Phoebe Stephens

Phoebe Stephens is a PhD candidate in social and ecological sustainability at the University of Waterloo. With the support of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Phoebe investigates sustainable food systems in Canada, with a specific focus on their growth through innovative financing mechanisms. Her Master's thesis explored how the financialization of agriculture encourages land grabs.

Phoebe's work has been published in several interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journals and she continues to collaborate with scholars in her field to produce cutting edge research. She has conducted research for Sustain Ontario's Food Enterprise Network and the SSHRC funded Food: Locally Embedded, Globally Engaged (FLEDGE) partnership. Phoebe is the co-founder of Natural Interest, a consultancy geared towards supporting the growth of social finance in Ontario's food sector.

Previously, Phoebe held a number of positions at the intersection of food, sustainability and finance. As the Global Campaign and Alliances Lead at Oxfam International, Phoebe developed public engagement strategies to demonstrate the extreme inequalities of the current financial system. While at Oxfam Canada, she developed communications strategies for the food security campaign GROW. She also worked on sustainability reporting for companies including Loblaws and Maple Leaf Foods. Outside of work, Phoebe volunteers for Slow Food Canada.