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Aditi Garg is a former French immersion high school math teacher and outdoor education leader. She has volunteered with Climate Reality Canada, the City of Saskatoon’s Environmental Advisory Committee, Girl Guides Canada, and the Canadian Wildlife Federation. She is currently an educational development specialist in assessment, inclusive and responsive learning, and education for sustainable development at the University of Saskatchewan. Aditi believes that technology can enhance citizens’ experiences with nature and that this engagement will lend a powerful voice in new policies for the environment. She is a first-generation settler with stories and memories in Treaty 1 and Treaty 6 territories.
Amanda completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto, with a Major in Biology, and Minors in both Bioethics and Forest Conservation Science. After a year of globetrotting, Amanda decided to pursue the Master’s of Global Health Program at McMaster University concurrently with a Graduate Diploma Program in Water, Environment and Health at the United-Nations University. Amanda currently works at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, as a Project Coordinator in the Centre for Global Child Health. She also teaches two courses through McMaster’s Learning for 55+ Program: Plant-Based Healing and “Living Well”: Trends, Truths and Myths. Amanda is passionate about health equity, particularly in humanitarian settings, and the nexus between climate change and health. Outside of work, Amanda enjoys staying active, finding new hiking trails and reading.
Cameron has completed a bachelor of science with a major in biology and a post-bach-certificate in applied project management from the University of Winnipeg. Currently, he is working for Green Action Centre in the sustainable transportation department. He is a self declared plant dad and enjoys spending many hours outside gardening in the summer. He grows his own vegetables in the summer months and regularly splits perennials for friends and family. Cam is actively looking at ways that sustainability can be environmentally and financially beneficial for all.
With over seven years of strategic marketing communications experience and a passion for civic engagement and empowerment, Charanya Thiyanavadivel brings with her a unique perspective on the nexus between business and social impact. She is currently the Product Marketing Manager for The Institute for Health and Human Potential. She also serves as Group Leader for Results Canada – Scarborough. Charanya is dedicated to taking a holistic, innovative, and human-centered approach to ending gender-based violence, making quality education more accessible, and alleviating extreme poverty. Leveraging her passions for writing, learning design, and creative storytelling, she has collaborated with organizations like UN Women, International Organization for Migration, and World Literacy Foundation to develop content and programming that reach global audiences. With her expertise in product development and marketing, she has also led projects geared towards rehabilitating child trafficking survivors, increasing workplace inclusion, and providing clean water in both her local community and internationally.
Emel Tabaku is an Albanian-Canadian artist and community builder currently based in Toronto, Canada. She is completing her final year in the Drawing and Painting program with a minor in Art History at OCAD University. Emel Tabaku is the founder of RCAD Initiative: Redefining Communities through Art + Design. Years of experience in community organizing inspired Emel to launch her own non-profit organization to continue amplifying the voices of underrepresented youth through a diverse range of community-based and socially engaged art projects. Emel is passionate about building welcoming and resilient communities that are effectively addressing social issues at a grassroots level. She seeks to redefine and empower newcomer youth communities across Canada through creative entrepreneurship, art mentorships and innovative dialogue. Moreover, Emel was recently selected as Youth Council member at the Canadian Council for Youth Prosperity (CCYP) to support boosting the infrastructure of the youth workforce development ecosystem.
Hani Rukh E Qamar is the Founder of the Canadian Advisory of Women Immigrants (CAWI), a youth-led registered NPO in Canada dedicated to empowering immigrant women. She is currently a BSc. Psychology student with a double minor in Health Geography and International Development Studies. She is also involved with the International Youth Alliance for Family Planning Canada (IYAFP), as a Global Policy Liaison, as well as a Steering Committee Member at Women In Global Health (WHM) Canada, a chapter of the Canadian Association for Global Health (CAGH). Apart from this, Hani works as a Research Assistant at McGill University as well as The Immigrant Education Society (TIES), where she is involved in research on the mental health of marginalized communities. Hani is passionate about global/public health, the mental health of marginalized communities, as well as healthcare equity.
