Our Team
Building flourishing cities through thought leadership.
Our team members bring a diversity of perspectives, talents and experiences to city building.
Evergreen's Leadership Team provides the strategic direction to propel our organization forward, ensuring our programs build flourishing cities where all can thrive. Our Specialists are experts in their fields, called to time and time again to share their expertise through interviews, speaking engagements and conferences.
Go to the profile for Geoff Cape, MM, CM
Chief Executive Officer
As founder and CEO, Geoff oversees the idea development and relationship building that advances Evergreen’s mission to create flourishing cities. Working with the Board of Directors and Executive Team, he sets overall strategic direction, goals, and priorities while maintaining…
Go to the profile for Kathleen Buzek, CPA, CA
Chief Financial Officer
Kathleen oversees Evergreen’s finances and fiscal responsibilities. She manages Evergreen’s internal and external financial reporting and designs the systems and solutions to ensure the organization is financially resilient. Kathleen’s work allows Evergreen to be adaptable and…
Go to the profile for Orit Sarfaty, MUP
Chief Program Officer
Orit provides the visionary leadership to develop the programs needed to further strengthen Evergreen as an internationally recognized leader in placemaking. Orit’s work is guided and informed by the organization’s overarching goal: to drive urban innovations that make Canadian…
Go to the profile for William Scott, PhD
Chief Advancement Officer
William oversees Evergreen’s Development, Communications, and Strategic Initiative teams, ensuring the organization conveys and embodies its mission to create flourishing cities. He is dedicated to putting in place the inclusive systems and policies that seek out and integrate…
Go to the profile for Martin Canning
Executive Director, Smart Cities
Martin oversees Evergreen’s local and national programs that put into action our vision for flourishing cities. He makes sure that Evergreen adapts to the needs of the communities it serves and that programs evolve and grow to take advantage of new opportunities. Martin works to…
Go to the profile for Cam Collyer
Executive Lead
Cam is the driver behind Evergreen’s efforts to connect children, nature, and the built world. His work gives young people access to the nurturing natural environments and play opportunities that are a key part of flourishing cities. Cam developed Evergreen’s school ground…
Go to the profile for Robert Plitt, MFA
Executive Lead
Robert champions Evergreen’s efforts to create a Canada-wide network of academics, foundations, governments, and corporations focused on building flourishing future cities. He leads Evergreen’s work with Future Cities Canada and develops novel partnerships and innovations in the…
Go to the profile for Isabel Cascante, PhD
Program Director
Isabel directs a program portfolio focused on Evergreen’s city building projects, including the Housing Action Lab, 100In1Day, and Future Cities Canada. Her work is driven by a belief in the importance of broad-based coalitions, and her projects work to integrate the strengths…
Go to the profile for LeaAnne Ross
Director of Communications
LeaAnne oversees Evergreen’s communications team and overall brand identity. She works to tell Evergreen’s story, finding compelling ways to communicate our mission to make cities flourish. LeaAnne ensures that when Evergreen partners with like-minded city builders, our story…
Go to the profile for Jessica Thornton, MDes
Director, Strategic Initiatives
Jessica is a creative problem solver who uses human-centred design, strategic foresight, and systems thinking to advance solutions to complex challenges. As Director, Strategic Initiatives, Jessica works to identify, design, and build the next generation of programs at…
Go to the profile for Cam Collyer
Outdoor Learning & Play, School Ground Design
Cam is the driver behind Evergreen’s efforts to connect children, nature, and the built world. His work gives young people access to the nurturing natural environments and play opportunities that are a key part of flourishing cities. Cam developed Evergreen’s school ground…
Go to the profile for Robert Plitt, MFA
Urban Innovation, Future Cities
Robert champions Evergreen’s efforts to create a Canada-wide network of academics, foundations, governments, and corporations focused on building flourishing future cities. He leads Evergreen’s work with Future Cities Canada and develops novel partnerships and innovations in the…
Go to the profile for Ferruccio Sardella
Public Art
Ferruccio is a multi-disciplinary artist who explores interdependencies in systems, networks and circumstances. Through his art practice, he examines ways in which imaginaries inform behaviour and identity. Ferruccio seeks to integrate his artistic methodology into diverse…
Go to the profile for Heidi Campbell, MLA
Outdoor Learning & Play, School Ground Design
Heidi designs children’s play and learning landscapes that are beautiful, resilient to climate change, and nurture young people’s development. Her creative approach is driven by a desire to innovate, and she strives to generate new designs that address the challenges facing…
Go to the profile for Kari Cwynar, MA
Public Art
