Board of Directors

Jennifer Stacey is deeply committed to making a positive impact in her community. Her journey with St. Clare’s began as a dedicated rider on the annual Gear Up for Housing fundraising ride, where her love for the organization’s work flourished. Impressed by St. Clare’s dedication to providing innovative and community building housing solutions, Jennifer decided to extend her involvement by joining the Board of Directors.

Outside of her work with St. Clare’s, Jennifer serves as the Operations Director for the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), where she leverages her skills to support academic faculty and librarians in collective bargaining, and advocates for strong, accessible public post-secondary education. Her dedication to social justice, equity, and her community extends further as she actively engages as a committed community activist and organizer in her home riding of Davenport and beyond. Before sitting on the Board of St. Clare’s, Jennifer sat on the Board of Directors of Choice in Health.

Andrea Donaldson is the Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre, Canada’s preeminent feminist theatre in Toronto. For two decades, Donaldson has played a pivotal role in fostering new works for the stage, both in her role as Tarragon Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director and as the Program Director for Nightwood Theatre’s Write from the Hip program – a unit for exceptional emerging playwrights. Andrea has directed productions for theatres across the country garnering numerous nominations and awards. Most recently, Andrea co-founded the Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre at 877 Yonge Street as part of Nightwood Theatre with Tapestry Opera.

Andrew Groenewegen is a board member at St. Clare’s. Andrew has significant residential & commercial real estate experience across Canada, including property management and development. He is committed to helping St. Clare’s continue building and operating much needed affordable housing in the community.

Emily Paradis (she/they) brings more than 30 years’ experience in policy, advocacy, research, and front-line work on issues of housing and homelessness. Emily’s areas of focus include human rights in housing; participatory research and policy; homelessness among women, gender-diverse persons, and families; preservation of low-barrier affordable housing; and federal and municipal policies on housing and homelessness.

A long-time resident of downtown west Toronto, Emily has served on the Board of West Neighbourhood House (2013-2024, President 2021-23), as a founding member and co-Chair of Build a Better Bloor Dufferin, and as a member of the Steering Committees of Right to Housing in Toronto and the National Right to Housing Network.

Dr. Paradis is currently Senior Policy Advisor to the Federal Housing Advocate at the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and has a been fellow with Maytree, an instructor in the Urban Studies Program at University of Toronto, and a collaborator with the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness. As an independent consultant, Emily has conducted research and evaluation with partners including Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust, Sistering, Social Planning Toronto, and the City of Toronto.

Evan VanDyk is a labour and employment lawyer currently practicing at Toronto-Dominion Bank. Evan has also worked at Bell Canada and in private practice. In addition to St. Clare’s, Evan’s community involvement includes acting as the Chair of the Board of Directors at the Abelard Centre for Education, a small private high school in Toronto. Evan has been a Board member since 2011 and is proud to be part of an organization building and providing much-needed solutions in the midst of Toronto’s ongoing housing crisis.

For more than a decade, Michele has admired and championed St. Clare’s excellence as an affordable housing provider.  While at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), she managed the corporation’s relationship with St. Clare’s, supporting funding applications for construction and renovation projects, and initiating knowledge transfer activities to share its innovative operating model with housing providers across Canada, through webinars, tours and workshops.

From her years in Client Solutions at CMHC, and in leading the Housing team at Habitat for Humanity Canada, Michele brings to the St. Clare’s Board deep expertise in development financing, affordable housing program and policy design and multi-stakeholder negotiations.

Miyadh Mutahar is a commercial real estate finance professional specializing in multi-residential and affordable housing capital. Over his career he has supported more than $2.5 billion in funded financing across acquisitions, refinancings, and new development, with deep expertise in CMHC-insured lending and the MLI Select program. 

His work centres on structuring capital for complex multi-residential assets, including navigating the eligibility and affordability requirements that non-profit and mission-driven housing operators face. He has advised borrowers through the intersection of municipal affordable-housing programs and CMHC underwriting to preserve affordable units in Toronto’s housing market. 

He also has experience working in acquisitions and investment management on the ownership side, underwriting and presenting multi-residential investment opportunities to an investment committee. This combination of lender-side and owner-side experience gives him a practical, full-picture view of how housing deals are financed, governed, and sustained. 

Miyadh holds an Honours Bachelor of Business Economics from Brock University.

Payam Noursalehi, B.Eng., MBA, PMP, is a Development & Construction Professional, with nearly 20 years of experience across engineering, development management, construction, and consulting, Payam brings a practical understanding of how housing projects move from concept through approvals, financing, construction, and occupancy. He is also the host of the Real Estate Development Insights podcast, where he speaks with industry leaders about housing, development, construction, and city-building. Payam is pleased to support St. Clare’s mission by contributing his experience in project delivery, risk management, governance, and housing development.