Jillian holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Ryerson University (renaming in process) with a specialization in marketing. She is passionate about the 13th SDG, climate action, as well as urban sustainability. In particular, she is interested in the role corporations play in the fight against climate change. In her spare time, she is involved with several climate organizations doing advocacy work. Jillian has work experience in a variety of sectors, including government, sports and entertainment, and non-profit. She currently works for a non-profit which seeks to reduce barriers to higher education among low-income families.
Laura Bradbury is a graduating political science student at the University of Ottawa. Over the past year, Laura has served as the Head Delegate to the G20 Youth Summit in July 2021 and on the policy track of Digitalization, Innovation and the Future of Work. Laura is currently an intern at the Canadian Space Agency where she works to advance policies for space data and has engaged on international and intergovernmental issues in several departments, including at the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and on the Open Government team at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). In her spare time, Laura loves to play with her dog, Winnie, and spend time with family and friends. Laura sits on the executive board of the United Nations Association in Canada (UNAC) and the Canadian International Council’s (CIC) Ottawa branch, where she co-developed human capital development approaches to Canadian/Mexican bilateralism titled “The Youth Foreign Policy Framework,” now advanced through the CanMex Youth Lab with the Embassies of Canada and Mexico. Laura is looking forward to advancing her interdisciplinary research in technological applications for human security in graduate studies next year.
Lauren is a community leader, award winning sustainability champion, and entrepreneur. She is the Founder of Pitch It Green, a youth-led nonprofit organization on a mission to build the next generation of ecopreneurs. Making an impact is very important to Lauren, and over the course of three years she has raised more than $350,000 for non-profit and charitable causes. As an International Studies & Business student at Glendon College – York University, Lauren works hard to advance equity in the environmental field through her research on green jobs for underserved students. In the future, Lauren foresees herself as a small business owner of a circular start-up.
Lindsay resides in Winnipeg with proud heredity from Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation in Treaty #3 territory. While completing a Bachelor of Arts (Advanced) in Global Political Economy at the University of Manitoba, she was a grateful recipient of a William and Nona Heaslip Scholarship and Valedictory graduate of the President’s Student Leadership Program. She’s held research and teaching assistant positions in leadership and organizational behaviour, and in economics and labor studies. Lindsay spent last summer working as a Policy Analyst with Northern Policy Institute in Ontario and has been further developing her policy and advocacy experience representing Canadian youth and Young Diplomats of Canada as a Delegate for YDC’s delegation to the 2021 WTO Public Forum, and as a Junior Proxy on Grand Council Treaty #3’s Youth Executive Council. She is passionate about mental health and grassroots activism (particularly BIPOC, disability, LGBTQ2S+ and women’s rights), and is actively involved in volunteerism.
Margaret (she/her) is passionate about engaging youth and students in the wider community. She joined the Kawartha World Issues Centre (KWIC) in May 2020 as a Researcher for the project on Advancing the 2030 Agenda in Nogojiwanong | Peterborough, and developed a series of interactive workshops on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to promote student engagement in their work. More recently, her work involves creating workshops for students covering the intersections of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and youth climate action, as well as supporting KWIC’s ongoing project on Advancing Gender Equality (SDG 5). Prior to joining KWIC, she worked at several NGOs in both Canada and the US. She holds an MSc in Environmental Management from the University of Liverpool and an MSc in Public Health, specializing in Environmental Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and exploring new places.
Marina Candeia is pursuing a master’s degree in International Studies at Simon Fraser University. She is originally from Brazil and has lived in Canada since 2015. Her research addresses civil society participation in international law and focuses on the role of citizen-led organizations in promoting the right to security of Indigenous peoples. Marina’s academic and professional background is interdisciplinary. She holds a Bachelor of Human Justice from the University of Regina and has extensive knowledge in the fields of human rights, human security, gender inequality, issues of migration, human trafficking, and violence against women. Marina is passionate about global social justice and believes that international cooperation between peoples and countries can help build sustainable peace.Marina has several years of professional and volunteer experience in non-profit organizations and higher education. In her spare time, Marina enjoys travelling, exploring nature, trying out new hobbies, and training her dog.
