Our Team

Professor in the School of Child and Youth Care, at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), Honorary Associate Professor of the Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town

Dr. Collins is also faculty with Toronto Metropolitan University's (formerly Ryerson University) graduate programs on Early Childhood Studies, Immigration & Settlement Studies, & Policy Studies. Her professional experience includes work for: universities in Canada, South Africa, and Ireland; Canadian federal government (Dept of Foreign Affairs & CIDA) and Parliament; and a NGO. Children’s rights have inspired NGO, governmental, and academic work since 1996.

Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences at Concordia University

Dr. Blanchet-Cohen’s work explores the opportunities and limitations for immigrant and indigenous young people in being change agents in their schools, homes, and communities, and the opportunities in providing for rights-based and culturally-safe services and programs. She is the co-lead of the Youth Research Network Chair in Quebec.

University of Edinburgh Fellow, Director for Child Participation and Rights at World Vision International

Dr. Cuevas-Parra leads strategies and programmes to ensure that children and young people are at the centre of the advocacy and policy debate. He holds a Ph.D. in Social Policy from the University of Edinburgh, a Master of Advanced Studies in Children’s Rights from the University of Fribourg-UIKB, and a Master of International Relations. Patricio has a keen interest in looking at cutting-edge child rights advocacy tools. 

Senior Researcher at the Children’s Institute at the University of Cape Town

The Children’s Institute aims to create the conditions for children to thrive by engaging in research, advocacy, education and technical support. Lucy works with, and for, children to promote the realization of their participation and protection rights and to engage them in the work of the Children’s Institute and its partners in government and civil society.

Professor in the Department of Social Services at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, President of the International Center for Research and Policy on Childhood (CIESPI)

Professor Rizzini has conducted many research and policy studies and published extensively on children, families and their communities in Brazil. She has been focusing on various issues of rights violation, particularly children living in situations of vulnerability such as poverty & violence. She has also published extensively on children and youth in institutions and on the streets, and young people´s activism and their right to participation.

Professor in the School of Child and Youth Care at Toronto Metropolitan University & Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, the Department of Equity, Ethics, and Policy; the School of Social Work, and the Centre for Research on Children & Families at McGill University.

Dr. Ruiz-Casares is Co-Chair of the International Society for Child Indicators and has worked in policy and program evaluation of human services internationally for more than 25 years. She leads mixed-methods studies on child wellbeing and protection cross-culturally, mainly with migrants and refugees, and in contexts of parent-child separation.

Professor of Childhood Policy at MHSES University of Edinburgh

Dr. Tisdall is a Professor of Childhood Policy, working within Childhood and Youth Studies (external link) . She works across policy areas, with current projects in such areas as early years, domestic abuse and mental health. She has worked in and out of academia, so she has a keen interest in policy research and practice engagement.

Lecturer in Childhood Studies at University of Edinburgh, Director of Participatory Methodologies at the International Institute for Child Rights and Development (IICRD)

Dr. Wright’s work with youth and adults has focused on play and arts-based participatory methodologies, children’s meaningful participation and more. She is an active member on several child-centred networks and boards to support collaboration and positive transformation across sectors and disciplines.

Child and Youth Participant Coordinator at the ICCRP, Masters Student at the University of Toronto (OISE)

Sachi is a Master of Arts in Child Study and Education student at the University of Toronto (OISE). Sachi completed her Early Childhood Studies undergraduate degree at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) along with a minor in Child and Youth Care. Sachi has a passion for children’s rights and advocacy which she hopes to use towards her work in child rights, research and education as well as in future advocacy efforts.

Click here to email Sachi

ICCRP Project Manager

Vanessa is a child and youth care practitioner who has worked in several settings in Toronto such as children’s aid, homeless shelters, and special education. She has several years experience supporting students at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) as a research and teaching assistant. Her past research has focused on professional regulation, empathy in direct service, and child and youth participation.

Click here to email Vanessa 

ICCRP Project Manager

Steven has professional experience supporting adults experiencing poverty and/or homelessness, providing one-on-one therapeutic relational counselling, organizing children's rights workshops for diverse young people, and as a research assistant on various children's rights projects. His own research interests include children and young people's participation in social relationships, as well as helping to identify social relations that are rooted in justice and equity. He holds a MA in Child and Youth Care from Toronto Metropolitan University.

Click here to email Steven

ICCRP Research Facilitator, PhD Student at Toronto Metropolitan University

Emilia is a PhD student in Social Policy at Toronto Metropolitan University, under the mentorship of Dr. Ruiz-Casares. As a researcher and facilitator, Emilia has been building bridges between research and the social sector for over eight years. She is interested in participatory evaluation processes that center the perspectives of young people from diverse backgrounds. Her previous research focused on newcomer youth wellbeing and participation. Emilia holds an MSc in Social and Cultural Psychiatry from McGill.

Click here to email Emilia (opens in new window) 

ICCRP Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Ciotti is the ICCRP's Postdoctoral Research Fellow. She holds a PhD in Child and Youth Studies from Brock University and has extensive professional experience working with children, youth, and families in the youth justice system, children’s mental health, the child welfare system, and in community outreach. Her research areas include: child rights, and young people's participation in research in civic life, young caregivers, transdisciplinary social justice, and child and maternal health.

Click here to email Sarah