Session Descriptions

Janice Fukakusa is Chancellor, Toronto Metropolitan University. She serves as a corporate director with extensive banking and financial services experience. She previously served as RBC’s Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer and a member of RBC’s Group Executive, from which she retired in January 2017 following a distinguished 31- year career. Janice currently serves on the boards of corporate and not-for-profit organizations. She is a director on the Boards of Brookfield Asset Management, Cineplex, Loblaw, Riocan, and works with various not-for–profit and charitable organizations including Chairing the Boards of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre Foundation, SHEEO and Chancellor of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. In 2007, she was inducted into Canada's Most Powerful Women Hall of Fame and, in 2016 she was named one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking by American Banker magazine for the fourth consecutive year. She was also selected as Canada's CFO of the Year by Financial Executives Canada, PwC and Robert Half in 2014. Janice has the professional designations of Chartered Professional Accountant and Chartered Business Valuator. She was appointed Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (FCPA) in 2011. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts from University of Toronto and holds a Master of Business Administration from Schulich School of Business, York University and in 2016 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from York University.

Josel Angelica Gerardo is a MA Candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto with research interests in gender and race in politics, an alumni of the Politics program at X University and a current staff member at the Faculty of Arts Dean’s Office. As a young scholar, she was involved in multiple research projects including the Dimensions Pilot Program and the Young Workers Rights Hub. Josel is a queer Filipina immigrant, and recipient of the University-wide Dennis Mock Student Leadership Award, Marion Creery Award, and Women Champions of Diversity Award after 3+ years in student government and leadership.

Hayden King is Anishinaabe from Beausoleil First Nation on Gchi'mnissing. Hayden is the executive director at Yellowhead Institute, adviser to the Dean of Arts on Indigenous Education, and an assistant professor of Sociology at X University. Hayden has taught at McMaster and Carleton Universities, held senior fellowships at Massey College and the Conference Board of Canada, and served in senior advisory roles to provincial, territorial and First Nation governments. He is the co-founder of the language-arts collective Ogimaa Mikana Project, the co-host of the Red Road Podcast, and a mentor in the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship.

Dr. Mohamed Lachemi was appointed president and vice-chancellor of Toronto Metropolitan University in 2016 and reappointed to a second term concluding in 2026. An internationally recognized researcher and accomplished academic administrator, he has been a key contributor to the growth of TMU over a transformational time in the university’s history. As president, he has contributed to the success of the DMZ – a top university- based incubator in the world. He has overseen the development of Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst – a national centre for cybersecurity – as well as a new and innovative law school. Under his direction, TMU was awarded leadership of the Future Skills Centre consortium, with a mandate to ensure Canadians develop the skills they need in the new economy. He is the Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities, Fellow of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and a Board member of Trillium Health Partners. A graduate of L’Université des Sciences et de la Technologie d’Oran in Algeria (civil engineering, with distinction) and L'Université de Sherbrooke (MASc and PhD, Structural Engineering), Dr. Lachemi worked with Concrete Canada as a postdoctoral fellow and research associate, followed by a visiting professorship in Applied Science at Artois University in France.

Dr. Pam Sugiman is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Toronto. Pam is a Sansei (third generation) Japanese Canadian who has done extensive research on ways in which people remember and narrate acts and experiences of racism in Canada. She is deeply committed to a scholarly understanding of institutional racism and colonization. She has devoted much of her academic career to explorations of racism and personal memory in Canada. She is a board member of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, Pathways to Education Canada, the Atkinson Foundation, and the National Coalition of Canadians Against Anti-Asian Racism. Pam is a recipient of the Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership (TMU), Outstanding Contribution Award (Canadian Sociological Association), Marion Dewar Prize in Canadian Women’s History and has been named the Lansdowne Lecturer and Distinguished Women Scholar, University of Victoria, as well as the W.L. Morton Lecturer, Trent University.

Dan Cantiller (he/him) has worked in Higher Education Student Affairs for more than a decade, in learning support and advising roles. Currently as Decision Support Analyst, he supports the accreditation team at the Ted Rogers School of Management. Dan completed a Master of Education from Memorial University, focused on expanding higher education access and support for equity-deserving groups. He serves as co-chair for Positive Space Faculty & Staff Network, Director of Inclusion & Anti-Oppression for Forte - Toronto Gay Men’s Chorus, and Director-at-Large for CACUSS. Community building and mentorship continue to be important parts of his personal and professional development. Twitter: @DanCanThinks.

Takashi Fujitani holds the Dr. David Chu Chair in Asia Pacific Studies at the University of Toronto, where he is also Professor of History and Director of the Dr. David Chu Program in Asia-Pacific Studies. His major works include:  Splendid Monarchy (UC Press, 1996); Race for Empire: Koreans as Japanese and Japanese as Americans During WWII (UC Press, 2011); and Perilous Memories: The Asia Pacific War(s) (co-edited, Duke U. Press, 2001). He is editor of the book series Asia Pacific Modern (UC Press) and has held numerous grants and fellowships, including from the John S. Guggenheim Foundation.

Amy Go is the President of Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice. Chinese Canadian National Council educates, engages, and advocates for social justice and equity for all in Canada www.ccncsj.ca (external link) . CCNC-SJ has been at the forefront of the movement to combat rising ant-Asian racism since January 2020. Amy is a social worker by training and has dedicated her professional career to serving immigrants and seniors, promoting, and advocating for culturally and linguistically appropriate care and health equity for racialized communities. For over three decades, Amy has advocated for social justice and rights of women and racialized communities through her leadership role in national, provincial and local service and advocacy organizations. Amy is currently providing consulting services to facilitate organizational strategic development, program planning, development, and review as well as anti-racism/anti-oppression organizational change.

Rabiah Lombard is a current Human Rights Studies MA Candidate at Columbia University. Her current research focuses on incorporating women of colour in the education curriculum. She is also a recent graduate of X University where she was honoured with numerous scholarships & awards for achieving academic excellence while demonstrating a commitment to student government & leadership.

Minelle Mahtani is Brenda and David McLean Chair of Canadian Studies at UBC. She is also an associate professor at the Institute for Social Justice. She is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and former Chair of Metropolis-Ontario. Her memoir, “May it Have a Happy Ending” is forthcoming from Doubleday/Penguin Random House.

