Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Week 2022

Dr. Norman Ravvin has taught in the Department of Religions and Cultures at Concordia University in Montreal since 1999. For much of that time, he held the Chair in Canadian Jewish Studies and directed the department’s Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies. He regularly teaches Holocaust Literature to varied and large groups of students and has published in the field since he was a graduate student.  Some of this work is collected in A House of Words: Jewish Writing, Identity, and Memory.  

In the past two decades, he has developed a range of contacts in Poland, both in the academic context and in pursuit of creative projects.  These have led to co-publications and conferences co-organized with Polish academics, particularly inŁódź and Poznan. Dr. Ravvin’s ancestral town in central Poland, Radzanów, is the focus of his creative work, most recently in his novel The Girl Who Stole Everything. In it he addresses postwar connections between Canadian Jews with Polish ancestry and contemporary Poles and Polish life. Other publications include his co-edited Canadian Jewish Studies Reader and Hidden Canada: An Intimate Travelogue (these were collaborative publications with Red Deer Press, based at the University of Calgary). A native of Calgary, he lived in Vancouver, Toronto, and Fredericton before settling in Montreal with his family.

Dr. Ann E. Lopez is a professor of educational leadership and policy in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. She is the Director of the Center for Leadership and Diversity and Provostial Advisor, Access Programs. Dr. Lopez is the immediate past president of the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME). Her research and teaching focuses on antiracist education, school leadership across contexts, decolonizing and socially just leadership, issues of equity in education and schooling, and most recently developing concepts of what she describes as “ProLovePedagogy”. Dr. Lopez has published several articles and written 5 books including her most recent book entitled Decolonizing Educational Leadership: Alternative Approach to Leading Schools. Dr. Lopez is co-Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of School Leadership, Co-Series Editor, Studies in Educational Administration, and the recipient of the 2020 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She draws her inspiration and commitment to challenging inequities in education and schooling from her beloved grandmother.

Myrna El Fakhry Tuttle is the Research Associate at the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre. She has a law degree from Saint Joseph University in Beirut. She earned an MA in Human Rights and Democratization from the University of Malta, and an LLM in International Legal Studies from American University Washington College of Law. She practiced law in Lebanon and worked as a consultant in Washington D.C. and New York. She was assistant dean for student affairs and a lecturer at Qatar University, where she taught international human rights and international humanitarian law. She also worked as a paralegal instructor at CDI College in Calgary. She is passionate about human rights and civil liberties and has been involved with many organizations that deal with immigrants, refugees and human rights issues.

Linda Kongnetiman has a PhD in Social Work. Her training and research interest focus on preparing professionals for working in global contexts. She is a committed social worker with attention to addressing issues of oppression and marginalization in health care, integrating research into practice, and facilitating meaningful anti-oppressive conversations

Kendal Netmaker is an award-winning entrepreneur, author and gifted keynote speaker who is on a mission to empower and motivate people worldwide by sharing his story that regardless of where you come from and what challenges you face, you have the power to enact change.

From Sweetgrass First Nation, Kendal and his siblings were raised by their single mother. Life wasn’t easy for them, growing up on the reserve surrounded by poverty and few chances for opportunities, but one moment would change their life forever.

Kendal has a natural gift; he’s a master storyteller who weaves his real-life experiences into motivating lessons that everyone can use in their own lives. His heartfelt stories are impactful and he speaks professionally to thousands of people each year on resilience, leadership and the power of telling your story.

He is a leading entrepreneur whose passion to succeed is contagious. To date, Kendal has founded and invested in 5 businesses. One of them is Neechie Gear, a lifestyle apparel brand that gives back a percentage of their profits to go toward funding underprivileged youth to empower them to take part in sports. He is the author of Driven To Succeed and won over 25 business awards, including being named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 and runner-up at the YBI Global Entrepreneur of the Year.

Kendal lives with his wife and two children in Saskatoon, SK, where he continues to run his company. He delivers virtual and in-person keynotes, as well as executive leadership coaching to organizations.

Keeta Gladue is the Indigenous Student Program Advisor at UCalgary's Writing Symbols Lodge. Her family is from the Sucker Creek Cree Nation. Keeta grew up on a small island on the west coast called Tlay Maak Tsu in the traditional territory of the Ehattesaht people of the Nuu chahnulth. She has worked in leadership and engagement for the past twelve years, in both Canada and England. Keeta transitioned from over ten years working with youth, to supporting Indigenous student success, and intercultural engagement and understanding at UCalgary. A self-proclaimed Indigenous nerd, Keeta is passionate about pop culture, social justice and the power of story. 

Leadership isn’t found at the top; it’s found in you. Do you, the best you can, in a good way.

Truelove holds a Masters’ degree in public health from Simon Fraser University. Her interest in health promotion and mental health & wellbeing was established working with diverse populations in Canada and internationally.

Truelove is passionate about community engagement, interdisciplinary knowledge exchange and supporting initiatives that lead to positive, sustainable change. Developing strong relationships is the foundation of everything she does, both professionally and personally

Kalwant Bhopal is Professor of Education and Social Justice and Director of the Centre on Research on Race and Education at the University of Birmingham, U.K. Kalwant’s research focuses on the achievements and experiences of minority ethnic groups in education. She has conducted research on exploring discourses of identity and intersectionality examining the lives of Black minority ethnic groups as well as examining the marginal position of Gypsies and Travellers. Her research specifically explores how processes of racism, exclusion and marginalization operate in predominantly White spaces with a focus on social justice and inclusion. From 2017-2019 she was Visiting Professor at Harvard University in the Graduate School of Education. Her recent book, White Privilege: the myth of a post-racial society was published by policy press. Her new book (with Martin Myers) Elites and the making of privilege will be published by Routledge in 2022.

