Virtual Conference: Online Hate, Media (Mis)Representation and Systemic Racism

Barbara Perry is a Professor in the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities at Ontario Tech University, the Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism, and holds a UNESCO Chair in Hate Studies. She has written extensively on social justice generally, and hate crime and right-wing extremism specifically. She has published several books spanning each of these areas, including Diversity, Crime and Justice in Canada, In the Name of Hate: Understanding Hate Crime, and Right-wing Extremism in Canada. She was the General Editor of a five volume set on hate crime (Praeger), and editor of Volume 3: Victims of Hate Crime of that set. In 2019, she published Right-wing Extremism in Canada, with co-author Ryan Scrivens. Her work has been published in journals representing diverse disciplines: Theoretical Criminology, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Journal of History and Politics, and American Indian Quarterly. 

Dr. Perry continues to work in the area of hate crime, and has made substantial contributions to the limited scholarship on hate crime in Canada, including work on anti-Muslim violence, antisemitic hate crime, hate crime against 2SLGBTQI communities, the community impacts of hate crime, and right-wing extremism in Canada. She is regularly called upon by policy makers, practitioners, and local, national and international media as an expert on hate crime and right-wing extremism.

Michelle Ferrier, Ph.D., is executive director of the Media Innovation Collaboratory, an incubator for media and technology communication solutions. She is the founder of TrollBusters, an educational service for journalists experiencing digital harms and the author of Attacks and Harassment: The Impact on Female Journalists and their Reporting (2018). Dr. Ferrier is an internationally recognized, award winning technologist, journalist, scholar, researcher, author and speaker around technology and digital/online spaces. Her pioneering research mapping media deserts and monitoring and modeling digital harms has won her grant support from organizations like the Knight Foundation, Democracy Fund, and others. Dr. Ferrier has won international, national and professional recognition including six Anthem Awards for social impact work, the AEJMC Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award for press freedom work, and the Dewey Community Service Award from SXSW. Named a 2018 Top 10 Educators to Watch by MediaShift, Dr. Ferrier has led hundreds of presentations on engaged journalism and digital technologies and developed curricula in digital media, media innovation and entrepreneurship, and online journalism and collaborated with international organizations like the United Nations, OSCE, Article 19, and other professional organizations to ensure global press freedoms.

Dr. Pamela Palmater is a Mi'kmaw lawyer and a member of the Eel River Bar First Nation in northern New Brunswick. Dr. Palmater has been actively engaged in First Nation issues for over 30 years. Her research on laws, policies & practices that impact First Nations crosses over into related issues like human rights and women's safety, as well as the links between white supremacy, hate groups, and law enforcement. She is frequently called as an expert witness before Parliamentary and Senate committees, and participated in both the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girls and the Mass Casualty Commission. Dr. Palmater is the Chair in Indigenous Governance at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Kaitlynn Mendes, PhD, is the Canada Research Chair in Inequality and Gender at Western University. She is an expert on issues around sexual violence and digital technologies, including how technology exacerbates the issues and how people creatively use technologies to fight back. With ever-increasing technological developments, and sexual violence rapidly taking on new forms, Dr. Mendes’ research helps prepare young people for their digital futures. She works with a range of stakeholders to develop resources for schools to tackle this issue through relationship and sex education curriculum. She is author of over 60 publications including the award winning book SlutWalk: Feminism, Activism and Media (2015), and Digital Feminist Activism: Girls and Women Fight Back Against Rape Culture (2019).

Jack is President and CEO of the Association for Canadian Studies and the Metropolis Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in Canadian History from Concordia University. Prior to 1998, he served as executive director of the Quebec branch of the Canadian Jewish Congress. He is an author and contributor to academic publications, government reports and newspapers across the country in the fields of immigration, multiculturalism, diversity, human rights and official languages. Following three decades of wide-ranging research on public opinion and demographics, he is regularly consulted by media and government bodies alike for his expertise and insights on issues of import in the public sphere. He has taught and lectured at McGill University, the Université du Québec à Montréal and Concordia University, offering courses ranging from public policy to the history of immigration and minority groups, to sports in Canada.