Mary Ito is a broadcast journalist who most recently worked at CBC Radio as an on-air host and producer. She was the host of the number one weekend morning show in Ontario, Fresh Air, for seven years. She also worked as a host and producer at Global Television, CFTO-TV, TVOntario, and CFRB Radio. Mary is the founder of CRAM, the first research festival of its kind that brought all of Toronto's universities together for one night of free learning for the public. She is currently developing the CRAM podcast which will be launched this fall.

Dr. Sugiman is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Toronto. Pam is a Sansei (third generation) Japanese Canadian who has done extensive research on ways in which people remember and narrate acts and experiences of racism in Canada. She is deeply committed to a scholarly understanding of institutional racism and colonization. She has devoted much of her academic career to explorations of racism and personal memory in Canada. She is a board member of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, Pathways to Education Canada, the Atkinson Foundation, and the National Coalition of Canadians Against Anti-Asian Racism. Pam is a recipient of the Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership (TMU), Outstanding Contribution Award (Canadian Sociological Association), Marion Dewar Prize in Canadian Women’s History and has been named the Lansdowne Lecturer and Distinguished Women Scholar, University of Victoria, as well as the W.L. Morton Lecturer, Trent University.

Parsa Alirezaei is an undergraduate political science student at Simon Fraser University.  He's often critical of the pedagogical practices and political-economic structures that constitute the academy. He's a part of The Caucus, a student collective in pursuit of dismantling harmful narratives in and around the academy. Writing about bourgeois ideology and how it informs our understanding of social space is his current hobby. He's also an editor-in-chief of Gadfly Undergraduate Journal of Political Science.

Hela Bakhtari is a current graduate student in the Political Science program at the University of Toronto, where she also holds a research assistant position with the Factor Inwentash School of Social Work. In past positions, she has been a compliance analyst for the G20 Research Group, and a research assistant with the World Health Organization Collaboration Centre for Governance, Accountability, and Transparency in the Pharmaceutical Sector, where her position’s main objective was assisting the WHO CC’s projects, including her recent collaborative publication “For Whose Benefit? Transparency in the development and procurement of COVID-19 vaccines”.

Heunjung Lee is a Korean immigrant and a Ph.D. Candidate in Performance Studies at the University of Alberta. Funded by SSHRC doctoral fellowship, her interdisciplinary research, "Performing (Ab)normal: Reframing Aging Minds and Bodies," investigates and challenges ageist and ableist cultural images and rhetoric of old age and people who live with dementia. She teaches undergraduate drama/performance courses at the University of Alberta; she is interested in developing an inclusive and decolonial pedagogy enacted through course syllabus, materials, projects/assignments, and assessments. She has served in CATR Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Committee and Mile Zero Dance EDIA (Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity, and Accessibility) committee.

Hijin Park is Associate Professor of Sociology at Brock University. Her research focuses on an intersectional and decolonial analysis of violence in the lives of racialized migrants and racialized settlers on the Indigenous lands now known as Canada.

Dr. Rai Reece is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work broadly examines how carceral processes in Canada are organized and maintained through historical and contemporary narratives of colonial violence and white settler capitalism. Her work also explores how community-based ethnographic pedagogy can be a tool for abolition and activism as well as a contested field of praxis. Recent publications include, “It’s not just about work and living conditions”: The Underestimation of the Covid-19 Pandemic for Black Canadian Women (2021), with Dr. Melanie Knight and Renee Ferguson; “A Reflection on Racial Injustice and (Black) Anticipatory Grief Compounded by COVID -19” (2020); and “Carceral Redlining: White Supremacy is a Weapon of Mass Incarceration for Indigenous and Black Peoples in Canada” (2020). In 2020 Dr. Reece was honoured as one of the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women.

Dr. Megan Scribe (Ininiw iskwew, Norway House Cree Nation) is an interdisciplinary Indigenous feminist researcher, writer, and educator. Her award-winning dissertation, Indigenous Girlhood: Narratives of Colonial Care in Law and Literature, examines how legal and literary narratives shape knowledge on violence against Indigenous girls living under settler colonialism. Scribe’s research interests include Indigeneity, systems of power and oppression, and Indigenous worlding through speculative fiction and poetic inquiry. Scribe is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at X University, an Associate Research Fellow with Yellowhead Institute, and a Council Member for Aboriginal Legal Services’ Community Council Diversion Program.

Binish Ahmed (she/her) is an Asian Indigenous Kashmiri Muslim cis-woman, who works as an educator, multi-media artist, writer, and a community connector/organizer. Born in Srinagar Kashmir, she currently lives and works in the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Covenant territory. Her academic and community organizing work focuses on solidarity with Indigenous movements for self-determination and resurgence. ‘The Alchemy of Making Soft Landings on Sharp Places’ is her first book, a collection of poetry/stories and art, released in April 2021. Her written works can also be read in the ROOM Magazine, UppingTheAnti, Conversation Canada, Amnesty International, Feral Feminisms Journal, Indigenous Policy Journal, and Rabble. Binish is a member of Justicia for Migrant Workers, has been organizing for Kashmir with Kashmir Gulposh, and is the host of Azaadi Now. She is completing a PhD (ABD) in Policy Studies at X University, holds a Masters in Public Policy from Brock University, and a Bachelor of Arts, Honors from the University of Toronto, with a Political Science major, History and South Asian Studies double minors. E-mail mail@binishahmed.com, Twitter @BinishAhmed, or Instagram @BinishAhmedArt

Eve Haque is Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and is the York Research Chair in Linguistic Diversity and Community Vitality. She is also co-editor of Topia: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies.  Her research and teaching interests include multiculturalism, white settler colonialism and language policy, with a focus on the regulation and representation of racialized im/migrants in white settler societies. She has published widely on these topics including a monograph: Multiculturalism within a Bilingual Framework: Language, Race and Belonging in Canada (UTP).

Hayden King is Anishinaabe from Beausoleil First Nation on Gchi'mnissing. Hayden is the executive director at Yellowhead Institute, adviser to the Dean of Arts on Indigenous Education, and an assistant professor of Sociology at X University. Hayden has taught at McMaster and Carleton Universities, held senior fellowships at Massey College and the Conference Board of Canada, and served in senior advisory roles to provincial, territorial and First Nation governments. He is the co-founder of the language-arts collective Ogimaa Mikana Project, the co-host of the Red Road Podcast, and a mentor in the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship.

