COCo Team
COCo Staff
Sarah Blumel (sarahb at coco-net.org)
Sarah has 10 years of community experience ranging from her work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer and questioning youth at Project 10 to design and creative collaboration work with various Montreal-based theatre companies. In all of her community work Sarah focused on empowerment, facilitation and capacity-building with participants, staff and volunteers. At COCo Sarah continues to support community arts organizations and the LGBTQ community through facilitation contracts, conflict resolution training, and community research projects such as "In the Know". In her spare time Sarah expresses her love for "all things delicious" through lots of cooking and baking and she has even been known to give occasional and dramatic musical performances around Montreal.
Loralie Bromby (loralieb at coco-net.org)
Loralie has been involved with community groups for 7 years with a focus on youth facilitation and empowerment through media arts. Before joining the COCo team Loralie worked for the Girls Action Foundation as a Youth Media Arts Coordinator, she also worked for the Digital Literacy Project of the Atwater library as a workshop facilitator. Loralie brings this community experience as well as her academic background in communications to her work on COCo Communications and Information Technology. With a Carribean background and the experience of growing up in the Eastern Townships, Loralie loves Quebec but also tends to run towards the sun for cold Montreal winters. During time spent in the Caribbean sun Loralie has facilitated leadership training with Jamaican youth and has decided to bring a little heat and back to Montreal through occasional catering contracts for spicy and exotic foods.
Laila Malik (lailam at coco-net.org) (Bio coming soon)
Spencer Mann (spencerm at coco-net.org)
Spencer has worked and volunteered in community organizing and co-op development for over 11 years. His experience has ranged from community food security with the MUCS Project, to co-operative education and training through NASCO, to integrated design and green building as a member of the Sustainability Solutions Group. At COCo Spencer focuses on collaborative and cooperative organizing models and frequently facilitates trainings on collective decision making, project management, and grassroots organizing strategies. Spencer was born and raised in a solar-powered home on the coast of Maine and moved to Montreal for environmental studies at McGill and for the opportunity to get involved in urban social movements. Spencer loves cooking in community kitchens and cultivates a secret passion for playwriting, sea kayaking, and extreme sledding.
Alex Megelas (alexm at coco-net.org)
Alex has a diverse background in arts, independent media and community organizing. He has been involved with various initiatives over the past 11 years in both Montreal and Quebec's Eastern Townships, including as fundraiser with youth organization Head & Hands, as a researcher on social housing with the NDG Community Council, as the co-founder of Grenadine Records and as the co-founder of Geek Montreal. Alex is also a certified life coach. In his practice, he is particularly interested in helping individuals achieve a more conscientious and active citizenship. Alex brings coaching to his work as a COCo facilitator along with his background in conflict mediation and sustainable fundraising. When not around the COCo office Alex can be found riding his bicycle around town and playing anarchist soccer (summer) or sliding on the Mont Royal (winter).
Mubeenah Mughal (mubeenahm at coco-net.org)
Mubeenah has been involved in social justice organizing work and community initiatives in Montreal and the U.S for over 9 years. Her organizing work has focused largely on local social justice issues in Montreal and has led her to participate in groups such as Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui, Solidarity Across Borders, and Women of Diverse Origins. From this rich background of community work, Mubeenah brings a familiarity with Montreal-based social justice groups as well as experience in facilitation and communication with diverse communities. As a mother of two, Mubeenah is passionate about alternative approaches to education and would love to see a Freeschool as an option in Montreal for her children and many others. Mubeenah also believes that more groups should look into the potential of Karaoke as a valuable community building tool.
Tana Paddock (tanap at coco-net.org)
Tana has been actively involved in community work since 1995 - first in the U.S. as an organizer focused on school reform, municipal planning, and micro-enterprise development and later in Montreal, as a volunteer and Board member with Santropol Roulant and organizational development consultant. In her facilitation and coordination work at COCo, Tana is most in her element when she's able to facilitate spaces of collective reflection and strategic thinking that help community groups deepen their work for social change. She is particularly passionate about helping community groups become living expressions of the positive change they are seeking to create in the world. Since moving to Montreal in 2001, Tana has taken great joy in being a tourist in her own city and is often out on adventures and explorations in various Montreal neigbourhoods.
Katrina Peddle (katrinap at coco-net.org)
Katrina has been active in social justice movements for many years. She has been collaborating in youth empowerment and advocacy, refugee support programs, and sustainable rural development projects for over 7 years. From working with SmartLabrador and the Community Youth Network to use community technology to explore Métis identity in southern Labrador, to local efforts volunteering with Action Réfugiés Montréal - Katrina holds a wealth of practical community experience to compliment her Phd in Communications and her current studies in law. Katrina's legal information and facilitation work at COCo also draws on her community-based research skills and her passion for promoting the autonomy of people and organizations. Born and raised on the rocky island of Newfoundland with a deep love of Labrador, Katrina enjoys playing music, cross country skiing, and occasionally whipping up wedding cakes.
Frances Ravensbergen (francesr at coco-net.org)
Frances has 35 years experience in the community sector including 14 years working as a community organizer and branch director for the Montreal YMCA, sitting on numerous boards including the Lea Roback Foundation and Hemmingford Environment Committee and providing training and consulting on organizational change. She was a founding member of COCo as well as a Co-Director from 2000-2005. Currently she focuses on facilitation for planned change processes (including strategic planning), community-based research, and organizational managment and change. Frances and her partner raised their 4 children on a working farm in southern Quebec. She is well acquainted with the realities and challenges faced by rural communities as well as the English community sector in Quebec. Frances strives to maintain a healthy life-work balance by kayaking, snowboarding, having a yoga practice and reading for pleasure. She also teaches community-related courses at Concordia University and is completing her doctoral studies.
COCo Board of Directors
Jenn Clamen - (Bio coming soon)
Tatiana Gomez - (Bio coming soon)
Michael Lenczner - Michael has worked in the community technology field for over 10 years as a strategist and community organizer. He is a co-founder of Ile Sans Fil and CivicAccess.ca and currently serves on the Board of Apathy is Boring as well as COCo. As a Board member at COCo, Michael draws on his experience in citizen involvement, organization and sector development and community-university collaboration. In addition to his community work Michael plays rugby and builds snowforts.
Denis McKinnon - (Bio coming soon)
Baj Mukhopadhyay - Baj has been actively involved in issues of health, housing, welfare, immigration, and refugee rights for over 12 years. From the the Canada Race Relations Foundation to Agir, a new organization for LGBTQ refugees and newcomers - Baj has worked in the community sector both in Montreal and abroad. On the COCo Board, Baj is a passionate advocate for increased membership engagement and a stronger focus on social movements in addition to organizational capacity building. Baj is currently a medical student at McGill University and has focused much of his research and writing on how medical and otherservice provision can become an integral part of a process of social change.
Line St-Amour - (Bio coming soon)
Rosemary Thomas - Rosemary has worked with community organizations in Canada and abroad for over 15 years. Much of her work has focused on supporting vulnerable populations, especially women and children through organizations such as the Women's Legal Aid Center and the Legal and Human Rights Centre in eastern Africa. On the COCo Board Rosemary helps advise on community research work and leadership development programs, she also draws on her experience as Executive Director of the Refuge Juan Moreno to help guide the evolution of COCo's structure. Rosemary is proud of her African roots and enjoys the richness of juggling between mothering, community work, and academic teaching and research.