Why Indigenous Understanding Belongs at the Centre of Newcomer Integration
About Ontario Integration Initiative
Working with you on wellness, belonging, empowerment, and opportunity.
Who We Are
At Center-stage in Community!.
Ontario Integration Initiative (OII) works with communities, institutions, partners, and residents to strengthen the systems that support integration, wellness, participation, and long-term community resilience.
We are not only a program delivery organization. OII is building a connected civic and community infrastructure where programs, projects, activities, evidence, resources, partnerships, and learning work together.
Our work supports newcomers, youth, families, Black and racialized communities, underserved residents, and community partners through culturally responsive, collaborative, and evidence-informed approaches.
How OII Works
Programs, projects, activities, and evidence connected into one living system.
OII organizes its work through a clear implementation architecture. This allows community work to be visible, coordinated, accountable, and connected across the organization.
01
Streams
Major areas of strategic work and community impact.
→
02
Programs
Long-term areas of coordinated service, engagement, and systems support.
→
03
Projects
Focused initiatives that move priorities into action with partners and communities.
→
04
Evidence
Activity briefs, reports, images, resources, and learning that show the work in motion.
Our Pillars
Four pillars guide how OII designs, delivers, and learns.
Wellness
Advancing holistic wellness through culturally responsive supports, mental health promotion, community safety, and systems navigation.
Belonging
Creating spaces where communities feel connected, represented, welcomed, and able to participate meaningfully.
Empowerment
Strengthening leadership, voice, participation, skills development, and long-term community capacity.
Employment
Supporting pathways toward socioeconomic integration, workforce participation, entrepreneurship, and opportunity.
Our Integration Model
Integration is more than settlement. It is belonging, wellness, participation, and opportunity.
OII approaches integration as a long-term community and systems process. We focus on the conditions that help people participate fully, connect meaningfully, access support, build capacity, and contribute to community life.
Community-Centered
We begin with communities, lived experiences, relationships, and local realities.
Collaborative Systems
We connect organizations, institutions, professionals, and residents into coordinated ecosystems of support.
Evidence & Learning
We use implementation evidence, reporting, engagement feedback, and community insights to improve continuously.
Integrated Delivery
Programs, projects, activities, outreach, wellness, resources, and public engagement are intentionally interconnected.
Community & Partnerships
We build through collaboration, not isolation.
OII works with community organizations, healthcare and wellness partners, educational institutions, settlement networks, grassroots leaders, public systems, faith and civic actors, and residents.
Our partnership approach is practical and implementation-focused: identify community priorities, align strengths, coordinate action, document learning, and strengthen pathways for ongoing collaboration.
Evidence & Accountability
OII treats evidence as part of the work — not an afterthought.
Activities, reports, images, briefs, resources, and implementation updates help show what is happening, what is being learned, and how programs evolve.
OII’s research and learning approach supports better program design, stronger partnerships, public accountability, and continuous improvement across community-facing work.
Explore OII
Discover the programs, projects, evidence, and communities behind the work.
Leadership & Governance
Guided by community responsibility, strategic oversight, and collaborative leadership.
OII’s leadership and governance structure supports accountability, ethical stewardship, partnership integrity, and long-term organizational direction.
Board of Directors
Tracy Pratt Stuchbery
PresidentTracy Stuchbery serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Ontario Integration Initiative (OII), where she leads the organization’s…
Oghogho Bawo‑Oteri ‘OG’
Vice PresidentWith over 16 years of legal experience, OG brings a strong foundation in corporate and regulatory compliance to her role. Having earned law…
Cianán Meiklejohn
Board SecretaryCianán Meiklejohn is a PhD student in the Gender, Feminist & Women’s Studies program at York University, where their research focuses on…
Bobby Briones
TreasurerBobby Briones is a Toronto-based professional whose journey bridges economics, strategic thinking, and community-centred engagement. With academic grounding in economics and early…
Michelle Parkin
MemberMichelle Parkin is an experienced educator and storyteller whose work centers on learning, communication, and inclusive engagement. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Michelle…
Executive Team
