Who we are

Montreal, Canada - Training & Consulting - English, French. Adriana brings 15+ years of diverse experience as a workplace human rights and employment lawyer, trainer and facilitator in gender, diversity and inclusion, leadership, and organizational well-being. She has vast experience working nationally and internationally with the United Nations, universities as well as the non-profit and private sector.
Adriana previously held the position of Director, Organizational Wellness at Homewood Heath, developing workplace solutions in areas including gender diversity, sexual harassment, and workplace mental health. In addition, she worked with Equitas – International Centre for Human Rights Education, leading development and implementation of a new gender equality action plan. She has partnered withthe McGill University Desautels Faculty of Management to train emerging leaders on building cultures of inclusion and respect.

She holds a Civil and Common Law degree from McGill University, a B.A. in International Development from Dalhousie University, a Master’s Certificate in Adult Training & Development from York University's Schulich School of Business. She is a Certified Training Practitioner (CTP) with the Institute for Performance & Learning.

Hamilton, Canada - Reproductive and humanitarian rights- Alex is a graduate of the post-graduate International Development Program at Humber College. She recently completed a 3-month internship with Save the Children on its Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Response Team. In this role, she learned about the donor process with Global Affairs Canada and gained experience in proposal development and program management. Alex has a joint honours BA in Gender Studies and Sociology.

Nouakchott, Mauritania -Human and Women's Rights - Arabic, French, English. Amina is a gender specialist and holds a PhD in Sociology from Laval University. She has over eleven years of experience working at national, regional and pan African levels. As the Regional Gender Advisor for G5 Sahel, she oversees projects on protecting women’s rights, leadership and economic empowerment in the Sahel Region (Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger). She specializes in policy analysis, social research, project management, strategic planning, capacity building, knowledge management, resource and partnership mobilization and gender mainstreaming.

Waterloo, Canada - International Development- English, Bengali - Anika is in her final term of a Master of Development Practice (MDP) at the University of Waterloo She has worked as a facilitator and translator of various studies with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). The projects generally explored intra-household gender dynamics affect women’s articulation of demand for and adoption of mechanization in Bangladesh. Anika has experience in women's empowerment and rural and agricultural development. Projects that she has worked on included several promising approaches for making agricultural machinery markets more inclusive of women as both entrepreneurs and renters of the machine.

Toronto, Canada - Public Policy -English. Anjum is based in Canada and was recently named the 2020 Global Woman of Distinction by the United Nations NGO Committee on the Status of Women. She is an internationally-recognized advocate for progressive public policies to create a more just and equitable society.She currently serves as the National Director of Public Policy & Strategic Communications at YWCA Canada, the nation's oldest and largest women's serving organization. She is the First Author on Canada’s First Feminist Recovery Plan, the first nationally-focused report of its kind in the world.

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Anjum holds a Masters of Public Health from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She is also the founder of Millennial Womxn in Policy, a grassroots organization and community of practice that connects more than 3,000 young women and non-binary people working in policy across North America and Europe in civil society, politics, private sector and public service.

Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo - English, French, Swahili. Annie is the Gender Parity and Coordination Officer for MONUSCO. She is a Gender-Based Violence and Gender Equality Specialist, a Women’s Rights advocate, a writer, a speaker, a coach, and an international panelist. Annie brings 10 years of executive management and 10 years in international Development. She has worked in the DR Congo, Ghana, Togo, Canada, France, Tanzania and eSwatini developing, monitoring, and evaluating multi-sectorial and multi-countries partnerships and programs and supervising international volunteers for Women’s Rights NGOs and ministries. www.invictusequality.com and Chair of IGDD Congo www.igddcongo.org. Annie holds a Specialist Degree in Gender & Women’s Studies and a degree in Political Science from the University of Toronto plus a diploma in Adult Education and Training from Seneca College and a Conflict Resolution and Mediation from York University.

