Our Team 

Leslie Woo

Chief Executive Officer

A tri-sector leader with over 25 years of experience building sustainable communities and shaping urban development in Canada’s fastest-growing urban region. Leslie was appointed CEO of CivicAction in 2020. For over two decades CivicAction has been mobilizing established and rising leaders to steward a future for the city and to actively respond to current urban crises. Before joining CivicAction, Leslie served as Metrolinx’s Chief Planning and Development Officer. An experienced planner, architect, and community activator, she is a 2023 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant awardee and named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2017, a 2019 Toronto Power Woman by Bisnow, Spacing Toronto’s Transit Changemaker in 2016 and Canada’s Women’s Infrastructure Network’s inaugural 2015 Outstanding Leader. Leslie uses her voice and platform “shebuildscities” to amplify and celebrate other women city builders.

Susan DeLisle

VP Philanthropy

Motivated by the belief that every person deserves an equitable opportunity to thrive and succeed, Susan has focussed her career on marshalling the support of key stakeholders to affect change at some of Canada’s top academic, health, and research organizations to drive positive change. She has a passion for the city and wants to see the region – and those who live in it – have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

As a member of our Executive Management Team, Susan is responsible for developing and executing CivicAction’s revenue generation plan, managing key partnerships and relationships, and building and fostering teamwork within CivicAction.

Amreen Kalsi

Executive Coordinator

Amreen has a rich and diverse set of experiences across multiple sectors ranging from not-for-profit organizations to healthcare. She completed her Master’s in Business Administration from Australian National University, Canberra. She has worked in numerous marketing, brand activations and partner engagement initiatives with some of the biggest healthcare names in India. She also led the marketing initiatives for the largest dental chain in India. Prior to joining CivicAction, she worked with TRIEC (Toronto Regional Immigration Employment Council) where she supported the CEO in driving the organization’s objectives as well as managing projects and partnerships in the DEI space.  As a new immigrant and mother, Amreen is passionate about newcomer settlement and building safe and inclusive communities.

In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her toddler son and try the variety of food that Toronto offers, especially brunch places. She loves to travel and is always planning her next place to visit.

Taher Mahmood

Bookkeeper

Taher is a CPA US professional. He has worked for the Chris J. Adams Accounting Firm for over seven years and provided bookkeeping services for CivicAction since 2010. He enjoys living in downtown Toronto with his wife.

Yasmine Mohamed

Director – Activation

Yasmine Mohamed is a Director on CivicAction’s Activation team, where she leads the design and implementation of new programming, while also managing projects related to scaling and evolving existing programs. Yasmine is an experienced program leader, joining CivicAction from the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, where she provided strategic and operational leadership in shaping digital civic engagement projects that supported tens of thousands of new Canadians across Canada. Prior to this, Yasmine was the Director, Canoo, where she led the design and execution of a national program connecting new Canadian citizens to more than 1,400 arts and culture spaces across the country, used by +70,0000 new citizens annually.

Yasmine currently sits on the City of Toronto’s Programming Advisory Group for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility supporting the city’s strategy for community engagement at Toronto’s history museums, and in 2019 was named one of the Top 21 Young Impact Leaders in Canada by Future of Good. With an academic anchoring in environmental racism (including an MA in Geography and Environmental Studies) as well as a diploma in Refugee and Migration Studies and certifications in user experience project management, she is well equipped to do the important work of building more equitable and inclusive cities. Yasmine enjoys spending time with her nephew, Aydin, and looks forward to camping and portaging every summer in Algonquin Provincial Park.

Anam Zakaria

Project Manager, DiverseCity Fellows

Anam has been working in the non-profit sector for the past 12 years, leading programs across different fields including culture, education, immigration, volunteerism and civic engagement. Alongside her work as a development professional, Anam is an oral historian and author of three books and won the 2017 KLF-German Peace Prize. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Hill Times and Al Jazeera among other media outlets and has been taught in South Asia, UK and the US. In 2021, The Gender Security Project recognized Anam as one of 100 women from the Global South working in the fields of foreign policy, peacebuilding, law, activism and development. Anam is an Asia21 Young Leader and is passionate about bridging divides and addressing prejudice. When she’s not working, Anam can be found watching standup comedy or finding her next favourite spot to eat.

Amy Dionne

Lead, Philanthropy

As a leader, strategist, administrator, and major gifts fundraiser, Amy is equally devoted to process and results.

Prior to joining CivicAction in May 2024 as Lead of Philanthropy, Amy managed the establishment of two award-winning academic units at St. Michael’s Hospital/Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. One focused on providing programming and supports for health science clinicians to teach, lead, and conduct research (Centre for Faculty Development) and the other a multi-faceted research and innovation enterprise in efforts to improve surgical safety (International Centre for Surgical Safety). More recently, Amy has engaged in major gifts fundraising for capital, clinical care, research and education campaigns.

Amy completed her Masters in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education with a focus on leadership. In her free time, she enjoys travelling around the world with her family and freezing in GTA hockey arenas, rooting on her hockey-playing daughter.

Lindsay Klysen

Policy and Research Analyst

Lindsay Klysen is an urban planning student at Toronto Metropolitan University whose work focuses on the creation of equitable communities that are accessible and inclusive for all residents. Lindsay believes that we all have a role to play in shaping our region’s growth and strives to create space for those who have been historically left out of the decision-making process. Graduating with an ecological specialization, Lindsay believes that environmental considerations are integral to any future action in our cities and communities. Her previous work in the not-for-profit sector has focused on amplifying youths’ voices in the political realm and working to design a methodology for addressing residents’ susceptibility to food insecurity.

Lindsay strives to work at a level where she can make real change in residents’ day-to-day lives and continues to be challenged by complex problems that require innovative solutions. As an individual who has always lived within the GTA, Lindsay has a strong understanding of the policies that dictate growth in our region and hopes to leverage this knowledge to drive positive change for all those who call the area home.