Team

 View Trudy's profile

View Elizabeth's profile

As Chief Strategy Officer, Elizabeth works closely with stakeholders and allied treatment and prevention organizations to understand their knowledge needs and context, to determine strategic approaches to improve outcomes like reduced harm from gambling. Before joining Greo, Elizabeth partnered with clients across the health and social service sectors to engage stakeholders, and design innovative evidence-based program and service delivery models as Managing Partner of Gestalt Collective. Her expertise is in knowledge translation and exchange, with significant experience working on public health issues (e.g., substance use, domestic violence, immunization), addressing stigmas, applying harm reduction and health promotion principles in practice, and using trauma-informed approaches in engagement design and decision making processes. She has consulted on projects for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Canadian Public Health Association, and held positions with Seniors Health Knowledge Network and the Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging. She has a BA in Kinesiology from the University of Western Ontario, where she completed graduate work in Health Sciences.

View Matthew's profile

As Director of Research and Evidence Services, Matthew oversees Greo’s research activities and the development of evidence products. He also provides support to Greo’s other service streams. Matthew has been working in the field of gambling, substance use, and addiction for over 20 years. He has served on numerous domestic and international advisory committees overseeing the monitoring and surveillance of addictive behaviours. Before joining Greo, Matthew spent almost 12 years at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction leading their substance use epidemiology and health economic research activities. Matthew has extensive experience studying gambling-related harms and did his doctoral work investigating craving among people who gamble. He was also principal investigator and co-chair of the scientific committee who led the first large scale, international project to develop Lower-Risk Gambling Guidelines. He has a PhD in Health Psychology from Carleton University, where he is an Adjunct Research Professor.

 View Jess' profile

As Greo’s health promotion and evaluation specialist, Jess designs, informs, and measures the impact of harm reduction programs, policies, and partnerships. She leads the evaluation team, which collaborates with government and mental health and addictions organizations to support the design and evaluation of initiatives that aim to adopt a public health perspective to reducing harms. This has involved the development of a Theory of Change for the Safer Gambling Movement in the UK, Greo’s Safer Gambling Evaluation Evidence Hub, and providing external evaluation services for client programs. Previously, she led Greo's gambling and public health outreach program in Ontario that included a project funding program, webinars, a website with evidence-informed resources and tools, and a vibrant community of practice. Jess has also developed courses and taught for the University of Guelph’s Certificate in Knowledge Mobilization program. She has a Master of Public Health from Lakehead University, a diploma in Health Services and Policy Research, a certificate in Evaluation from the University of Victoria, and is a candidate for a Master of Health Evaluation through the University of Waterloo. She is designated a Credentialed Evaluator through the Canadian Evaluation Society.

View Sasha's profile

As Senior Research Lead, Sasha oversees development of Greo’s knowledge synthesis products, leads research activities, and works with new and existing stakeholders. Before joining Greo, Sasha spent almost eight years at the Responsible Gambling Council, most recently as Senior Researcher, where she led primary and applied research and evaluation activities with international stakeholders. Some of her recent areas of inquiry include assessing the impacts of COVID-19 on online gambling behaviours and harm, re-envisioning youth gambling prevention, and broadening our understanding of digital wellbeing, including collaboration approaches, links with online gambling, and digital tools for people across the risk spectrum. Sasha has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Toronto, as part of the Collaborative Program on Addiction Studies through the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

 View Lindsay's profile

As Stakeholder Engagement Lead, Lindsay builds relationships with and between allied organizations working toward common goals. She supports project teams to ensure that stakeholder needs and context are deeply understood, and are the drivers of Greo’s work. Previously in her work at Greo, Lindsay managed a community investment program aimed at building non-profit stakeholders’ capacity to use research as a tool to increase their impact. She has also been involved in planning and facilitating multi-stakeholder forums with organizations such as the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Ontario Centre of Excellence in Child and Youth Mental Health, and the Canadian Partnership for Responsible Gambling. Before joining the Greo team, Lindsay worked in research, knowledge translation, and project management roles in the academic, and tech and innovation sectors. She has an MA from the University of Waterloo’s Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, a Knowledge Translation Professional Certificate from SickKids Learning Institute, and training in facilitation through Conrad Grebel University College.

 View Erika's profile

 View Laura's profile

Laura manages Greo’s operations, human resources, communications, and event planning. She supports Greo’s products and services to ensure that they are the go-to source for distilled research on gambling. She also provides executive support to the CEO and Board of Directors, most recently helping to navigate Greo’s transition from a government-funded organization to a fully independent non-profit. Laura has over 15 years experience in executive administration, facilities and event management, customer loyalty, and with member-based organizations. She has a Diploma in Print Journalism from Sheridan College, and a BA from University of Guelph.

 View Fitsum's profile

Fitsum is a knowledge translation professional with extensive experience working closely with researchers, program and policy staff, and sector and community leaders to ensure that stakeholder knowledge needs are met. Fitsum planned and conducted knowledge mobilization for multiple projects in his role as a researcher with the Centre for Community Based Research. He engaged in evidence syntheses and knowledge mobilization with The Change Foundation, a health policy think-tank based in Toronto focused on improving Ontario’s healthcare system. He has a BA from University of Waterloo in Recreation and Leisure Studies and an MA in Community Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University.

