WINTER(safety)FEST TEAM

Erika was previously the founder of boutique, collaborative Graphic and Web Design Studio, THE SHFT. Her studio provided UX and product consulting and built web, graphic and marketing assets for Clearpath Robotics, Tangam Gaming, Rismans, 360pi among others.  She was part of the early team of designers working on apps such as Leapfrog, LiveScribe and Patter. She told stories with data visualization and graphic design for Sony, The World Bank, XO Communications, Population Council, Network Utility Force and more.  

Erika is Toronto resident in the Warren Park Neighbourhood. As the Co-Chair of St. Mark's Hill Safety she has been actively leading a team to pursue temporary short-term safety measures, while working towards a long term inclusive, accessible, and environmentally sustainably solution that incorporates pedestrian, cycling, and vehicle safety, access, and connection to existing city infrastructure. 

Her current community work has led her to develop a collaborative urban planning design challenge for Toronto kids, teens, and post secondary students. Bringing together the guidance, and resources provided by key staff from organizations such as Urban Land Institute, UrbanMinds, Green Communities Canada + Active School Travel Ontario, local elementary and high schools, as well as post secondary students, she's offering Toronto students an opportunity to try their hands at a urban planning.  By designing a solution to a real-life, ongoing, City of Toronto project, and following the project through to competition she hopes to create connections between community, academia, industry and government, inspiring the next generation of city builders. 

Michelle holds an Honours B.A in History (Western), an M.A. in Museum Studies (Leicester) and a Master of Library of Information Science (Western). Michelle's research interests include environmental sustainability in libraries, digital accessibility, and asset based community development. Michelle is the founder of the Saint Mark's Hill Safety Group and co-chair. She lives in the Warren Park neighbourhood with her family.