Our Team
Addesse Haile
Founder & Head of Strategy:
The corporate artist. Addesse handles operations and strategy at Poems in Passage. He has honed his nonprofit and corporate strategy skills across his time as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program and McKinsey & Company. Despite his BMath from the University of Waterloo, BBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, and MBA from University of Oxford, English literature was always his favorite subject. Growing up in Scarborough, Addesse has many fond memories of discovering poems in the TTC on his way to school. He is delighted to be bringing it back to his beloved city.
Dr. Latif Murji
Founder & Creative Director:
A harmonious blend of art and medicine, Dr. Latif Murji drives partnerships and oversees the curation of content at Poems in Passage. A practicing physician, lecturer at the University of Toronto, and founder of nonprofit organization Stand Up for Health, Latif’s roles are as varied as they are impactful. His creative side thrives as frontman, songwriter, and lyricist of the indie alt-rock group, Parachute Thieves. Nostalgic for his own experiences of encountering the magic of poetry on TTC during his childhood in Scarborough, Latif’s mission is to bring that same sense of inspiration and joy to a new generation.