Planning Committee

Program Coordinator — Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH)

Tiffany oversees the communications for IGH — curating and sharing information, tools, and resources on homelessness and intersectionality to help inform work in the sector. Through her work, she helps coordinate collaborative projects and programs with global practitioners. She also supports IGH’s effort to achieve its diversity, equity, and inclusion mission. She is passionate about progression, collaboration, and knowledge exchange.

Urbanist Theologian and Director — Centre for Faith and Community, University of Pretoria

Stephen is professor of Practical Theology, and his research interests include theology in the African city; liberative urban pedagogies; and homelessness, housing and spatial justice. Fusing research, teaching, activism and action, his work seeks to contribute to urban transformation from below, with a special concern for the city's most excluded or marginalized populations. Apart from his academic work, he is involved in social housing and housing advocacy in the inner city of Pretoria.

CEO — U-turn

Jean-Ray has worked in the field of community development in South Africa for 23 years. He is passionate about finding and implementing effective, scalable solutions to poverty, and empowering individuals and communities to flourish. Before working at U-turn, Jean-Ray was the founding CEO of The Church Alliance for Social Transformation (CAST), a community development organisation which he led for 14 years. Jean-Ray has served on several boards including the Association of Urban Ministries in Africa, the City Mission World Association, and Imago Relationships Worldwide.

Chief Business Development Officer — U-turn, Cape Town South, Africa

Jon Hopkins is responsible for innovation, research and growth at U-turn. Jon has published research on homelessness, including in the International Journal on Homelessness and was the author of the Cost of Homelessness in Cape Town study. In 2023 he completed his MBA from Stellenbosch Business School. Before moving to South Africa in 2016, Jon spent a decade working in the field of HIV, sexual and reproductive health and gender equality for an international non-profit and the United Nations. Jon is married and has three children.

Executive Director — Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH)

Peter guides IGH’s strategy and champions a global vision in which everyone has a home that offers security, safety, autonomy, and opportunity. His commitment to social change runs throughout his career. After two formative years in the third sector working for a homelessness charity, Pete moved into academia and spent 16 years at Cardiff University, becoming a respected international expert on preventing and ending homelessness. Alongside this work, he has dedicated 16 years to Llamau—Wales’s leading homelessness charity for young people and women—serving as a Trustee and, most recently, as Chair.

Coordinator and Researcher — Unit for Street Homelessness, Centre for Faith and Community, University of Pretoria

Remembrance is Faculty member of Theology and Religion at the University of Pretoria. She is a professional social worker and holds a Master’s degree in Social Development and Policy from the University of Pretoria. Her Honours degree specialised in Probation and Correctional Practice, and she obtained her undergraduate degree, a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Social Work, from the University of Cape Town. She also holds an Advanced Certificate in Urban Ministry (IUM/UNISA) and an International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance from Fordham University.

Associate Professor and Associate Director — School of Nursing, Western University

Arthur Labatt Family Chair in Nursing Leadership in Health Equity

Having worked as a nurse with people experiencing homelessness in London, Dr. Oudshoorn’s research focuses on health equity, housing, and homelessness. Dr. Oudshoorn is an Associate Scientist with the Lawson Health Research Institute and Managing Editor of the International Journal on Homelessness.

PhD Candidate — Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Western University, Canada

Colleen’s work bridges academic research, community-based practice, lived expertise, and policy advocacy, with a focus on advancing adequate and dignified housing as a fundamental human right and a foundation for population health.

Program Director — Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH)

Julia leads IGH’s work on the Vanguard Program, International Mayors Council on Homelessness, and Global Homelessness Data Map. She has more than a decade of experience in program design, building partnerships for systems change, and collecting inclusive data working across the fields of international public health, education, and homelessness.