Jeanie Son has been working for the past six years alongside communities to work for change and alleviate poverty. She has led a group of Community Development professionals, whose mandate was to build capacity and create opportunities for leaders in Regent Park, St Jamestown and Moss Park. During her tenure with this team, the passing of the City’s first Poverty Reduction Strategy helped to ignite the work of YSM in community, and she had the privilege to witness hundreds of residents and organizations come together and demand better for our most vulnerable neighbours. As the Director of Strategic Initiatives, Jeanie Son continues this work, focusing on the policy and programs which support the alleviation of poverty in our City. This includes significant work supporting the Wealth Creation Think Tank, which has brought together leaders/experts from various sectors to discuss and design opportunities to better employment and business incubation.
Jeanie Son is a member of the Toronto Sector Skills Academy, Class of 2018, one of several Workforce Leadership Academies in localities across North America.
The Workforce Leadership Academies are part of the Economic Opportunity Fellows Network, a network of leadership and fellowship programs run by the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program. Within this Network, EOP connects national and local leaders from across sectors — nonprofit, government, business, philanthropy, academia, and more — to advance policies and practices with the potential to help low- and moderate-income Americans thrive in today’s economy. Learn more at as.pn/eofn.