Who We Are
Sylvia Olsen, PhD
Researcher, practitioner, and author whose life and work in on‑reserve housing led to a PhD tracing a century of programs, policies, and their consequences. Her insight: the crisis endured not in spite of policy- but because of it.
An author, story-teller, knitting designer, housing specialist and teacher, Sylvia Olsen is an eclectic mix of her creative and academic pursuits. Her books have received numerous awards and nominations and many are Canadian best sellers. Her knitting designs have received attention across Canada and the United States.
Sylvia Olsen married into Tsartlip First Nation in the 1970's. She moved onto the reserve where she and her husband raised four kids. Since then, she has been a founding member of several First Nations housing organizations, the most recent being the First Nations Housing & Infrastructure Council for BC. She was also a member of the Assembly of First Nations Chiefs Committee on Housing & Infrastructure for many years. Sylvia helps develop the curriculum for the First Nations Housing Management Certificate Program at Vancouver Island University. She taught the course for more than a decade and recently completed a textbook for the program. Her PhD dissertation was a ground-breaking study titled Making Poverty: A History of On-reserve Housing Programs, 1930-1996, which will soon appear as a webbook.
Sylvia moves on a lateral plain weaving together her multi and sometimes seemingly unrelated passions; writing and teaching about housing and wool working and turning all the parts of her life into stories. Sylvia draws her inspiration from her large family and the exciting ways they are making an impact on their world. She lives on Saturna Island, most of the time, where she runs the Saturna Lodge with her husband, Tex McLeod, and dog, Piper. Otherwise Sylvia can be found in North Saanich, just north of Victoria, BC.
Adam Olsen
Public servant and community leader offering political analysis and lived experience. He situates housing within Indigenous worldviews: home as identity, belonging, and intergenerational connection—far beyond bricks and mortgages.
Adam Olsen (SȾHENEP) was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saanich North and the Islands and member of the B.C. Green Caucus in 2017 and re-elected in 2020.
Adam has a deep love and respect for his home in the W̱SÁNEĆ territory. As an advocate and facilitator, he is committed to good relationships and improving public participation to strengthen all aspects of the community.
His 16-year career in elected public service began when he was elected Councillor in the District of Central Saanich (2008, 2011). Prior to that Adam worked for two decades in the service and communications sectors where he gained valuable experience in building relationships, connecting people, problems, ideas and solutions.
Born in Victoria, BC, Adam has lived, worked and played his entire life on the Saanich Peninsula. He is a member of Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP), where he and his wife, Emily, are raising their two children, Silas and Ella.
Kerry Black, PhD, P.Eng
Academic and systems thinker who helped shape the project’s form: an invitation, not just an account. She frames the work as a responsibility to transform knowledge into action.
Kerry Black is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Department of Civil Engineering, at the University of Calgary. She received her PhD from the University of Guelph with research focused on sustainable water and wastewater management in Indigenous communities. Her focus is to engage in a cross-disciplinary research platform, incorporating technical civil and environmental engineering principles and research, with policy and socio-economic components, focusing on sustainable infrastructure for healthy and resilient communities.
Over the past 15 years, she worked extensively in the academic, public, private and non-profit sectors, employed in technical, scientific, policy, and management roles. The majority of my experience has included working with and for Indigenous communities on urgent and pressing infrastructure issues across Canada. Her cross-disciplinary research has been featured in both engineering and social science journals. Dr. Black is a strong advocate for increasing diversity in science and engineering, sustainability initiatives and programs, and community development, including her work with Indigenous communities.
As a non-Indigenous settler, her research work is guided by Indigenous partners and Nations, and in full and meaningful partnership and collaboration.