TMU community members honoured for advancing equity, accessibility and inclusion

Hyacinth Simpson is a professor in the Faculty of Arts whose scholarship centres on Black, Caribbean and decolonial studies.

As an EDI leader at TMU, she has helped advance equity across research, hiring, mentorship and curriculum development, ensuring inclusive practices are embedded in the university’s scholarly, research and creative (SRC) ecosystem.

As interim director of TMU’s Dimension Program, she led the development of TMU’s Dimensions Action Plan, a university-wide roadmap designed to strengthen equity, diversity and inclusion across research practices, funding opportunities and academic participation. She also led the Being Black in Graduate School series, connecting Black graduate students with mentorship, funding guidance and academic supports.

Through her research, mentorship and institutional leadership, Simpson continues to champion inclusive excellence, ensuring that equity and anti-racism remain central to how research, teaching and community engagement are carried out at TMU.

Sonya Panangaden is the alternate format technician at TMU Libraries, where she works to ensure students and faculty with disabilities can fully access library resources and course materials.

Since joining TMU in 2009, she has transformed her role into a vital accessibility service that removes barriers to learning and research. Each semester, she oversees the creation of hundreds of accessible books, videos and course readings, enabling students across dozens of courses to engage fully with their studies.

Beyond producing accessible materials, Panangaden has helped shape inclusive library practices, providing training to staff on accessibility, contributing to accessible research guides and helping develop detailed floor maps that identify features such as lighting, sound levels, adaptive furniture and gender-inclusive washrooms.

“Throughout my career, my primary motivation has been to mitigate systemic barriers, advocate for students,  and to ensure that they have the course and research materials they need in order to achieve their academic goals. I'm so honoured to receive the Alan Shepard EDI Employee Award, and hope that this award serves to highlight the amazing services and resources that TMU Libraries provides to the wider community,” said Panangaden.

Alec Benavides is a graduate student in the Master of Arts in Public Policy and Administration program whose work focuses on advancing equity through research, policy and student leadership.

Benavides served as EDI representative and later EDI officer for the Psychology Students’ Association – which highlights student achievements and experiences – and developing the Advice Book (Words of Wisdom) to connect graduating students with faculty guidance.

As a research assistant, he supported initiatives examining barriers to healthcare faced by marginalized communities and families of children with disabilities.

Benavides recently organized a Filipinx Graduate School event, offering culturally informed guidance for Filipinx students navigating graduate school applications. As a Student Action Committee member, he hosted a cooking class and distributed free nutritious meals during exam season to help minimize food insecurity.

Receiving the Alan Shepard Award is a tremendous honour. EDI work often requires creativity and taking risks, but the impact they have on students makes that effort worthwhile.

This recognition encourages me to continue creating initiatives that expand belonging within and beyond TMU,” said Benavides. 

The Academic Accommodation Support (AAS) Learning and Inclusion Education Developers team – comprised of Jenny Sampirisi and Rachelle Bensoussan – are educational developers whose work focuses on advancing accessibility and disability inclusion across teaching, policy and campus culture. 

Among their most significant contributions is the development and rollout of the online Policy 159 Faculty Training, TMU’s first comprehensive training of its kind. The program provides faculty with practical, rights-informed guidance on academic accommodation, embedding accessibility into everyday teaching practice.

Helping to implement these initiatives, the team created the Access Matters Quick Guides, a suite of concise and visually engaging resources that help instructors incorporate inclusive teaching strategies into their courses.

They also designed and implemented TMU’s first campus-wide benchmark survey for students with disabilities, gathering institutional data on disabled students' lived experiences. The survey provides the evidence needed to inform future policy, programming and advocacy.

Together, their partnership demonstrates the power of cross-disciplinary collaboration — combining pedagogical design with lived experience to advance meaningful, systemic change in accessibility and inclusion at TMU.

“Receiving the Alan Shepard Award is a real honour for both of us. More than recognition, it affirms that work to strengthen access and support for students with disabilities is essential to the integrity of the university itself. It is work that is shaped in no small part by the knowledge, advocacy, and leadership of the students themselves,” said Bensoussan.