Staff + Projects Team

Meet the people who form the backbone of our organization.

  • 1

    Marissa Alexander (she/they)

    Co-Executive Director

    Marissa is a registered dietitian who is passionate about anti-racism, food security, and equity. Living and working on the traditional and unceded territory of the Lheidli T’enneh, she has had the honour of working alongside 55 First Nations communities in northern BC. She is also privileged to be able to connect with many different peoples and communities through her anti-racism consulting work. In her very little spare time, she is working on her Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on equity and cultural studies. As someone who is thankful to be a part of many, often oppressed, communities she is always looking for opportunities to elevate voices and lived experiences. When she is not focused on social justice work, she likes to spend time with family, friends, and her dog Ru. You can often find her crafting or creating, and she tries to include humour in her work as much as possible.

  • 2

    Wade Thorhaug (he/him)

    Co-Executive Director

    Having grown up on a farm in southern Saskatchewan, Wade has always been passionate about where our food comes from. After graduating from the University of Calgary (BSc Hons) he spent a number of years abroad working in education, and upon returning to Canada he took up residence in Iqaluit, Nunavut. There he gained a newfound appreciation for the diversity of local food systems in Canada, in particular long-standing yet threatened Indigenous approaches to land management.

    As president and later Executive Director, he was instrumental in vastly expanding the activities and impact of Qajuqturvik Community Food Centre. He was also deeply involved in a number of other non-profit and community initiatives, including the creation of the Nunavut Association of Non-Profit Organizations. As an advocate he has made numerous appearances before media and multiple levels of government to push for a more dignified and equitable approach to increasing food security, stronger regional food sovereignty, a dismantling of colonial food systems, and improved health of communities through good food.

    Newly based in Montreal, Wade is eager to get involved in the urban food movement while working towards change on a national level.

  • Susan Alexander

    Susan Alexander (she/her)

    Senior Policy Advisor

    Susan Alexander has worked on food systems policy in Canada since 2016. She first put down roots in the Montreal food movement as a volunteer with Santropol Roulant and at her local community garden. Since 2019 she has been a Senior Policy Advisor with Food Secure Canada. She supports the organisation's response to national policy consultations and engagement with the Food Policy for Canada.

    Earlier in her career, she worked in Europe and North Africa, including for the Rome-based news agency Inter Press Service as a manager, and in Spain and Tunisia as a researcher and writer for El Taller, a Southern-focused civil society think tank. Susan is Scottish, and is competent in French and enthusiastic in Spanish and Italian. She has a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Somerville College, Oxford and a diploma in French from l'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).

  • 6

    Charlotte Dumont (she/her)

    Communications Coordinator

    Charlotte is the Communications Coordinator for Food Secure Canada.

    Passionate about the power of words to connect, inspire and drive positive change, she enjoys exploring the intersections between literature, culture, and society, and thrives on discovering stories that resonate and spark meaningful conversations.

    Keen to foster engagement, she specializes in creating content that captivates and touches a variety of audiences. Before joining FSC, Charlotte worked with other non-profit organizations such as the Research Institute for Development (IRD), where she helped create, edit and translate engaging and promotional content.

    She describes herself as a lifelong learner, as she particularly enjoys traveling and discovering new cultures.

  • Staff 2024

    Andi Emrich

    Projects and Engagement Manager

    Andi's passion for food and farming blossomed from childhood summers spent tending vegetables with her father and sharing meals with loved ones. With over a decade of hands-on experience working in key roles in various agriculture and food organizations across Canada and the U.S., she brings a wealth of knowledge in food systems and expertise in project management, event planning, and coordination.

    Andi holds a Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Leadership with a minor in Environmental Studies from the University of New Brunswick’s Renaissance College, along with a Certificate in Food Security from Ryerson’s Chang School of Continuing Education.

    She recently returned to the east coast of Canada with her husband and two daughters after almost a decade of living and working in the U.S. and is grateful to be working toward a more just and equitable food system back home. In her free time, Andi is an avid flower and vegetable gardener, loves to sew and cook for family and friends.

  • 5

    Stephanie Platero (she/her)

    Communications Manager

    Stephanie Platero is a second-generation Latin Canadian who is focused on critical cultural research when she is not knee deep in Communication Strategy. Cultural coding and equity for Brown, Black and Indigenous people are her inquisitive passions. Her driving force is in highlighting the regional distinctiveness of culture, evaluating resistive narratives, and shedding light on the underrepresented.

    Stephanie is currently undertaking a Master of Arts in Communication (Media Studies) with a focus on evaluating culture in food insecurity. She comes to us with a range of experience in non-profit, government and private sectors. Stephanie's drive towards decolonial, anti-racist and trauma-informed work is a tremendous contribution to our team. When she is not busy leading community philanthropic events and advocating for human rights, she is happily cozying up at home with her mini house lions and panthers (cats).

  • 4

    Aaron Vansintjan

    Policy Manager

    Born in Belgium, Aaron lived in Central America, South Africa, and the United States before putting down his roots in Montreal in 2008. His interest in food justice began when he started working and volunteering at community kitchens and food banks in 2010. This inspired him to do an MSc in Natural Resource Sciences at McGill University on the political economy of food banks in Canada. In 2022, he received a PhD from Birkbeck College, University of London, for which he studied the intersection of food justice and gentrification in Montreal and Hanoi.
    Consultant for over a decade, Aaron has done research for political parties, non-profits, and research institutes. He’s excited to bring his writing and project management skills to Food Secure Canada. Co-author of the book The Future Is Degrowth, Aaron is currently working on his next book, The Sustainability Class. He is on a quest to try all kinds of food—on which he spends way too much money, and often gets side-tracked cuddling with his dog, Pan.