About us // Michelle Hoar

Michelle Hoar

Michelle is responsible for overall management of the Collective, including strategic partnerships, fundraising and funder relations, financial administration, housing industry engagement and knowledge mobilization.

Previous to this, she did public and stakeholder engagement work, largely on housing issues. She is also the co-founder of The Tyee, where she led the business operations of one of Canada’s most highly regarded independent media companies from 2003 through 2016. From 2016 to 2017 she managed The Tyee’s Housing Fix project, a solutions-journalism and civic engagement project focused on Canada’s housing crises. Throughout the multi-year course of the Housing Fix, Michelle worked with a number of partners to organize and facilitate public and stakeholder events on affordable housing: three in Vancouver, one in New Westminster, and one in Ottawa. She continues to be an advisor to The Tyee.

Michelle Hoar has a laugh against a brick wall.

Michelle’s completion of the SFU Certificate in Dialogue and Civic Engagement in 2017 and the IAP2 Foundations program in 2018 (International Association for Public Participation) cemented an interest in utilizing her emerging skills as an engagement facilitator in areas she’s passionate about: affordable housing, social and environmental resilience, and urban planning.

Michelle is the mother of two young daughters, a renter since age 19, and an avid community gardener and cyclist. One of her favourite hobbies is talking to strangers.

Recent posts

A group of aging adults stand arm in arm laughing.

‘Silver tsunami’ or golden opportunity?

Jan 23, 202524 min read

Interwoven challenges of aging populations, social isolation, rising housing costs, and climate change are unleashing…

Participants at the SFU Design Jam.

Designing resilient and connected housing: Illustrations and insights from our design jam

Jan 10, 20256 min read

This article was originally posted on January 2, 2025 at SFU Renewable Cities. Housing is…

Jean in Cerro Monserrate, Bogotá, Colombia (Monserrate Mountain).

Jean talks about the importance of qualitative research and why he writes poetry

Dec 9, 20248 min read

What work are you involved in with Hey Neighbour? I’m working with a key partner…

Atiya Mahmood, Tara Fernando, and Noni Nabors stand in front of red Simon Fraser University signage while holding paper copies of recent published works.

Hey Neighbour Collective at Housing Central 2024

Nov 29, 20241 min read

Hey Neighbour joined hundreds of other delegates at Housing Central in November, to chat with…

Building Social Connections in Practice: A workshop series.

Building Social Connections in Practice

Nov 27, 20248 min read

Communities across Canada face growing challenges—climate change, housing affordability, escalating construction costs, loneliness and social…

Attendees look on at the A Place Like Home symposium.

Looking back one year ago: A Place Like Home symposium

Nov 27, 20247 min read

Last year, on November 15th, 2023, the Hey Neighbour Collective co-sponsored an all-day student research…