Executive Director of the Centre des Jeunes Francophones de Toronto, editor of the magazine Taloua and Ontario representative on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada Steering Committee, Léonie Tchatat has been in Toronto since 1990. While she was a student, she encountered many difficulties that prompted her to become actively involved in the francophone community and especially in assisting young francophones from ethnocultural minorities. For over ten years, Léonie has been giving her time as a volunteer to work for social and cultural change. She also has a vast knowledge of the issues facing racial and ethnocultural minorities in the francophone community.

A major part of Alia Ali’s academic and work experience has been in Pakistan. She worked in legal awareness and health with Pakistan’s oldest women’s NGO for many years. Alia graduated with honours from a highly competitive medical school in Pakistan, specializing in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She actively worked for patient welfare, with a particular focus in the area of blood services. Her experience in public-sector healthcare has included clinical, financial, training and management aspects.

Janet Vertesi is keen to change how Canadians think about science and stimulate informed debate about current technologies through public education and broadcasting. To this end, she has worked with radio, television, museums and high school programs, and pioneered internet safety workshops with Vancouver Police and the BC Crime Prevention Agency. In addition to running her own small business, Janet has held leadership positions with the first ever Imagine UBC orientation, the Leon & Thea Koerner Foundation, UBC’s Student Recruitment and International Programs offices, Point Grey Mini School, and Girl Guides of Canada.

A writer, journalist, publisher and filmmaker, Sharlene Azam has focused her attention on youth and social issues in Canada for most of her professional career. One of her early projects, she founded Reluctant Hero, the first magazine in Canada written by girls for girls. She is also the publisher of Squeeze, an alternative career magazine for teens. Also a writer, in 2001 Harper Collins published her first book, Rebel, Rogue, Mischievous Babe. She was a columnist and the editor of the Toronto’s Star’s Boom! Section for two years, during which time she reported from Hong Kong, China and India.

Zenia Wadhwani is the Director of New Markets at United Way of Greater Toronto. Much of Zenia’s career has championed the inclusion of children and youth in decision-making processes. In 1994, she wrote an influential report entitled Young Voices that not only garnered significant media attention, but also all party support in the Ontario legislature. At the age of 23, Zenia was asked to run as a candidate in the 1995 provincial elections by then Premier Bob Rae. She is a founder of the South Asian Professionals’ Networking Association; an editor of Bolo! Bolo! (2000) and Desilicious (2004), anthologies of writings by South Asian authors; and is currently working on two more publications scheduled to come out in 2006 and 2007 (see www.masalatrois.com for more details).

Karen Nanji is a resident physician specializing in Anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University. She earned her M.D. and B.A.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto as well as her Masters of Public Health from Harvard University. Dr. Nanji is passionate about improving the quality and efficiency of Canada’s health care system. Through her academic research and management consulting experience at McKinsey & Company, she took a lead role in an initiative to integrate information systems and electronic patient records between hospitals across Canada. In response to the 2003 SARS outbreak, she created a risk management framework to reduce the spread of future infectious diseases. At Harvard University, Dr. Nanji has also spearheaded analyses of the implementation of various technologies to reduce patient medication errors.

Diana Juricevic is in her final year of a combined JD/MA Economics degree at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Diana acquired international experience as a journalist at the G8 Summits in Cologne, Okinawa, and Genoa, where she spearheaded research for the University of Toronto G8 Research Group. Her work on compliance and civil society has been published in the G8 and Global Governance series. As president of the University of Toronto Chapter of Amnesty International, Diana initiated human rights awareness programs and organized an annual art exhibit on freedom of expression. In addition to launching a program for Second Harvest to donate residence food to Toronto’s homeless, Diana was heavily involved with the Canadian Red Cross campaign to aid Kosovar refugees in 1999.

Martin Lavoie is currently Director, Policies, for the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association (CEM), the largest association of private companies in the country. Martin is primarily interested in policies that foster innovation and public and private investments in research and development. Previously, Martin worked in government relations for private institutions enjoying Canada-wide recognition, such as the Canadian Bankers Association and Bombardier Inc. He also benefited from several experiences in the public sector, as a Policy analyst for Canadian Heritage and Elections Canada.

Ann is a person who thrives on change, and who chooses to live life with a positive attitude. She has a strong commitment to learning and growth, which is a characteristic crucial to her position as Program Director of the Brother T. I. Murphy Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. Ann’s work at the Centre has included the facilitation and development of a wholistic framework designed to deliver academic, career, and lifestyle education services to people who want to affect positive change in their lives. Ann has also worked as a Special Education teacher at a senior high school. She received significant international training in student leadership and has worked with schools throughout Newfoundland and Labrador to implement leadership programs. Ann has received undergraduate degrees in Arts, Education and Special Education from Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Annamie was elected as the leader of the Green Party of Canada on Oct. 3, 2020. Annamie is the founder and Director of the Canadian Centre for Political Leadership (CCPL). The CCPL provides women, visible minorities and Aboriginal Peoples with non-partisan training and resources to help them successfully pursue public office with the goal of increasing their political representation in Canada. Annamie attended Princeton University as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and received a Masters Degree in Public Affairs. She also holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Ottawa, and is called to the Ontario Bar.

Jamie’s background spans academic research and management consulting. In 1997 he completed his MSc (Queen’s University), studying impacts of agriculture on soil erosion in central Nepal. He subsequently transitioned into management consulting, working in numerous industries on business process improvement and corporate performance management. During this time he continued his research activities, serving as Environmental Director for two research/cleanup expeditions to Mt. Everest (1998 & 2000). In 2002 Jamie started his Ph.D. (Institute for Resources, Environment & Sustainability, UBC), with a vision of utilizing leading industry methodologies and tools to develop innovative solutions to emerging environmental issues. His research was a collaborative project with government and industry partners (BC Centre for Disease Control, Joule Microsystems) assessing nutrient and waterborne pathogen cycling in agricultural watersheds, and he is currently completing his dissertation.

Matthew Sullivan is a young lawyer in the Department of Justice with an interest in Canadian human rights. His early studies lay in theatre and creative writing, though he graduated with a B.A. from the University of British Columbia after specializing in religious studies and classical Latin. These disparate studies naturally resulted in a career in law. Matthew also attended the University of Glasgow and the University of Toronto, where he earned a Masters in criminology. Matthew’s passion lies in law reform—not simply reforming the laws we enact but revising the way we think about and practice law as a society dedicated to human rights.