For the past 5 months, the Tapestry team has had the pleasure of working with Suzanne Faiza. Suzanne, joined our team as a Researcher, supporting Tapestry’s involvement in the CMHC Housing Supply Challenge, as well as a clean energy project in Atlantic Canada.
This fall Suzanne will be returning to her Masters of Planning program at the University of Toronto, equipped with new experience and expertise in social finance and community economic development.
Suzanne, who originally trained and worked as an architect, contributed a wealth of understanding of the affordable housing sector to our growing team. Beyond her knowledge, she brought incredible enthusiasm and excitement to every aspect of work she engaged in.
“Working on the Housing Supply Challenge was an incredible experience,” she shares, “It gave me an amazing opportunity to understand the affordable housing landscape in Ontario, learn first hand from those actively trying to solve what is one of our country’s greatest challenges, and see the role that social finance can play in increasing Canada’s affordable housing supply.”
One of Suzanne’s key responsibilities was coordinating and leading stakeholder research. Engaging with co-ops, government bodies, non-profits, and investors, Suzanne always came prepared with creative questions and eagerness to learn from those we consulted with.
“Attempting to find out what people need is really the bread and butter of being a planner, so it was great to put my facilitation skills to use.”
Contributing to a clean energy project was something new and exciting for Suzanne.
“I’ll be honest, at the beginning it was a little daunting for me because I had to play catch up and learn so many new terms and acronyms!” Suzanne admits. “I really appreciated that the team gave me the opportunity to just absorb information when I needed to,” she said, “In our housing work, I was building off previous experience, but in our clean energy project, a lot of it was completely new to me, so it was very rewarding.”
Reflecting on her experience with the Tapestry team, Suzanne shared that she appreciated the lack of hierarchy in sharing and contributing ideas, the strong commitment of the organization to work-life balance, and the support which she received to grow in her role.
“Easily the best place I’ve ever worked at!” Suzanne concludes with a big smile.
We are eager to see where Suzanne’s next year of her Masters program takes her and know that we will be collaborating again in the near future!
Are you interested in social finance and the work that we do at Tapestry? Keep an eye on our Careers page for new opportunities and sign up to our bulletin d'information for the most current updates on open positions.