Steering Committee Bios

griffin epstein (they/them) is a Mad/psychiatrized white settler/colonizer working as an educator and community-engaged researcher. They teach future social service workers about radical mental health and harm reduction at George Brown College and aspire to be in solidarity with movements for disability justice. They are a former frontline worker and hold a PhD in Sociology and Equity Studies from the University of Toronto.

Suwaida Farah (she/her) is a dedicated community support worker and addiction worker based in Toronto, Ontario. With nearly seven years of experience in frontline social service work, Suwaida connects people to essential services and supports within the city. She has extensive experience as a peer support worker, having worked in women's shelters and rehab facilities.

Her expertise is deeply rooted in her lived experiences, having navigated the challenges of youth and adult shelters and overcoming her own battles with addiction. These personal journeys have provided her with profound insight into the systemic barriers that prevent individuals from receiving adequate support for their basic needs.

Suwaida is passionate about mental health and addiction advocacy, tirelessly working to improve affordable housing and mental health support. She leverages her professional and personal experiences to drive change, aiming to create a more supportive and inclusive system for those in need.

Currently, Suwaida is working towards obtaining her addiction counselling license. Her commitment to bettering the lives of those around her reflects her deep care and dedication to her community.

Madelyn Gold (she/her or they/them) is a lived experience advisor with over 8 years' experience working front line in a low barrier community drop-in for women and a devoted advocate for harm reduction, the rights of sex workers, and access to housing, dignity, and respect for homeless people. Madelyn has been a member in over 20 advisory panels and special projects and has been a leader and published with the This is Not Home Project, the Our Care Priorities Panel, the Shelter Pipeline Project, and Supporting Peer Work. Her activism successes include working with the Reach Out Response Network to implement non-police mental health crisis services, a program which the City of Toronto is now rolling out and deputing at City Hall on behalf of the Fair Fare Pass Coalition to lower transit fares for people on assistance, which was approved. Madelyn also assists seniors in her community, volunteers for the Freecycle website as a moderator, supports a volunteer tax clinic for Revenue Canada, works with the Fill a Purse for a Sister campaign, and organizes with the Bad Date Book Coalition.

Dawnmarie Harriott is a Program Manager of leadership programs at Working for Change an umbrella for several social purpose enterprises. As a consultant, she draws on expertise from her professional role as well as her lived experience to advise on the development of clinical programs and health education curricula that address the health needs of communities that have been socially marginalized. She speaks publicly about her experiences of systemic barriers, the significance of community engagement and the importance of including people with lived experience of marginalization in discussions to create systematic change.

Marc-Andre Hermanstyne (he/him) has been working in the social work field for over a decade, starting out with the Black Coalition for AIDS where he learned about the importance of being an ally to vulnerable communities. Over his career he has worked for a number of diverse communities, including Ve'ahavta Jewish Response to Homelessness and South Riverdale, where he created an outreach strategy running along the Danforth into the neighbourhoods of Taylor Massey and Oakridge. Marc-Andre is a staunch advocate for the rights and freedoms of youth, and people who use drugs and/or struggle with mental health concerns.

Lindsay Jennings (she/her) is a person who survived the correctional system. She is the current Co-Chair of the Transition from Custody Network, led by SOLGEN and CAMH, working to address gaps in discharge planning and to increase continuity of care for people moving in and out of the correctional system. Lindsay also Chairs' the Expert Advisory Committee for the Fresh Start Coalition, which is advocating for an automatic record suspension regime. Lindsay is a passionate and professional advocate for the Human and Health Care Rights of currently incarcerated individuals, and over the past years has been dedicated to addressing the preventable deaths in custody, and more ethical and supportive processes for the families of the loved ones who have died.

Maria Scotton (they/them) is a Harm Reduction Specialist with Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre (CONC) with 10 years of experience in social services. They advocate for peers in the social service sector and have developed and delivered Peer trainings for various organizations in Toronto.

Michael Nurse (he/him or they/them) lives and works in Toronto, delivering harm reduction-guided support to people who are experiencing challenges related to the use of psychoactive substances. Michael is an elder and a father of two adult sons and an adult daughter. He has worked for many organizations and advocacy initiatives, including the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (BlackCAP) and the Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs (CAPUD).

Julia Walter (she/her) was a front-line worker at various Toronto community agencies for 20 years. She was simultaneously active in community building and organizing, focusing on disability justice, harm reduction, and anti-poverty movements and practices. She continues to work with people and communities who have been harmed by and involved in the psychiatric industrial complex and other carceral institutions. Her advocacy efforts and passion continue to lie in being part of imagination and mobilizing alternatives to dominant models of understanding communal and individual trauma and subsequent practices of care and support. She currently works as a therapist and community researcher.