Meet the Fall/Winter Team 2017-2018

Leadership Team

Julia Smeed – Innovation Hub Project Leader

Julia is a leader, innovator and intrapreneur who specializes in design thinking, collaboration and related methodologies that strive to design programs with students rather than for them.  As the Leader of the Innovation Hub at the University of Toronto, she works with teams of over 150 students and staff on campus to improve the community’s campus experience.  Julia holds an MBA from the University of Fredericton in Global Leadership and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Western University.  Julia is also the Secretary of the Council on Student Services at the University of Toronto, and has presented at various conferences including the Canadian Association of College & University Student Services and the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers.  Outside of her work, Julia is a single mom to 4-year-old twins Joshua and Victoria who just started junior kindergarten.

Margaryta Ignatenko – Project Coordinator

Margaryta has been been involved in the Innovation Hub since last fall, after being introduced to the worlds of design thinking and integrative thinking through her school’s involvement with Rotman’s I-Think program. She was later hired as an intern at I-Think, and continues to work with the organization. Last summer, Margaryta sat on a panel with Roger Martin and Minister of Education, Mitzie Hunter, where she spoke about the impact of learning Integrative Thinking in the classroom on students. Margaryta will continue to support all aspects of the Innovation Hub project as one of two Innovation Hub Assistants.

Clara Luca – Project Coordinator

This is Clara Luca, our second Innovation Hub Assistant. Clara was a member of the Innovation Hub’s summer work study team and also participated in the Re-Imagining Leadership Retreat in the summer. A second year i-School student, Clara is on the Masters of Information Student Council (MISC) as a social co-chair, and a member of the iSchool’s book club. An avid reader, Clara aspires to read 50 books in 2017. She also writes fantasy novels. Clara completed her undergraduate work at UBC where she was heavily involved with the campus’ theatre club. Clara will support all teams this year in her Innovation Hub Assistant role.

Isabel Carlin – Ethnography/Insights Team Lead

Isabel is currently the Executive Director of the University of Toronto Sexual Education Centre, and they have also worked with Planned Parenthood Toronto to design resources and workshops for queer and trans youth. Isabel’s studies have focused on Indigenous research methodologies and ethical uses of Western research methodologies in Indigenous contexts. Additionally, Isabel completed a scholars-in-residence program through the Jackman Humanities Institute where they conducted and analyzed interviews on the topic of estrogen use. Isabel will lead the Innovation Hub’s Ethnographic Research team to conduct and analyze interviews with the goal of understanding life from others’ perspectives. 

ETHNOGRAPHY TEAM MEMBERS

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Igor Samardzic – Events Team Lead

Igor has worked extensively with UTSU and within various roles in Student Life. An advocate for students with disabilities, Igor is a Board Member for Students for Barrier Free Access and sits on the TTC Committee on Accessible Transit. With UTSU, Igor played a key role in designing the vision for the UTSU street festival and supported a re-design of the Clubs & Summer Job Fair. Igor will lead the Innovation Hub’s Events and Animation teams to collaboratively plan and coordinate dynamic, engaging and highly creative Innovation Hub events and community engagement experiences.

EVENTS TEAM MEMBERS

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Apeja Adjivon – Connections Team Lead

Apefa has always dedicated herself to promoting the voices of those who might not otherwise have the platform to do so. She’s an advocate for Because I Am a Girl, the Equity Co-Chair for Victoria College, and the Vice President of the Trek for Teens club. Apefa has also served as a Youth Delegate to the United Nations, and won the UN’s social venture challenge where she was awarded for my proposal of the Pearl Project, a social initiative for girls in low-income communities. This semester, she will lead the Innovation Hub’s Connections team to build and deepen relationships between the Innovation Hub and key partners in the community.

CONNECTIONS TEAM MEMBERS

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Michelle Johnstone – Informations Design Team Lead

Michelle is as a returning member of the Innovation Hub team who spearheaded the programs, services and resources data collection project. Michelle completed her undergraduate studies in Philosophy at the University of King’s College in Halifax, and brings with her the perspective of a student who has made the transition from a very small school to a very large, decentralized institution. Michelle will lead the Innovation Hub’s Information Design team to provide strategic input from a student perspective on information systems designed to support students in finding programs, services and resources to support their career.

INFORMATIONS DESIGN TEAM MEMBERS

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Nick Feinig – Integrative & Design Thinking Team Lead

Nick has been an active member of the University of Toronto community since 2007, completing his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Socio-Cultural Anthropology here, prior to starting his doctoral work. He has held several research assistant, project management, and committee roles in both the Munk School of Global Affairs and the Department of Anthropology. Nick has acted as a Teaching Assistant for various Anthropology courses and was an Adjunct Professor at Rikkyo University teaching a course in the Ethnography of Japan. Nick will lead the Innovation Hub’s Design & Integrative Thinking team to apply these methodologies to analyze complex problems, tensions and challenges based on insights from the Ethnographic Research team.  

INTEGRATIVE & DESIGN THINKING TEAM MEMBERS

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Mia Sanders – Storytelling Team Lead

Mia is starting her first year at UofT but has been a member of the community through her work over the last year at Rotman’s I-Think program, telling their story through web design, graphic design, and video production. Mia also works part time for Groundswell projects, a design research and strategy firm focusing on the future of STEM education in Canada and is on the editorial board for In:cite – an OISE youth journal that is guided by critical race, decolonial, feminist, queer and intersectional approaches. Mia will lead the Innovation Hub’s Storytelling team to curate and generate content through a variety of channels to capture the story of the Innovation Hub and engage with the UofT community.

STORYTELLING TEAM MEMBERS

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Amanda Pasqualini – UX Prototyping Team Lead

Meet Amanda, our UX Prototyper. Amanda worked with the Innovation Hub last year where she was the project manager for her Engineering Strategies and Practice course who created a full design proposal for the Chill Spots idea. Amanda was also part of a team of Engineers who designed a temporary housing solution to support Toronto’s homeless population. Amanda has been involved with Enactus UofT and the Sustainable Engineers Association. Amanda will lead the Innovation Hub’s UX Prototyping team to support the Innovation Hub’s rapid prototyping process of creating multiple minimum viable products to test out different versions of an idea. 

UX PROTOTYPING TEAM MEMBERS