Jaigris Hodson is the Canada Research Chair (tier 2) in Digital Communication for the Public Interest. Her Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded research examines the ways that misinformation can be mitigated through digital communication efforts, particularly those targeted at the research community. Thus her current work examines such interdisciplinary topics as educational interventions to address COVID-19 related misinformation, the online harassment of diverse researchers, the discourses of conspiracy theories, and ecological approaches to understanding misinformation in a modern context.

As a Canadian Science Policy Fellow (2018-2019), Jaigris worked with Environment and Climate Change Canada to assist in understanding how to best communicate the science of climate change to the Canadian public. Jaigris is on the editorial board for the Journal of Digital and Social Media Marketing, has also worked as a social media consultant with the private sector for such organizations as the Canadian Country Music Association and GCI Canada, and is a sought-after speaker on topics such as digital or social media communication, diversity, and technological disruption.

Peter Flegel is the Haitian-born Executive Director of the Government of Canada’s Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat, a cornerstone of Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy. With his diverse team, Peter is driving whole-of-government systems change in the federal government from an anti-racism perspective. This has entailed reaching and engaging close to 4 million people across Canada to inform policy making, helping shape new federal policies and legislation, advancing new international agreements with foreign allies, such as the North American Partnership for Equity and Racial Justice, and working with federal departments and central agencies to implement an anti-racism framework for the entire federal public service. Peter has a distinguished career as a social entrepreneur, fundraiser, columnist, community organizer and musician, with extensive Canadian and international experience working in multilingual and multicultural settings. He has a history of leadership in the government, NGO and philanthropic sectors, in areas including anti-racism, equity, human rights, innovation, culture, international affairs and entrepreneurship.

Nadine is the past President of (2019-2021)  and was appointed CEO of the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) in 2021, the culmination of a ground-breaking two-decade career in entrepreneurship. At BBPA, Nadine has designed and implemented culturally relevant programming; expanded and executed the organization’s strategic growth plans; and leveraged partnerships with the board of directors and interdepartmental leaders to improve Black business visibility while disrupting long standing structural inequities. Nadine is an accomplished businesswoman, entrepreneur, and community leader spearheading the organization’s efforts to advance Canada’s Black community through various equity and programming initiatives.

Nadine is currently on secondment from her role as CEO at BrandEQ, a global agency specializing in social change marketing, communications, and public relations. There, she rose to prominence in Canadian business by accelerating strategic growth and brand visibility through multi-tiered corporate campaigns for a diverse client portfolio. She also pioneered BrandEQ’s cultural sensitivity arm, BrandEQ Black, which works with a variety of socially conscious organizations to examine racial biases in advertising and marketing. Her proprietary “People Matter” strategy continues to generate long-term value for clients and effect change in society.

A dedicated Black community champion, she has devoted her life to fighting discrimination, battling poverty, advancing women’s education, and advocating for equality for women and girls of colour. She was acknowledged for her philanthropic and societal contributions in the recently published book, 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women, and she has received numerous accolades, including the Harry Jerome Business Award and the United Nations Volunteer Award. In 2020, she was named CGA Businesswoman of the Year. Nadine holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science with Honours from York University and serves on numerous boards, including York University’s Alumni Board and Board of Governors. Previously, she served on the Toronto Star community advisory panel, where she worked directly with Star journalists and editors to help develop policies and best practices that fostered greater inclusion and representation of diverse communities across Canada.

Biography to come

Emily Laidlaw is a Canada Research Chair in Cybersecurity Law and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Calgary. She researches in the areas of technology regulation, cybersecurity and human rights, with a focus on platform regulation, online harms, privacy, freedom of expression and corporate social responsibility. She is author of the book Regulating Speech in Cyberspace: Gatekeepers, Human Rights and Corporate Responsibility (Cambridge University Press, 2015). She co-chaired the Expert Advisory Group on Online Safety for the Heritage Ministry in 2022.