Dr. Melanie Knight is President of the Black Canadian Studies Association, Advisor to the Dean of Arts on Blackness and Black Diasporic Education, and an Associate Professor of Sociology at X University. Her research interests include; Black activism/organizing, Black collective economic initiatives and Black business owners. Her current SSHRC Insight Grant (2021-2024) will examine Black-led organizations from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century and the ways in which Black communities mobilized around issues of health, policing and education. She has also worked on a number of initiatives aimed at addressing anti-Black racism, including most recently helping with the development of guidelines for a provincial Anti-Black Racism AQ from the Ontario College of Teachers.

Laura J. Kwak (she/her) is Assistant Professor in the Law and Society Program at York University. Her research has been published in the Oñati Socio-Legal Series, Ethnic and Racial Studies, the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, and Amerasia Journal. She is developing her first monograph “Playing by the Racial Rule(s): Asian Conservatives in Canada’s Federal Legislature,” which challenges the supposed incommensurability of racialized identity and Conservative politics. Her SSHRC Insight Development Grant (2020-2022) funded research project “Race and Representation in Canada’s Parliament, 2006-2019” will examine the contributions of racialized MPs across Canada’s three main federal political parties.

Dr. Rohini Bannerjee, born and raised in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, daughter of immigrants from Himachal Pradesh, India, is an Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies in the Department of Modern Languages & Classics, Graduate Coordinator of the International Development Studies program and a Faculty Member in the Asian Studies, and Graduate Women & Gender Studies program at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people. As a learned speaker of French, Rohini’s primary research focuses on the literatures and cultures of the Francophone Indian Ocean. When she is not teaching poetry and fiction, she attempts to write it herself. Her work has appeared with Cambridge Scholars, Caitlin Press and Canadian Scholars and Women's Press. Rohini has served as both Vice-Chair of Academic Senate as well as President of the Saint Mary’s University Faculty Union. Rohini is currently the Saint Mary's University appointee on the EDI Advisory Board for Universities Canada as well as a member of the Equity Committee for the Canadian Association of University Teachers. Rohini self identifies as a woman scholar of colour.

JP Catungal is Interim Director of Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies and Assistant Professor in the Social Justice Institute, University of British Columbia. A queer Filipinx scholar, his research examines LGBTQ, racialized and migrant community organizing in Canada.

Anne-Marie Lee-Loy is an Associate Professor of English and the current Chair of the Department of English at X University. She is the author of numerous articles and an award-winning monograph exploring representations of the Chinese and Chineseness in the Anglo-Caribbean.

Lisa R. Mar is an historian of Asian Canadians and Asian diasporas. Her research explores histories of Chinese Canadians in Toronto and Vancouver. Her work in Asian Canadian Studies is interdisciplinary, community-engaged, rooted locally, and globally connected.

Bailey Irene Midori Hoy is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto. A fourth generation Japanese Canadian, she developed an interest in her community’s history while completing a history specialist. Her research is related to diaspora, feminism, and material culture. In 2020 she conducted research on the relationship between kimono and Japanese Canadian women, currently under review for publication. Recently, she finished her senior thesis on Japanese American Beauty Queens. Bailey is currently working as a research assistant and helping curate an exhibit on origami for the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.

amanda wan is a queer han chinese settler on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. At UBC, their MA English thesis centres queer racial erotics, and the aesthetics of skin and flesh as modes of relationality, fantasy, and power.

Aaron Bains is a partner at Aird Berlis where he provides practical and strategic advice to domestic and international investors and businesses.He practices corporate law with an emphasis on debt and equity financing and domestic and international M&A. Aaron was recently named as one of Canada’s by Canadian Lawyer magazine in the Young Influencer category. He was also recognized as a 2020 Precedent Setter by Precedent Magazine, which recognizes six outstanding young Toronto lawyers who have shown excellence and leadership in their practice and their community. Aaron is also a member of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Gerald Chan is a partner at Stockwoods LLP in Toronto where he practices criminal, constitutional, administrative, and select civil/commercial litigation. He has been recognized as a leading practitioner by Best Lawyers in Canada, Benchmark Litigation, Chambers Canada, and Lexpert. In 2019, Canadian Lawyer named Gerald one of the Top 25 Most Influential lawyers. Gerald has co-authored and co-edited numerous legal texts. He also teaches on the faculty of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law and the Federation of Law Societies of Canada’s National Criminal Law Program. Gerald is a member of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee and the immediate past president of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (Ontario).

Rosel Kim is a staff lawyer at the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), a national, charitable, non-profit organization that seeks to advance substantive gender equality through litigation, law reform, and public education.

Emily Lam is a partner at Kastner Lam LLP, a boutique litigation firm specializing in criminal, employment and civil litigation. She represents individuals and corporations charged with criminal and regulatory offences, in addition to conducting workplace investigations on behalf of companies and institutions. She has appeared at all levels of court and before a variety of administrative tribunals.  She is a co-founder of GROWL, Group of Racialized Women Litigators, and a co-founder of the Sentencing and Parole Project, an organization which aims to address the mistreatment and over-incarceration of Black offenders.

Gil Lan is an Associate Professor in the Law and Business Department at the Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM) and the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University (renaming in process). He received his B.Sc. from the University of Toronto and his LL.B., LL.M. and Ph.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School.  His research centres on corporate-commercial law with a focus on international perspectives as well as the law’s potential to promote social goals and innovation. His specific interests include comparative law approaches, international business law, corporate governance, government regulation of business, social enterprise, law and development, and Chinese law.

Angela Lee is an Assistant Professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at X University. She received her JD from the Peter A. Allard School of Law at UBC and her PhD from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. She researches and writes on a range of topics relating to law, technology, food, the environment, and various forms of justice.

Avnish Nanda is a public law litigator who practices in Alberta and British Columbia. Avnish works with marginalized communities in mounting complex civil lawsuits against the government and large institutional entities. Avnish has taught constitutional law at the University of Alberta's Faculty of Law, and is a regular contributor to academic and popular publications on a range of law and social justice issues.

Richa Sandill is an employment and human rights lawyer in the legal clinic system. Her practice focuses primarily on advising and representing marginalized and low income workers on all aspects of employment law, including complex litigation, workplace harassment, discrimination, and wrongful dismissal. She practices at Don Valley Community Services as a Staff Lawyer for its Toronto East End Employment Law Services or TEELS program, a joint initiative between six East Toronto clinics to provide employment law services to low income workers in their catchment areas.

