Suggestions
Stephen Sharpe
Business administrator and community builder.
Stephen Sharpe is the Senior Advisor at the Indigenous Relations Office of Metrolinx, an agency responsible for public transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. In his role, he focuses on fostering relationships and developing policies that respect and integrate Indigenous perspectives within transportation initiatives.
Sharpe has a background that includes working directly with Indigenous communities and has been involved in various projects aimed at enhancing Indigenous engagement in public affairs. His work emphasizes the importance of meaningful consultation and collaboration with Indigenous Peoples to ensure that their rights and interests are recognized in transportation planning and operations.
On LinkedIn, Sharpe actively shares insights related to transportation and Indigenous policy, highlighting his commitment to building a more inclusive approach within Metrolinx's operations.12
Highlights
Paris’ Cite de l'architecture et du patrimoine “Metro! Le Grand Paris en Mouvement” is an exceptional exhibtion examining not only the history behind Paris’ vast transportation network, but also looks ahead with the Grand Paris Express, with considerable space provided to discussing the planning and building of regional transportation by including inclusive design, community engagement and customer focus from the the first moment of planning. For five years now I have been lucky enough to work with some of Canada’s foremost leaders in transportation planning and community building at Metrolinx , Access Planning and Greater Toronto Airports Authority who approach these spaces from a place of inclusivity and longevity.
If you find yourself in Paris, add this exhibit to your list of “masters” to see. Bravo!
This fall, I was humbled to be re-elected to the board (and president) of the downtown Toronto cooperative housing community of over 300 members and 200 households in which I live. As with all volunteers, I have gained so much including first-hand insight into effective community engagement, experience of problem solving from a user’s perspective, the human value proposition of cooperative housing in the housing crisis, and lessons in collaborative leadership.
Cooperative housing is an inclusive, communal approach to sustainable housing and community living. Members ultimately decide the direction of their community through a board that works collaboratively with management to set and deliver priorities. The result is stable, affordable housing (no renovictions) and community focused living that leads to long, and for many of us, life-long, terms of residence.
I’m so grateful, to be part of a board that has worked tirelessly, pooling our talents to support the community and management to help implement, alongside a myriad of duties, the following: business processes and committees to help the board run more effectively; our first member engagement survey; an overhaul of our human right policies/by-laws; prioritization of capital projects in our first Reserve Fund Study in over a decade; and programming to improve community morale and board relations. #volunteering #housing #community
