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Natasha Pei

Natasha Pei
Natasha Pei serves as the Director of Communities Ending Poverty, leveraging her 13 years of experience in community development to promote justice and equity through place-based, community-led systems change. Natasha's involvement with Tamarack began with the Communities First: Impacts of Community Engagement (CFICE) project, where she worked as a Research Assistant in the Poverty Reduction Hub, studying effective ways community-campus engagement can be undertaken to have real benefits for the community.

Recent Posts

Healthcare System Changes - Volunteer program adopted amidst COVID-19 in Dufferin County

Posted by Natasha Pei on September 10, 2020

The Dufferin County Equity Collaborative and its partners are better aligning the local health system. During COVID-19, TeleCheck, a unique volunteer-based community service offering regular check-in calls to support seniors (55+ years), was recognized as an essential community health service and has officially been integrated into the Headwaters Health Care Centre operations.

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Basic Income in Canada: What We’ve Learned So Far

Posted by Natasha Pei on August 5, 2020

Basic Income Canada Network (BCIN) defines Basic Income as:

“A Basic Income Guarantee ensures that everyone has an income sufficient to meet basic needs and live with dignity, regardless of work status”

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How a Warehouse is Rescuing Food During COVID-19

Posted by Natasha Pei on June 17, 2020

During the COVID-19 crisis, food security has been top of mind for everyone. Seniors, people who are immunocompromised, and neighbours everywhere are self-isolating on very short notice; workers – particularly those with already precarious positions – are being laid off; and food banks across the country are seeing stocks dwindle as people panic-purchase.

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5 Ways Cities Reducing Poverty Members are Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis

Posted by Natasha Pei on April 20, 2020

Cities Reducing Poverty collaboratives have worked for years to build local relationships that  support residents and neighbourhoods to thrive. These efforts have strengthened the social infrastructure communities need to be resilient and quickly organize in an emergency situation, such as COVID-19.

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Shift Your Evaluation from Activity to Impact Reporting

Posted by Natasha Pei on February 17, 2020

Cities Reducing Poverty members are showing increasing interest in making the shift from evaluating and reporting on their activities – such as the number of volunteer hours worked or the amount of people who registered for a program – to measuring and talking about their impact.

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10 Top News Stories from Cities Reducing Poverty in 2019

Posted by Natasha Pei on December 14, 2019

In 2019, the Cities Reducing Poverty network grew to 80 cities and communities across Canada and the USA, all committed to local poverty reduction efforts. Even more heartening is to see that this expanding movement is having an impact – we are seeing population-level changes in poverty rates and food security at national, regional and local levels. Coupled with several positive policy announcements, these trends indicate that despite the stubborn nature of poverty, we are moving in the right direction.

Enjoy the top 10 news stories and popular learning resources from 2019.

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