Members of the National Advisory Council on Poverty

Chairperson (full time)

Scott is a lifelong learner, a facilitator, a coach and a connector. He spent almost 20 years with the Government of New Brunswick where he worked on poverty reduction through the department of Social Development and the Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation.

Scott has chaired OMISTA Credit Union, Falls Brook Centre, New Brunswick Food Security Action Network and the Fredericton Loyalists Rugby Club. He has also sat on the boards of the Atlantic Summer Institute, the Healthy Eating Physical Activity Coalition and Team Rural NB.

Scott is passionate about community, storytelling, innovation, belonging and supporting others.

Member with particular responsibilities for children's issues (full time)

It is the desire to help others that motivates Marie Christian to surpass herself every day. A graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (English and Theatre) and in Social Work, she later specialized in Indigenous Knowledges by completing a Master of Social Work focused on this subject. Her education has been supplemented by more than 2 decades of work in advocacy, management, program development, and facilitation in the non-profit sector.

Marie served as the Director of Voices: Manitoba's Youth in Care Network from 2004 to 2024. She is highly active as a volunteer, serving as a member of 5 different committees, primarily focused on providing care to youth in — or transitioning out of — care. She is notably the President of Youth in Care Canada, Membership Co-Director at the Congress of Black Women of Manitoba, and the Manitoba Representative on the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates.

General member (part time)

Hannah Brais is a long-time advocate for low-income and homeless communities. Her advocacy began during her role as a housing and employment advocate for tenants at Concordia University Student Union. Since 2018, Hannah has served as the research coordinator at the Old Brewery Mission. Old Brewery Mission is the largest homelessness organization in Montréal, Quebec. In this role, Hannah oversees research projects focused on developing an evidence base for better programming for people experiencing homelessness. Hannah is also a member of the steering committees of the Women's National Housing and Homelessness Network and the Quebec Homelessness Prevention Policy Collaborative. She is a doctoral candidate at McGill University.

General member (part time)

Avril Colenutt is a lawyer with expertise in child welfare, marginalized communities, government supports, education, health, board governance and ethics. She has worked as a faculty member in post-secondary education, teaching criminal law, correctional law and business law. She has sat as a member, an adjudicator, and in leadership roles for various boards, panels and tribunals in the areas of health, government benefits, child welfare, education and professional regulation. She was previously the Provincial Chair for the Children's Services Appeal Panel and for the Community and Social Services Appeal Panel. Avril has worked with various levels of government, the Ethics Commissioner, the Ombudsman, non-profits, professional regulators, and First Nations communities. She has researched in the areas of youth, literacy, recidivism, health, ethics and artificial intelligence. She holds a Master of Laws from the University of Edinburgh, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New Brunswick, and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from the University of British Columbia.

General member (part time)

John Cox has spent more than 30 years advocating for the rights of Canadians with disabilities. He has advocated for persons with intellectual disabilities as well as persons experiencing poverty. John has worked for a variety of non-profit and grassroots organizations in the disability sector. He brings with him valuable research and policy and program development experience. John is a founder for People First of Nova Scotia and worked as the Development Coordinator before retiring. People First is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting people with intellectual disabilities. John is still involved with People First as a member. John has been an effective and tireless advocate for the human rights and social support for his fellow Canadians.

General member (part time)

Dr. Kristen Desjarlais-deKlerk has nearly two decades of academic experience and peer-reviewed scholarship. Her research has focused on social development topics, including inequality, homelessness, housing, social support, health, and harm reduction. She has served on a variety of community boards dedicated to housing, and poverty reduction. She currently serves as a co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. She is also a member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Advisory Committee on Ethics. Dr. Desjarlais-deKlerk has taught at universities and colleges throughout Alberta as well as Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia. She is currently an Associate Professor in Business and Administration at the University of Winnipeg in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

General member (part-time)

Lindsay (Swooping Hawk) Kretschmer is Mohawk and she was born and raised in Toronto. Her family and ancestral connections are to Six Nations and Mississaugas of the Credit. She is a member of the Mississaugas of the Credit. She has worked in the non-profit sector for over 20 years.

She currently serves as the Executive Director for an Indigenous non-profit, and she consults in the areas of training, facilitation and strategy development. Lindsay has served on boards and in senior management roles locally, provincially, and nationally. She started her community service work as a teenager, over 20 years ago, by volunteering at Council Fire Native Cultural Centre. Lindsay is dedicated to social justice and advocacy. Lindsay’s own journey of overcoming personal adversity has inspired her commitment to serving in the community and social justice issues.

General member (part time)

Nathalie Lachance has worked in leadership positions in community and youth-centred organizations in Quebec for over 30 years. Her career has focused on social reintegration and supporting youth and families living in poverty to return to school or work. After serving as the Director of youth organizations in Montréal-Nord and Boisbriand, Nathalie joined the Carrefour Jeunesse-Emploi Thérèse-de Blainville. She became its Director General in 2003 — a position she holds to this day. She has also held several positions in social and economic forums in Quebec.

General member (part time)

Noah Lubendo is a published author, poet, researcher and policy analyst. He brings several years of experience in the not-for-profit sector, including work in settlement and employment services, as well as providing resources to refugees and newcomers. He has also worked in public policy, researching economic inequality across Canada. As a public speaker, he is an advocate for Black Students as well as an award-winning panelist and thought leader. He brings leadership expertise and a high-level understanding of Canadian public policy and economic principles, and experience with policy analysis in the non-profit and para-public sector. Noah applies his professional experience, Bachelor of Arts from Mount Allison University, and personal experience to several areas of interest. These include economic inequality, immigration, diversity, equity, and inclusion. He also focuses on representation in socioeconomic reporting, specifically on the conditions that engender poverty in Canada, and barriers to class mobility.

General member (part time)

Dr. McKenzie is the Chief Executive Officer of Wellesley Institute. The Wellesley Institute works to improve health and health equity through research, policy and action on the social determinants of health. He is an international expert on the social causes of mental illness, suicide and the development of effective, equitable health systems. He is a practicing psychiatrist, Director of Health Equity at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and full Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

He was a Co-Chair of the Expert Task Force on Substance Use, a member of Canada's Expert Advisory Panel on COVID-19 and Mental Health and was a member of the Minister of Health's Covid-19 Testing and Screening Advisory Panel.

Dr. McKenzie was previously a Human Rights Commissioner for Ontario and Chair of the Research and Evaluation Advisory Committee of Ontario's Basic Income Pilot. In addition to his academic, policy and clinical work, Dr. McKenzie has written columns for the Guardian, Times-online and Toronto Star and is a past BBC Radio presenter.