Housing Supply Challenge: Round 2 - Getting Started

René Babin

• Full bio

  René is a knowledge mobilizer with an expertise in housing strategies and research, municipal planning and community development. He holds a Master’s of Urban and Rural Planning from Dalhousie University, and has worked as an urban planner in the Atlantic Provinces, Quebec City and Montreal, coaching and supporting municipalities, big and small, in the housing sector and downtown revitalization process. René recently retired from CMHC, where he held several positions aimed at increasing housing affordability, most recently managing the National Outreach team, which supported communities’ efforts in creating affordable and adaptable housing across the country through the National Housing Strategy.

Lilian Chau

Chief Executive Officer of Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society

• Full bio

  Lilian is the Chief Executive Officer of Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society, one of Canada’s first women-led community housing organizations that began with a small group of women who wanted to provide affordable housing and improve the lives of single mothers and their families. Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society provides over 400 affordable rental homes across eleven Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Surrey properties. Lilian is proud to build on the inspiring legacy of supporting gender equality in housing and the mandate to build the Society’s capacity as a non-profit real estate developer, dedicated to growing the number of affordable homes for women, families, seniors and people with disabilities in Metro Vancouver.

  Lilian is a Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners with extensive experience in urban planning, social purpose real estate development, affordable housing funding and financing, non-profit leadership and public engagement. She is a Director with Hiyám ta Sḵwxwú7mesh Housing Society with the Squamish Nation and a member of the CMHC Planning Research Advisory Committee. She has a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology and an M.A. from the School of Community and Regional Planning, both from the University of British Columbia.

Lindsay Monk

Manager of Development at M’akola Development Services

• Full bio

  Lindsay is the Manager of Development at M’akola Development Services, based on Courtenay, BC, and has over 10 years’ experience in program delivery and project management, including experience with the federal government across Canada. At M’akola, Lindsay has managed the completion of several major development projects, totaling over 500 units of affordable housing in BC, and provides strategic advice and direction on projects representing hundreds of additional affordable homes and community spaces. Lindsay is part of the Leadership Team at M’akola Development Services and manages the Courtenay office. Her specialization is First Nations’ on-reserve housing, and she has also worked as a communications professional, leading the development of community-based research with an environmental non-profit in northern Alberta. Recognizing the ability of housing development to improve the wellbeing of communities, she employs a thoughtful and empathetic approach that focuses on housing at the service of community. Lindsay has an MA from the University of Victoria (2013) where she focused on impacts of federal on-reserve housing policy, and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours with Distinction from Queen’s University (2006) and has lived and worked in Montreal, Ottawa, northern Alberta, and across BC.

Yuri Artibise

Executive Director of the Vancouver City Planning Commission and Director of Communications of the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC

• Full bio

  Yuri Artibise is the Executive Director of the Vancouver City Planning Commission and Director of Communications of the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC. He has spent a large part of his career focusing on various aspects of housing, urban planning, and community engagement in both Canada and the United States. Earlier in his career, Yuri worked in policy coordination positions with various Government of Canada departments in Ottawa, including the Privy Council Office and Treasury Board Secretariat, and as a policy advisor with the Assembly of First Nations. He also spent time as a senior research analyst at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy in Phoenix.

Jack Kobayashi

President of Kobayashi + Zedda Architects (KZA)

• Full bio

  Jack Kobayashi is the President of Kobayashi + Zedda Architects (KZA) based in Whitehorse, Yukon. With 15-20 professional staff, KZA, by virtue of working in Canada’s sparsely populated northern territories, shuns specialization, preferring to cover a wide variety of building types including residential, commercial, correctional, educational, health care and recreational.

  KZA strives to provide design that is regionally appropriate, sustainable, and reflective of First Nations values and maintains a part-time indigenization consultant on staff.

  KZA is the largest, pure architecture firm operating out of Canada’s north. In 2006, the Firm was awarded the $50,000 Professional Prix de Rome in Architecture (Canada Council for the Arts). The Firm has also received three British Columbia Lieutenant-Governor’s Awards for architecture and a 2012 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence. /p>

  Jack is also Vice-President of 360 Design Build, a Yukon-based construction and development firm that designs, builds, and manages a wide variety of residential buildings in the north – including private residential and multi-use residential buildings. It is this hands-on approach that has allowed the firm to maintain a pragmatic understanding of current building methodologies and systems.

  Jack studied urban planning at the University of Waterloo graduating with an Environmental Studies degree. He later enrolled in architecture at the University of Manitoba. After graduating, with a Master of Architecture degree he worked with Toronto-based IBI Group and Winnipeg-based Etienne Gaboury. Kobayashi + Zedda Architects Ltd. (KZA) was originally founded in 1993 by Kobayashi and partner Florian Maurer under the predecessor firm Florian Maurer Architect. Antonio Zedda, joined the firm in 1995.

  The KZA’s approach to design can be described as hands-on and community oriented. In 2007, KZA opened Baked Café & Bakery in the space below their office. The concept was based on the writings of sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s 1989 book “The Great Good Place”. In the book, Oldenburg stressed the importance of everyone having a ‘third place’. In community building, the third place is the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home (first place) and the workplace (second place). The architects helped to create a vibrant community and social hub for the downtown core, which at that time, was often deserted during the weekends.

Vivian Nguyen

Intern Urban Planner, Toronto Community Housing Urban Planner

• Full bio

  Born and raised in Regent Park, Vivian Nguyen is a recent urban planning graduate from Ryerson University, a visual artist as well as avid soccer player. She is a strong advocate for youth to get engaged with their communities, civicly in their city, and the arts scene where she combines her passion for art and community development with urban planning. Vivian sits on the board of directors for the Regent Park Arts Non-Profit Development Board (RPAD), and is one of the co-founders for the Mentorship Initiative for Indigenous and Planners of Colour (MIIPOC). As a co-founder of MIIPOC she aims to encourage more racialized people, especially those coming from low-income communities interested in planning, to build their capacity through mentorship so that they are further elevated in the profession.

  Vivian has worked an extensive amount of years with Toronto Community Housing Corp. (TCHC) for the ongoing 10+ year revitalization project of Regent Park; one of North America’s largest social housing projects. Her other notable roles have included supporting the refreshed Regent Park Social Development Plan led by the City of Toronto and TCHC, and with Jay Pitter Placemaking Inc. as an urban planner and engagement coordinator for Jay Pitter’s award-winning practice which operates at the nexus of urban design and social equity. Most recently Vivian has worked with SvN Architects + Planners, an integrated design firm, supporting projects ranging from planning approvals and development applications, as well as affordable housing.