Jane’s Walk Team

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Jane Farrow, Paul Hess, Emmy Pantin, and Eranthie Mendis at the Thorncliffe Park Walkability Study, Toronto 2009.

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”
— Jane Jacobs, ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’

Staff and Advisors

The Executive Director of Jane’s Walk is Jane Farrow. Her interest in vibrant, walkable cities and putting people back at the centre of the planning process stems in part from her work with the Queen Street West community group called Active 18. The group advocates a community approach to urban planning that balances the interests of developers, planners and local residents. Her community organizing work spans twenty years. She is also a writer and radio broadcaster, having hosted several CBC Radio One programs since 1998 including Workology, Home, The Omnivore, Q, And Sometimes Y, and Wanted Words. Jane edited the best-selling Wanted Words books and co-wrote The Canadian Book of Lists, published by Knopf in 2005. She continues to freelance occasionally with the CBC while managing her duties at Jane’s Walk. Jane was recognized as a Vital Person by the Toronto Community Foundation in 2010, a granting program that supports individuals who take initiative, make a contribution, and demonstrate leadership in the areas of the city’s vitality and well-being.

A long time Toronto west-ender, Jane has crossed over the Don Valley divide and become an east-ender. She lives in a rented bungalow in Little India, a thriving neighbourhood of contrasts, street-life and friendly neighbours. She enjoys walks in the woods, cooking over the campfire, snowshoeing, roadtripping, canoeing, helping out at Sherry’s farm, vernacular photography, dog walks with Millie, fawning over her girlfriend Pat and making big meals for Pat’s teenage boys.

Jane’s Walk Advisory Board
The members of the Advisory Board are a varied and experienced group of thinkers, writers, teachers, urbanists and philanthropists:

Max Allen has been a radio (and occasionally television) producer at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation since 1971. In 1975 he co-founded the Textile Museum of Canada, where he has curated 180 exhibitions ranging from the bark-cloth of Papua New Guinea to the war rugs of Afghanistan. In 1997 he edited “Ideas That Matter: The Worlds of Jane Jacobs.” He is president of the Grangetown Condominium Corporation in Toronto, and a member of the board of Energy Probe and Probe International.

Alan Broadbent is Chairman and CEO of the Avana Capital Corporation, Chairman of The Maytree Foundation, and the author of “Urban Nation: Why We Need to Give Power Back to the Cities to Make Canada Strong”. In support of its investment activities, Avana initiates and funds various civic engagement projects to strengthen the public discourse on sustaining civil society, including: the Jane Jacobs Prize, which celebrates “unsung heroes” in the Toronto Region; the Institute for Municipal Finance and Governance at the Munk Centre, University of Toronto; and Ideas That Matter, an organization to convene discourse on progressive ideas concerning the public good. Alan is also Chairman of several related organizations, including the Caledon Institute of Social Policy (co-founded by Maytree in 1992), Tamarack - An Institute for Community Engagement (co-founded in 2001), and Diaspora Dialogues, which supports the creation and presentation of new writing that reflects the diversity of Toronto. Alan is Chairman of the Tides Canada Foundation; advisor to the Literary Review of Canada; Co-Chair of Happy Planet Foods; Member of the Governors’ Council of the Toronto Public Library Foundation; Senior Fellow of Massey College; and Member of the Order of Canada and recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.

A Toronto native, Chi Nguyen is the Director of Participation Process at MASS LBP. She has over ten years of experience in developing community-based programmes for young women and children. In 2004, during her year as a Parliamentary Intern to Libby Davies and Sheila Copps, Chi ran a national campaign to encourage young women to vote in the federal election. The campaign was inspired by her experiences on the hill, and in founding and leading the Women in House program at McGill University for female political science students and women Parliamentarians. In more recent years, her work has focused on women’s health, reproductive and sexual health, civic education, political engagement and civic literacy. She has worked with a range of national and international institutions and community organizations, including the National Association of Women and the Law, the Citizenship Foundation, the Toronto Women’s City Alliance, Equal Voice and IDEA International. Chi is the Co-Chair of the Canadian Women’s Health Network, on the Steering Committee of the National Association of Women and the Law, and on the board of St. Stephne’s Community House. She has also worked as a political staff to former Minister of State, Dr. Carolyn Bennett. She is one of the inaugural DiverseCity Fellows, and developing My TO Tours: Exploring Toronto’s Tales. Chi has been recognized for her contributions to improving the lives of women and girls throughout Canada by the Governor General (2004) and the YWCA of Greater Toronto (1999). In her free time, she likes to race streetcars on her bicycle, eat delicious food, run and quilt.

