Skylar Franke, City Councillor for Ward 11

Skylar Franke is currently serving her first term as Councillor for Ward 11. She can most often be found right in the thick of conversations about the community, environment, and politics in this city. She lives in the Coves neighbourhood and subwatershed in Ward 11.

Prior to becoming a City Councillor, she worked in London’s environmental sector for over eight years and supported a wide variety of environmental projects in the city. She was previously the Executive Director at the London Environmental Network and worked for ReForest London.

She graduated in 2013 from King’s University College at Western University with an honours B.A. in Social Justice and Peace Studies and French Studies.

Other fun facts to know about Skylar: she loves garden gnomes, her favourite board game is currently Wingspan and she can be often found outside biking, hiking, reading and gardening. She is happiest when talking to new people while drinking coffee at one of London’s many excellent cafes.

Maureen Cassidy, Chief Executive Officer, Pillar Nonprofit Network

Maureen Cassidy comes to the nonprofit sector from local government after serving two terms, from 2014 and 2022, as a London City Councillor. During this time, Maureen served terms on the London Police Services Board and the Board of Health for the Middlesex-London Health Unit, where she was Chair during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Maureen also served as Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Advisory Panel on Poverty that worked extensively with the community to develop a comprehensive set of recommendations to address poverty in London. Several recommendations, like free transit for kids 12 and under and subsidized transit passes for low income earners, were executed within a year, and many more were implemented under the guidance of United Way Elgin Middlesex.

Maureen is a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient for community service and a graduate of Western University with a Bachelor’s Degree in French. Maureen is committed to and actively engaged in working with the community to make London a better place for all.

Katherine Fischer - Live Music 

Katherine Fischer’s unique folk confessionals are the medicine for when our hearts get sick, served with an eccentric dose of sugar to help it all go down. From coast to coast she has played over 250 shows from festival performances at Winnipeg Folk Festival and main stage at Home County Music and Art Festival to living rooms with SOFAR Sounds. Katherine’s debut full length  album "Great Loves" was released November 2022, and has garnered over 100,000 streams and 10,000+ listeners worldwide. In summer 2024 Katherine will be working with Ontario Parks to bring the first ever musical tour to provincial parks across the province.