyn Stevens

Secretary, York West Chapter

Marilyn is a longtime resident of the Keele & Finch community. Her involvement with ACORN started when she joined her neighbours to force their building’s landlord to do repairs and listen to tenants. Her neighbours elected her as chapter secretary shortly thereafter, and she continues to work to build people power in her community

Marcia Stone

Chair, 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.

Michael Cuadra

Co-Chair, Weston Chapter

Michael has organized his building to fight their Above the Guideline Rent increase and win repairs. Mchael helps other members to speak and organize in the neighbourhood!

Michelle Jones-Cunningham

Secretary, Weston Chapter

Michelle ensures all members who come to meetings know their rights and what they can do to fight back and speak up.

Monique Gordon

Chair, Etobicoke Chapter

Monique enjoys advocating, fighting, for everybody, not just herself. Monique has lived on Bergamot Avenue for 12 years, and has been a tireless tenant organizer in her building and on her block. She’s passionate about winning repairs, respect, and healthy homes for tenants, and is excited to work with ACORN to win!

Jason Laguerre

Co-Chair, Etobicoke Chapter

Jason is an experienced young Leader with a demonstrated history of Human Rights and Social Justice Advocacy, Group Organizing as well working in the art education industry. He is skilled in Public Speaking, Peer-Support, Leadership, Policy Development, Policy Research, and Research. Jason is a Strong administrative professional with a Global and International Studies background, focused in Global Inequality and Social Change at Carleton University. Jason is also a visual artist currently undergoing development to advise and educate Canadians on financial literacy.

James Maroosis

Secretary, Etobicoke Chapter

James Maroosis is a community organizer in Etobicoke North. He's lived and rented in Rexdale for 15 years. Coming from a working class family he understands the challenges faced by the working class, and is fighting for better conditions for the tenants of Bergamot and beyond.