Manager of Outreach, Samara Canada
John’s passion for building strong communities has led him to work which spans many worlds including education, community organizing, photography and politics. Most recently, John worked for Pathways to Education Canada, strengthening their tutoring programs on a national level. He began his formal political engagement working for Congress in the United States where he saw first-hand the benefits that people who can effectively engage the political system derive from it. And, on the flipside—the disadvantages for those who remain on the outside. John’s work has all been tied together by a belief in strengthening people’s understanding of the power that they have. At Samara, John runs Democracy Talks and is currently tackling the bigger project of enhancing the impact of Samara’s work through community partnerships and programs. In November of 2014, John swore allegiance to the Queen of Canada and became a Canadian citizen, thus allowing him to vote in the 2015 federal election.
John wants you to know that the Vote PopUp toolkit is not just for elections. Check out North York Community House’s International Women’s Day activity.
Table Hosts pose a question related to digital citizenship and their own work in order to spark discussion in small groups of 8-9 participants over lunch.
Voting is a key way citizens engage with their political system but participation is not even across demographic groups. This session examines which groups vote and which do not, which groups are invited to participate and which are not, and what might be done to encourage increased voting across the board. Particular attention is paid […]
This Canada 150: Conneted Canada conference was supported by a Canada 150 Connection Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Office of the Vice-President, Research
Centre for Law, Technology and Society
Faculty of Arts
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