Mojann Zibapour holds a Master of Global Affairs from the Munk School at the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Political Science in the bilingual program from the University of Ottawa. For the past two years, she has worked both as a National Program Officer and an Advocacy & Events Specialist at the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) working on matters of inclusion, diversity, and active citizenship. Since 2020, she has represented Canadian youth at the Youth 7 Summit, working within the G7 framework on issues such as Global Security, Digital and Tech, and Inclusion. Currently, she is an Analyst at Infrastructure Canada, the Canadian federal government department responsible for public infrastructure across the country. Prior to these roles, she held positions at Rideau Hall for the Office of the Secretary of the Governor General of Canada and Swisspeace, a think-tank and NGO in Bern, focusing mainly on matters of peacekeeping and transitional justice. Finally, she is fluent in English, French, Farsi (Persian) and Spanish.
Paloma is currently a PhD student at the New School for Social Research and a research assistant at the Zolberg Institute for Migration and Mobility. Her research focuses on transnational solidarity and the movement of vulnerable groups across borders. Paloma completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at the University of Toronto in the Political Science department and was an editor of the University of Toronto Journal of Political Science during her tenure as a graduate student there. Out of her position at the Zolberg Institute, she has led courses on the detection of racial bias in voting districts in North America, acted as a researcher for NGOs such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and written immigration policy recommendation reports with the Abolish ICE working group. She is delighted to be joining the UNPFII delegations and hopes to enrich her knowledge on transnational solidarity by listening to and learning from Indigenous communities worldwide.
Sameer Esmail is a Delegate and Communications Coordinator for Young Diplomats of Canada’s (YDC) youth delegation to the 2021 OECD Forum. Sameer is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Management at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is passionate about foreign policy and promoting human security worldwide. Sameer currently works as a Political/Economic Intern at the U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver. He also volunteers with several local non-profits including CityHive, the Gamar Foundation, and the UN Association of Canada’s Vancouver Branch. Sameer also remains involved at the university level as a Student Ambassador for UBC and as a Vice President for UBC’s Student Alumni Council. In recent years, Sameer led a financial literacy non-profit on campus and served as Vice President of Impact Projects for Bridgespace, an international student consulting organization. Sameer remains committed to advancing global citizenship within his community and worldwide.
Tami (she/her) is from Malawi and is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Regina in International Studies and Political Science. She is passionate about amplifying young BIPOC/QTPOC experiences and voices through shared dialogue and allyship. She is part of organizations such as the Brown Citizen Circle and the Non-Profit Youth Leadership Network, as a Director of Communications and a Youth Engagement Advisor. This year, she joined Project Agape, a black-led organization that educates communities about Gender-Based Violence and provides wellness and support for black survivors. Tamikani hopes to pursue a Master’s of Arts degree in Women’s and Gender studies with a specialization in African Studies. She hopes to apply her studies and knowledge of Malawi’s language and culture to support the effective implementation of intersectional feminism in critical programs and policies to eliminate gender-based violence.
Yuan (Linda) Zhou holds MSc. in Agribusiness and Agricultural Economics at University of Manitoba where her research focused on the market premium at Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Her exchange experience at the Centre for Environment and Development Studies (CEMUS, Sweden) kindles her passion about Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Professionally, she works as research analyst at Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation (MASC). As a councillor at the Canadian Agricultural Economics Society, she works to address the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) issues in the academia. At Manitoba Women in Agriculture and Food (MWAF), she collaborates with the board to advance women’s involvement and achievement in the agriculture and food industry. Recently, she took on the role— Sustainability Lead—at the 2022 Canadian Evaluation Society Winnipeg conference. Yuan is an all-weather cyclist and runner. She recently finished her first triathlon–Ironman Cozumel, and is currently training for Ironman Canada. Her other interests include bouldering, composting, and practicing yoga.
Zoë David-Delves (she/her) is an anti-oppression facilitator and community organizer in the fields of gender, race and sexuality equity and advocacy. She holds degrees in Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice, Psychology and Global Affairs. As a queer Black woman who was born and raised in the multi-island nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, she is passionate about supporting marginalized peoples both in the First and Third worlds. Zoë’s work ethic prioritises playfulness, empathy, integrity and people power in work. She looks forward to growing as an advocacy professional, while maintaining her global focus and working with an intersectional, anti-oppressive lens.