John is our Community Engagement & Communications Coordinator at Exchange Inner City. Over the past decade, John has volunteered and worked in the social services sector at various non-profit societies in and around Vancouver and the DTES. Examples of community engagement that John has involved himself range from creating the YOUth Got Skills Hip Hop program at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre, to working at the YMCA in their Youth Employment Services programs as a Facilitator/Job Developer, as Manager of the Student Services department at Arts Umbrella, and as a volunteer facilitator at Employ to Empower in their Business Skills Building program.

John studied Broadcast Journalism at the Columbia Academy School of Broadcasting, and eventually combined his journalism expertise with his professional passion in community development as a contributing reporter to The Pulse on CFRO Coop Radio 100.5FM, where he platformed marginalized voices and highlighted genuine stories of the Downtown Eastside. John is a continual learner and has completed courses in Harm Reduction training, Mental Health First-Aid, Decolonizing Journalism & Trauma-Informed Reporting, Leadership Training for Managers (Dale Carnegie), and Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management Fundamentals at BCIT.

John's focus at EIC is to establish trusting and collaborative relationships with residents, peers and organizations within the DTES, and to deliver EIC's communications and organizational updates to the wider community.