Em Johnson

Founder & Director

Em Johnson has served as an advocate for people locally and globally since a young age. She has spent the past 14 years working with youth and young adults in detention facilities, drop-in centers for marginalized youth, churches, & student-leadership programs. During this time Em has provided leadership in various roles such as program coordinator, teacher, mentor, counselor, event facilitator, administration, operations, and church leadership. In 1999 she attended and graduated The Laborer's Institute in Colorado. Em has participated in volunteer initiatives globally as well as in the urban cores of North America.

UrbanEx was conceived during Em's first time coming to Toronto at the age of 14 with an organization (not unlike many others) that

Alan Waugh

Associate Director

Alan Waugh has over 20 years of corporate experience in "Telecommunications Management of Operations and Customer Services", as a result Alan offers extensive expertise in developing and motivation of staff and teams, he has established exceptional conflict resolution methods through interpersonal professionalism, created effective policies and procedures for workload management through strategic implementation and innovative project management initiatives. Alan has the ability to engage at all levels to communicate and implement corporate strategies employing "influence without authority principles" to achieve corporate goals and objectives.

Alan has also been a "social justice advocate"

goes to such places with an agenda to accomplish tasks. This particular group seemed to have their kindness and compassion on a switch that could be turned on and off. Upon arrival, as Em encountered her first homeless friend, her team told her to "never mind him...we aren't doing that yet." That statement started a 14 year journey of reshaping the heart of herself to become a person who has her switch always turned-on for the world around her, and not just because it was the right thing to do...but because she genuinely wanted to love and walk with her fellow life-travelers. As the Brooke Fraser song says, "Now that I have seen, I am responsible...Now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go."

Em then began to facilitate teams of students and adults to evaluate their own character, motives, and what affect they have on their world...both locally and globally, and to challenge them to own their responsibility to it and to each other. Em brought them to Toronto from all over the United States on a

for just over 22 years. He worked full time in Toronto as the assistant director for Inner City Outreach facilitating and operating an induction centre to create a place that would foster a safe environment to build relationship with those looking for advocacy, establishing and developing a staff of volunteers, networks, and relationships to enable efficient results for those reaching out while employing the value of offering dignity and providing advocacy as seamless as possible. This included: assistance to the Director in administration, correspondence and operating the Outreach Centre, counseling, coordinating "Operation Helps", establishing a network of advocacy rehabilitation relationships across Canada ( i.e. Harvest House, Teen Challenge, Turning Point, Min. of Housing, Social Services, and Health Agencies) Alan also partnered with the Director on the "Late night" relationship building team with sex trade workers. When Alan re-entered the corporate world again he continued to be an advocate by serving on volunteer committees and participated in, lead and coordinated many other social justice

yearly basis since 1998 for what has now become known as Urban Excursion. Since Em and her husband Mike have recently moved to Canada, UrbanEx has become a full-time, 3-fold organization through which her heart is now fully coming alive as they engage others to come fully alive as well. Thus "Change the world by changing you."

initiatives that have included: Youth in Conflict, OOTC coordinator and steering committee, Corrections Canada Team Visitations, refugee support partnering with the Mennonite Coalition for Refugee support as well as Amnesty International, and served on the Region of Waterloo Homelessness and Borderline Homelessness committee making recommendations for change.

Alan met Em in early 2007 while advocating for individuals through local social justice opportunities. Alan then experienced his first Urban Excursion in Toronto, May '08. "As a person who is also very passionate about being an advocate, I found the UrbanEx experience still transformed me. To me Urban Excursion is the most effective and efficient life-changing team collaboration experience that I have ever participated in." Now Alan has partnered with UrbanEx with the goal of enabling more effective and intentional advocates world-wide.