Please scroll to the bottom for Community Guidelines
Day 1: Art and Research: Intersections of Activism
Jennifer Alicia (they/she) is a queer, mixed (Mi’kmaw/Settler) storyteller originally from Elmastukwek, Ktaqmkuk (Bay Of Islands, Newfoundland), now residing in Toronto. She is a two-time national poetry slam champion and member of Seeds & Stardust Poetry Collective. Jennifer Alicia's debut chapbook is being released by Moon Jelly House Fall 2020. Find out more about their work here: www.jenniferalicia.com.
Anu Radha Verma (she/her) has lived, worked, played, studied and struggled in places as disparate as Mississauga, Peterborough and New Delhi. She is committed to social justice work, in particular around the areas of sexuality, gender, race, the environment, abolition, gender based violence, and health. Anu Radha is a curator, community-based consultant, writer; she organizes with QTBIPOC sauga (a grassroots gathering for queer and trans, Black, Indigenous and people of colour communiteis from across Peel). She is a queer, diasporic, sometimes-femme, a survivor, and someone who lives with mental health struggles.
Dionne Gesink is a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the social epidemiology of sexual health, including the geography of sex and how people build their sexual networks. Dionne use mixed methods to investigate sexual health as a complex system, with connections to physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social health. Dionne’s projects are often community based and consider culture so effective interventions that transform sexual health at individual, community, and provincial levels can be developed.
Janice Du Mont is a senior scientist at Women’s College Research Institute of Women’s College Hospital and professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, where she is also Director of the Collaborative Specialization in Women’s Health. Her work has focused on addressing the health and legal responses to sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and the abuse of older adults through the development and evaluation of innovative programs of care and trainings. She is a sought after expert in these areas having served on many occasions as an advisor to the provincial and federal governments of Canada and international organizations such as the World Health Organization. In recognition of her international impact in the field of gender-based violence, she was recently awarded the International Association of Forensic Nurses’ Distinguished Fellow Award in 2019 and the Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International’s Excellence in Policy and Practice Award in 2020.
Joseph Friedman Burley is the trans-LINK Project Coordinator at the Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres. He has worked with a number of organizations and research labs focused on improving 2SLGBTQ+ health, including the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health, Re:Searching for LGBTQ Health, the HIV Prevention Lab, the HIV Legal Network, the AIDS Committee of Toronto, and Women's College Research Institute. A recent MPH graduate, Joseph is excited to continue building a career working in community-based research that promotes health equity for 2SLGBTQ+ communities. He is grateful for this opportunity to share his work, connect, and collaborate.
Day 2: COVID-19, Community Health and What the Pandemic Has Revealed
Hope Ramsay comes to the Moyo team with over 25 year’s experience in the HIV sector in Canada and the Caribbean. Prior to joining Moyo, she managed the Communication and Member Development portfolio of the Ontario AIDS Network (OAN) and before OAN, Hope held senior management positions at 360 Kids, Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (BLACK CAP) and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN). After beginning her career as a Registered Nurse, she went on to earn a Masters degree in Public Health and to become the Director of the first HIV program established in Jamaica - The Centre for HIV AIDS Research and Services at the University Hospital of the West Indies. She was also Founding Director of Nursing for the Jamaica AIDS Support for Life.
Hope is passionate about enriching the lives of others and her work with vulnerable populations has been evidence of this.
Ames is Anishinaabe and 3rd generation Irish 2S harm reduction advocate and worker. They have been living in Tkaronto, Dish With One Spoon Territory, for over 10 years and have been at the Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy (Oahas) for over 2 years.
Kathy Moscou’s background is eclectic and unique, merging visual arts and health. Her lived experience informs her art, focus on Black cultural aesthetics, contemporary design for social justice, and research focus – equity and empowerment of Black and Indigenous youth in Canada, United States, and across the African diaspora. Kathy is an assistant professor at OCADU in the Faculty of Design. She has a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Global Health; Master’s in Public Health; and BSc Pharmacy. Her Ph.D. research of pharmacogovernance and comparative health policy addresses equity in drug safety and governance to foster healthy communities. Participatory research with Indigenous youth used Indigenous frameworks to explore characteristics of healthy neighbourhoods and holistic health derived from urban gardening. Her art has been exhibited in Art Gallery of Southwest Manitoba, Royal Ontario Museum, M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery, Seattle and Bellevue Art Museum.
Ames is Anishinaabe and 3rd generation Irish 2S harm reduction advocate and worker. They have been living in Tkaronto, Dish With One Spoon Territory, for over 10 years and have been at the Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy (Oahas) for over 2 years.
Adwoa Afful is a public health researcher and writer, born and raised in Toronto. Trained as an urban planner, Adwoa’s work often explores the increasingly central role that technology is playing in community building and its implications for Black women and gender non-binary people across Toronto. Adwoa is also the founder of Black Futures Now Toronto (BFNTO), a grassroots initiative, that works to engage Black women and non-binary people in anti-oppressive placemaking.
