Connect with Us

I sort of fell into this work, as many of us do, and what keeps me in it is the brilliance of those that I work with. The willingness of others to be vulnerable with me, to be brave enough to ask for help and to challenge themselves will never cease to amaze me. I also love how many avenues exist for prevention and response work – education, accountability and community engagement, to name a few, can be such meaningful facets of this work!

I get to do many different things in my role, but primarily, I support survivors directly through counselling and case management, do gender-based violence education and programming in the broader Laurier community, and sometimes I even get to design the sweet stickers, taco stress balls and other funky merchandise you see around campus!

Self and community care are amongst the most important things to create sustainability in gender-justice work! I like to keep a full toolbox of ways I care for myself, but some highlights include holding firm boundaries around work hours, engaging in community organizing and solidarity movements, embracing moments of lightness with my loved ones, petting cats, saying no to things, and making lots and lots of art.

15+ years, and passion for, work in anti-racism/anti-oppression/social justice brings me to gender justice work.

The focus in my role is counselling students. I also work on student outreach and currently, I am working on organizing a four-week group focusing on social justice/healing for Black, Indigenous, and Racialized students.

I prioritize self and community care by taking my lunch break and by emphasizing the basics: food, sleep, exercise, self-care, and community.

I got involved in gender justice work 20 years ago as an undergrad student, upon recognizing how many of my friends and activist community had been impacted by gendered and sexual violence. I have stayed deeply invested in this work since. My framework as a counsellor, advocate and educator is to act from a place of solidarity with other survivors and to creatively build collective strategies to create pathways for meaningful accountability and eradicate gendered and sexual violence from our communities.

As the AD I get to kind of do all parts of the work (counselling, casework, facilitation, training, policy work, etc.) which my neurodivergent brain loves. My biggest priority is always my work with survivors/those impacted by gendered and sexual violence. Some big projects I am working on are Levelling Up Relationships (required training for incoming first-year students), making restorative justice approaches to sexual violence more accessible for survivors who choose that, and Bystander training e-learning modules.

For self care I try to prioritize moving my body, spending some time checking in with my body daily, and actually getting sleep (which is so annoying but wildly important for me). For collective care, I engage in social justice organizing in the community, asking for support from my friends and showing up for them, and grounding myself in ethics that are beyond my workplace. And most importantly, remembering that people long before me were doing this work and people long after me will be as well. <3

I'm inspired by the incredible courage of survivors and the ways that gender justice work offers radical potential for healing and transformation on individual and collective levels.

I support folks through individual trauma-informed counselling and advocacy, group facilitation and also help with resource creation and outreach events.

My husky dog Otter is a big support for cuddles, laughter and helps me to get outside and move my body every day. I have been working on having more honest conversations with folks in my community about supporting one another in ways that center consent, reciprocity and accountability. Also, I love cooking for people, sharing food and being fed as acts of care. 🙂

The hope of establishing compassionate mindfulness connections in supporting anti-oppression-focused approaches that blend accountability with the intention of healing disempowered communities.

As a Sexual Violence Counsellor – MSW Student.

Providing individual trauma-informed counselling and advocacy as well as support resources creation, group facilitation, and outreach initiatives. Currently, I am working on creating three separate psycho educational tools on the following three topics in relation to sexual violence: Ambiguous Loss, Cultural Betrayal Trauma, and Despair.

Learning and sustaining the practice of self-compassion because it gives me the strength to care for others. When I feel connected to my essential humanity, it’s easier to relate to self and others with appreciation and kindness.

When I first began volunteering for a Muslim women’s transitional home, the importance of prioritizing work that openly addressed stigmatized issues became abundantly clear. It developed an awareness in me that conversations on gender justice should be taking place sooner than we think.

I’m working as an outreach support worker and provide support with the development of resources for student survivors. One of the projects I’m currently co-working on is developing training specifically for student leaders receiving disclosures of sexual violence.

Taking walks with my partner, attending community events, and cooking for others!

I am driven to gender justice work by a passion for understanding how gender operates in the world, and a desire to confront and dismantle the injustices that are perpetuated within our communities. Furthermore, my approach to this work is grounded in recognizing intersectional experiences of oppression and advocating for the unique challenges faced by individuals at the intersections of various forms of oppression.

Currently, my attention is centered on managing the administrative aspects of our sexual violence certificate as well as creating support-based resources. I am also engaged in creating social media content and contributing to outreach initiatives.

I prioritize self-care by making time for reflection and relaxation. I enjoy finding opportunities to be creative through art (I love to collage, bead, and paint) and enjoy reading and writing. I engage in community care through nurturing the relationships around me, either by bonding over shared interests or through cooking or caregiving for the people in my community.

I am brought to gender justice work, as I am passionate about analyzing and dismantling interpersonal and structural forms of oppression that lead to increased gender-based violence.

Supporting sexual violence prevention on the Brantford campus. My primary focus is consent-based content for office boards, co-creating training for student survivors receiving disclosures of sexual violence, social media content creation and outreach initiatives.

I prioritize self-care by planning everything in my Outlook calendar. This is a way I hold myself accountable, stay on track, and reduce stress and forgetfulness. I prioritize community care by holding space for small moments of joy and laughter with others, in the midst of difficult times that might make us otherwise isolate.

I believe that curating a consent culture is a vital part of resisting all systems of oppression. This work is incredibly important for us to build more a pleasurable, consensual, and caring world.

Currently, my main focuses include writing the weekly Healing Justice Newsletter, social media content curation and supporting workshop facilitation/administrative work.

Spending time in nature, making space for creativity in community and creating intentional time for rest.