Devon Ostrom is a curator and organizer of arts initiatives and focuses on art and public space. One of his initiatives is BeautifulCity.ca, which aims to beautify, democratize and diversify access to public space. He has developed an alliance over the past seven years to advocate for a tax on billboards, with the funds going to art in the public sphere as well as enforcement of the new sign by-law that governs billboards. Devon holds an MA in Curating from Goldsmith’s College, University of London and has graduated from programs in non-profit management and human resource management from Ryerson University. His career as an organizer started at age fourteen when coordinating a graffiti contest at the Central Canadian Exhibition in Ottawa. He has since gone on to curate countless exhibitions and installations. Devon is also a co-founder of the following organizations: them.ca (curator), the Canadian Youth Arts Network (outgoing chair), the bcbf (alliance coordinator) and manifesto community projects (co-visual arts director).

Ann Peters is the Senior Manager of Leadership Programs at Maytree, a private charitable foundation committed to reducing poverty and inequality in Canada and to building strong civic communities. In this capacity, she is responsible for coordinating Maytree’s wide-ranging leadership programs which include Leaders for Change, The Public Policy Training Institute, Five Good Ideas, the Annual Leadership Conference and DiverseCity, an innovative partnership between Maytree and the Toronto City Summit Alliance to diversify Toronto’s leadership landscape through eight initiatives. Prior to joining Maytree, she worked for Ideas That Matter which convenes and publishes on issues related to the importance of cities in the Canadian context. The work of Ideas that Matter is also inspired by the ideas and principles of Jane Jacobs and awards the annual Jane Jacobs prize. Ann has also worked in the areas of urban planning and nonprofit housing as well as ten years in alternative education.

Tanya Raheel Tanya Raheel heads up global media sales for Butterscotch.com, the online video content division of the long-established Internet services company Tucows Inc. She is also the founder of The Legato Group, which counsels companies on how to make better philanthropic investments in not for profit agencies. Tanya’s 19-year career spans sales, marketing, business development, operations and customer experience for companies at early growth, expansion and/or rebuilding stages. Her achievements run the gamut from transforming a troubled restaurant in a five-star hotel in Dubai, to helping build the Canadian arm of a US Internet pioneer in the roller coaster early days of the Web, to securing national media coverage on a nonexistent budget for charity cycling events raising funds and awareness in the fight against childhood cancer. A proud Torontonian for the past 15 years, Tanya brings an international and multicultural perspective to everything she does. She’s lived and worked in three continents and four countries - including Switzerland and the UAE (Dubai) - and has travelled through 22 countries and counting. She aims to affect social change through her volunteer work with a variety of initiatives including Jane’s Walk, Tour for Kids and Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation. Her curiosity and sense of adventure make her passionate about many things; her newest endeavors include long-distance road cycling and an unending quest for the perfect pistachio macaroon outside of Paris.

Netami Stuart is a landscape architect and certified arborist who plans and designs parks for the City of Toronto. She was previously a project manager and landscape designer at PMA Landscape Architects. She has led walks during the past two Jane’s Walks. Netami is committed to producing accessible, beautiful and functional public spaces in collaboration with the communities that will use them. She has a deep and thorough understanding of the nuts and bolts of planning, designing and constructing walkable places. Netami’s practice has focused on natural environment and urban forest restoration, transportation landscapes, and facilitating community input into the design and management of public space. Netami is a member of the Friends of the West Toronto Rail Path and has sat on the steering committee of Active18 and the board of the Community Bicycle Network. She also writes for and sits on the Editorial Board of Ground magazine, a quarterly publication of the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects.

Linda Weichel is the Senior Vice President of Canada’s largest employee-owned public relations agency Media Profile. Currently, Linda is bringing all her corporate, public and not for profit experience to the table through a secondment to the Toronto City Summit Alliance. There she is Managing Director of Greening Greater Toronto, an initiative that aims to make the GTA the greenest city region in North America. Linda devotes herself extensively to volunteer work and her great passions, international travel and singing in the Toronto Jazz Chorus.

Margie Zeidler is president of Urbanspace Property Group, specializing in the adaptive reuse of old buildings that house artists and social entrepreneurs, including 401 Richmond and the JAS Robertson Building located in downtown Toronto. Ms. Zeidler sits on the board of the TIDES Canada Foundation. She is the recipient of the 2003 “Jane Jacobs Prize”, the 2004 Toronto “Best Friend of the Arts” Award, and she received the Order of Ontario in 2005. She was also involved with Active 18, a residents group advocating for sustainable development in the Queen West Triangle of downtown Toronto.

Jane’s Walk Crew and Facilitators

Emmy Pantin is the Jane’s Walk Operations Director - which means she knows how to do about a hundred different things related to getting this event to run smoothly. Emmy is a community artist living in Toronto and, as a result, she wears purple leather boots. She has also worked as a tenant organizer in Toronto. She also works at the Toronto Centre for Digital Storytelling.

