Alexandra Wilson
Facilitator
Parallel Session 4.4: With Affordable Housing and Energy
Alexandra Wilson discovered a passion for cooperatives in 1974, when she led her neighbours in a successful fight to create the Bain Apartments Cooperative, putting a stop to the landlord’s plans to evict 260 low-income households. This involvement as a teenager in saving her own home led to a career in the development, management and provision of association services to housing cooperatives. After nine years with the Cooperative Housing Federation of Toronto, five as managing director, and 15 years at the head of the Cooperative Housing Federation of Canada, Alexandra started up the Agency for Cooperative Housing, serving as CEO from 2005 until her retirement in 2021.
Alexandra spent 22 years on the board of Cooperative Housing International and in 2017 was elected to the global board of the International Cooperative Alliance. She is a board member of Cooperatives and Mutuals Canada, the apex body of the Canadian cooperative movement; vice chair of the board of The Cooperators, a large cooperative insurer; and a member of the board of the Funeral Cooperative of Ottawa.
She has played multiple volunteer roles in the credit union sector and did a three-year stint in the international cooperative development field.