Stephan Reichhold
Director of “Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes” (TCRI)
Stephan Reichhold has been director of the Coalition of Organizations Serving Refugees and Immigrants in Quebec/Table de concertation des organizations au service des personnes refugiées et migrants (TCRI) since 1989. In this capacity, he is responsible for coordinating and developing the coalition of 150 community organizations working with refugees, immigrants and persons without status in Quebec.
The mission of the TCRI aims to support and defend the rights of refugees and immigrants in Quebec in their immigration and integration journey in terms of services, support, critical thinking and solidarity.
Mr. Reichhold holds a master’s degree in French literature and political science from the Freie Universität Berlin.
Email : reichhold@tcri.qc.ca
Pierre-Constantin Charles
Planning Advisor and Community Relations Manager at Centraide of Greater Montreal
Pierre-Constantin Charles has a background in social service and holds an MBA from UQAM’s School of Management Sciences.
He has been involved in community and social work for more than thirty years as an organization manager for newcomers and as a consultant in diversity management and philanthropic activities. The issues of territorial and human development are at the heart of his professional actions. His current role as planning consultant and head of community relations at the United Way of Greater Montreal has allowed him to develop a particular expertise in social and territorial analysis, project evaluation and dialogue.
Email : charlespc@centraide-mtl.org
Jessica Lagacé Banville
Head of division-Bureau d’intégration des nouveaux arrivants à Montréal
Jessica worked for 6 years in emergency management at the City of Montreal, mainly in natural hazard analysis and coordination of large-scale projects with partners. She participated in the coordination of several events, including the extreme heat events in 2010 and the H1N1 flu crisis in 2009. More recently, she has participated in the development of specific intervention plans, including one for a major water shortage. She has also developed several communication tools to raise awareness among the Montreal population of the risks present on the territory and of the proper behaviours to adopt during a disaster.
She joined the Bureau de la résilience in 2016 as a planning advisor responsible for the development of the City of Montreal’s urban resilience strategy. This position led her to become more aware of social issues, including the socio-economic integration of immigrants. Jessica has been working at the Bureau d’intégration des nouveaux arrivants (BINAM) since March 2017, where she is responsible for aspects of inclusion through innovative processes, among other things. She holds a Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Quebec in Montreal and a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Geography from the same institution. She is the recipient of numerous scholarships for excellence, including the NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship at the master’s level. Following her studies, she worked in international cooperation in a project in Ecuador where she developed several strategies for dialogue between different political and social actors to promote the implementation of sustainable development projects.
Marie-France René
Responsible for the portfolio of people with precarious status and without legal immigration status and for the economic integration of immigrants at the Bureau d’intégration des nouveaux arrivants à Montréal (BINAM)
Marie-France René, a doctorate in the sociology of immigration, has more than 15 years of experience in the local, institutional, academic and parapublic sectors in Montreal. She is currently responsible for the file of people with precarious status and without legal immigration status and for the economic integration of immigrants at the Bureau d’intégration des nouveaux arrivants à Montréal (BINAM). She also held the position of Director of the Research Chair on Intergenerational Economic Issues at HEC Montréal between February 2019 and June 2020.
At the City of Montreal, her main mandates included participating in the development of BINAM’s structure, orientations and action plan, managing the integration-work-training project (PITF) for immigrants, conceptualizing the New Start Station, which presents an integrated, cohesive and accessible service offer for newcomers, as well as consolidating the Policy for Fearless Access to Municipal Services. In 2015-2016, she participated in the coordination of the reception of Syrian refugees in Montreal.
Email : marie-france.rene@montreal.ca
Élodie Combes
Project Manager at TCRI
After doctoral studies at the Université de Montréal and having given several courses and training sessions in the didactics of French as a second language and plurilingualism, Élodie Combes reoriented herself toward community action in Sherbrooke (Collège Frontière) and then in Montreal (TCRI). Since September 2020 she has been overseen a project at TCRI with the mandate of the completion of the last year of the project Vivons nos quartiers in partnership with Centraide du Grand Montréal. The project, which was the subject of a study carried out by the researchers of the BMRC-IRMU partnership, aims to improve intervention practices with refugees and immigrants by sensitizing the members of the host society and equipping stakeholders with training in citizen rapprochement. It also has the objective of fostering dialogue between the various actors of the same neighbourhood to create welcoming communities.
Email : combes@tcri.qc.ca
Irène Cloutier
Research Associate, Office of Resilience, City of Montreal
Florence Bourdeau
Capacity building project Coordinator at TCRI