Geneva, Switzerland - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - English, French, German. Atena is a Diversity & Inclusion consultant, specializing in intersectionality, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ and marginalized persons. She built her consulting practice on her experience as a subject matter expert in Diversity and Inclusion in Australia, New Zealand and with the ICRC and the IFRC. She has developed a D&I Organizational Assessment Toolkit and is a facilitator and public speaker on, cross cultural negotiations and inclusive leadership.

Nairobi, Kenya - Education, & Training, Reseach - English. Aurelia is the Founder of Eider Africa, a mentorship program for emerging scholars working in eight universities in Kenya. As a researcher and consultant, she has lead gender analysis projects with US AID, World University Services Canada, Swiss Contact, the Master Card Foundation and the Radboud University Netherlands. Aurelia was also served as the Executive Director of the Nascent Research and Development Organization where she led a number of projects focused on women's sexual and reproductive health and early childhood development in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.

Toronto, Canada - Gender Equity Consultant- English. Chanel has over 15 years of experience in building the organizational capacity of non-profit organizations across Canada. As the former Director of Economic Development Programs at the Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF), she successfully led CWF’s poverty reduction work, which consisted of national multi-year granting strategies that supported women’s financial equality and independence through entrepreneurship, social enterprise, employment training and access to trades and technology pre-apprenticeships. Chanel has a strong understanding of poverty reduction initiatives, gender-based intersectional analysis and effective practices related to inclusion and participatory processes with diverse groups.



Chanel was pivotal to the establishment of a new national leadership institute for emerging women leaders in the charitable sector. The Institute was focused on the leadership capacity of emerging women leaders across Canada. As an integral part of the team that launched this program, Chanel provided oversight on participant selection, program design, distance learning, mentoring and coaching, approval of action-oriented grants to participants, ongoing evaluation and the development of an alumni strategy.

Tunisia- Arabic, English, French, Spanish. Dorra is a Tunisian activist, intersectional feminist and theatre practitioner. In 2020, she was selected as one of the International Women in Arts for Peace by the International Young Women's Forum. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Human Rights Transitional Justice and Rule of Law at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, specializing in sexuality, gender and IHL. Dorra has extensive experience in the non-profit sector and rigorous training in conflict resolution and international cooperation. Given her focus on the MENA region, she has worked as a current affairs analyst at MENAF , a think tank based at the University of Cambridge. She is a trained international dialogue facilitator through and has experience in human rights, transitional justice and peace-building through the Danish Youth Council's Ambassador's for Dialogue Project.

Ecuador - English, Spanish. Elizabeth is an Ecuadorian intersectional feminist specializing in gender equity, gender based violence and reproductive justice. She has significant experience in logistical and administrative support to international non-profits, grant making organizations and local governments. She has worked for Mama Cash, FRIDA and is now the Community Coordinator for Tracking the Backlash.

Uganda, - Girls and Women's Rights Advocate and Educator - Luo, Lugandan, English. Harriet is the Director of the Foundation for Integrated Rural Development. Through this foundation, she has supported over 3000 women and girls displaced by war, many of whom are survivors of GBV, to develop sustainable livelihoods. She holds a post-graduate degree in Gender Equality Studies from the University of Iceland. She is pursuing her Masters degree in Women and Gender Studies at Mekere University. She has deep experience in working in women's economic development, ICT4Dev, human rights education, women's sexual and reproductive health and gender based violence. Harriet was the Chairperson for the Youth Advocacy in Lira Uganda and currently sits on the International Advisory Board on Universal Health Coverage under the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (CSEM) hosted by the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO). Harriet is also the founder of Athena Girls Innovation Compound, an initiative that empowers girls and young women to embrace ICT for social change in post-conflict Northern Uganda.

Denan, Ethiopia and Ottawa, Canada - Public Health Policy - English, French. Hodan is an experienced policy analyst and qualitative researcher with a broad background in population health, medical anthropology, communications, and video production. As a policy analyst with the Public Health Agency of Canada, she conducted the analysis of various public health issues and policies using gender/equity/intersectionality lenses to support policy development (e.g., suicide prevention, healthy weights). She was also responsible for engaging with national Indigenous organizations to strengthen evidence on the social determinants of Indigenous health (current role) and led the knowledge translation for a pan-Canadian initiative on health inequalities.
Hodan is Research Coordinator and Interdisciplinary Research Team Lead on a SSHRC-funded multidisciplinary mixed methods research project between the University of Ottawa, University of Jigjiga and a local NGO in the Somali Regional State in Ethiopia to study the impact of a model international development project—Denan Project—in a remote town on local communities.

