Innovative Pathways to Future-Ready Housing: Affordable, Energy-Efficient and Climate-Resilient 

Cherise Burda specializes in timely research, strategic communications and creative engagement to drive impact. Her work has influenced policy change in Ontario and British Columbia on housing, transportation, forestry, energy and climate. She has authored more than 40 policy reports, book chapters and academic publications, as well as dozens of articles and op-eds. Her previous roles include Executive Director of the City Building Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University, Ontario Director of the Pembina Institute, Program Director with the David Suzuki Foundation and Senior Researcher at the University of Victoria’s Eco-Research Chair in Environmental Law and Policy. Currently, she is an active member of the national Affordability Action Council and the Task Force for Housing and Climate.

Dr. Runa Das is an associate professor and core faculty member in the Doctor of Social Sciences program. Her work is motivated by real world issues such as climate change and sustainability. In particular, her interdisciplinary research explores the assessment and practice of environmental and social sustainability with a specific focus on energy-related issues. She examines the human dimensions and determinants of energy use, energy literacy, environmental and energy justice and pro-environmental behaviour change. She asks questions like: Why do we use energy the way we do? Does knowing more about the production and distribution of energy change how we use it? Is there fair and equal access to energy in society? And how can we best encourage pro-environmental behaviour change? As a quantitative methodologist, Runa is passionate about teaching social statistics and research design.

Ray Williams was appointed to the board of directors of CMHC in June 2024. A seasoned financial services executive with more than 35 years of experience specializing in global capital markets, Mr. Williams is a former Vice-Chairman of Financial Markets at National Bank Financial. He was a key contributor to the bank’s affordable housing commitments. In 2020, Mr. Williams co-founded the Black Opportunity Fund. He is now Chair of this fund, which is the largest fund in Canada created to address anti-Black racism through social and economic empowerment. Passionate about inspiring change and community engagement, particularly in advancing workplace diversity and inclusion efforts, Mr. Williams is a long-time mentor. He also serves on a variety of leadership boards. He is the past and founding president of the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals. The association is a member-based resource organization for the advancement of Black and minority professionals in the Canadian financial services industry.

Shaimaa Yassin is a research director at the Institute for Research on Public Policy, leading the Toward a More Equitable Canada research program, which has published studies on proposed dental care and pharmacare programs. She is also a member of the secretariat of the Affordability Action Council, a collaboration of diverse policy and community leaders that works to identify ways to help meet the basic needs of lower-income Canadians. She is a policy-oriented economist with over a decade of experience in translating challenging academic research into strategic advice for a broad audience.

Previously, Shaimaa served as senior director at the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) in Montreal. Shaimaa has consulted for several governments and organizations such as the World Bank, Chaire “Sécurisation des Parcours Professionnels” in France, and the Economic Research Forum in Egypt. She was a research fellow in the economics department of several academic institutions, namely McGill University (Swiss National Science Foundation Fellow), the University of Lausanne and the University of Neuchâtel. She has an extensive record of publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, a Presses de Sciences Po book, Les Accidents de Carrière, and two Oxford University Press volumes on labour markets in the Middle East and North Africa. Shaimaa holds a PhD in economics from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and a MSc in empirical and theoretical economics from the Paris School of Economics.