Alison Kooistra

Alison Kooistra has worked as a consultant in the housing and homelessness services sector for over a decade. She is passionate about transforming systems to better support and empower people.

Since graduating with her Master’s degree in Social-Cultural Anthropology (2005), Alison has supported people with lived experience, community organizations, and government bodies to deliver a range of projects. Samples of these collaborations that are available online are: the Toronto Drop-In Network’s Good Practices Toolkit, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing’s Life Lease Housing Resource Guide, and The Salvation Army’s new outcomes-focused, Housing First–aligned operating principles for its 50+ Canadian emergency shelters.

Alison’s projects for the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness include leading the Canadianization process for the Vulnerability Assessment Tool (VAT) manual and creating the toolkit for The Upstream Project, a collective impact initiative that aims to prevent young people from becoming homeless or leaving school early.

Alison is based in Toronto with her wife and son.