Sophia Ilyniak

Sophia is the Research Manager for the Housing First for Youth Demonstration Project with the Making the Shift Youth Homelessness Demonstration Lab (MtS DEMS). Prior to this role, she served as Co-Chair of A Way Home Toronto’s Expert Steering Committee, with the goal to build a strategy for ending and preventing youth homelessness in Toronto. She has also worked in frontline harm reduction and other social service and community health environments. A public policy nerd and critical geographer at heart, Sophia is passionate about gentrification and the political economy of the non-profit sector. Sophia holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies with a focus on Planning (York University), as well as a Certificate in Food Security (Ryerson University). In her spare time, she can be found tending to her beloved Dragon Alley Community Garden with her neighbours.