Jes Annan is a research associate at the University of Calgary, Cumming School of Medicine (department of family medicine. Her areas of focus are Indigenous health equity, hostile architecture, Black liberation, and homelessness. She is a member on of the LE advisory board and hopes to provide intersectional insights towards the right to housing in Canada.
Leif Harris is a masters student in Sociology at Carleton University. His passion for research is focused on youth homelessness partly because of his own lived experience with it. He works under Dr. Kennelly on the P4 housing project as a research assistant.
Holly Petersen is a undergraduate at Carleton university studying sociology now after experiencing 8 years of chronic homelessness as a youth. From grassroots organizing to research, Holly is determined to bring to light the stories of others who have experienced homelessness and things that affected them. With a focus on mental health, substance use, police, community engagement and policies that allow the cycles to continue her goals are to eliminate any barriers to services so that no one in the future will experience chronic homelessness again.
"I have lived experience of homelessness and have taken my experiences, resilience and knowledge to an employment level. And now working to have other people's stories and experiences voiced in order to create change. I am the Lived Experience Circle Coordinator, working to create a circle of people with lived/living experience of homelessness to sit at decision-making tables through Reaching Home. This is a NEW thing for our community, as it is in most, so I am very grateful and honoured to be a big part of creating change in broken systems"
Rene Adams is a leadership team member of the Canadian Lived Experience Leadership Network, a graduate of the Community Worker Program at George Brown College and a current student in the first cohort of the Michener Institute’s Community Health and Social Medicine Care Worker Program. As the former Community Advocate with the Christian Resource Center in Regent Park, Rene uses her lived experience of homelessness, disability, marginalization and advocacy to inform her advisory work on housing homelessness and health with the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions and the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine with an interest in connecting those on the margins with better access to affordable housing, healthcare, emerging health innovations, research opportunities and life stabilization.
Carol is a Community Housing Support Worker at New Dawn, Abbey Ridge in Unama’ki (Cape Breton), Nova Scotia. Abbey Ridge is a youth supportive living facility for people between the ages of 16-24. Carol is a graduate of Durham College’s Social Service Worker program. Through her work supporting young people experiencing housing challenges, she has developed a strong commitment to housing stability, accessibility, and community well-being. Aside from one other member, Carol brings a youth perspective to our group.
Lived Life Expert Stephen was an advocate for homelessness for many years; unfortunately, due to illness, Stephen passed away at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital on Wednesday, October 1, 2025, at age 60. In his last years, Stephen was passionate about his faith, advocacy for homelessness, and supporting others in their time of need. He will be fondly remembered by those lives he touched.