Dr. Laleh Behjat, PhD is a Professor in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary. She joined the University of Calgary in 2002. Behjat’s research focus is on developing EDA techniques for physical design and application of large-scale optimization in EDA. Her research team has won several awards including 1st and 2nd places in ISPD 2014 and ISPD 2015 High Performance Routability Driven Placement Contests and 3rd place in DAC Design Perspective Challenge in 2015. She is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems and Optimization in Engineering from Springer. Behjat has been developing new and innovative methods to teach Computer Science and EDA to students. She acted as an academic advisor for of Google Technical Development Guide and has won several awards for her efforts in education including 2017 Killam Graduate Student Supervision and Mentorship Award. Her team, Schulich Engineering Outreach Team, was also the recipient of the ASTech Leadership Excellence in Science and Technology Public Awareness Award in 2017. Her other interests include raising awareness about issues related to diversity and inclusion and promoting diversity in engineering. She received the Women in Engineering and Geoscience Award from APEGA in 2015 in recognition of her work in this area.

Jennifer van Zelm, MSc

After graduating from the Schulich School of Engineering with a master’s in electrical engineering, van Zelm spent 10 years at TRTech, supporting industry with in-house research, academic resources, and government support. During these early years of her career, Jennifer gained a deeper understanding of the importance of diversity in STEM.

van Zelm took on a leadership role in this area, hiring on as a consultant with Schulich to develop its five-year strategic plan—Energizing Engineering Leadership. She guided the faculty in setting one of its key priorities: a welcoming, diverse community of learners and educators.

Since her work with the university, she has held several technology-focused consulting and advisory roles, including 2 years as a full-time technology advisor submitting and defending SR&ED claims, and most recently helping launch UCalgary start-up DESTINE Health Inc., where she is currently a board member.  At DESTINE, she stepped in as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the all-female team of inventors, securing early funding, winning a social innovation pitch award and successfully completing PLATFORM Calgary’s Junction training program for entrepreneurs.

van Zelm often speaks to students, sharing openly about her experiences and challenges as an engineer and parent in a dual-working household. She is thrilled to be part of the WISE Planet team, helping with program development, network formation and execution.

Matthew Bardsley is an award-winning communications professional with a diverse skill set informed by solid academic credentials. With undergraduate degrees in history and communications, and a technical diploma in journalism, Bardsley understands the nuances of sharing complex stories and ideas with diverse audiences. Specializing in distilling complex STEM-based content into broadly applicable, engaging stories, Bardsley is a sought-after resource in this space. Bardsley's experience has allowed him the opportunity to design and implement campaigns utilizing a range of media platforms across many different industry settings.

Clients come to Bardsley for support and counsel when they need creative, effective ways of sharing their story with the right audience at the right time. With experience crafting strong written communication for clients in the financial services, energy and natural resources, post-secondary, STEM, and travel and tourism sectors, Bardsley is comfortable as an in-house resource or external consultant. Bardsley is now working to complete a graduate-level credential in journalism. 

Natasha Bakht is a full professor of law at the University of Ottawa and the Shirley Greenberg Chair for Women and the Legal Profession. Her research focusses on the intersection of religious freedom and women’s equality. Her first monograph In Your Face: Law, Justice and Niqab-Wearing Women in Canada (Irwin Law, 2020) analyzes niqab bans while also drawing on interviews with niqab-wearing women to reveal their complex identities and multiple motivations for dressing in this way. Her book was awarded the Huguenot Society of Canada Award and was listed in the Hill Times 100 best books of 2020.

My name is Dakshima Dilipani Haputhanthri. I am a registered social worker in Alberta, Canada. I worked as an attorney, in my home country Sri Lanka. I have been an invited speaker on many platforms such as Mount Royal University, University of Calgary and non-profit organizations such as Diversecities, Distress Centre and Immigrant Services Calgary. I am also a board member in the Gender and Sexual Diversity Board of Calgary Police Services and Co-Chair for Immigrant Advisory Table member at Calgary Local Immigration Partnership, Vice President at Calgary Outlink, as well as an Advisor at the Faculty of Social work’s community advisory committee.

After struggling for many years to hide my sexuality, I now fully embrace my true self and am here to safely support you to embrace your true self and to find your freedom and peace.

Keeta Gladue is the Indigenous Student Program Advisor at UCalgary's Writing Symbols Lodge. Her family is from the Sucker Creek Cree Nation. Keeta grew up on a small island on the west coast called Tlay Maak Tsu in the traditional territory of the Ehattesaht people of the Nuu chahnulth. She has worked in leadership and engagement for the past twelve years, in both Canada and England. Keeta transitioned from over ten years working with youth, to supporting Indigenous student success, and intercultural engagement and understanding at UCalgary. A self-proclaimed Indigenous nerd, Keeta is passionate about pop culture, social justice and the power of story. 

Leadership isn’t found at the top; it’s found in you. Do you, the best you can, in a good way.