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Tony D'Amato Stortz

Principal & founder

Tony is the former Site Superintendent for A Better Tent City of Waterloo Region, one of the first tiny home communities in Canada. He has extensive government experience at the provincial and municipal levels, in street outreach work (as Outreach Coordinator for St. Mary's RC Church in Kitchener), and with non-profit organization development. Tony holds a B.A. in Commerce from the University of Guelph, and is the author of A Home of Their Own, currently writing a second book.

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Robert Raynor

Lead, Design & Development

Robert brings a knowledge of building, design, teaching, and communications to the world of homelessness. His professional background is in sustainable housing development at TAS, founding their Circular Living Lab, and as a sessional instructor at the University of Toronto from where he holds a Masters of Architecture. Robert was a fabricator and student trainer for six years before volunteering with Toronto Tiny Shelters during COVID, and being an early member of Two Steps Home.

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Sofia Panasiuk

Lead, Research

Sofia leads our research work, bringing her experience at the Population Well-Being Lab, Doctoral studies at the UofT Department of Psychology, and as the cofounder and president of non-profit Being and Becoming. She cohosted the Earth News Interviews podcast, and coauthored the first Canadian Happiness Report.

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Erika Capper

Analyst, Business & Strategy

Erika joins our team with experience in AI research and corporate development. With a background in Computer Science and Business Administration, she is President of the Laurier Consulting Club and a student mentor while pursuing her degrees at Wilfrid Laurier University.

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Kaz Irwin

Trainer, Street-Certified Hospitality

Kaz brings over a decade of diverse experience to our team, having worked in dive bars, restaurants, distilleries, and currently at one of North America's top cocktail bars. Beyond their hospitality work, Kaz has been involved in community organizing, co-founding KW Mutual Aid during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and advocating for affordable housing.

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Adrian Ma

Writer & Editor

Meet the team.

Our professional backgrounds are all different, and that's the point. We support each others strengths, because homelessness isn't a problem for one kind of person to solve alone – it'll take all of us together.

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