Our Board of Directors
Eric Cohen
Chair
Eric Cohen has more than 15 years of experience advancing nonprofit and affordable housing in Toronto. He serves as Vice-President of the Ridgeford Charitable Foundation and the Brenyon Way Charitable Foundation, helping oversee 650 apartments and 112 townhouses in Scarborough and supporting the development of new affordable housing.
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As founding Board Chair of RENEW Non-Profit Housing Corporation, Eric brings extensive experience in housing governance, development, finance, and organizational leadership. He served on the Board of the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association from 2020 to 2023 and remains a member of its Finance and Audit Committee. He is also involved with HousingNowTO, advocating for increased affordable housing across Toronto.
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Eric previously held senior executive roles with the Ontario Government, with expertise spanning finance, procurement, project management, policy, communications, business planning, and organizational change.
Steve Doherty
Bruce Davis
Shawn Seargeant
Secretary
Steve Doherty has more than 30 years of experience in youth support services. Since 2017, he has served as Executive Director of Youth Without Shelter, where he advocates for young people experiencing homelessness. His earlier career spanned children’s mental health, addictions, and developmental services.
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Steve helped launch one of the first youth-focused substance-use treatment programs to integrate mental health and family therapy within a harm-reduction framework. He has also taught in Sheridan College’s Child and Youth Work program, presented at provincial and national conferences, and contributed to public discussions on youth homelessness and mental health. He holds a BA from Saint Mary’s University.
Director
Bruce Davis is the principal owner of Public Progress, bringing more than 30 years of experience in development consulting, project management, and community engagement. His work focuses on preserving and creating safe, affordable housing, including advancing more than ten Rapid Housing projects and supporting the development of respite sites, warming centres, emergency shelters, and consumption and treatment services.
Bruce guides nonprofit and municipal clients through site selection, feasibility analysis, capital funding, community engagement, and project delivery. He is also a registered Ontario Realtor who supports leasing and property-acquisition assignments.
His public and community service includes serving as a Toronto District School Board trustee, a founding Director of the Toronto Lands Corporation, a Director of the South Etobicoke Community Land Trust, and founding Chair of the Société John Easton Mills Society. Currently, Bruce serves as the Chair of CreateTO, helping to manage and steward the collective real estate assets of the City of Toronto.
Vice-Chair / Treasurer
Shawn Seargeant brings more than three decades of experience in the technology sector, supported by studies in Computer Science and Commerce at the University of Waterloo and International Relations at Lakehead University. During his career with MicroAge, he has become a trusted consultant to Fortune 500 companies across Canada, recognized for his technical expertise and practical approach to solving complex problems.
Shawn has applied that same problem-solving mindset throughout his extensive nonprofit and charitable work. Most notably, he served for ten years on the Board and most recently as Chair of Lionhearts Inc., an organization providing food security, emergency shelters, and other essential services to vulnerable communities. During his tenure, he helped expand the organization’s transitional and emergency housing programs, including its response to increased community needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
His community leadership has earned him recognition as a Paul Harris Fellow and recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award. He was also named Kingston’s First Capital Distinguished Citizen in 2021 and received the United Way KFL&A’s Voice of the Community Award in 2022.