Julia Shin Doi is General Counsel, Secretary of the Board of Governors, and University Privacy Officer of Toronto Metropolitan University. As an Executive Group member, she provides legal and governance advice and has operational responsibility for access to information, privacy, records management, and compliance. Julia’s areas of practice are corporate/commercial law, privacy law, intellectual property law, administrative law and litigation. Julia is an elected Bencher of the Law Society of Ontario, chair of the Law Society Tribunal Committee, and an adjudicator of the Law Society Tribunal. She is a founder and president of the National GC Network which supports racialized in-house counsel leaders across Canada and promotes equity, diversity, and inclusion. She is also a founder of the Korean Legal Clinic, Women General Counsel Canada, Roundtable of Diversity Associations, Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, and Korean Canadian Lawyers Association. 

Joanne Tsang is Director of Development Administration in the Office of the Vice-President, University Advancement and Legal Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel at Toronto Metropolitan University (renaming in process). She specializes in charity law, and provides review and drafting services relating to gifts / donations and sponsorships in compliance with CRA requirements. In previous roles, she provided strategic advice and helped execute major gift solicitations, provided direction on CRA guidelines and legislative changes, and maintained privacy and operational aspects of a charitable foundation.

Davina Chan has worked in the post-secondary industry for the past 8 years, having come from the healthcare sector. Holding a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia, she is currently providing employee and labour relations support to the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Jeongmin Kim is an assistant professor in the department of History at the University of Manitoba. A gender historian of modern Korea and East Asia, her research and teaching focuses on US imperialism and militarism in Asia Pacific, social and labor history of the Cold War, and global feminism. She is part of the anti-Asian racism and community formation initiative at the University of Manitoba that builds anti-racism solidarity across BIPOC communities in Winnipeg and beyond. On this topic, she has recently written essays on US overseas bases from labor and gender justice perspectives for Critical Asian Studies and positionspolitics.

Dr. Derrick Lee was born and raised in Newfoundland to first-generation immigrants from Taiwan. Dr. Lee received his BSc in Biochemistry and Applied Mathematics at Memorial University before switching coasts to complete a MSc in Statistics and a PhD in Epidemiology & Biostatistics at UBC. Specializing in cancer epidemiology, Dr. Lee balances his time as an Assistant Professor and Coordinator for the Health program at St. Francis Xavier University with his research program, which aims to better understand why Atlantic Canada has the highest rates of colorectal cancer in the country.

Zenab Pathan holds a Bachelor's of Arts in Employment Relations and a Master's in Industrial Relations and Human Resources, both from the University of Toronto and brings nearly two decades of experience working in the university sector having served in a variety of roles related to the recruitment, retention and employee/labour relations of of staff and faculty. Zenab is also the Chair of the Board of Trustees at The Linden School.

As a history professor, Dr. Yu’s research and teaching has been built around collaborations with local community organizations, civic institutions such as museums, and multiple levels of government. He is passionate about helping Canadians unlearn the cultural and historical legacies of colonialism and to be inspired by the often hidden and untold stories of those who struggled against racism and made Canadian society more inclusive and just. He was the Co-Chair of the City of Vancouver’s Dialogues between First Nations, Urban Aboriginal, and Immigrant Communities, and has served on advisory committees for formal apologies acknowledging historical discrimination and for the implementation of substantive legacy projects at all three levels of government. Prof. Yu received his BA in Honours History from UBC and an MA and PhD in History from Princeton University. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and the Province of BC’s Multicultural Award in 2015 in recognition of his research and community leadership.

Tiffany Shamiran Bondoc is a fourth-year student in the Health program at St. Francis Xavier University. As an Equity Representative for The Students’ Union, she actively works to represent, support and empower BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ students, as well as advocates for accessible learning on campus.

Dr. Robert Diaz is Associate Professor in the Women and Gender Studies Institute (WGSI) at University of Toronto. His work focuses on sexual minorities in North America and Asia. He co-edited Diasporic Intimacies: Queer Filipinos and Canadian Imaginaries (Northwestern University Press, 2017) and his book, A Confetti of Ordinary Dreams: Queer Filipinos and Reparative Acts, is forthcoming with Duke University Press.

Christine Hsu is a 1st generation immigrant from Taiwan who is a nonbinary genderfluid woman. Their fields of work are in ARAO consulting and training with background in adult learning, change management and org development. Her current work is in systems change for sports and health & phys ed. in Canada with a body liberation and healing-centred lens and with an intersectional approach to 2SLGBTQI and more specifically trans & nonbinary inclusion.

Phoenix Nakagawa is an Indigenous Amami trans-woman in Treaty 1 Territory (Winnipeg, Manitoba). She is in Agroecology with minors in Entomology and Soil Science at the UManitoba. Phoenix was also accepted into an M.Sc. Soil Science with an NSERC CSG-M at the UManitoba.

Jenna Tenn-Yuk is a writer, speaker and facilitator who empowers people to share their stories and truths. She has spoken internationally at Harvard, The Walrus Talks and TEDx, exploring the complexities of race, queerness and faith. Her writing has been featured in Broadview, CBC, the Ottawa Citizen and The Huffington Post. She is a founding member of the Asian Canadian Women’s Alliance. Jenna believes in the power of storytelling to break silences, connect people and change the world around us.

Annabelle De Jesus (she/her) is a Filipina-Canadian settler based on Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, Mississaugas, and Huron-Wendat lands, colonially known as Oshawa. She is deeply passionate about mutual aid and community resistance, in particular spaces where young people and the work they do are further empowered. During her undergrad at X University she supported the launch of virtual group mentoring for students who identify as Filipinx/a/o. Annabelle is currently working as a Student Success Navigator at X University. If you need her she is likely watching a Korean drama or taking care of her plants :)

Wincy Li has 10+ years of experience supporting the career and academic development of students and diverse clients in the community. She has also worked on key international education programs and initiatives in higher education. As a former first-generation international student, Wincy is passionate about the inclusion of all students in educational programming. She continues to collaborate with academic researchers to explore international students' experience in the Canadian labour market and professionalization of student affairs.

Hillary Nguyen (she/her) is the International Student Transition Advisor at the University of New Brunswick which is located on unceded and unsurrendered Wolastoqey territory and her work takes place throughout Wabanaki territory. She is currently the International Division Representative for the Atlantic Association of College & University Student Services (AACUSS) and also one of the co-chairs for Canadian Association of College and University Student Services (CACUSS) Internationalization of Student Services Community of Practice. Hillary has always been proud to be a Vietnamese immigrant. She studied in New Zealand as an international student and moved to Canada with her family 10 years ago; her life is a constant tug of war between cultures and identities. As a previous newcomer and a woman of color who’s living and working in a predominantly white environment, her goal is to create platforms for underrepresented voices and bring individuals from different backgrounds together where they can find support and learn from one another, and to improve cultural awareness within the community.

