As we announced recently, Molly Kane has left her Executive Director role at the Council of Canadians. We cannot overstate Molly’s contributions to the organization, during a particularly important and difficult transition. We are grateful to her for her work and look forward to seeing her ongoing contributions to struggles for justice.
When Molly initially went on leave last March, the Council’s Director of Campaigns and Organizing Christina Warner and Director of Communications Ravi Joshi were asked to step in as Interim Co-Executive Directors. They took on these additional roles within days of the initial COVID lockdown, and deftly led the organization through the transition to remote work and organizing. During this time, staff, chapters, members, and the Board of Directors have collectively navigated several provincial elections, a federal election, and countless advocacy campaigns.
Over the last year and a half, the Council has adopted new campaign tools, updated our operations and strategies, and shifted our approach to storytelling. Additionally, we have undertaken an organization-wide examination of what “leadership” looks like at the Council. This has seen us move to a Co-Executive Director model for the organization. We feel this model aligns well with the Council’s commitment to democracy and shared people power.
We are pleased to report that both Christina and Ravi have agreed to continue their current terms as Co-Executive Directors until at least the end of 2022.
As we remove the word “Interim” from their titles, we thought it we would take the chance to re-introduce them to you in these new roles.
Christina Warner has lived in Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Toronto since immigrating to Canada. In 2014, she moved to Winnipeg, where she completed a Master’s in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg — focusing on community organizing in contexts of white supremacy and austerity. She grew up in southern Indiana and spent the years following the economic recession in Washington, D.C. advocating for economic justice, reforming carceral systems, and working alongside diverse religious communities to end anti-Muslim discrimination. Her commitment to community-led political work stems from a core understanding of people as capable, powerful, and interconnected. She knows that as communities tap into these qualities, they can drive just political change across generations. Christina now lives in Toronto, and is eager to continue building strong, effective community organizing with the Council of Canadians.
Ravi Joshi grew up in the East End of Toronto and is a lifelong activist and advocate. He has always been fueled by a desire to bring people into politics, and has done this by developing rich multifaceted campaigns, harnessing modern organizing tools, face to face relationships, and compelling and accessible communication appeals. Ravi has taken on roles that allow him to strengthen the causes of poverty-elimination, affordable housing, good jobs, and better public services for all — at every level of government. Before joining the Council, he spent several years focused on making change at the community and municipal level including as an assistant to a Toronto City Councillor and policy advocate for a nonprofit. Ravi thinks the Council of Canadians has the credibility and depth in policy and organizing work to put us in a unique position to push back against corporate power.