our STAFF
Youth Action Now has currently transitioned to a volunteer and staff mix that is youth-led.
PAIGE KEZIMA
Paige Kezima (she/her) spent her childhood on a farm on Treaty 4 territory in rural Saskatchewan. She moved to Regina to pursue post-secondary education (a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a certificate in Public Relations). In 2017, she made Ottawa her new home.
Professionally, Paige has worked as a community organizer in the labour movement, and in member-driven non-profit organizations. Currently she works with a national Indigenous non-profit organization.
As an avid volunteer for leftist organizations and campaigns, she has experience in communications and volunteer engagement. Paige currently is on the executive for the Ontario NDP People living with DisABILITIES committee.
Paige is also passionate about mental health advocacy and disability justice, and has had personal pieces published in The Mighty, Sick Not Weak, This Magazine, and even in a book (But You Don't Look Sick: The Real Life Adventures of Fibro Bitches, Lupus Warriors, and Other Superheroes Battling Invisible Illness).
Paige has a love for cats, politics, and homemade pierogies.
Laura Mosquera Pava
Laura Mosquera Pava (she/her) is joining as the Program Coordinator & Innovator. She is a Political Science student at the University of Alberta and is completing her last year at Concordia. In the midst of the pandemic she decided to take a break from digital classrooms and move into a remote office where she worked as an Engagement Specialist at the Canadian Council for Youth Prosperity (CCYP).
Last year, she co-founded The Counter Narrative (TCN), an arts magazine that features gender diverse BIPOC artists with lived experiences in Canadian rural and prairie areas. She is also passionate about immigrant rights and submitted a democratic participation policy brief on extending suffrage to permanent residents, refugees and temporary foreign worker for the Wave x Parity YEG Policy Competition.
Laura is constantly inspired by her friends and youth in her communities because she has witnessed them make change through their ideas, volunteering, artistic expression and advocacy. It is because of this that she is so excited to contribute to YAN’s mission of equipping Ottawa-Gatineau youth with resources and connections so that they can further their projects and ambitions.
PAST staff
Meet the people who kept the wheels turning daily at Youth Action Now.
Vicky Elliott
Vicky is driven by the need for our activist movements to be grassroots, youth-led and adequately resourced, and the goal to dismantle barriers for youth, especially marginalized youth, to put their ideas into action. Before joining Youth Action Now as the Program and Development Manager, Vicky worked in the non-profit sector in the UK for four years, in fundraising and community development for various causes.
A passionate feminist, she has been involved in local politics, abortion rights and peace and environmental activism in the UK and Ireland. Vicky holds an undergraduate degree in History and Political Science from Trinity College, Dublin and a masters degree in Human Rights from the London School of Economics.
mailyne K. Briggs
Mailyne (aka Mai - pronouns she/her) is an entrepreneur, mama and visual artist with her own business called Kilam Media. She is also active in her community advocating for art, mental health, environmentalism and human rights. She works diligently to create and provide accessible programs and services for youth facing barriers, as well as racialized (BIPOC) womxn and non-binary people.
Currently, she’s Youth Action Now’s Digital Communications Officer, working on everything from social media to branding, marketing and events.
yanaminah thullah
An aspiring polyglot, Yanaminah is a fourth-year student currently obtaining a Honours Bachelor's degree focused in International Studies and Modern Languages at the University of Ottawa. She is passionate about empowering marginalized people through education, international development and cross-cultural relations.
Currently at Youth Action Now, Yanaminah is our Lead Connector and helps to spread the word about YAN and the Start Up Now grant within diverse youth communities.