Meet the staff
Hannah Bell holds an MBA in Innovative Management from UPEI and has 30 years of varied experience in the public, private, and non-profit sectors in Canada and the UK. Hannah Bell is an independent business consultant and community advocate, with over thirty years experience in strategic planning, change management, and policy development in non-profit and private sectors, and with provincial and federal government. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly for Prince Edward Island as the member for Charlottetown-Belvedere in 2017, re-elected in 2019, and served until 2023. During that time she held various roles including Official Opposition House Leader, Chair of Standing Committee Public Accounts, and member of various other standing committees as well as Official Opposition Critic for Social Development & Housing, Finance, And Climate Action.
She is committed to working for the greater good in the community, building capacity and taking direct action on food security, housing, mutual aid, equity and social justice. Hannah lives in Charlottetown with her mother, her daughter, a pocket garden and an ever-growing assortment of furry friends.
A lifelong Maritimer, Kari Kruse is the project manager at the PEI Coalition for Women’s Leadership. Kari is responsible for project design, planning and delivery across initiatives that advance women’s democratic leadership and civic education on the Island. She co-led the Tech-Safe Island project, which contributed to the development of the Digital Self-Defence Toolkit for people experiencing technology-facilitated violence. Currently, Kari leads the Beyond Voting project, a civic education workshop series for newcomers to Canada, and works in close collaboration with a Newcomers Advisory Committee to ensure the content reflects lived experiences.
Kari graduated from UPEI in 2022 with a degree in Diversity and Social Justice Studies and is a proud feminist and 2SLGBT+ community member. Kari believes in assuming appropriate good faith in dialogue and works to build intentional, reciprocal bridges across the political spectrum.