Alexis Kane Speer

Principal, STEPS Consulting

Website: http://www.stepsinitiative.com/
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Alexis is the Principal at STEPS Consulting, an innovative consultancy that specializes in community-based research, engagement and placemaking strategies.

She is also the Founding Director of the Sustainable Thinking and Expression on Public Space (STEPS) Initiative, a nonprofit organization that uses art to connect people to places (especially public spaces) through a combination of research, knowledge exchange and capacity building programming.

Having been involved in a variety of community and academic projects that focused on the use of public space, and its role in community life, she has a particular interest in creating relevant and accessible gathering spaces for often marginalized populations. She received an MA from the Department of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto, though her academic and professional background has spanned urban planning, public health and sociology, across public, nonprofit and academic sectors.

She also holds certificates in Community-Based Research, Capacity Building and Teaching English as a Second Language.

Alexis continues to work on a variety of projects outside of STEPS Consulting and the STEPS Initiative. She was selected as a 2011 DiverseCity Fellow by the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance for her work leading city-building initiatives, sits on the Advisory Board of the Toronto Arts Council’s Neighbourhood Arts Network