our people

Rosalie (she/her) works to improve accessibility and the experience of people with disabilities. She is a power wheelchair user with 9 years of experience working in various disability organizations. Rosalie has worked as an information and referral specialist, helping people with disabilities find community supports. Through her work counseling people with disabilities to find and keep meaningful employment, she learned best practices and standards in accommodation and accessibility from a cross disability perspective. Rosalie is bilingual (French-English) and does regular media interviews speaking on issues that affect the disability community both locally in Manitoba, and nationally.

 Benjamin Dard is an urban planner with 10+ years of experience in accessibility and disability inclusion. He has worked globally as an advisor, supporting the implementation of accessibility solutions in humanitarian and development contexts. He has collaborated with municipalities, professional bodies, global organizations and civil society to develop policies and frameworks that emphasize universal design, participatory planning and community-driven solutions for inclusive and sustainable urban development. Currently, Benjamin is pursuing a PhD at the University of Québec in Montreal, where his research focuses on mobility for persons with disabilities in relation to climate change and weather-related events.

As a strategist and creative, Kaila (she/her) possesses a broad skill set informed by her background in the worlds of theatre, film, television, and cellular science. She combines her experience working directly with disabled students at the University of Toronto with her lived experience as a neurodiverse, Queer, Black millennial woman to provide insight to a variety of organizations on justice, equity, diversity, and accessibility (JEDI&A) policies and practices. She is also a writer and former member of the LTRT Accessibility Advisory Group.

 Leanna (she/they) is an accessibility professional known for her thoughtful, collaborative approach. They work closely with organizations to address barriers and develop equitable solutions. Drawing from her lived experience as a multiply disabled and neurodivergent person with chronic illness, Leanna combines technical expertise with creativity and curiosity. Their passion lies in accessible communications, shaping equitable experience, policies, and practices. In addition to her accessibility work, Leanna is a practicing artist. Much like their art, accessibility is about creating spaces open for divergence and difference.

Elizabeth (she/her) is a researcher, educator, advocate, and scholar. She has a vision impairment and relevant experience working as a consultant, Community Engagement Lead, and an Inclusive Hiring Project Coordinator. Elizabeth sat on the Education Standards Committee for the Ontario Government, where she advised on Educational Policies pertaining to students with disabilities. She is currently working towards her Doctorate at Western University in the school of Occupational Science.

Natalie Rose (PhD., M.Sc.OT) (she/her) is a passionate disability and accessibility consultant with 10+ years of experience in accessibility, disability, research and teaching. Natalie has taught disabilities studies at the graduate and undergraduate level and has worked in the post-secondary environment supporting students with disabilities who require academic accommodations. She combines her knowledge of global best practices for accessibility, with a focus on learning directly from people with disabilities, in order to address barriers in the built and social environment.

In her spare time, Natalie enjoys quilting, board games and swimming through piles of Lego. 

 Oskar Westin (he/him) is a digital accessibility leader and advocate, Oskar helps teams to understand and meet their goals, to provide accessible products and services. Oskar is also the co-organizer of #a11yTO, a volunteer-driven Toronto-based group that actively promotes digital inclusion for the design and development community. With nearly 20 years' experience in the digital industry, having worked with agencies and clients within the private and public sectors, Oskar provides flexible-by-design structure and process to allow team members to do their jobs to the best of their ability. 

Victoria (she/her/elle) is a bilingual human rights professional with a passion for social justice. She is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and holds Juris Doctor and Master of Human Rights degrees from the University of Manitoba. Before joining LTRT, Victoria held a variety of roles involving human rights-focused litigation, public legal education, community development, and equity-focused research. Victoria is multiply neurodivergent and lives with episodically disabling health conditions, all of which inform her work in accessibility and disability justice.

On weekends, you can find Victoria gardening, birdwatching, making art, and hiking with her rescue dog, Ruth.

Evan (M.Pl) (he/him) draws upon a wide array of experience, having worked across Canada as an urban planner in a variety of areas including development permitting, strategic policy development, healthy community planning, municipal planning services, and transportation.
With a penchant for strategic analysis, stakeholder engagement, and policy work, Evan strives to create interesting, transit-oriented communities that are vibrant, connected, and sustainable while being reflective of local values.

Outside of work, one may find Evan cooking, playing video games, watching movies, attempting some home renos, or hanging with his wife and their dog, Scully (AKA “Gillian Anderson As Agent Dana Scully Brown”).

Reeya (she/her) is a 4th year undergraduate Planning student at the University of Waterloo. As part of her co-operative education program, she has gained prior experience in both the private and public sectors focusing on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for risk management and operations of infrastructure systems. With LTRT, Reeya will be supporting various transit projects and gains practical insights in transportation systems and emerging transportation technologies. Throughout her academic career, Reeya has been curious about the intersectionality of transportation systems, urban design, and social justice. She intends to apply her learnings to advocate for accessible and sustainable transportation solutions for socially equitable communities.  

When she’s not working, Reeya is typically found binging new shows, playing word games, and thinking about her next cup of coffee! 