Szu Shen (she/her) is a queer Han Chinese and Taiwanese settler living and working on the unceded and occupied territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations.  She is the Program Manager for the Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies program at the University of British Columbia, and works as a freelance translator and illustrator in her spare time.  You can find her most recent translation work at the A Seat at the Table: Chinese Immigration and British Columbia exhibit at both the Museum of Vancouver and the Chinese Canadian Museum in Vancouver’s Chinatown.

Ameerah Andaya was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba and is a student at the University of Manitoba pursuing her Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). She is a part of the student advisory committee for the Forum.

Dan Cantiller (he/him) has worked in Higher Education Student Affairs for more than a decade, in learning support and advising roles. Currently as Decision Support Analyst, he supports the accreditation team at the Ted Rogers School of Management. Dan completed a Master of Education from Memorial University, focused on expanding higher education access and support for equity-deserving groups. He serves as co-chair for Positive Space Faculty & Staff Network, Director of Inclusion & Anti-Oppression for Forte - Toronto Gay Men’s Chorus, and Director-at-Large for CACUSS. Community building and mentorship continue to be important parts of his personal and professional development. Twitter: @DanCanThinks.

Lynn Deutscher Kobayashi is a 3rd generation Japanese Canadian. Her activism is informed by an intergenerational inheritance of community leadership. Her grandfather was a founding delegate of the first national organization of Japanese Canadians, founded in Toronto in 1947, later renamed the National Association of Japanese Canadians. Her father was Toronto NAJC President during the critical years of the Redress campaign. She is guided by the desire to “turn good intentions into results”. Lynn was present in the House of Commons on September 22, 1988, with her father, mother, sister, and son when the historic Redress Agreement was announced.

Wincy Li has 10+ years of experience supporting the career and academic development of students and diverse clients in the community. She has also worked on key international education programs and initiatives in higher education. As a former first-generation international student, Wincy is passionate about the inclusion of all students in educational programming. She continues to collaborate with academic researchers to explore international students' experience in the Canadian labour market and professionalization of student affairs.

John Shiga is an Associate Professor in the School of Professional Communication at X University. His teaching focuses on media and communication in cross-cultural, scientific and urban contexts. His research interests include nuclear imperialism, environmental media, arts-based knowledge translation and explanatory journalism.

Joanne Tsang is Director of Development Administration in the Office of the Vice-President, University Advancement and Legal Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel at Toronto Metropolitan University (renaming in process). She specializes in charity law, and provides review and drafting services relating to gifts / donations and sponsorships in compliance with CRA requirements. In previous roles, she provided strategic advice and helped execute major gift solicitations, provided direction on CRA guidelines and legislative changes, and maintained privacy and operational aspects of a charitable foundation.

Iyko Day is Elizabeth C. Small Associate Professor of English and Chair of Gender Studies and the Program in Critical Social Thought at Mount Holyoke College.  She is also a faculty advisor in the Five College Asian/Pacific/American Studies Program. Day is the author of Alien Capital: Asian Racialization and the Logic of Settler Colonial Capitalism (Duke UP, 2016), and she coedits the book series Critical Race, Indigeneity, and Relationality for Temple University Press.

Connor Hasegawa is a second-year law student at McGill University and proud Japanese Canadian. Prior to commencing his studies at McGill, he co-founded a boutique consulting firm and advised clients across a wide range of industries on a variety of issues related to strategy and innovation.

Tina Chen has been an active volunteer in the Winnipeg Chinese community for over 20 years. She advocates for social justice, cultural understanding, and anti-racism within and amongst Asian communities. She has been involved in various community-based research projects with the Chinese community. Tina currently is also involved in anti-racism and equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in figure skating, working with both Skate Canada and the Figure Skating Diversity and Inclusion Alliance for transformative change in sport. Tina was honoured to be recognised with a WXN 2021 Top 100 Women Award.

Dr. Laura Ishiguro is Associate Professor in History and affiliated faculty with Asian Canadian & Asian Migration Studies at the University of British Columbia. Her current work seeks to reimagine how we tell and teach Asian Canadian, especially Nikkei, histories in the present.

Jennifer Matsunaga is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Ottawa, unceded Algonquin territory. Her interdisciplinary research examines reparations for historical injustices in the context of settler states with a particular focus on Canada. She reflects on themes such as truth telling, trauma, shame, assimilation, and colonization. Rooted in her lived experience as a sansei or third generation Japanese Canadian, the stories of her family’s and community’s internment and redress motivate much of her work. Her writing has been published in Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education and Society, Settler Colonial Studies, and Canadian Ethnic Studies.

Kirsten Emiko McAllister is a Professor in Simon Fraser University’s School of Communication. She was introduced to community-based research in the late 1980s when she ran an oral history project for Vancouver’s Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association. What she learned from Issei and Nisei elders, along with Sansei activists and artists, shaped her understanding of the ethics and responsibilities of research and also the politics of knowledge production. Her research interests include memory and political violence; migration and displacement; voice and cultural politics; and racist and colonial regimes. To foreground people’s agency and autonomy, she uses fieldwork, interviews and auto/ethnography to conduct visual, archival and spatial analyses using critical race theory & anti-colonial as frameworks.

Nicole Yakashiro is a PhD student in History at UBC where she examines settler colonialism, race, everyday property relations, and agricultural labour as they relate to histories of non-Indigenous people of colour on Indigenous territories. She sits on the Advocacy and Outreach committee of the Powell Street Festival Society.

Donette Chin-Loy Chang is a communications leader, philanthropist, volunteer and mentor.  She along with her late husband, G. Raymond Chang, OC, OJ., are amongst Canada’s and the Caribbean’s most prolific philanthropists, with their giving extending worldwide. A Toronto Metropolitan University alumna, she is the recipient of honorary degrees from Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of the West Indies. Recently she was appointed to the Boards of the BlackNorth Initiative and the Canada Caribbean Institute and serves on the Onyx Initiative advisory board and the Committee for Anti-Asian Racism, of which Toronto Metropolitan University is a member.

