Team

One of the best parts of Jolene’s day is having dinner at home with her husband and two sons and their dog, Luna. This simple pleasure grounds her and fuels her at the same time—and she is keenly aware that not everyone in Canada has the same opportunity to share a meal in a place they call home.

Jolene believes that the growing housing crisis in Canada needs significant action on a national scale now. She also believes in the power and potential of the social profit sector. In 2021, she, with support from the Bespoke and Ramp Communications teams, founded Partners for Affordable Housing with a seed investment from the Government of Alberta. The charity seeks to ensure affordable housing for everyone in Canada.

Partners for Affordable Housing is a social profit organization that will accelerate and amplify the Canadian housing sector’s actions through the availability of centralized, maximized resources, resulting in a massive positive impact on the affordable housing crisis.

Jolene is uniquely qualified to lead this ambitious effort, integrating her experiences as an entrepreneur, board member, corporate community partnership builder, and prolific fundraiser. Energetic and innovative, she coaches social profit organizations on engagement, strategy, revenue generation, governance and ambassadorship. She helps clients weave these essential qualities into the DNA of their organizations to ensure their long-term sustainability. She has led capital campaigns ranging from $25 million to over $1.4 billion. She is a team builder, an idea generator, a champion of women leaders, and a guest speaker on transformation in the social profit sector.

Shelley Mayer, CM is a passionate and visionary leader, committed to the intersection of purpose and profit. Shelley believes that collaboration is at the heart of all success and is well-known as an industry connector and matchmaker.

With deep business experience and extensive knowledge of the social profit space, Shelley has advised hundreds of organizations in their quest for transformational change. A trusted industry expert, coach and advisor, Shelley has a reputation for challenging the status quo and solving problems creatively.

Shelley holds a business degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Chartered Marketer designation with the Canadian Marketing Association, and is a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional and a member of Social Value Canada.

With more than 20 years of combined client and agency experience, Shelley is a trusted strategic advisor to organizations committed to sustainability and leading social change. Since founding Ramp Communications in 2011, Shelley has partnered with over 100 social impact organizations and purpose-driven companies, helping them showcase their impacts across all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Shelley’s expertise includes branding, storytelling, impact reports, awareness campaigns and a range of other communication tools to help organizations engage with communities, share their great work, attract funders and inspire change.

Jeni Piepgrass gained nearly 20 years of experience in the social profit sector prior to her role as Chief Development Officer with Partners for Affordable Housing. Her mission is to drive success by helping clients achieve their visions for making the world a better, more vibrant and more supportive place. She is a passionate advocate for the social profit sector as a whole.

Jeni's career includes successful capital campaigns, project management and levering innovative social finance tools to deliver community impact. Based in Calgary, she led the Glenbow Reimagined Campaign, which has raised over $173 million to date. She also headed the team that raised over $135 million for the construction of Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre.

Friends and colleagues appreciate Jeni’s wide-ranging trivia knowledge almost as much as her baking skills. A voracious consumer of ideas, she loves perusing bookstores and listening to thought-provoking podcasts—her current favourites are Literature and History, Radiolab, and the Criterion Institute.

For the last 10 years, Jon has used his unique blend of skills in finance, accounting, software and operations to help non-profits scale. Most recently, Jon helped Windmill Microlending - a non-profit provider of student loans to immigrants - grow their loan operations from $3.5M/year to $27M/year as its Director of Finance, Risk & IT.

Jon was also part of the team at Windmill that created one of Canada’s most successful Social Impact Bond offerings, with the bulk of the loan growth funded through the sale of these bonds.

An entrepreneur at heart, Jon has founded several software companies, including Ph03nix New Media - a Calgary-based game studio that produced a number of hit casual games with over 4 million players worldwide.

Amy Bolt is a community housing professional with a demonstrated track record in program design and delivery. She is deeply committed to the belief that access to affordable housing is not only a fundamental human right, but also a vital foundation for individual and collective well-being.

Over the past decade, Amy has dedicated her career to supporting the non-profit and cooperative housing sectors in expanding their impact. She has designed and led numerous capacity-building initiatives focused on organizational development, research and innovation, partnership building, and knowledge-sharing. As Program Manager at the Community Housing Transformation Centre, Amy worked with housing providers to enhance their capacity to plan, develop, and deliver affordable housing. More recently, at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), she managed the end to end delivery of the National Housing Strategy Research and Planning Fund, a capacity-building program aimed at advancing evidence-based solutions to Canada’s housing challenges.

Amy holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering and Management and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from McGill University. This unique combination enables her to integrate systems thinking and technical analysis with a nuanced understanding of urban policy and governance.

Her work centers on empowering housing organizations to drive transformative change and maximize their impact - through clearer strategies, deeper collaboration, and improved access to knowledge and resources.

Hermione is an experienced leader with over 14 years of work focused on creating positive social impact across the real estate, investment, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors.

As Director of Development and Client Strategist, she leads initiatives that bring together major gift donations, public funding, and private investment, to support innovative housing solutions. Her work focuses on building strong, values-aligned partnerships that help expand access to affordable and inclusive housing across Canada.

Previously, Hermione was the Communications and Impact Director at Ayrshire Group, a Calgary-based organization focused on responsible investing. During her time there, she helped raise over $34 million for housing-focused funds, led communications with investors managing over $100 million portfolio, and developed a new funding model and design standards to support housing for neurodivergent individuals. She also developed ESG-aligned reporting frameworks, played a key role in developing strategic philanthropic fundraising plans, advancing inclusive housing initiatives, and building community partnerships.

Hermione is driven by the belief that safe, affordable housing is fundamental to social and economic stability. With a strong background in real estate and specialized training in ESG, accessibility, and governance, she brings a thoughtful and collaborative approach to addressing Canada’s housing challenges. Her work is rooted in social equity, systems-level thinking, and a deep commitment to community-led change.

Lucie Morrison is an experienced communications strategist with a passion for advancing social impact. She spent a decade as a journalist, sharpening her storytelling skills and cultivating a deep understanding of the social issues that shape communities. Lucie brings a strong background in relationship-building and played a key role in supporting capital raises for a national social impact fund. She specializes in crafting compelling, values-driven narratives that engage stakeholders and strengthen support for social profit initiatives.

At Partners for Affordable Housing, Lucie applies her expertise to elevate the organization’s outreach and engagement efforts. Her strategic approach and commitment to collaboration help foster meaningful partnerships that contribute to lasting solutions for Canada’s affordable housing challenges.