WINNIPEG, MB – NDP Leader Avi Lewis announced members of his senior staff today who will also comprise the core of the transition team.

Savhanna Wilson will serve as Chief of Staff to the leader. Wilson managed Lewis’s historic leadership campaign and brings years of experience coordinating grassroots outreach in Saskatchewan. Prior to this, Wilson was Executive Director of the Toronto Alliance to End Homelessness, managed Ryan Meili’s successful campaign for SKNDP Leader in 2018, and managed mayoral and council campaigns.

Peyton Veitch will serve as the leader’s Principal Secretary. Veitch was Policy Director on Lewis’s leadership campaign and has worked for several NDP elected officials, including MP Leah Gazan, former MPP Joel Harden, and most recently served as Chief of Staff to Wab Kinew’s Minister of Justice.

Donya Ziaee will serve as Director of Communications, a role she also occupied on Lewis’s leadership campaign. Ziaee brings two decades of experience in media and communications, including as a former CBC radio producer and communications director at the Council of Canadians. As an immigrant who moved to Canada from Iran as a teen, she also brings invaluable lived experiences and connections that will be critical to the work of rebuilding the party.

“This is a team that’s ready to start rebuilding the party from day one,” said Lewis. “They have run organizations and political offices, won elections, and know how to communicate with Canadians. They played a key role in our winning campaign and will play a key role in the NDP’s comeback.”

Lewis was elected leader of Canada’s NDP yesterday with a record-breaking first ballot victory, securing the most votes for any leader under the one-member, one-vote rules.