Nuzhat Jafri is the Executive Director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women and has served as President and long-time national board member and volunteer with the Council. She has also served as chair and member of several other non-profit boards. Nuzhat has wide-ranging leadership experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Prior to her current role, she served as the Executive Director of the Office of the Fairness Commissioner from 2007 to 2017.  Her experience spans leadership roles in legislative and policy development and compliance, communications and human resources. She is an untiring advocate for human rights, equity, inclusion and accessibility and grounds her work in intersectional anti-oppression/anti-racism frameworks. She has a B.A. in French language and literature from the University of Toronto and a Master’s from the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Western Ontario. She lives in Toronto and enjoys being a grandmother among many of her occupations

Andi Shi is the Executive Director of CPAC (formerly Chinese Professionals Association of Canada), a multi-dimensional organization that is an association of internationally educated professionals, a career and skills development service provider, and a developing think tank that provides research-based support for the understanding and elimination of systemic racism and barriers to equity, diversity and inclusion in Canadian society. Andi is a recognized civic leader with a diverse range of leadership experience in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He has been involved in equity, diversity and social justice initiatives throughout his career. He is a founding member of the Asian Canadians Together to End Racism (ACT2endracism) coalition and has been on the boards of a number of organizations, including Across Boundaries, People for Education and the College of Opticians of Ontario. Andi has a Master of Science degree from the University of Regina and an Executive Education Certificate in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from the University of Cambridge. He has been a guest speaker on EDI issues to local and national audiences.

Associate Professor of News, Social Media, and Public Communication at the Ahmed Al-Rawi is the Associate Professor of News, Social Media, and Public Communication at the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University. He is also the founder of the Disinformation Project. His research interests are related to news, global communication, and social media with emphasis on Canada and the Middle East. Al-Rawi is also a  founding member of the Media & Digital Literacy Academy (external link)  in Beirut. His new research project which is funded by a SSHRC Insight grant investigates the issues of racism and democracy from the perspective of racialized Canadian journalists, the online public, and news content, partly to understand whether racism negatively influences democracy. 

The Disinformation Project examines misinformation on social media and new discourses around it by focusing on the Canadian context.

Mr. Farber is the Chair of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network. He is acknowledged as one of Canada’s most accomplished NGO CEOs. His career spans more than thirty years focused on human rights, diversity, anti-racism, and extremism. His efforts have been documented in numerous Canadian human rights publications, books, newspapers and magazines. His work has also been cited for its expertise in a number of academic publications.

Mr. Farber has successfully run large NGOs and foundations such as the Canadian Jewish Congress, the Paloma Foundation and retired as the Executive Director of the Mosaic Institute.

Mr. Farber is a human rights consultant, newspaper columnist and social justice advocate. He has received numerous awards for his civil rights work including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal, the Government of Canada 125 Commemorative medal, The Chancellor's Commendation of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police Award for Outstanding Service and Dedication to Policing in the province of Ontario, amongst others

Mr. Farber is a human rights consultant, newspaper columnist and social justice advocate. He has received numerous awards for his civil rights work including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal, the Government of Canada 125 Commemorative medal, The Chancellor's Commendation of the Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John and the Ontario Association of Chief’s of Police Award for Outstanding Service and Dedication to Policing in the province of Ontario, amongst others.

Karim Bardeesy is a public service leader who has worked for a better democracy, a more educated and engaged population, and better public policy throughout his professional career. He is the Executive Director of the Dais, a public policy and leadership institute at Toronto Metropolitan University. In 2017, he co-founded the Leadership Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, and took on additional responsibilities as Executive Director of the Brookfield Institute in January 2023. Karim also co-teaches SSH505, "Making the Future," for which he has won two teaching awards from TMU's Faculty of Arts.

Karim was previously Deputy Principal Secretary for Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, and served as Executive Director of Policy for Premiers Wynne and Dalton McGuinty. He was a candidate in Parkdale—High Park in the 2022 Ontario provincial election.

He has worked as a journalist, as a politics and policy columnist for The Toronto Star, an editorial writer and business reporter at The Globe and Mail, and as an editorial assistant at Slate magazine. He also taught leadership at the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy and Governance. Karim holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

He is the son of immigrants from Egypt and England and grew up in Bathurst, New Brunswick. He and his wife are raising their two children in Toronto's west end.