End of day special performance by Sam Yoon
Day 3: Space for Us All: Housing, Employment and the Barriers Folks Face
Jakki Buckeridge is the Manager of Family Services at Indus Community services. Family services programs at Indus provide crisis intervention, counselling, mediation, case conferencing and day-to-day support to youth and adults to decrease the risk of violence and abuse, homelessness, mental health crisis and hospitalization. Jakki’s experience includes justice program and policy development, intimate partner violence and non-consensual union risk assessments and safety planning. Jakki is an advocate for social change and has been working with marginalized communities for the past 23 years.
Kim is a Senior Policy Advisor at NWAC, working in the Gender Diversity and Social Inclusion department. She has a background in sociology with a focus on LGBTQ+ health and well-being, social determinants of health, and critical media studies. The projects she's currently involved in focus on creating better supports for Indigenous 2SLGBTQQIA+ people with lived experience of gender-based violence, Indigenous women and gender-diverse people living with a disability, and Indigenous youth who involved in gender equality advocacy.
Amit is a Registered Social Service Worker, currently working as a Youth Specialist with Services and Housing in the Province (SHIP) within the Youth Transitional Program Peel Youth Village. He identifies as an openly gay male of colour using he/him pronouns and is committed to advocating for youth, 2SLGBQTI folk and BIPOC folk within the Peel Region. Over 5 years experience working with homeless youth within the Peel Region who are struggling with mental health, addictions and housing challenges.
Jefferson Darrell is an accomplished marketing communications and change management professional with more than 15 years of brand strategy expertise, generating earned and owned media using traditional and digital channels. In the DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) space, Jefferson was instrumental in the creation of the Diversity Inclusion Anti-Racism Action Team at the Ontario Science Centre and represented them on the DEI Committee with the Canadian Association of Science Centres. He was instrumental in organizing the Centre’s involvement in the world’s first Pride in STEM Day. Jefferson’s change management project with the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention resulted in increased revenue opportunities for the non-profit by diversifying the organization’s development committee. Jefferson’s delivered numerous presentations and keynotes about the importance of DEI for organizations that include the International Association of Business Communicators, AdClub Toronto, Institute of Communications Agencies, Pride at Work Canada and he’s been a guest lecturer at Ryerson University.
Jacqueline (Jacquie) Gahagan, PhD is a medical sociologist and full professor in the Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University. Dr. Gahagan's program of health promotion research focuses on addressing the system-level drivers, such as policy and programmming, within health and social systems that contribute to poor health and social outcomes among marginalized popualtions, including older LGBT Canadians and housing precarity, access to health care among trans youth, and uptake of STBBI testing innovations within diverse populations, among others. Jacquie is a Founding Fellow of the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance and an Affiliate Scientist with the Nova Scotia Health Authority.
End of day special performance by The Virgo Queen
Day 4: Equity in Allied Health Systems: Where We've Gone Wrong (and How to Change)
Daniel is a Registered Psychotherapist and a 2SLGBTQ+ Counselor at Associated Youth Services of Peel.
Tobias Evans-Hinostroza is a queer, Latinx, nonconforming trans guy who works as a 2SLGBTQ+ youth counsellor at Associated Youth Services of Peel. He has been transitioning as a trans person for over 6 years and as a human being since birth. He hopes queer and trans communities continue to lift one another up, and is dedicated to advocating for that cause in both his personal and professional life.
Oshawa Anung Kwe/Yellow Star Woman N’dishnakaaz. Maegun N’doodem. Baawaating N’doojibaa. My colonial name is Theodore Syrette. Friends and enemies know me as Teddy. They are from Rankin Reserve of Batchewana First Nation of the Anishnabek. Teddy has a background in social justice and theatre. They have been advocating for First Nation and LGBTQ+ rights for almost 19 years. Prior to Covid, Teddy was spreading intersectional awareness about 2Spirit, First Nation and LGBTQ+ identities and experiences in many parts of Turtle Island (Canada). Teddy has received different awards for their advocacy including the Mark S. Bonham Centre award for Sexuaility, the Toronto Planned Parenthood LGBTQ person of the year award and the History & Geography award for grade 8. Teddy currently lives in Sault Ste. Marie, ON (across the tracks from Rankin Reserve).
Ronnie Ali (they/them/their) is a Registered Psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. They have worked as a therapist and consultant within and in support of queer, trans, BIPOC and other intersectional communities for over 6 years. They approach their work through a critical lens with the aim of examining contexts of systemic dehumanization and directly challenging the pathologization of individuals and their relationships.