Samya Hasan is the Executive Director of the Council of Agencies Servicing South Asians (CASSA), a social justice umbrella organization that advocates on behalf of individuals, groups and organizations to meet the needs of South Asian communities and is committed to the elimination of all forms of discrimination from Canadian society. In her role as ED, Samya leads various projects and advocacy groups such as the Anti-Hate Community Leaders’ Group to combat hate and hate crimes in Canada, Civic Engagement Campaigns, Legal Aid Education, Health Equity Forum, Environmental Justice and now Covid-19 Relief Projects. Samya holds a Masters of Public Policy from University of Toronto.

Angela Lee is the Director of Partnerships and Research at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF). She oversees the public policy agenda of the CRRF, as well as granting, and research. Prior to CRRF, Angela worked in consulting using market research and data to inform campaign strategy, and multi-channel communications tools for implementation. Angela brings nearly 20 years of experience working with advocacy organizations, governmental bodies, and the labour movement. She has worked to build coalitions to support health care access and comprehensive immigration reform in New York City and the US.

Krishan Mehta is the Assistant Vice President, Engagement at Toronto Metropolitan University, where he leads alumni relations, special fundraising campaigns, and other strategies to engage different communities in support of the university. Previously, he held a variety of senior fundraising, alumni relations and marketing roles at Seneca College and the University of Toronto. Krishan is also the Coordinator of the Fundraising Management Certificate Program at the Chang School and a professor in Carleton University's Philanthropy and Non-Profit Leadership Graduate Program. Krishan has a PhD from the University of Toronto where he studied the philanthropy of immigrants in Canada. He serves as a board member of CanadaHelps.org and the TELUS community grants board. He was recently named 2020 Outstanding Fundraiser of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Toronto, the largest AFP chapter in the world.

Ms. Christine Nakamura is Vice-President at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada's Toronto office. From 1976 to 2011, she was employed in various capacities by the Government of Canada in a number of departments including Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Department of Justice and most recently, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. She has served overseas in Japan and Korea and holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, where she majored in East Asian Studies. Ms. Nakamura is a board member of the Japanese Canadian Culture Centre Foundation in Toronto, Vice-President of the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund, board director of the National Coalition of Canadians Against Anti-Asian Racism and Operation Smile Canada, and a member of the Advisory Council (Canada) for the Prince Takamado Japan Canada Memorial Fund, and is the recipient of the Organization of Women in International Trade’s 2020 JoAnna Townsend Excellence Award for Leadership in International Trade.

Joy Masuhara is a family doctor and Clinical Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UBC and is Co-Chair of Women Transforming Cities. She has been actively involved in equity, diversity and inclusion work for many years. She has lived experience as a 3rd generation Japanese Canadian.

Jesmen Mendoza is a psychologist and provides therapy to students on a range of mental health concerns at the University’s Centre for Student Development and Counselling.  Previously, he has provided support to social service and criminal justice settings, and applies an integrated and inclusive approach to the professional work he delivers.

Jiaqing Wilson-Yang is a Chinese and Irish transwoman. She works at Consent Comes First at X University. For the last 10 years she has worked with survivors of GBV, lgbtq youth, and trans women affected by HIV through direct service, programming, training, and research.

Kristyn Wong-Tam was elected to Toronto City Council in 2010 and has an extensive career in investing in the city through both the public and private sectors. They have been voted Toronto's Best City Councillor by NOW magazine readers five times.

Dr. Arig al Shaibah is McMaster’s inaugural Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion. In addition to overseeing the Equity and Inclusion Office, she is currently responsible for championing inclusive excellence and leading the development and implementation of institution-wide strategic equity, diversity and inclusion priorities.

Dr. Denise O’Neil Green is TMU’s Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion. As a strategic leader committed to the advancement of diverse and inclusive university environments, she brings over 30 years of experience advancing systemic and transformational change.

Stephanie Simpson is the Associate Vice Principal (Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion) at Queen’s University. Stephanie leads the Human Rights and Equity Office and plays a key role in fostering both competence and legislative compliance around matters such as inclusivity, diversity, accessibility, human rights, sexual violence prevention and equity on Queen’s campus. Stephanie holds a Master of Education degree and a Master of Laws degree from Queen’s. Her research has focused on how racism and processes of racialization affect youth in smaller urban centres, as well as adjudicative silences with respect to racial inequality and access to justice for racial equality seekers. Stephanie has been a well-respected leader on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion for many years.

Valerie Williams is Black Canadian, and her pronouns are she and her. As an HR Professional, Valerie works in the areas of equity, diversity and inclusion. In her role as the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Facilitator, Human Resources, University of Manitoba, she creates and maintains the HR EDI strategy based on the University of Manitoba’s workforce demographics with a plan to address underrepresentation of systemically excluded groups. Valerie’s portfolio includes raising awareness to faculty and staff through the facilitation of workshops, researching and promoting EDI best practices, supporting equity committees, faculties, units and departments and providing tools to assess and monitor the progress towards an inclusive campus culture. Valerie has a Certificate in Human Resource Management through the University of Manitoba and holds Chartered Professional Human Resources (CPHR) and Canadian Certified Inclusion Professional (CCIP) designations. Valerie currently serves on the Board for the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion.

Jamie Chai Yun Liew is an immigration lawyer, Associate Professor and the Director of the Institute of Feminist and Gender Studies at the University of Ottawa. She has appeared in front of the Immigration and Refugee Board, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada. She is the co-author (with Donald Galloway) of Immigration Law published by Irwin Law. Her current research focuses on how law constructs statelessness and how the legal concept of “alternative” remedies have prevented migrants from fully accessing protections in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Her debut novel DANDELION will be published in April 2022.

Sharoni Mitra (they/she) is the president of CUPE Local 3906, which represents contract academic workers at McMaster University where they are a graduate student and worker in Labour Studies. Their research endeavours have related to worker organizing, gender, race, care work, and resource communities.

Dr. Satoru Nakagawa is Indigenous Amami from Tokunoshima, Japan. He has a Ph.D in Indigenous People's Education from the University of Alberta focused on language, culture and identity, explored in community based research. His areas of specialization are Indigenous language revitalization, orality, research ethics, language teaching, and Educational Sociology.