Nadia Hasan has a PhD in Political Science from York University. As Chief Operating Officer, Nadia is part of the senior management team and she leads the NCCM’s organizational development, program management, and national operations.

Nadia has a diverse background in teaching, project management and the non-profit sector. Nadia has several years of experience working on policy and programs at Canadian think tanks and NGOs and she has taught university courses in South Asian studies, religion and gender. Her doctoral research focused on Muslim women’s organizations and the practice of Islam in Canada and Pakistan.

Amanda Arella (she/her) is the Director of Public Policy, Advocacy & Strategic Communications at YWCA Canada. Amanda is a lawyer, strategic thinker, and passionate advocate for gender equity. Amanda brings research, policy and communications experience to her role, gained from working in community organizations, international NGOs and government. Prior to joining YWCA Canada, Amanda spent two years honing her advocacy skills as a litigator at a national law firm, with a focus on administrative, privacy and health law. Amanda has also served as Director of Communications of the Legal Information Clinic at McGill, where she developed and launched the Court Accompaniment Program aimed at increasing access to justice for members of the Montreal community who face barriers in navigating the legal system.  

Amanda is a graduate of McGill University’s Faculty of Law and the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, a college of Concordia University dedicated to studying feminisms and questions of social justice.  

Biography to come

Dr. Anatoliy Gruzd is a Professor of Information Technology Management and holds the Canada Research Chair in Privacy-Preserving Digital Technologies at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University. He is also the Director of Research of the Social Media Lab at the university and a Member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. His research as a computational social scientist focuses on studying the impact of social media platforms on communication, collaboration, information dissemination, and the formation of communities online, and how these changes affect society.

Suzie Dunn is an Assistant Professor (external link)  at Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law where she teaches contracts and judicial decision making, law and technology, intellectual property, and legal ethics.

In 2021-2022 she coached Dalhousie’s Harold G Fox Moot winning moot team. (external link) 

While studying for her PhD at the University of Ottawa she acted as a part time professor where she taught contracts law and the law of images. She was awarded a prize in 2021 (external link)  for excellence in part-time teaching.

Her research (external link)  centers on the intersections of gender, equality, technology and the law, with a specific focus the non-consensual distribution of intimate images, deepfakes, and impersonation in digital spaces. She was awarded the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Scholarship for her PhD research. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Greenberg Prize for Feminist Research.

As an innovative thinker with a deep passion for human rights and technology, she has published and presented her work both nationally and internationally on issues including the importance of internet connectivity for northern youth, the application of Canadian law to deepfake technology, and civil responses to the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.

In 2018, she worked as a policy advisory with the Digital Inclusion Lab at Global Affairs Canada in drafting two international commitments to end gender-based violence in digital contexts, including the G7’s “Charlevoix Commitment to End Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, Abuse and Harassment in Digital Contexts” (external link)  and the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s resolution titled “ (word file) Accelerating Efforts to Eliminate Violence against Women and Girls: Preventing and Responding to Violence against Women and Girls in Digital Contexts (external link) ”, both of which were adopted that year.

Suzie was part of the legal team that supported CIPPIC’s  (PDF file) intervention (external link)  in R v Jarvis (external link)  and R v Downes (external link) . The Jarvis case involved a high-school teacher who had used a secret camera pen to take images of his female students for a sexual purpose. In its 2019 decision, the Supreme Court of Canada clarified the term “reasonable expectation of privacy” in the criminal voyeurism provision. The SCC found that the girls in this case did have a reasonable expectation of privacy in those circumstances and set out a contextual analysis for future cases. This was a key case in the jurisprudence related to privacy and image-based abuse. Downes, another voyeurism case, will be before the Supreme Court in the fall of 2022.