Waterloo, Canada - English, French, Mongolian. Joanna is a social business and cooperative development specializing in corporate responsibility, innovation and entrepreneurship, and monitoring and evaluation. As Chair of the Emerging Co-operators Impact Committee, she supports youth in Canadian cooperative sectors. Joanna is a graduate research fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs at the University of Waterloo. She has worked on the Global Affairs Canada funded INVEST Co-Op project with the Mongolian National Co-Operative Association.

Ulaaanbaatar, Mongolia - Gender Equity Specialist - English, Mongolian Lkhagvaa is a Gender Project Officer on the MERIT (Mongolia: Enhancing Resource Management through Institutional Transformation). She holds a Master of Business Administration from the Asian University in Taiwan. She has worked in the development co-oporation in Mongolia on the World Bank Project, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Mongolia and several UNDP projects. She has translated and contributed to the development of multiple gender responsive resources, including the Gender Toolkit Compendium, the Mongolian Gender Based Analysis+ and Gender Responsive Budget Guidelines for Local Budget users 2020. Lkhagvaa is a Level 1 trainer of the Mongolian National Committee on Gender Equality.

Washington D.C., U.S.A - Climate and Gender Specialist - English, French. Margaux (she/her) is a Gender and Climate Specialist with international and intergovernmental experience delivering inclusive and sustainable development results. She has diverse experience in conducting research and analysis on the linkages between gender and environment to identify gaps and technical needs, and to inform priority gender mainstreaming actions in climate and natural resource management initiatives. She has multiple years of experience facilitating stakeholder engagement and capacity building at all levels for inclusive and comprehensive consultation, and to support uptake and ownership of gender mainstreaming, women’s empowerment and social inclusion elements across sectors. She provides a systems-thinking and intersectional approach, recognizing the importance of context and catalyzing socio-economic issues, such as labor, youth empowerment, indigenous engagement, and livelihoods opportunities critical to sustainable climate and societal outcomes.

Kumasi, Ghana - Education, Training and Research - English. Michelle is the Lead on the Voice Out Africa Project, a project whose objective is to build capacity in youth organizations by providing support through training and seminars. She has worked as a program and research assistant for the Canadian Resource Development Institute and for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Michelle has a Masters Degree in Global/ International Studies from Queens University.

Waterloo, Canada - International Public Policy- English, Mongolian. Misha is a graduate research fellow in the Masters of International Public Policy program at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and holds a Bachelor's of Environmental Studies from the University of Waterloo. For the past 3 years, she has been working in Mongolia with the Mongolian government on improving gender equality in the environment and extractive sectors with a focus on capacity building, organizational gender audits, gender-sensitive policy creation and gender-responsive budgeting. Misha also has considerable experience working with multiple GAC and USAID-funded development projects in Mongolia as well as civil society organizations in Mongolia, Canada and Kenya.

Toronto, Canada -Senior Public Policy Analyst - English, French. Molly (she/her) is a public policy and gender equity researcher based in Canada with experience working on SOGIE-related issues with not-for-profit organizations and in government administration. She has supported projects in Canada and South Africa related to women's economic security, gender-based violence, transgender and gender-independent health care, and foreign qualifications recognition. At present she is a Senior Policy Advisor with the Government of Ontario collaborating on First Nations, Inuit and Métis-led violence prevention initiatives, and is completing her Masters of Public Policy, Administration and Law at York University.

California, U.S.A - Environmental Policy - English. Molly is a gender and environmental policy specialist with six years of international experience. Molly has specialized experience in indicator development, data collection, analysis, and knowledge product development and dissemination. As the manager of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Environment and Gender Information (EGI) platform, Molly led data collection and analysis projects, including knowledge product development, with partners across environmental and development spheres.