Andres Gayoso Descalzi (he/him/his pronouns) is a queer trans man hailing from lands currently known as Peru, also known as Tahuantinsuyu. He is a settler on this northern part of Turtle Island and is currently the 2SLGBTQ+ identity-specific School Social Worker at the YRDSB. He works every day at practicing from an affirming, anti-racist, youth-centered, harm reduction framework in person-to-person interactions as well as those he has with “the system”. He believes in the transformative power of relationships and has been working as a counsellor and group facilitator with 2SLGBTQ+ youth for almost 10 years.
End of day special performance TBA
Day 5: Equity in Clinical Care: Who Has Been Left Behind (and How to Push Them Forward)
Shriya Hari is the Regional Health Educator, ON at CATIE. Currently, she is also CATIE's COVID-19 project lead, and has developed a workshop for national dissemination within the HIV and hepatitis C sectors. She is a Co-Investigator for the YSMENA study which aims to investigate youth sexual health in Middle Eastern and North African communities in Ontario. She holds a Canada Graduate Scholarship at the University of Toronto where she is pursuing her Master's in Public Health specializing in epidemiology; her research is based out of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael's hospital. Shriya has a strong interest in investigating population-level health disparities. In her spare time, she writes poetry and tutors health sciences for midwives, nurses, and pre-med students. She also has two plump cats named Cassie and Polly who are very cute.
Marsha Brown has over 20 years’ experience in Health Promotion/Education within the Community Health Sector, which has sparked and driven her interest and dedication to health equity and social justice and also led to her involvement in community based research with the University of Toronto. As a Research Project Coordinator, Marsha coordinated published research works that include, “Racial Discrimination as a Health Risk for Female Youth” and “Sisters, Mothers, Daughters & Aunties: Protecting Black Women Against HIV/AIDS”. Marsha is currently the Interim Manager of Programs and Services at WellFort Community Health Services, where she continues her work and dedication to addressing health disparities amongst equity seeking groups.
Liam Michaud has worked in Montreal and Toronto in harm reduction for roughly 15 years, providing support to prisoners, conducting outreach and developing outreach programs in street, residential and shelter settings. He has organized alongside the Association Québécoise pour la promotion de la santé des personnes utilisatrices de drogues (AQPSUD) and the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society.
Shradha is a newcomer to Canada and has a Master of Public Health and a Degree in Medicine. She is currently guiding the development of a drug strategy in Peel Region through the Peel Integrated Drug Strategy (PIDS). She also coordinates the work of the Peel Drug Users Advisory Panel (PDAP), an expert panel that supports the development of the drug strategy and provides feedback on service design and delivery from the perspective of lived/living experience. Over the years, Shradha has developed a deeper understanding of how systemic oppression impacts the health and well-being of marginalized communities and is driven to work towards creating equitable health solutions.
Ashley Smoke is an Ojibway woman who started this work because of her lived expertise when it comes to sex work and drug use. She has a diploma in Community and Justice Services and a wide range of experience in the field of Peer Work in Harm Reduction. She currently sits on the Peel Drug Users Network Group, Peel Peer Advisory Board, COM-CAP and their Selection Committee (Ontario Public Health Drug Strategy), The Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs, Ontario Safe Supply Working Group, Canadian Safe Supply Advisory Group, The Peel Drug Users Network Group and other Working and Advisory Committees in the region of Peel, Ontario. She is also working with Health Canada as a judge for drug checking technology. Ashley is currently working for Moyo as a Harm Reduction Outreach Peer Worker and previously worked as Indigenous Communities Animator in order to complete a Needs Assessment to determine needs, barriers and gaps in the Indigenous Communities in Peel. Currently she is the Program Coordinator of Maggie’s Toronto's Peel Indigenous Arts Program for Indigenous Sex Workers. She is passionate about her work and loves helping folks advocate for what is right and what is needed in the community. She is determined, loud and has lots to say about the state of affairs for Drug Users all over the country!
End of day special performance TBA
Additional sessions and speakers TBA. Please note that this agenda is subject to change. Further session information, including speakers, will be updated closer to the event.
Community Guidelines
As service providers who are committed to the diverse communities we serve, we feel it’s important to share guidelines to help keep everyone feeling safe(r) and supported in the space we’re sharing.
In the spirit of mutual respect and understanding, we note that as participants, whether attendees, moderators or presenters,:
Racism, transphobia, biphobia, sexism, homophobia, ableism, anti-Semitism, classism, fatphobia, Islamophobia, and other forms of discrimination or hate speech, as well as intimidation and personal attacks, are not permitted. Our team will address any of these instances immediately, including removing any participants who behave in this way from the virtual space.
Content warning: Adjust Your Lens IV: Examining our Systems will cover a range of topics, including those that may bring up difficult, harmful or traumatic experiences. These topics include racism, substance use, sexuality and gender identity, addiction, housing barriers and healthcare discrimination. We encourage folks to reflect on their experiences and to reach out to the moderators identified at the beginning of each session if they are feeling unsafe or triggered.
Sources: Capacity Building Working Group, Regional Diversity Roundtable and CBRC