Winnie Ng is a labour rights activist and scholar with a deep commitment to anti-racism, equity and worker empowerment. She is the immediate past Unifor National Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at TMU, the first and only union-endowed Chair at a Canadian university. She began her activist work in the labour movement in 1977 as a union organizer with the International Ladies Garment Workers Union; and later on with HERE Local 75. She served as the Ontario Regional Director with the Canadian Labour Congress for 8 years before returning to the academy to complete her doctoral program at OISE/University of Toronto. Winnie’s research focuses on reimagining the labour movement from a decolonizing and anti-racism perspective, and the physical and mental health impact of global labour market re-structuring, plant-closure and job precarity on racialized, immigrant and migrant workers, and in particular women workers. She is the recipient of numerous distinctions, including the Urban Alliance on Race Relations Leadership Award, the United Farm Workers’ Cesar Chavez Black Eagle Award and the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award. She is a founding member of the Asian Canadian Labour Alliance and Asian Canadian Women’s Alliance, and the former co-chair of the Good Jobs for All Coalition, a labour–community joint initiative founded in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Winnie now serves as the Chairperson of the Toronto Association for Democracy in China.

Dr. Angie Wong is a Chinese Canadian theorist who engages the intersection of history and cultural memory to understand legacies of colonialism and the contemporary relationship between Asian Canadians, representation, and the Canadian state.

Habiba Zaman is a Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University. Zaman is also an Honorary Research Associate of Centre for India and South Asia Research, UBC. Her publications include Migration of Bengalis to Canada: History, Settlement, Identity, and Activism (2019), Asian Immigrants in “Two Canadas” (2012), Breaking the Iron Wall: Decommodification and Immigrants Women’s Labor in Canada (2006). She served as a Board member of South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD) for a decade.

Mary Ito is a broadcast journalist who most recently worked at CBC Radio as an on-air host and producer. She was the host of the number one weekend morning show in Ontario, Fresh Air, for seven years. She also worked as a host and producer at Global Television, CFTO-TV, TVOntario, and CFRB Radio. Mary is the founder of CRAM, the first research festival of its kind that brought all of Toronto's universities together for one night of free learning for the public. She is currently developing the CRAM podcast which will be launched this fall.

Santa Ono is the 15th President & Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia. He also serves as Chair of the U15 Group of Universities, and on the Board of Directors of Universities Canada. A molecular immunologist, Dr. Ono has taught at Johns Hopkins, Harvard University and University College London.

Jasmeet Bahia is a first generation, South Asian Canadian. She is an anti-racism scholar who is currently completing her PhD in Sociology at Carleton University. Her research focuses on Trumpian alt-right groups in the digital age and the relationships between white supremacists and the state more broadly.

Anny Chen is a second-generation Chinese Canadian educator, strongly shaped by her upbringing as a child of refugees, graduate studies at OISE, and community work in Winnipeg, Leaf Rapids, and beyond. She is grateful to be organizing with Prairie Asian Organizers and Red Rising.

Delia D. Douglas holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Master of Science in Sport Studies from Miami University (Oxford, OH). Her scholarship is interdisciplinary, drawing upon critical race and gender studies, Black diaspora studies, postcolonial studies and sport studies, and is attentive to the continuing significance of the legacies of enslavement, imperialism, and settler colonialism.

Pamela Palmater is a citizen of the Mi'kmaw Nation and member of Ugpi'ganjig - Eel River Bar First Nation. She has been a practising lawyer for 23 years focused on Indigenous law and human rights. She currently serves as Full Professor and Chair in Indigenous Governance at Toronto Metropolitan University where she is currently researching racism, corruption and sexualized violence in police forces in Canada.

Sanjay Ruparelia is an Associate Professor of Politics, and the Jarislowsky Democracy Chair, at Toronto Metropolitan University. His major publications include Divided We Govern: coalition politics in modern India (2015); The Indian Ideology: three responses to Perry Anderson (2015); and Understanding India’s New Political Economy: a great transformation? (2011). He serves as a co-chair of the Participedia research network, associate editor of Pacific Affairs, and a co-host of On the Frontlines of Democracy, a monthly lecture series with the Toronto Public Library. He previously taught at the New School for Social Research and Columbia University, and studied at McGill University and the University of Cambridge.

Vinita Srivastava is a journalist, educator and media innovator with experience in South Asia, South Africa, Rwanda, the U.S. and Canada. She has reported and edited for the New York Times Magazine, VIBE, the Village Voice and was the staff writer at Savoy. She co-hosted the Asia Pacific Forum at WBAI radio and Masala Mixx at CKLN for over a decade. She has taught media for NGOs internationally and at the TMU School of Journalism as a professor of journalism.

Molly Burke is a third- year student in the Sociology program at St. Francis Xavier University. She has been the Indigenous Representative on the Student Union for the 2020-2021 academic year as well as the 2021-2022 academic year. She has been actively working on developing a more equitable and accessible campus for Indigenous students through her work at the Angus L. Macdonald library. She has also been dedicatedly working through the Kiknu Centre, which supplies support and a safe space for Indigenous students. Molly Burke is an active ally for BIPOC as well as being a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. She hopes to educate others on Indigenous issues and knowledge as well as supporting those to succeed around her.

Natasha Chawdhry is a MA Candidate in Political Science at York University with research interests of gender, and women's rights in international relations, a recent graduate of the Politics program at X University and a current staff member at the Faculty of Arts Dean’s Office. She is a recipient of a program-wide Dennis Mock Student Leadership Award after 4+ years of service in student government and leadership.

Brenden Gali has held positions in the student movement from 2016-2020. Serving 2 years as student executive for his student union at the University of Winnipeg followed by two years with the Canadian Federation of Students. Through this work, he has developed a lens for social inequities that drives his work within community support and arts administration.

Deborah Lim 林潔樂 (Deb) is a second-year law student at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law. Deb serves as Vice President, Social and External Affairs of the Lincoln Alexander Law Students' Society. Outside of school, Deb is a professional production manager and the general manager of fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company.

Alex Rana (he/him) is a third year student at the University of Manitoba pursuing a double honours degree in English and Linguistics. He is a second generation Pakistani Canadian living on Treaty 1 territory and the Homeland of the Métis Nation. Currently, he is the President of University 1 Student Council, Racialized Representative for Arts Student Body Council, Judicial Board Chair for the University of Manitoba Students Union and is working on a local community project with the Community Leadership Development Program. He also enjoys being a Peer Mentor to first year students and working as an Intern for the U of M Institute for the Humanities.

Sun Woo Baik is a recent graduate of English and Publishing at Simon Fraser University. He is an aspiring photojournalist interested in urban history and how racism and social inequalities are embedded into built spaces.

