Our Team

Andrea Cupelli (she/her/hers) is a settler grateful to be living, working, and playing on the traditional unceded (stolen) territory of the K’ómoks First Nation (Comox Valley, BC).

Andrea has over a decades worth of experience in non-profit leadership with involvement in affordable housing, food security, and queer advocacy.  Andrea has years of lived experience relevant to this project, and before then, in another universe, worked as a corporate accountant. She obtained her Bachelor of International Relations with a Minor in Women’s Studies from York University in 2013.

Andrea is keenly aware of how deep-rooted colonial systems have created injustice in our world and approaches her work with an equity lens and a commitment to justice, diversity, and inclusion.

In her free time Andrea loves to spend time in nature with her pug Mason, pole dance, cook, travel, and is currently teaching herself (awkwardly) how to play the guitar and to speak Italian.

Courtney Demone (she/any) is a white settler trans femme grateful to be living and working on the ancestral and unceded homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Sel̓íl̓witulh, and kwikwəƛ̓ əm Nations in so-called Burnaby, BC.

Courtney feels wildly fortunate to join the BC BDAR project as Research Lead. She has varied lived experience relating to this project and looks forward to continuing to engage with and support her community in this role. Aside from that, she has experience as a designer and UX researcher in the tech industry, as a facilitator of workshops and drop-ins at various community organizations, and as a writer-slash-pundit focused on the intersections of social media and social justice.

Fostering community and connection in an increasingly disconnected and individuated colonialist-capitalist society is a fundamental principle that drives Courtney’s work, and she strives to center anti-oppressive and decolonizing values in her practice.

When she’s off-the-clock, you can find her digging through racks at a thrift store, squinting at the mirror trying to achieve perfect winged liner, dancing up a sweat, or shouting at the ref at a pro wrestling show.