Kayla Webber
Kayla Webber is an assistant professor in the School of Child and Youth Care at Toronto Metropolitan University, and a PhD candidate in the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, specializing in Women’s and Gender Studies. Her research and praxis radically centre Black, Afro-Indigenous, racialized and Indigenous youth and community members as agents of change, addressing housing precarity, food insecurity, community-defined wellness, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, Black affirmation, gender-based violence, and transformative justice.
Professor Webber was born, raised, and continues to reside in the Eglinton West Little Jamaica community in Tkaronto. Her community leadership includes serving as vice-chair of For Youth Initiative (FYI), contributing to the Toronto Strong Neighbourhood Strategy Advisory Group, and participating in the City of Toronto’s Anti-Black Racism Unit Partnership and Accountability Circle.
As a scholar and writer, Professor Webber was a writing fellow for the Philanthropist Journal, a junior fellow at the Laurier Centre for Community Research, Learning and Action, and a CHEC-CCRL emerging housing scholar.
Professor Webber’s work reflects a deep commitment to relational scholarship, decolonial praxis, and the transformative power of storytelling across generations and geographies. Her research is grounded in the lived experiences of youth, particularly in communities like Little Jamaica, where dominant narratives of violence and displacement often obscure the brilliance and the creative resistance of young people. Through co-dreaming and co-creating with youth, she seeks to reclaim community legacies and cultivate liberatory futures that do not require choosing between success and staying rooted.
Her teaching and research continue to be shaped by youth-led initiatives, community partnerships, and a commitment to methodologies that are relational, participatory, and grounded in care.
Research interests:
- Housing precarity, food insecurity, and racialized community responses
- Black and Indigenous justice, solidarity, and futurity across Turtle Island and the Caribbean
- Black, Racialized, Indigenous Afro-Indigenous youth leadership, community organizing, and transformative justice
- Black and Indigenous feminist research methodologies and relational research practices
- Transnational kinship and newcomer youth experiences, including Caribbean diasporic youth
- Consent, gender-based violence, and wellness models for Black, Indigenous, Black and Black-Indigenous girls and women
- Participatory action research, storytelling, and youth-led knowledge mobilization
- Anti-Black racism and youth-centred policy interventions
- Land-based learning and climate justice
Research projects:
| Project | Role | Funding Information |
| Proclaiming Our Roots: A Digital Storytelling Project on Black and Indigenous Identity (2021 - present) | Principal Investigator: Dr. Ciann Wilson, Wilfrid Laurier University Co-Investigators: Dr. Ryan Neepin, Dr. Ann Marie Beals, Kayla Webber |
CIHR Grant |
Journal articles:
Brant, J., & Webber, K. (Anticipated February 2026). “Re-imagining Collective Survivance: Black, Indigenous, and Afro-Indigenous Relationalities through Post-apocalyptic Literatures.” Curriculum Inquiry.
Brant, J., & Webber, K. (July 2022). “Hood-in-g in the Ivory Tower, Centring Black, Indigenous-Black and Indigenous Feminisms in a Curriculum of Solidarity.” Curriculum Inquiry.
Opinion Pieces:
Webber, K. ( December 2024). “Turning a Crisis into an Opportunity: Importance of Strategic Planning for NPOs.” The Philanthropist Journal. Retrieved from: Opinion Piece (opens in new window)
Webber, K. (July 2024). “Supporting better conditions for grassroots work in communities.” The Philanthropist Journal. Retrieved from: Opinion Piece (external link)
- Fellow, School of Cities, Urban Mixed-Method, University of Toronto, July 2024 - present.
- Associate Fellow, Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on Africa and its Diaspora (HTI) York University, November 2023 - present.
- Emerging Housing Scholar, The Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative, June 2023 - present.
- Advisor, Black & Indigenous Lives Project: Elder & Knowledge Keeper Advisory Wilfrid Laurier University, September 2024 - present.
- Stakeholder, Toronto Action Plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism Partnership & Accountability Circle City of Toronto, October 2023 - present.
- Member, Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy Advisory Group - Social Planning Toronto, July 2022 - June 2023.
- Vice-Chair Board, For Youth Initiative (FYI): Toronto, ON, September 2022 - present.
- Soroptimist Foundation of Canada Award, 2024.
- 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women Award, 2024.
- UTM Department of Language Studies Graduate Student Grant, 2024.
- Canadian Japanese Mennonite Human Rights Award, 2023.
- Bloom 23 Emerging Leader Award, GreenBiz Emerging Leader Program, 2023.
- The Philanthropist Writing Fellowship Award, The Philanthropist Writing Journal, 2023.
- OISE Centre for Indigenous Educational Research Award, OISE University of Toronto, 2022.
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship Award, University of Toronto, 2021, 2022 & 2023.
- 1834 Fellowship Award, Operation Black Vote Canada, 2021.
- The John Fillon Award for Community Involvement, City of Toronto, 2013.