Sabreena Delhon is the Chief Executive Officer of the Samara Centre for Democracy. She has over a decade of experience directing multi-stakeholder research and outreach initiatives that have made an impact across justice, academic, and non-profit sectors. Sabreena has appeared as an expert witness before Parliamentary committees on matters relating to political participation and frequently provides commentary about democratic engagement for various media outlets such as the Globe & Mail, CBC Radio and the Toronto Star. She is the host of Humans of the House, a podcast that explores the lived experience of former Members of Parliament. Sabreena previously held senior roles at the Law Society of Ontario and advised non-profit leaders on how to increase engagement with target audiences. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Alberta, an MA in Sociology from Dalhousie University and is a Senior Fellow at Massey College. Sabreena is on the board of the Provocation Ideas Festival.

Beatrice is an award-winning researcher, teacher and passionate advocate for participatory democracy. She has taught popular courses on youth democratic activism at Harvard University, the University of Sydney and New York University. She holds an PhD from New York University and a Masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and has received major grants to conduct research across Canada, the United States and Ethiopia.

In addition to her academic research and teaching, she has served on steering committees and provided her research and pedagogical expertise to a variety of non-profit organizations and educational publishers, including Students Learn Students Vote, Scholastic Books, and the Faculty Network for Student Voting Rights. She is one of the founders of the Student Vote Research Network. She is frequently asked to provide commentary on democratic engagement and civic participation for diverse media outlets.

Vijai is a public policy enthusiast with a range of research experience at multiple governing levels. He has held research positions at the Indigenomics Institute, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He has also worked as the Policy Manager for the Bay Area Climate Change Council. Vijai holds a Master in Global Affairs from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy as well as Bachelor of Arts from the University of Waterloo.

A proponent of community wealth building, Vijai volunteers to address the crisis of homelessness in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). He is a proponent of community land trusts (CLTs) and “missing middle” infrastructure, providing research support to community groups and nonprofits around affordable housing solutions. He also enjoys demystifying economic policy for non-economist audiences through his writing.

Having a musical background, Vijai is an advocate for the Arts, currently sitting as an Advisor to The Arts, Culture and Creative Industry Development Agency (ACCIDA) in his hometown of Brampton. He also occasionally freelances for music and culture publications like Exclaim! Magazine.

Alex is the Project Coordinator for the SAMbot initiative, which examines how online toxicity affects civic engagement during Canadian elections. He was drawn to the SAMbot project due to his personal and academic interests on how discourse within Canadian politics has changed during the digital age.

Alex is a recent graduate of McMaster University’s Master of Public Policy in Digital Society program, where his research focused on digital privacy law, digital democracy, and the spread of dis- and misinformation online, all within a Canadian context. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Communications, Leadership, and Culture from the University of Prince Edward Island. Through holding previous working roles in research, communications, public affairs, and municipal government, Alex has had experience working within both the non-profit sector and public service.

Beyond online discourse, Alex is passionate about issues surrounding equity within public education, digital literacy, and youth engagement.