Our Team
Arya Raju
she/her
National Initiatives Co-Lead
Arya is a healthcare administration graduate from St. Lawrence College and a passionate advocate for the transformative power of social prescribing. Her journey into this field began with a deeply personal experience: watching her grandmother regain her spirit and vitality through a doctor’s prescription of community activities, regular walks, yoga, and meditation after a fall left her feeling isolated and depressed. Witnessing the profound impact these simple, non-medical interventions had on her grandmother’s life ignited a passion within Arya to help others in the same way.
Margaret Lin
she/her
National Initiatives Co-Lead
Margaret is a PhD student in nursing at the University of British Columbia researching on the social prescribing collaboration experience for older adults, healthcare staff, and community organizations in BC. As a registered nurse and the regional project leader at Fraser Health, Margaret leads the integration of social prescribing into the regional health system to support healthy aging. She enjoys collaborating with healthcare providers, community organizations, students, and researchers in British Columbia to foster healthy aging in the community.
Jeffrey Wong
he/him
Local Initiatives Co-Lead
Jeffrey is a BA Sociology student at Trinity Western University and a research assistant at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. As CSPSC’s Local Initiatives Co-Lead and Trinity Western University Chapter Lead, he is committed to providing students with opportunities to learn about and get involved with social prescribing through transdisciplinary collaborations. As an aspiring public health professional and a longtime volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross, Jeffrey is dedicated to bridging the gap between clinical and social care to improve community health outcomes.
Nina Doad
she/her
Local Initiatives Co-Lead
Nina is a recent graduate from the University of Waterloo’s Health Sciences program. She has a passion for health promotion and community health, which led to her involvement in social prescribing. Nina hopes to continue her education journey and explore pathways at the intersection of public health and medicine.
Mackenzie Heidel
she/her
Communications Lead
Mackenzie is a medical student at the University of Saskatchewan. She completed her BSc in Biomedical Physiology at Simon Fraser University. Before she knew what social prescribing was, Mackenzie was the administrator for a non-profit organization that connects pediatric patients with reading and math tutoring, leading to improvements in their long-term health. She is excited to support the integration of social prescribing as an essential part of patient centred health care.
Benji Finestone
he/him
Events Lead
Benji Finestone is a recent graduate of the BScN program at the Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. Prior to this degree, he received his BSc in kinesiology from McGill University. For a long time, Benji has been interested in the “mind-body” connection. When he learned about social prescribing in his community nursing class, he became very excited to find a practical tool which addresses social determinants of health in primary care settings. Since then, he has looked for opportunities to get involved in Canada’s social prescribing movement and is very proud to be the Events Lead for the Canadian Social Prescribing Student Collective.