Textile Magazine is a literary publication and mentorship program based in Kitchener-Waterloo. It was founded in 2018 with the goal of merging community work with writing and publication. We have published two issues that feature artwork, stories, and poetry from new and emerging writers/artists who face systemic and cultural barriers to publishing creative work. This project is supported by funding from the Ontario Arts Council, the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund, and the Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation. 

insideWaterloo is a new independent media initiative that amplifies diverse voices and historically excluded stories in Waterloo Region, Ontario. Through investigative and personal stories told in a variety of ways (i.e. long-form essays, podcasts, visual stories, data visualization), insideWaterloo fills gaps in the media landscape as well as leads the conversation in the community. Writers and readers come to us to see beyond the headlines, and dive head first into the issues. This project is supported by Indiegraf.

The ACB Network of Waterloo Region is a community collective that represents a large cross-section of the broader and intersectionally diverse Black diaspora that spans from the continent of Africa to the Caribbean and North America. The collective was formed in 2018 to mobilize progressive change that centers the needs of Black communities in Waterloo Region. 

The Charles Street Terminal Bus service in Kitchener, Ontario ended in 2019 and the site is currently under contract, serving the community as a COVID-19 testing facility. With the contract coming to an end in the coming months, Indigenous activists from LandBack camp have been advocating for the site to be redeveloped as an Indigenous community hub. In collaboration with LandBack camp and several other community partners, I’m supporting a place-based art project that will showcase stories, installations, and theatrical performances in and around the bus terminal site during Winter/Spring 2022. The project is intended to inspire the community to imagine the site as a community hub, and to encourage people to participate in the Region’s consultation process.

The Community Psychology Abolition Collective is a transnational group of scholars practicing and advocating for prison and police abolition. One overarching goal is to use research and education to create an abolitionist community psychology science and practice.

Young carers are people typically under the age of 29 who provide substantial unpaid caregiving for another person. In response to the lack of support for young carers in the Waterloo Region, the Young Carers Project, led by the University of Waterloo’s Murray Alzheimer Research and Education Program (MAREP), used a participatory action research approach to engage both young carers and community stakeholders to better understand the young carer experience. This research resulted in three knowledge mobilization products: (1) By Us For Us© "Support Matters" guidebook; (2) an online resource; (3) and a documentary. From 2011 to 2017 the Young Carers Project worked to educate the public about the existence and needs of young carers and motivate the community to action.