In partnership with UN Environment, and in close coordination with IUCN and UN Environment regional and country offices and national government officials, Molly managed a project on measuring the gender-environment nexus at the national level, including within the SDG framework with stakeholders in Lao PDR, Kenya, and Mexico in 2018. Molly co- facilitated an additional workshop and developed an accompanying case study on this topic in Jordan in 2020.

Jordan - Women's reproductive health and humanitarian programs (Arabic, English) Noha is currently the associate coordinator and field officer at the UNHCR camp in Azraq Jordan. She holds a MSc in Population and Development and Reproductive Health from the University of Gezira and has been deeply involved in humanitarian work at the national and international levels and has worked in that field in roles in Program Management and Coordination.

Melbourne, Australia - Global Health and Gender - English. Olena is the Director of the Centre for Health Equity and Research Chair in Gender and Equity at the School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne. She was previously the Director for the Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy at Simon Fraser University in Canada. Olena's focus is on the promotion of health equity in public policy and gender based policy analysis at the national and international level.

Toronto- International Development- English. Rasha is a policy research professional with over nine years of experience in the non-profit sector and the international affairs industry. Skilled in socio-economic research, information management, project management, inter-governmental events management, writing and communication. MPhil Development Studies, University of Cambridge, UK, and Bachelor in Business Administration. She was the Research and Program Coordinator at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia involved administration, financial operations, research and management in human development projects. She co-founded the Lebanese Reader Society and has led media outreach campaigns for the UN Information Centre in Beirut, Lebanon.

Paris, France - Communications and Gender - English, French, Arabic. Sarah is the EEC's Media Coordinator and is currently based in France. She is a bilingual writer and editor at Global Citizen. She has a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Geneva and the University of Toronto. With expertise in non-profit communications and advocacy, she’s worked with multiple rights-based organizations in France, Switzerland, the US and Canada. She also has extensive research experience in areas related to gender equality, intersectionality, post-colonialism and anti-racism.

Toronto - Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Consultant - English, French. From the front line to the C-suite, Sarah Neville helps organizations in virtually every sector - from small non-profits to Fortune 500 companies - to connect, inspire and build inclusive cultures.

A sought-after speaker at conferences and events across North America, Sarah shares her deep knowledge of business communication with a focus on the role of communication in building respectful, inclusive and equitable workplaces. She combines current research with humour to create an engaging and experiential and approach to learning. Open Line helps take Equity and Inclusion initiatives from theory and awareness - into action and behaviour change.

Founding partner and Director of Open Line, Sarah has an M.Ed in Adult Learning from OISE and a background as a professional actor. Sarah is an instructor at the Rotman School of Business Initiative for Women in Business, and Intercultural Skills Lab, and a regular contributor to Forbes Magazine, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Ottawa Citizen and the Huffington Post.

Toronto, Canada - Monitoring and Evaluation- English, French, Spanish. Sidney Coles is the founder of the Emergent Equity Collective. She is a gender equity and monitoring and evaluation specialist. She has worked for Médecins Sans Frontières in the Democratic Republic of Congo and on multiple Global Affairs Canada funded projects as a gender advisor in Colombia, Ethiopia, Bénin and Mongolia. Her goal is to create a global network of women who are working at the intersections of environmental and climate justice, education, human rights, migrant justice, and gender equality. She is currently doing her doctorate in Program Evaluation at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

Toronto - Senior Policy Advisor -English, French. Usma works with the Ministry Government of Ontario’s Ministry of Status of Women and Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and previously, a Senior Policy Advisor at the Ministry of the Status of Women.
Prior to her government role, she was Project Manager at the Canadian Council of Muslim Women. Usma holds a Master of Science, International Relations from the London School of Economics National and was a PhD Candidate in Comparative Politics-Public Policy at McMaster University. Ethnic Conflict Regulation, Nationalism, Political Violence and Terrorism, and Politics of the Muslim-Majority World.