Kari Cwynar is the Curator at Evergreen Brick Works, where she is developing a program of temporary, site-specific public art projects in Toronto’s Don Valley. The Don River Valley Park Art Program launched in 2017 with new works by Duane Linklater, Maria Hassabi and Life of a…
Go to the profile for Alireza Anvari, MES, LEED AP O+M
Sr. Manager, Energy & Sustainability
Alireza oversees Evergreen Brick Work’s 42-acre campus, ensuring that the site’s LEED Platinum and heritage buildings operate smoothly and efficiently. He works to keep EBW a physically resilient space that demonstrates the best of urban sustainability and green design. His work…
Go to the profile for Helen Burstyn
Board Chair
Helen Burstyn has enjoyed a 35-year career in government, business, academia, broadcasting and community service. She is currently the Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Social Venture Zone at Ryerson University and the Chair of Waterfront Toronto, a tri-partite government…
Go to the profile for George F. Dark, FCSLA, ASLA
Chair Emeritus
George is a senior partner at Urban Strategies Inc., an international award-winning planning and urban design firm that works to shape and enhance urban places through strategic action, holistic design and progressive policies. He has over 35 years of professional experience as…
Go to the profile for Anne Brace, MBA, CPA-CA
Vice Chair, Treasurer, Chair – Finance and Audit Committee
Anne Brace currently sits on the board and audit committee of Strongco Corporation (TSX:SQP) and is a director at Evergreen as well as the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN). She also serves as Treasurer and Chair of the Audit and Finance Committees for OTN.
Prior to retiring,…
Go to the profile for John D. Coyne
Secretary
John has been with Unilever Canada since 1992 and today works with professionals and multi-disciplinary teams in law, sustainability, corporate and government relations, regulatory affairs, quality assurance and safety. He is a member of Unilever Canada’s board of directors as…
Go to the profile for Alan Dean
Chair – Governance and Nominating Committee
Alan Dean is president and executive director of Brookfield Partners Foundation, the charitable arm of Brookfield, an international asset management company based in Toronto. Alan retired from Brookfield in 2008 after 20 years in communications, governance and shareholder…
Go to the profile for Jamison Steeve
Chair – Program Committee
Jamison has spent the last 16 years working in the public policy arena. He brought a thoughtful and results oriented approach to his role as the Executive Director at the Martin Prosperity Institute and the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity, two of Canada's leading…
Go to the profile for Julie Bowen
Board Director
Julie joined the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN) in 2012 as VP – Experience and Engagement after four years at TELUS Spark, and 18 years at the Ontario Science Centre. At the CMN she is responsible for the retail and revenue-generating operations as well as programs, exhibits…
Go to the profile for Andy Chisholm
Board Director
Andy Chisholm is a member of the Board of Directors of Royal Bank of Canada. Prior to that he spent most of his career at Goldman Sachs & Co, which he joined in 1985 in New York. He served in a variety of progressively more senior leadership roles within the organization during…
Go to the profile for Karen Clarke-Whistler
Board Director
Karen Clarke-Whistler has been the Chief Environment Officer of TD Bank Group since 2008. An environmental scientist, she spent more than 15 years consulting a diverse base of clients in North and South America, Europe and Africa prior to joining TD. Karen developed and leads a…
Go to the profile for Renée Gomes
Board Director
Renée is the Director of Development at Waterfront Toronto, the agency tasked with transforming over 2,000 acres of land as part of one of the world's largest waterfront revitalization projects. Renée oversees a range of development projects in the West Don Lands and East…
Go to the profile for Carole-Ann Hamilton
Board Director
Carole-Ann has dedicated her time and efforts in making socio-economic impact on a national level over the past several years. She contributed to the Ontario Trillium Foundation where she sat on several panels namely, Communities, Youths and Francophones. She is actively…
Go to the profile for Andy Macaulay
Board Director
Andy built two of Canada’s most recognized advertising agencies on business success created for leading marketers like IKEA, Pfizer, Unilever and Molson. As a partner in Roche Macaulay & Partners, he helped it become Canadian Agency of the Decade for the ‘90s (Marketing…
Go to the profile for Shabin Mohamed
Board Director
Shabin is a Chartered Professional Accountant and non-profit director. Shabin has volunteered on various non-profit boards over the past 15 years and currently serves as a trustee of the Art Gallery of Ontario and a director of the Aga Khan Museum and the Toronto International…
Go to the profile for Ken Tanenbaum
Board Director
Ken Tanenbaum is the Founder and Chairman of Kilmer Developments, which has had a leading role in the construction and operations of such transformational projects as the ONroute Highway Service Centres, the Pan Am Athletes’ Village, the West Village at Port Credit and the…