Staff

Corey has more than two decades of experience leading social change organizations focused on engaging people to take action on critical environmental and social issues.

Corey was previously the COO and Partner of global consulting firm, Realized Worth, a company focused on the design and implementation of corporate volunteering and giving programs. Managing the business development and operations, Corey worked with FORTUNE500 companies (including Apple, Deloitte, AT&T and SAP) around the world to engage their employees in critical and sustained community projects.

Corey also spent 10 years helping to lead Summerhill, a national firm focused on engaging the public on energy efficiency behaviours. Holding various positions, including President/Chief Transformer, U.S. expansion lead and Executive Director of the non-for-profit arm, Corey worked with utilities, government agencies and the private sector to drive significant energy savings across Canada.

Corey volunteers his time on a number of boards and committees. An avid reader, record collector and musician, his greatest passion is hugging trees and travelling the world with his family.

Brendan has a proven record in energy policy entrepreneurship and analysis. While energy coordinator at Nova Scotia’s Ecology Action Centre, he was the principal catalyst behind the creation of Canada’s first energy efficiency utility, Efficiency Nova Scotia. He served on the Efficiency Nova Scotia/EfficiencyOne Board of Directors from 2012-2018. He developed and taught a course in energy efficiency policy, and contributed to an energy efficiency textbook.

Brendan has a PhD in Public Policy from Carleton University where his research used political economy and systems of innovation frameworks to understand the role of traditional natural resource sectors in Canada’s low-carbon transition. He was awarded a prestigious Banting Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 2016-2018. He also holds a Masters of Environmental Studies from York University and a BSc in Economics from Dalhousie University.

Brendan has provided strategic advice and written on energy and innovation policy for organizations such as the Smart Prosperity Institute, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Pembina Institute, Dalhousie University’s Eco-Efficiency Centre, and the Acadia Centre.

Lynsey Grosfield is the Communications and Media Lead at Efficiency Canada. A Canadian Merit (Loran) Scholar, she graduated from McGill University in Montreal with a degree in Anthropology and Social Studies of Science, and is currently completing her dissertation for a Master’s in Science Communication and Public Engagement at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. 

Previously, she worked at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia, the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada.

An avid gardener, orchardist, and landscaper, Lynsey has built two edible forest gardens and written for magazines such as Horticulture, American Gardener, Modern Farmer, Acres USA, Hobby Farms, and others. Don’t hike with her unless you want to know the Latin names of all your local trees.

She has one very good dog, and two very bad cats.

For the past 10 years, James has conducted research on energy and environmental politics and public opinion in Canada through a variety of capacities, including two postdoctoral fellowships, research associate positions at York University, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo, and as an independent consultant. He has also been a member of two cross-Canadian energy-related research networks, prepared several successful research grant applications, and served as organizational and technical consultant at multiple academic associations.

James received is PhD in Political Science from Carleton University in 2014, where he specialized in comparative politics and international relations. His doctoral dissertation focused on the politics of visualizing the future for sustainable energy, looking specifically at controversy surrounding oil supply forecasts by the International Energy Agency in the early 2000s. Some of the topics James has written and published on since include carbon capture and storage, biofuel policy, energy efficiency, and energy storage.

Kirstin began her organizing career at the age of 18 when she traveled the United States for three months, living out of a van and advocating for North Korean human rights.

Since then, she has completed a bachelor’s degree in Global and International Studies at Carleton University, focusing in Global Development and Economics. During her studies, Kirstin completed four research projects on subjects at the nexus of economic growth, policy and sustainability.

With the World University Service of Canada she undertook a mapping project of gender lens investors, identifying entrepreneurial leaders. The following year, as lead researcher, she analysed and compared two free public transit advocacy campaigns in Canada. Through the Canada-India Centre for Excellence, Kirstin designed a gender-based program evaluation for an international women’s accelerator program. She also led a volunteer team to explore the Fairtrade market. 

Outside of work, Kirstin can usually be found on a bus somewhere! As a founding member of Free Transit Ottawa, she has spent four years building support for concrete policy changes at the municipal level. As the leader of the Transit Week Challenge, Kirstin got Ottawa’s city councillors on the bus with her for a week. 

She is also an avid rock climber, concert-goer, world-traveler, coffee-drinker and outdoor enthusiast.

Ive Velikova is the Communications Intern at Efficiency Canada. She graduated from McMaster University with a degree in Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour. After years of studying the human brain, Ive dove into science communication. She shares science everywhere, from summer camps to bars to festivals across Toronto.

In addition to working as a freelance science communicator, Ive is currently wrapping up her Masters Candidate in Science Communication at Laurentian University. Her research looks at SciComm training opportunities for Canadian graduate students.

Ive an enthusiastic storyteller seeking to build trust and excitement for science. Through her “Science Sucks” podcast, she invites guests to discuss the ups and downs of scientific research and how it impacts our lives. As an enthusiastic public speaker, Ive has spoken at the Ontario Science Centre, Story Collider, Spark After Dark, and Science Is A Drag.

When she’s not gushing about science, you can find her hiking and spotting birds in parks across Northern Ontario. 

Erica is the Operations Lead at Efficiency Canada. Originally from Jakarta, Indonesia, she and her family migrated to Frankfurt, Germany before landing in Toronto, Canada. Erica holds an Honours B.A. from the University of Toronto, with a specialization in Political Science. Additionally, she is completing graduate studies in Sustainability at the University of Toronto.

She has worked in strategy and operations, systems design, and project management across the public benefit sector. She is motivated by social purpose organizations with a mission to create lasting, systemic change. Most recently and before joining Efficiency Canada, Erica was part of the founding team at the Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative’s start-up social enterprise, Tapestry Community Capital. There, she managed $80 million of community-based impact investments and worked on capital projects for various non-profit and co-op organizations.

When not in the virtual office, she reads, runs, sings, and plays instruments (poorly).

Claire is the Community Engagement Intern at Efficiency Canada and is attending the University of Waterloo. Her studies in the Environment and Business undergraduate program focuses on the intersection between business strategy and sustainability. Claire has had co-op placements and internships working for multiple economic development agencies, the federal government, and small businesses. 

Claire is passionate about economic development, building relationships, developing her perspective on important topics, and advocating for sustainable solutions. She is a lover of locally grown produce and enjoys gardening with her family members and baking sweet treats! She spends her summers hiking and camping around Nova Scotia and is looking forward to summer outdoor activities.