Janelle Brady
Assistant Professor
Department: School of Early Childhood Studies
Office: KHS 363-K, Kerr Hall South
Phone: 416-979-5000 x544862
Email: janelle.brady@torontomu.ca
Education: PhD (University of Toronto)
Discipline: Early Childhood Studies
Areas of Expertise:
Anti-Racist Education
Black Feminist Thought
Community-Based Research
Social Justice Education
Sociology of Education
Research Interests
Black Studies; Children & Families; Mothering Research.
Dr. Janelle Brady, PhD (she/her), is an award-winning Black studies scholar, anti-racist educator, author, community organizer, and activist-researcher. Dr. Brady completed her PhD at the University of Toronto in the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). Her doctoral work explored Black mothering experiences of navigating anti-Black racism in the schooling and education system for their children.
As an assistant professor in the School of Early Childhood Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University, she curates and teaches courses on equity, Black childhoods, and social justice pedagogies. Her research focuses on Black mothering, Blackness in early childhood studies, and Black feminisms.
Dr. Brady’s scholarship has been published in Bloomsbury Publishing, Springer, the Journal of Canadian Scholars, SAGE Publications, Demeter Press, and University of Toronto Press. She is the recipient of several awards, including the 2025 Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence and the 2022 Viola Desmond Faculty Award (external link) —both from Toronto Metropolitan University—as well as the 2021 Emerging Leader Award and the 2019 International Day for the End of Racial Discrimination Award (external link) from the University of Toronto. Her expertise has been featured in various media outlets such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), CityNews, Global News Canada, CP24, and CTV News.
She is also the co-founder and director of the Downsview Advocate, a community-based newspaper in Toronto’s north end. Dr. Brady has served as president of the Ontario NDP since 2022 and as a member of the Provincial Executive for several years before that.
- Provost’s Award for Experiential Teaching, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2025. (opens in new window)
- Instructional Skills Workshop Certificate of Completion, 2022.
- Excellence in Teaching Program Fellow, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2022.
- Viola Desmond Award, Toronto Metropolitan University, 2022.
- Emerging Leader Award, Leaders and Legends Award, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 2021.
- School of Cities Fellowship Award, University of Toronto, 2020.
- International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Award, University of Toronto, 2019.
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 2017-2019.
- Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholarships Master’s Scholarship. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, 2014-2015.
Scholarly Calling
My research revolves around care, community, and fostering inclusive and accessible environments for Black students, families, and educators alike. Through my scholarship, I have pioneered and facilitated a course centring on Black childhoods in the early years. I’m especially interested in how Black children and families experience schooling, care, and belonging.
I consider my positionality not just as an academic, but as an active community member and advocate for dismantling barriers to quality, culturally responsive, and empowering education and care. I am also engaged in local grassroots organizing efforts in my community and political mobilization as president of the provincial NDP and director of a local newspaper. In these spaces, I have worked collaboratively with community activists to advance racial justice initiatives.
I am guided by Black feminist thought and anti-racism that prioritizes student voice and lived experience.
Related Content
- Brady, J., & Berman, R. (2026). Dismantling anti-Black racism in early childhood and care in Ontario, Canada: The necessity of a pro-Black approach. In K. -A. Escayg & B. -J. M. Daniel (Eds.), Disrupting anti-Black racism in early childhood settings: A pedagogy of promise. Routledge.
- Brady, L., & Berman, R. (2025). ‘Why does she have dark skin?’: The ways Black women early childhood educators engage in intersectional pedagogies. (external link) Early Years, 1–14. (external link)
- Brady, J., Escayg, K.-A., Mathurin, G., Berman, R., Ballentine, E., & Abdulle, S. (2025). Centering Black women’s voices to advance anti-racist pedagogy and pro-Black approaches in early childhood settings (external link) . Journal of Childhood, Education & Society, 6(3), 564–580.
- Balter, A.-S., Underwood, K., Brady, J., Douglas, P., & Howey, C. (2025). Mothering Disabled Children in Early Childhood: Institutional Reproduction of the Standard North American Family (external link) . Journal of Family Issues, 0(0).
- Brady, J. & McPherson, K. (2025). Dedicated to Black Mothers and Black Daughters: A Black Feminist Approach to Duoethnography. In E.-R. Mullings, O. Adelakun, & D. V. Mullings (Eds.), In Her Arms: Love and Legacy of Black Mothers and Daughters. Demeter Press.
- Silin, J., Bailey, C., Arndt, D., Brady, J., Lee, K. & Tesar, M (2025) Viable Vulnerabilities: Rethinking Conference Pedagogies. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood.
- Brady, J. & Berman, R. (2025). Black Mothers Enacting Refusal in Early Childhood and Care. Journal of Canadian Studies. 58(3): 456-481. University of Toronto Press
- Brady, J. (2022). Strategies for Resistance: A study on Black mothering as practices of disruption for the schooling of Black children. Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement. 13(2): 155-176.
- Brady, J. (2022). Exploring the role of Black feminist thought in pre-service early childhood education: On the possibilities of embedded transformative change (external link) . Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 23(4), 392–407.
- Honouring Black refusal through the counter-stories and Lived experiences of Black community members in Early Childhood Education and Care: A study with Black mothers, Early Childhood Educators, and Elders (2023)
- The forgotten voices in Early Childhood: A study of Black early childhood educators, Black mothers, and Elders (2022)
- The creation of a course: Black Childhoods (2022)
- Access to childcare and primary education registration: Struggles of Black mothers with precarious legal status in Canada (2021)
- School of Cities Anti-Black racism/Black Lives project (2021)
- Jane Finch Parent Navigator Project (2020)
- Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies
At the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), Brady served as the senior coordinator and researcher of the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS) and is now an advisor. She has been featured by CityNews, CBC, Global TV, the Toronto Star, the Huffington Post, and other local media outlets. She taught for several years at postsecondary institutions before joining the School of Early Childhood Studies.
Apart from her role as the co-founder and director of the Downsview Advocate, she is the co-founder and associate of the Collective Group, an anti-racist and diversity, equity, and inclusion consultancy. Dr. Brady is interested in supporting children and families by engaging in various collaborative community-based research projects to enhance social and racial justice intiatives.
For the latest updates, please visit the faculty page linked below.
Selected Media & Activities
Join Dr. Brady for a conversation on how parents and educators can thoughtfully engage children in discussions about race, racism, and using privilege to create meaningful change.
(opens in new window)
Learn how Dr. Janelle Brady co-developed and taught CLD 540, the first course of its kind in Canadian post-secondary education, centering Black childhoods and anti-Black racism in education.
Watch Dr. Janelle Brady’s CityNews segment discussing the anti-racism course she developed and taught that aims to equip future educators to address and reduce racism in the school system.