Dr. Tommy Mayberry, Executive Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Alberta 

Tommy Mayberry, PhD (he/she/they) is the Executive Director of the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Alberta. They are co-editor, with Lindsay Bryde, of the award-winning RuPedagogies of Realness: Essays on Teaching and Learning with RuPaul’s Drag Race (McFarland, 2022), have published their work in numerous journals and edited volumes, and have performed and presented their scholarship and research findings nationally as well as internationally in places such as Oxford, Washington DC, Tokyo, and Honolulu. Tommy earned their PhD (English) at the University of Waterloo and is a sought-after speaker on the topics of “Gender Pronouns and Cultures of Respect” as well as visual pedagogies and LGBTQIA+ inclusivity.​

Jana Seijts, Award-winning educator (Ivey School of Business at Western University) and author​

Jana Seijts is an award-winning Lecturer of Management Communications at the Ivey Business School at Western University. She is also an EDI consultant and instructor working with the TRACOM Group to help organizations seamlessly merge EDI and Social Style training. Jana received her B.A., B.Ed., and M.A. from the University of Toronto and has over 25 years of experience teaching communication courses at Western University, the Schulich School of Business, York University, and the University of Manitoba. Jana has also taught Gender and Society at Fanshawe College and numerous pre-service teaching seminars in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. She is a bestselling author of business cases, including “When the Twitterverse Turns on You” and “Who Should Take the Fall?” featured in Harvard Business Review. She is co-author of A Concise Guide to Technical Communication and IMPACT! A Guide to Business Communication. In 2020, Jana won the prestigious Western University USC Teaching Award​.

A long-time advocate for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Jana co-founded Ivey’s Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Program geared towards helping develop the next generation of women leaders. She is also an executive member of Lean-In Canada: Toronto and works to provide learning and leadership opportunities for women in Canada’s most cosmopolitan city.  ​

In addition to working with numerous international organizations, Jana is a Senior Lecturer at the Sri Lankan Institute of Information Technology, where she works with MBA and Undergraduate students to learn to navigate communication in a post-Covid world.​

Steve Joordens, 3M National Teaching Fellow, Educator (University of Toronto)​

Professor Joordens teaches the very large Introduction to Biological and Cognitive Psychology course offered at the University of Toronto Scarborough as well as being the Director of the Advanced Learning Technologies Lab.  His research focuses on educational practices that help develop the core skills of success in students - critical and creative thought, effective communication and collaboration, and enhanced metacognitive awareness.  Much of the research emerging from that lab is mobilized within an educational technology called peerScholar, a technology now used in 10 countries, positively impacting over 300,000 students per year.  The work of Joordens and his lab have been recognized by many awards at the institutional, provincial and national levels.​

Alex Kapitan, Speaker, consultant, editor, and founder of Radical Copyeditor​​

Alex Kapitan is a queer and trans trainer, speaker, consultant, editor, and activist who left the world of nonfiction book publishing to start Radical Copyeditor, an anti-oppressive language project. Alex works with clients as varied as schools, publishing companies, activist organizations, museums, and healthcare professionals, helping people align their words with their values with regard to race, class, dis/ability, sexuality, gender, religion, and more, rooted in the idea that because words describe and create reality, we have a responsibility to describe and create the best possible reality we can imagine.​

Audrey Rochette, Director of Indigenous Initiatives at George Brown College 

Audrey Rochette is an Anishinaabe from Waabadowgang-Whitesand First Nation. As Director, Indigenous Initiatives, she leads George Brown College’s efforts to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action and oversees Indigenization measures as part of the college’s Vision 2030/Strategy 2022 initiative. 

Russell Evans, Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of Windsor

Russell Evans' Indigenous heritage has roots in both Temagami First Nation (Bear Island) and Matachewan First Nation, and he identifies as both Anishnaabe and European. His research focuses on the financial accountability relationship between Indigenous communities and their various stakeholders, including membership and the Government of Canada. Russell’s current projects include research work on Indigenous governance, consulting on Indigenous business plans and grants, as well as various initiatives to decolonize post-secondary education in Canada. 

Cassandra Carlson, Fourth-Year Biology and Psychology Student at Brock University

Cassandra Carlson is an Ojibwe from Wauzhushk Onigum Nation. She has just completed her final year of a BSc in Biology and Psychology at Brock University. A recipient of the 2022 NSERC USRA, Cassandra completed her research on conservation towards Indigenous medicinal plants. In April 2022, Cassandra attended the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) with the goal of forwarding indigenous youth representation. Cassandra is an author on OUSA’s Indigenous student’s policy paper, with several years of experience as an EDI coordinator. Cassandra is a current member of the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada’s Youth Advisory Council and has completed years of research under the supervision of Dr. Liette Vasseur. Cassandra’s future goals are to forward the work of Indigenous science in academia.  

Cheyenne Schmidt-Harlick, Second-Year Psychology Student at York University

Cheyenne Schmidt-Harlick is a non-status First Nation person, specifically Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River, also mixed with Mi'kmaw. She is an undergraduate student at York University in her second year of an honours BA program, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Indigenous Studies.  She is a student leader at York & work as a Learning Skills Peer with an Indigenous focus in partnership with the Centre for Indigenous Student Services & Learning Skills Services under Student Engagement. She is also a part of the Indigenous Students Association at York as the treasurer, which helps provide cultural programming for Indigenous students.