John Beebe
Senior Advisor and Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Arts
Catherine Corriveau
National Manager, Engagement & Strategic Initiatives
John founded the Democratic Engagement Exchange in 2017. John’s passion for democratic engagement started while biking across North America when strangers from all walks of life took pity on a sweaty teenage kid and opened up their homes, shared a cold drink, provided him a hot shower and shared a little of their lives.
Since then, John has had the opportunity to work for the US Congress, exhibit photos at the United Nations, and lead national engagement efforts for organizations like the Samara Centre for Democracy and Pathways to Education.
Through these professional and personal experiences, John continues to be reminded of the wisdom that resides in our communities when we take the opportunity to engage and listen.
To learn more about John and other efforts to foster democracy, visit the Faculty of Arts.
Catherine brings a diversified professional background in public policy, community engagement, fundraising, and project management in the public and non-profit sectors. Catherine’s experience ranges from developing creative outreach campaigns for minority linguistic groups in Ontario, to supporting experiential learning opportunities for marginalized youth across Canada, to connecting and convening with over 250 of Canada’s top policymakers, leaders and deciders on pressing policy issues.
Having grown up in Ottawa and spent most of her time around Parliament, Catherine had an early appreciation for Canadian politics and the importance of citizen participation. She has dedicated her career to building new relationships with the goal of achieving meaningful and sustainable change in her community. Catherine aims to support Canada’s future leaders by being involved in impactful democratic engagement opportunities.
Catherine holds a Honours BSocSc in Conflict Studies and Human Rights and a Masters of Arts in Political Science from the University of Ottawa. Her studies focused on national security and democracy in Canada, examining issues of violent extremism and radicalization. She joins The Exchange from the Public Policy Forum where she was involved in supporting the development of public policy recommendations while leading stakeholder engagement.
Since her undergraduate studies, Catherine has been volunteering for various organizations in Ottawa and Toronto. She is also an active member of the Toronto running community. She has completed multiple ultra-marathon relay challenges for charity and hopes to transition to triathlon racing in the near future.
Ambalika Roy
Democratic Engagement Facilitator
Ambalika is a law and development professional who moved to Canada from India in 2019. She holds an LL.B from the University of Calcutta and is a member of the Calcutta High Court Bar Association. In India, she represented various communities and individuals facing discrimination and exclusion across different legal forums.
With over fourteen years of experience in national legal aid clinics, Ambalika has provided legal support to numerous equity-deserving groups in India, focusing on access to justice and social inclusion. She has contributed to several landmark judgments, including those affirming the right to confidentiality for people living with HIV and the right to identity for transgender persons. Her extensive work includes public legal education and awareness for marginalized communities, including women, people living with HIV, and LGBTQI individuals.
Before joining the Exchange, Ambalika served as a Senior Community Engagement Advisor at the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights (CCHR), where she worked to advance systemic policy changes ensuring that housing policies reflect a rights-based approach. Throughout her career, she has engaged with diverse communities in both India and Canada, building their capacity in legal and human rights.
Ashley Denny
Project Coordinator
Ashley joined the Democratic Engagement Exchange in 2020. She is passionate about building a culture of democracy in Canada. With a foundational education in the Humanities, Ashley believes in the importance of big ideas, education and meaningful action. In her career so far, she has had the opportunity to work for Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada in Ottawa and for the Faculty of Laws, UCL in London, UK.
Her experience in the Canadian co-operative movement has strengthened her belief in the importance of community engagement and participatory democracy in various aspects of our personal and political lives.
Victoria Kuketz
Host of Democracy Dialogues
Victoria is thrilled to be the host of the Democracy Dialogues. She is a public policy and external relations professional who has built her career leading programming centred on social policy and democratic engagement, community outreach, driving stakeholder engagement, and building partnerships. She is also the Director of Corporate Engagement at Catalyst Canada, and the Digital Democracy Fellow at the Public Policy Forum.
Having worked closely with The Exchange in its formative years, Victoria is excited to return in this role and will draw on her previous experience at Public Policy Forum (where she is now a disability inclusion advisor), Elections Ontario, MaRS Discovery District, and the Samara Center for Democracy in order to convene and facilitate equitable, timely and responsive conversations for the Democracy Dialogues. Victoria holds both a Master's Degree and HBA from the University of Toronto in Literature with a focus on Representation and Intersectionality. Fun fact, Victoria was the first-ever Vote Pop-Up volunteer and worked with The Exchange and on behalf of Elections Ontario to achieve the First-Time Voter Award from the International Center for Parliamentary Studies. Get in touch with her to share ideas for topics, chat about building an inclusive democracy, and to share great books and articles you're reading.