Lisa Helps

Lisa Helps was a 2006 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar. She was the co-president the Alumni Network Executive Committee. She served on the Board of Directors from March 2020 to November 2021. She is the Mayor of Victoria.

Not satisfied with the disjuncture between the so-called ivory tower and the rest of the world, Lisa Helps spends much of her time as a community activist committed to place-based solutions to global and national challenges, and increasing citizen engagement. She was Councilor for the City of Victoria and Executive Director of the Community Micro Lending Society (www.communitymicrolending.ca) in Victoria, British Columbia, and was elected Mayor of the city of Victoria on 15 November 2014. She also sits on the Program Committee of Leadership Victoria, a local organization that runs a multi-sector community leadership program. She was Chair of the Board of Directors of Fernwood NRG, a neighbourhood organization, when the Society purchased and restored a run down building in the heart of the neighbourhood, built affordable housing units, and opened the Cornerstone Café as an enterprising non-profit venture. She has also served as chair of the Bread and Roses Collective, which produces the monthly Victoria Street Newz.