Pia (she/her) is passionate about making communities more sustainable and resilient and sees transit as an integral piece of the puzzle. Harnessing her systems-level critical thinking skills and her strong stakeholder engagement skills, Pia works with transit agencies to enhance their services for the future of mobility. She brings valuable experience working with transit agencies to design and implement technology upgrades and improve business processes. Pia holds a BASc and a MASc in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto and recently completed UITP-CUTA’s online course on Electric Buses for North America.

Outside of work, you’ll find Pia upcycling old textiles, singing, and potentially doing both at the same time. 

John Ford (he/him) has enjoyed a career in public transit in excess of 35 years, including 25 years as Director of Transportation and Planning and Senior Manager with London (Ontario) Transit. John has extensive experience in business plan development, project management, strategic analysis, service analysis/design and promotion of transit locally and nationally (as Chair of CUTA’s Communications and Public Affairs Committee). In recognition of John’s contribution to public transit, he was awarded CUTA’s Lifetime Achievement Award and is a member of the CUTA Hall of Fame. John draws from his experience to provide public transit consulting services and insight into common challenges faced by transit agencies as they plan their business in a financially constrained environment.  

Ben (M.Pl) (he/him) is a dedicated urban planner who specializes in transit planning. He brings transit agency experience and a reputation for innovation, analytical skill, and strong leadership on transit network, service and infrastructure planning projects. Ben has led and contributed to a wide variety of transit related projects including work on network design and service planning, scheduling, stops and infrastructure, community engagement and fare strategy. 

Similar to his professional life, Ben’s personal life is spatially oriented and filled with curiosity. He loves active exploring, including hiking, biking, diving, paddling and skiing. A love of people is also central to his curiosity and you can often find him in informal social spaces such as coffee shops.

Graham (he/him) is a graduate from the McGill University School of Urban Planning. Throughout his academic and professional career, he has been devoted to implementing policy and planning solutions that aim to foster sustainability and reduce auto dependency. He enjoys getting into the weeds and learning everything there is to know about transit services. Graham is a firm believer in the power of transit and active mobility to create healthy, equitable, safe, accessible, and sustainable communities. 

In his spare time Graham loves being active, reading philosophy books, hanging out with friends, cooking exciting meals, and exploring Montreal / Tiohtià:ke where he currently lives.  

Matt (he/him)  is an experienced transit planner with expertise analyzing, planning, and implementing solutions to improve public transit services both within agencies and as a consultant supporting them. Matt holds a degree in Civil Engineering and a Certificate of Applied Geography and GIS. He has expertise in transit technology, on-demand transit, service planning, innovative transit strategies, scheduling and service design. 

Matt’s love of urban planning and transportation extends well beyond his workplace. He is an avid rail buff and is in the drawn-out processes of building his own model railway. When he isn’t geeking out over trains, Matt is gearing up for the next game of dodgeball or volleyball or planning out the next campaign for his table-top gaming group.

Bowen (he/him) is an undergraduate Engineering Science student at the University of Toronto, currently completing a Professional Experience Year. Bowen is particularly interested in how public transportation can address social welfare issues and other environmental and social problems arising from urbanization. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking on trails in parks, snowboarding, and taking drives from Toronto to Orangeville just for a bite.

Aislin O'Hara (she/her) is a Certified Professional Consultant on Aging with 12 years of experience executing customer facing initiatives for public transit. Aislin was the Project Lead - Customer Experience for TTC Wheel-Trans. At the TTC, Aislin led the implementation of a new eligibility structure, updated customer policies, and implemented a Travel Training Pilot Program. As a Project Advisor for the Region of Peel's specialized transit service (TransHelp), Aislin led working groups with other regional transit providers. 

Ahmed (PhD) (he/him) is a researcher and consultant with a strong focus on sustainable transportation. He has garnered recognition and awards from institutions like the UK Royal Academy of Engineering, Institute of Transportation Engineers, Canadian Transportation Research Forum, and Transport Canada. With a rich portfolio of over 35 publications, he has been a significant contributor to transportation safety projects in various regions, including Canada (Vancouver, Edmonton, and Surrey) and internationally in cities like Cairo, Adelaide, and Doha. His experience in consultancy roles, has allowed him to play a pivotal role in major projects such as crowd management at El Masjid El-Nabawi in KSA and the World Bank-funded E-Bus pilot project in Egypt.

When not working, Ahmed enjoys spending time with his family, practicing Wing Chun, or reading.

 Jordan (P.Eng.) (he/him) is a transportation engineer with a passion for public transit. As a consultant, Jordan has worked on transit and ITS projects across the country from Halifax to Vancouver and continually strives to develop creative solutions that promote sustainable and equitable communities. Through his experience, Jordan has discovered that a blend of data analysis and community engagement is the best approach to understanding the needs of a community and developing the best solution for residents. 

Outside of work, you can find Jordan hosting a hockey podcast with his high-school friend or going for a long walk with his wife and dog.

Janany (she/her) is a seasoned transit professional bringing expertise in analyzing technology and business solutions to address the impact to transit operational and organizational strategies. She combines experience in Transportation Planning, organizational design and change management to guide agencies to set and achieve a modern vision for their services. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in organizational design and is a Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner. 

When she’s not working to transform public transit, Janany is a sci-fi buff, loves spending time with her friends, and enjoys photographing nature’s beautiful moments. At home, she enjoys reading books and is currently authoring her own time-travel novel.