Activism
I founded and direct an LGBTQ+ arts non-profit called LoveisLoveisLove. The campaign is the largest documentation of LGBTQ+ folks conducted in the history of Canada. The project produces high-end photo booths in partnership with Pride Festivals, where it shoots LGBTQ+ folks in duos, asking them to interpret the theme "love is love". It then publishes these photos on social media, where they see significant traffic. To date, this content has digitally engaged 500,000+ people and received the support of high profile politicians at the provincial and municipal level. The campaign leverages the brand awareness built from this core service to produce other initiatives that support the community. In 2018 the campaign began producing large-scale art installations in major civic spaces in Ontario, including one of the largest installations ever produced in Toronto City Hall. It also partnered with Peace Collective, a clothing brand, to raise the seed funding for a scholarship program that will launch in Q1-Q2 2019.
The campaign's success was noted by the Canadian Government, who provided funding for its 2018 Ottawa Pride activation. Of the hundreds of initiatives it funded, the Federal Government felt that LoveisLoveisLove best represented the success of this particular granting program. They invited me to speak at WE Day Canada in front of an audience of 16,000, where I was introduced by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. I gave a speech on the importance of civic engagement and accessing federal resources, calling on youth to do more for their communities. In tandem with civilian government engagement, I worked with the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to produce a pilot LGBTQ+ inclusivity campaign. I then helped facilitate the CAF's first-ever high-level LGBTQ+ community consultation. I advised the CAF on which organizations and activists would be productive to engage with, and, at this consultation, presented my own recommendations to the Chief of the Defence Staff, who is the de facto commander-in-chief of the CAF, second in authority only to Queen Elizabeth II.
Outside LGBTQ+ activism, I focus on employment for people recovering from mental health issues. In 2018 I donated $7,500 in professional headshot services to Progress Place, an organization that services those struggling with mental health. The headshots were used in support of Progress Place's transitional employment program.