 View Sheila's profile

Sheila supports the publication of research reviews, evidence briefs, and other research related projects. Most recently she contributed a chapter to Greo's gambling harm prevention and education evidence review to inform the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms in Great Britain. She also coordinates the Research Snapshot program and helps to make resources available through Greo’s online channels. Her background has involved freelance editing and program coordination with non-profit organizations. Sheila has a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Western Ontario and a BA from McGill University. 

 View Corrine's profile

A specialist in communications, Corrine coordinates stakeholder engagement activities. She supports the development of campaigns, knowledge products, and resources to facilitate the mobilization of evidence. Corrine was previously Communications and Stakeholder Engagement Specialist at the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition, a group of 12 health organizations advocating for the adoption of federal regulations that adequately protect children from commercial food and beverage marketing in Canada. She has also worked as a Parliamentary Researcher in the United Kingdom House of Commons. Corrine has a BA in Philosophy from McGill University and an MA in Political Communication from City, University of London.

View Clara's profile

As a part of Greo’s evaluation team, Clara supports impact evaluations and knowledge translation projects. She develops evaluation frameworks, data collection tools, and knowledge products to help clients understand and optimize their impact. Before joining Greo, Clara completed an evaluation of the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy as a Youth Leader and Co-Researcher. In this role, she sat on multiple collaborative harm reduction working groups, led focus groups, and contributed to the development of resources related to opioid prescription and edibles misuse. Clara is especially interested in facilitating community-based participatory research that includes those with lived experience. She currently acts as a Peer Wellness Educator with the University of Guelph’s Wellness Education and Promotion Centre, where she works to support students along the spectrum of recovery from substance use. Clara has a BAS in Neuroscience and Family Child Studies and a Master of Public Health from University of Guelph.

View Carling's profile

Carling’s role as Research Analyst is to support the development of calls for, and management of, research funds. She also contributes to and leads research-related projects and helps to grow and manage Greo’s data repository. An expert in plain language writing, she has written over a hundred plain language summaries of gambling research articles. Before joining Greo, Carling assisted with research and data analysis of employee wellbeing surveys and training programs for Dialectic, an organization that helps companies improve their organizational culture. She was also a sessional instructor and teaching assistant at McMaster University, where she completed a PhD in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour.

View Beverly's profile

Beverly provides administrative support for Greo’s operations and Board of Directors. She brings varied administrative, organizational, and project support experience gained from her time at n-compass, a social care and wellness non-profit in the north of England. Building upon her background in a range of customer services roles, she is passionate about communication and the representation of diversity, health, and social issues in the non-profit sector. She has a BA in Cultural Anthropology with a minor in Classics from McMaster University.

View Krystal's profile

Krystal’s work extends across several operations verticals, including daily bookkeeping, human resources, project management support, and facilities management. Prior to joining Greo in 2017, Krystal held administrative positions at Guelph Animal Hospital and Jeff Elliott Playground Inspections, where she honed her skills in purchasing, inventory management, customer service, transcription, and bookkeeping support. Krystal holds a BSc Honours from the University of Guelph and enjoys volunteering her time outside of work to various animal welfare organizations. Krystal lives in Kitchener with her husband, two small children, and menagerie of rescue animals.

View Mike's profile

Mike brings his expertise to the evaluation team, where he supports projects as part of the Gambling Commission’s National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms in Great Britain. Mike has a background in evaluation measurement, data collection, and community engagement. He has helped to build evaluation capacity to ensure evidence-informed decision making at Sport Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He has also assisted with pharmaceutical multiple sclerosis research at London Health Sciences Centre. Mike has a Masters of Public Health, and a BA and MS in Kinesiology from Western University. He is also Certified in Public Health by the National Board of Public Health Examiners.

View Andrew's profile

Andrew is responsible for Greo's creative visual media and materials. He uses his design sensibilities to bring a cohesive, human-centred approach to knowledge products such as Greo’s Gambling Harms Map and Conceptual Framework of Harmful Gambling, with a focus on usability and effective communication. In addition to print and digital media, Andrew applies his expertise in presentation design, illustration, and motion graphics design. He has a background in commercial design where, prior to joining Greo, he was a senior designer and art director at a full service graphic design agency in Hamilton, Ontario. 

View Gurneet's profile

As Greo’s evaluation team intern, Gurneet supports evaluation, knowledge translation, and stakeholder engagement projects. For her main internship project, she is conducting consultations with international safer gambling stakeholders to identify their needs in terms of evaluation support, as well as barriers they face to conducting evaluations, to inform the development of capacity building programming to address stakeholder needs. Before joining Greo, Gurneet worked as a Program Analyst at Grand Challenges Canada, where she supported global mental health innovations in low- and middle-income countries. She is passionate about the social determinants of health and learning about health systems from an interdisciplinary lens. Gurneet has a Bachelor of Science in Global Health from York University, and is a candidate for a Master of Health Evaluation through the University of Waterloo.