Outside of academia, Suzie Dunn has worked with several organizations that address gender equality or technology issues. She currently sits on advisory committee with the  (external link) Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund  (external link) that addresses issues related to technology facilitated violence. She is a senior fellow (external link)  at CIGI where she is working on a global project (external link)  to combat online gender-based violence. She assisted the British Columbia Society of Transitions Houses develop their Tech-Safety Toolkit (external link) . She is also an associate member of the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Law Technology and Society (external link) .

She was called to the Ontario bar in 2016.

Bill Killorn joined Journalists for Human Rights in March 2020 and has been integral to steering the organization through a period of rapid transformation. Under his leadership, JHR built the infrastructure necessary to allow the organization to triple its annual operating budget, double its staff and increase the footprint of its global programs.

"Bill is a compassionate and collaborative leader. He brings extensive experience building teams for much larger organizations alongside three years' success delivering powerful outcomes for Journalists for Human Rights through some of the toughest challenges the organization has had to face thus far," said executive director Rachel Pulfer. "He is the right person to lead JHR at this critical moment and I am 100 percent confident he will take JHR from strength to strength."

Some of Killorn's key undertakings at JHR as Deputy Director include providing leadership to JHR's South Sudan program, building the organization's communications, fundraising, and human resource capacities, as well as introducing digital solutions for project management, funds disbursement and HR operations. During the 2023 earthquakes affecting Turkey and Syria, Killorn provided key leadership for the evacuation of JHR's Canadian staff and trainers from Gaziantep.

"Journalists for Human Rights demonstrates every day that we have the power to drive positive change in our communities," said Bill Killorn. "It has been an honour to work with our incredible global staff, who are united in the belief that the world is what we make it. As Interim Executive Director, I look forward to building on JHR's success, so we rise to the compounding crises facing democracies today."

Prior to joining JHR, Killorn held senior leadership positions in both the government and private sectors, including serving as the Executive Director of Issues Management & Legislative Affairs to the Premier of Ontario and as a Senior Manager of Issues Management & Media Relations for Rogers Communications.

Dr. Wesley Crichlow (Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1998) is a professor whose work dovetails at the intersection Canadian Critical Race Theory Intersectionality (CRTI) Decoloniality, Anti-Black Racism and Black Queer Trans and Non-Binary Embodiment and Scholarship. He advances a critical epistemological perspective connecting  these theories as his signature praxis and framing for his research, teaching, and service, embodying a humanizing pedagogy for addressing Black wellness and metal health, racial injustice and hate, moving toward actions, to realize justice. His current research project advances these intersections by examining the “Carceral Intersections of Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and Trans Experience in Confronting Anti-Black Racism, Anti-Black Hate and Structural Violence in the Prisoner Re-entry Industrial Complex”. To better understand the community re-entry needs of formerly federally incarcerated Black Trans Men who have a range of same-gender experiences, including same-gender sex, desires, relationships, identities, who enjoy and love other men, including Gay, Bisexual, Transmen, Gender-Diverse, Nonbinary and Queer Men. My research is guided by Tri-Council/Agency of Canada (Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans, advancing Black scholarship, fostering EDID and community-engaged research principles. His many years of scholar and community activism development and engagement have engendered trust, credibility, and respect that strengthen as well as broader notions of Black same gender loving, racial and gender justice. He teaches courses on Critical Race Theory Intersectionality, Decolonizing Anti-Blackness, and Black Lives Matter as activism and social justice at Ontario Tech University (2003-present) within the youth and criminal justice discipline.

Ms. Thermitus' mantra: how can I contribute to improving the lives of my communities? She believes that equity, diversity, and inclusion go hand in hand with social and racial justice. 

Ms. Thermitus is a Visiting Scholar at the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. She was called to the Quebec Bar in 1988 and holds a Master of Laws degree (2013) from McGill University on Critical Race Theory and Human Rights. Ms. Thermitus was Director of Policy and Strategic Planning for the Office of Indian Residential Schools Settlement (2004-2006) and Chief Negotiator for the Federal Government of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

Ms. Thermitus spearheads projects to make justice more accessible to historically excluded and marginalized people.

Since June 2020, Ms. Thermitus has used her pen to educate Canadians by sharing her knowledge on systemic racism, intersectionality, reconciliation, and violence against women. 

A recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Golden Jubilee Medal (2012), Ms. Thermitus Ad.E.(Advocatus Emeritus) has received numerous awards as the Mérite du Barreau du Québec (2011) and is the first black lawyer to receive this recognition.

For over 10 years, Jennifer Boyce has been an exceptional leader in the nonprofit and charitable sector. Currently, and for the past half-decade, Jennifer works as the Director of Communications at Egale Canada, Canada’s national 2SLGBTQI organization, where she has and continues to lead many noteworthy initiatives in the areas of research, awareness, education and legal advocacy. Jennifer also proudly serves as the Vice Chair of the Board of Directors at It Gets Better Canada.

Over the years, Jennifer has held positions at reputable organizations including a leadership role at the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH), where she advised the executive team on government relations and public affairs. She has also worked at UNFPA where she oversaw donor profiling and communications for South-South cooperation and resource mobilization; and WE Charity where she influenced global corporate communications strategy, raising millions of dollars for domestic and international initiatives. Beyond this, Jennifer has also worked as a freelance consultant in the nonprofit sector where she provides strategic advice on organizational management, board and leadership training, communications, fundraising, change management, and human resources.

A champion of human rights and equality, Jennifer has led many noteworthy communications initiatives from the federal apology to LGBTQ2 victims of the purge to launching the inaugural Pride House at ‘Women Deliver’ in 2019. In 2018, Jennifer was elected to lead communications for The Commonwealth Equality Network at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (successfully coined the ‘queerest commonwealth meeting in history). Vocal in advocating for inclusion and human rights, Jennifer has presented as the keynote speaker on diversity and inclusion at the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN) conference as well as for the Consulate General of Canada in Dallas, Texas. She has been a voice on panels including Fierte Canada Pride, Vote Proud and has provided her expert opinion on marketing and diversity, equity, and inclusion for numerous prominent media outlets.

Jennifer strives to achieve equity and justice and believes in advancing human rights by driving forward strategic initiatives that aim to build widespread awareness and engage stakeholders in meaningful dialogue on the most pressing issues in our society.

Dr. Wendy Cukier is a professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Academic Director of the Diversity Institute and Research Lead of the Future Skills Centre. She co-authored the bestseller “Innovation Nation: Canadian Leadership from Java to Jurassic Park" and is a leader in disruptive technologies and innovation. She is the former VP of Research and Innovation and has authored more than 200 articles on aspects of diversity, inclusion and innovation. She leads Toronto Metropolitan University’s Diversity Institute which has 130 research staff, 100 research associates from around the world and more than 200 industry partners focused on dimensions of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, future skills, and entrepreneurship. She also leads the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, funded by the Government of Canada which promotes inclusive support for women and other diverse entrepreneurs. and the Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship Network (IIE-Net). She is also the research lead for the Future Skills Centre with a comprehensive research agenda and supporting innovative pilot projects.

Her work on the DiversityLeads project helped shape Bill C-25 and the 50-30 Challenge. The Diversity Institute is now an ecosystem partner supporting organizations that sign up for the 50-30 Challenge committing to gender parity and increased diversity on their boards and or senior leadership roles.

She has been recognized with the Harry Jerome Diversity Award, the Bob Marley Award, the Metropolis Research Award, the CATA Alliance, Sara Kirke Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and recognized in the 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN. She has been named a YWCA Woman of Distinction, one of the "100 Alumni who shaped the Century" by the University of Toronto and International Women’s Forum 2020 Women Who Make a Difference. Wendy holds a PhD in Information Systems, an MBA, an MA, and honorary doctorates from Laval and Concordia.

Dr. Mohamed Elmi is the Executive Director of the Diversity Institute. The Diversity Institute conducts and coordinates multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder research to address the needs of diverse Canadians, the changing nature of skills and competencies, and the policies, processes and tools that advance economic inclusion and success. Mohamed holds a PhD in Information Systems at University of Cape Town. Prior to this, Mohamed completed his thesis Masters of Arts in International Development Studies at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia and an Honour Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of New Brunswick.