Andrew Chau provides graphic design and website design for Jane’s Walk. He recently completed his Master’s degree in Architecture at McGill University, studying city farming and adaptive reuse of railway infrastructure. After summers in Washington DC, Montreal, and Hong Kong, he’s taking off again, this time for Rotterdam. He’s landed a prestigious internship with architect Rem Koolhaus. We will miss him but are very proud of his continuing success.

Martin Danyluk has a diverse background that spans geography, music, urban planning, writing, and theatre. His restless fascination with cities – ever-shifting webs of people, spaces, objects, and ideas – drove him from the West Coast three years ago to pursue a Master’s degree in Planning at the University of Toronto. His research there explored the potential for growing food in the underused lands beneath Toronto’s high-voltage electricity wires. Martin currently works as a freelance researcher, cartographer, writer, and facilitator. He maintains an active interest in food politics as well as housing, urban change, transportation, and social justice. On those rare days when nobody is around to hear, he is fitfully learning to play the banjo.

Denisa Gavan-Koop is an urban planning student in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. She is interested in urban regeneration projects and public participation in the urban planning process. What is good planning? and Who is left out of the planning process? are just some of the questions she constantly asks herself as a planner in training. She is fascinated by how the “pieces of our city puzzle” fit together, how unique districts and neighourhoods create the distinctive character of a city, and how the diverse values, interests and objectives of individuals are included in the planning process. She believes Jane’s Walk is a great way of learning how people see and experience their communities. When Denisa is not studying city planning, she loves walking and discovering her city and trying exotic cuisine from all corners of the world.

Dara Gellman is a Toronto East-ender, video installation artist, arts educator, cultural worker, travel enthusiast and condiment obsessive. In between bouts of DIY renovating her Leslieville home with her partner Jackie, she finds time to work on her art practice, watch nearby kestrels and hawks, and plan her next trip. Dara dreams of one day hosting a Jane’s Walk that is just about food, or even better, just about condiments. Dara does not wear purple boots like Emmy, though she is artistic.

Mia Hunt has a multidisciplinary background in design, planning, and community engagement. Originally from Victoria, Mia has a BFA in Design Art from Concordia University and a Masters in Planning from University of Toronto, specialising in Urban Design and Social Planning. Her research there focused on the marketing campaign and social implications of the CAMH redevelopment. Mia has long been involved with the Planners Network; she has organised public lecture series, participated on urban design juries, and volunteers with a number of local social agencies. These activities have allowed her to explore her recurring interests in social and environmental justice, media studies, material culture, urban change, education, and planning. Mia is currently working as a freelance urban designer and planner, researcher, graphic artist, writer, and creative problem solver in Toronto.

Jed Kilbourn is a planning student at York University. He is interested in the way that people form communities and neighbourhoods and how healthier, sustainable and more livable cities can be planned. When he is not studying about cities, Jed explores them, either on foot or by bicycle. The best way to understand a city, he believes, is to be in it; to listen to it, to watch it and hear the stories it has to tell. What is exciting to him about working with Jane’s Walks is the chance to hear how other folks know their city. Jed sometimes thinks he will wear purple boots, like Emmy’s, but hasn’t got around to it yet.

Ian Malczewski was born in Toronto and, despite having traveled to many other cities, still thinks it is one of the best places to live in the world. He has published his original poetry with the Toronto-based creative writing collective Diaspora Dialogues, contributed for the public-space focussed Spacing magazine, and has helped induce uncontrollable rump-shaking in the streets with the percussion ensemble Samba Elégua. Ian just completed his Master’s at York University’s Faculty of Environmental Studies, where he studied Environmental Education, Storytelling, and Urban Planning. He is currently working as an Urban Planner for the Toronto-based planning and design firm, Urban Strategies Inc.

Wendy Mendes is the coordinating writer of the Jane Jacobs primers posted on our website. She holds a PhD in urban geography from Simon Fraser University. Wendy is an urban aficionado who researches and teaches about local governance, policy-making, sustainability and participatory decision-making, with a specialization in urban food security. She is currently Adjunct Professor at the School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia, Research Associate at Ryerson University’s Centre for Studies in Food Security, and Social Planner for the District of North Vancouver. In addition, Wendy is a not-so clandestine aerial acrobat who likes to dream up ways to promote circus arts as a vehicle to realize more vibrant and inclusive public spaces.

Andrew Pask is the co-writer of our Jane Jacobs primers. He is the director of the Vancouver Public Space Network, a grassroots non-profit that works on advocacy, education and outreach about Vancouver’s public realm. He was trained as a planner and anthropologist, and has worked on community planning matters across Canada. He can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Rani Sanderson has a background in film and video-based work. After many years working as a programmer for the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, and working in Europe as a video artist, Rani decided to explore different ways of using her creative and technical skills. She chose to further her education and return to university in 2007 to pursue a Masters in Environmental Studies, where she is currently working with children and youth to examine environmental perceptions and perspectives, and find creative modes of engaging with the natural world.