Minelle Mahtani is Brenda and David McLean Chair of Canadian Studies at UBC. She is also an associate professor at the Institute for Social Justice. She is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and former Chair of Metropolis-Ontario. Her memoir, “May it Have a Happy Ending” is forthcoming from Doubleday/Penguin Random House.

Dr. Jennifer Simpson is the Provost and Vice-President, Academic of Toronto Metropolitan University. A proven leader of collaborative and strategic change, Jennifer has deep successes in research and teaching. She supports systematic attention to equity, diversity and inclusion, and Indigenization efforts, at both the pan-university and faculty levels, has authored two books addressing higher education, race, equity and the public good, and has directed a national research project on racism and colonialism in Canada. Jennifer earned a PhD in interdisciplinary studies from Northwestern University, an MA in theology and ethics from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and philosophy from California Lutheran University.

Gaaya Srimarthandan is a third year Language and Intercultural Relations at X University student who engages in a variety of student leadership opportunities, such as her program's course union where she serves as the President, the SASSH (Society of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities) where she serves as a Director of her respective program, and more. She is passionate about social justice, language, culture, and how these three things intersect in our society. Through this forum, she aspires to learn more about Anti-Asian racism and to use this space to amplify the voices of her fellow Asian peers and community.

Dr. Sugiman is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Toronto. Pam is a Sansei (third generation) Japanese Canadian who has done extensive research on ways in which people remember and narrate acts and experiences of racism in Canada. She is deeply committed to a scholarly understanding of institutional racism and colonization.  She has devoted much of her academic career to explorations of racism and personal memory in Canada. She is a board member of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, Pathways to Education Canada, the Atkinson Foundation, and the National Coalition of Canadians Against Anti-Asian Racism. Pam is a recipient of the Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership (TMU), Outstanding Contribution Award (Canadian Sociological Association), Marion Dewar Prize in Canadian Women’s History and has been named the Lansdowne Lecturer and Distinguished Women Scholar, University of Victoria, as well as the W.L. Morton Lecturer, Trent University.

Best known as the frontman of the Cree roots-rock band Midnight Shine, Adrian Sutherland has stepped forward to explore a solo project and with the release of his debut album When The Magic Hits (Sept 2021). Adrian is currently working on his first book for Penguin Random House Canada about growing up in Attawapiskat, Ontario – the northern, remote and sometimes harsh place he chooses to call home. Attawapiskat First Nation is located on the shores of James Bay, Ontario. The challenges of contaminated water, critical housing shortages, addiction and mental health are issues that Adrian doesn’t hide. He is an insightful and resilient advocate who brings a first-hand perspective to the challenges faced in Attawapiskat and other First Nations. Sutherland is a respected cultural leader, fluent in Mushkegowuk Cree, and is regarded as a traditional knowledge keeper

Natasha Chawdhry is a MA Candidate in Political Science at York University with research interests of gender, and women's rights in international relations, a recent graduate of the Politics program at X University and a current staff member at the Faculty of Arts Dean’s Office. She is a recipient of a program-wide Dennis Mock Student Leadership Award after 4+ years of service in student government and leadership.

Sibo Chen is an Assistant Professor at the School of Professional Communication, Toronto Metropolitan University. His research interests lie in the intersections of transcultural communication, environmental communication, and political economy. His research has been published in journals such as International Journal of Communication, Environmental Communication, and Frontiers in Communication. He also regularly writes about energy politics and crisis communication related issues at the Conversation Canada.

Gabriel Ciufo is the Planning Lead for the National Forum on Anti-Asian Racism: Building Solidarities. He is a mixed-race second generation Canadian of Korean-Italian descent. Gabriel has worked closely with communities across his hometown of Toronto, having previously worked as an Advisor, Communications and Tour in the Office of the Mayor. He has extensive experience in event planning, community outreach and government and stakeholder relations. Through his personal, professional and volunteer work, Gabriel has taken pride in fostering strong relationships and environments for collaboration, connection and community building.

Josel Angelica Gerardo is a MA Candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto with research interests in gender and race in politics, an alumni of the Politics program at X University and a current staff member at the Faculty of Arts Dean’s Office. As a young scholar, she was involved in multiple research projects including the Dimensions Pilot Program and the Young Workers Rights Hub. Josel is a queer Filipina immigrant, and recipient of the University-wide Dennis Mock Student Leadership Award, Marion Creery Award, and Women Champions of Diversity Award after 3+ years in student government and leadership.

Ivy Lok is a 2L student at X University's Lincoln Alexander School of Law. She is a first generation law student and is the current VP of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for the Lincoln Alexander Student Society. She is also co-chair of the Asia Pacific Law Students' Association, as well as an editor on Lincoln Alexander's Law Students' newspaper. Ivy has worked with the executives of APLSA to start an entrance award for incoming students who identify as Asian, demonstrate financial need, and shows a commitment to their community.

Gaaya Srimarthandan is a third year Language and Intercultural Relations at X University student who engages in a variety of student leadership opportunities, such as her program's course union where she serves as the President, the SASSH (Society of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities) where she serves as a Director of her respective program, and more. She is passionate about social justice, language, culture, and how these three things intersect in our society. Through this forum, she aspires to learn more about Anti-Asian racism and to use this space to amplify the voices of her fellow Asian peers and community.

Dr. Pam Sugiman is a Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Toronto. Pam is a Sansei (third generation) Japanese Canadian who has done extensive research on ways in which people remember and narrate acts and experiences of racism in Canada. She is deeply committed to a scholarly understanding of institutional racism and colonization. She has devoted much of her academic career to explorations of racism and personal memory in Canada. She is a board member of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, Pathways to Education Canada, the Atkinson Foundation, and the National Coalition of Canadians Against Anti-Asian Racism. Pam is a recipient of the Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership (TMU), Outstanding Contribution Award (Canadian Sociological Association), Marion Dewar Prize in Canadian Women’s History and has been named the Lansdowne Lecturer and Distinguished Women Scholar, University of Victoria, as well as the W.L. Morton Lecturer, Trent University.

Mel Yu Vanti is a Chinese Canadian woman, friend, photographer, communications specialist and leader, striving to contribute to more equitable and sustainable futures. She is committed to the design and implementation of communications strategies grounded in anti-oppression and anti-racist frameworks. She is the Communications Manager in the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion. She has a master’s degree in immigration and settlement studies from Toronto Metropolitan University and a bachelor’s degree in arts management from the University of Toronto Scarborough.