Our Staff


Lisa Curry

Executive Director
lisa[at]megaphonemagazine[dot]com

Lisa Curry is an administrator, an organizer and a generalist, skilled in several areas but expert in none. She has served as executive director of the Vancouver Art Book Fair, overseeing its pivot to digital in 2020, as fundraising coordinator and program manager at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, and as coordinator at Kickstand Community Bikes. She founded a coworking space called Work Place and co-founded a comedy and zine festival called Unibrow Arts Festival. In her spare time, she is puttering around thinking about yummy food, or hunting for a new book and the strongest coffee. 


Paula Carlson

Managing Editor
paula[at]megaphonemagazine[dot]com

For the past two decades, Paula Carlson has worked as an editor and reporter at various newspapers throughout the Lower Mainland, contributing stories and stick-handling special projects that have won more than 50 industry awards for news, feature and opinion writing, page layout and design. Her work has appeared across B.C. and Canada. Having been affected by many of the issues that are the focus of Megaphone, she’s also explored deeper spiritual pursuits, and is a certified trauma-informed yoga teacher. She's fairly certain a good cup of coffee improves almost anything.


Holly Sakaki

Development and Public Outreach Officer
holly[at]megaphonemagazine[dot]com 

Holly (she/her/hers) is a born and raised Vancouver local with deep roots in the DTES Vancouver neighbourhood. Her family owned property on East Cordova, just down the street from Megaphone’s office, prior to the internment and dispossession of Japanese Canadians in World War II. For the past few years, Holly has worked with social enterprises in the community as an administrator, program developer, and frontline worker. She cares deeply about seeing people experience empowerment through meaningful work and self-expression and is excited to connect with you about how you can be part of changing the story of poverty with Megaphone. Some fun facts about Holly: she is an aspiring spoon carver, is always working on a sewing project, and dreams of opening a community laundromat one day.


Jade Bacchus

Peer Coordinator
jade[at]megaphonemagazine[dot]com

Jade first came to Megaphone in 2013 as a volunteer and is now elated to be back as the Peer Coordinator. From the moment she became involved with Megaphone ten years ago, she realized how incredible the Megaphone community is and is excited to help it grow. With a BA in Political Science and a MSc in Criminology, Jade is very passionate about how societies can help support and enrich the lives of marginalized people. In addition to her work at Megaphone, Jade is very passionate about legal advocacy and creating positive systemic change. In her spare time Jade can be found at the beach, reading a good book or desperately trying to keep her plants alive. 


Tracey Draper

Program Manager
tracey[at]megaphonemagazine[dot]com

Tracey will be working with Megaphone's Speakers Bureau and Vendor program. While studying with UBC in web development/multimedia and Langara’s CE film program, they worked continually in an administrative capacity for various non profits. This led to program coordinating Atira’s Enterprising Women Making Art program and program managing the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society. Tracey’s passion lies with continual evolution of story sharing, medicine practices, food sovereignty, homelessness, traditional ceremony and land practices in their indigenous, trans and two spirit community in the DTES. When they are not in the office, you will find them writing, arranging, producing music and post production for film. Tracey also DJ’s many community events pre-covid and looks forward to continuing the fun when the floors open up.


Nicolas Crier
Storytelling and Community Networking Liaison
nicolas[at]megaphonemagazine[dot]com

Nicolas Crier is an adoptee of Cree heritage and a freelance writer. At 40 years old he has spent approximately half his life surviving in the streets and more than a decade in the Downtown Eastside. It never occurred to him that being a drug user would ever be useful, but he’s parlayed his street smarts and community connections into a successful career as an overdose responder and outreach worker. In 2018, became a coordinator and facilitator for the Speakers Bureau at Megaphone. He sends love to his six-year-old son, Money.

 


Kaira Fenix

Operations Coordinator
kaira[at]megaphonemagazine[dot]com 

Kaira (they/them) is a community organizer, creative, and recent Sciences Po-UBC graduate. While finishing two Bachelor's degrees in Political Humanities and non-Western & Indigenous Media Studies, they worked continuously on collaborative, community-based projects, from co-directing a student theatrical production on modern Arab history, producing a documentary short about mass activists in Southeast Asia, illustrating a zine featuring Filipino working mothers, and designing a storytelling video game with Stó:lō youth. Kaira is a strong believer in the power of art and music to foster change and is happy to coordinate Megaphone's operations in the background. They find the greatest joy in short, sweet moments with strangers, creating playlists for loved ones, and pretending that the word vomit in their journal can be considered poetry.    

 

Office
312 Main St
Vancouver, BC
V6A 2T2