john beebe

founder

John joins the Faculty of Arts, after leading community based outreach programs for the Samara Centre for Democracy. At the Samara Centre, John developed the Democracy Talks and Vote PopUp programs that have been adopted by national and regional community organizations across the country and showcased as an example of programs that work by the Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer in his report to Parliament.

John began his career working for the US Congress where he served as Chief of Staff to a US Congressman and worked on several political campaigns. He has also worked as an educator and served on the board of the organization that successfully campaigned for the first system of public financing for state elections in the United States.

Since immigrating to Canada in 2008, John led the development of national tutoring initiatives for Pathways to Education. He also served as founding board member and chair of Park People.

John earned his BA from Tufts University and MA from John Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies.

phylicia davis

program coordinator

Phylicia joins the Faculty of Arts after working as an Instructor Coordinator with Frontier College where she supported adults in academic upgrading and developed digital literacy programs for basic and intermediate adult learners.

Phylicia started her own non-profit organization called the KGO Adult Literacy Program 6 years ago which supports adult residents in the East Scarborough community of Kingston-Galloway-Orton Park with their reading, writing and math skills.

Phylicia’s interests and research have focused on adult education, community development and resident engagement and she has had the privilege of presenting her academic and community work both at the national and international level.  

Phylicia earned her BA in International Studies from York University and her Masters in Adult Education and Community Development from the University of Toronto at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

taylor deasley

democracy activator

Taylor joins the Exchange after completing her second year of study in the Politics program at Ryerson University. Throughout her time at Ryerson she has been involved in a variety of projects in her community.

Taylor’s passion for creating an inclusive democracy began when she worked for the Community Legal Clinic of York Region where she assisted clients in various legal areas such as poverty, human rights, criminal, and family law. Taylor is also a part of Enactus Ryerson where she works to bring together audiences to ignite a conversation about sustainable change. Additionally, Taylor writes for Her Campus Ryerson magazine covering various social and political issues facing Canada today.

Taylor’s interest in giving a voice to those often unheard got to grow during her time volunteering as a youth mentor in the Jane and Finch area this past year. Taylor aspires to bring her skills to this campaign to get as many people engaged in this year’s election as possible.