Jill is the Diversity and Inclusion Lead at the City of Edmonton. With over 25 years of domestic and international experience in the non-profit, private and public sectors, Jill has developed in-depth knowledge within the fields of intercultural competence, equity, and diversity and inclusion.  At the City of Edmonton, Jill is responsible for the development and implementation of The Art of Inclusion: Our Diversity & Inclusion Framework, leading D&I strategy and policy development including GBA+, design and delivery of training, program development and coordination, as well as employee engagement via vehicles such as diversity & inclusion committees and employee resource networks. She is the Founding Chair of the Edmonton Business Diversity Network and the National Municipal D&I Network (Canada). She is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), and a Senior Facilitator of Personal Leadership ©.

Marisa Dowswell has worked for the Canadian public service since 2009 and is currently the Lead of the Gender-Based Analysis Plus Unit at the Department of Justice Canada.  She and her team are responsible for providing advice, training, resources and guidance on how to integrate an intersectional gender and diversity lens into the work of the Department.  Previous roles include Counsel with the Department of Justice Legal Aid Program, and a variety of policy roles focussing on working with equity deserving groups, such as with the Indigenous Justice Program.  Marisa is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and graduated cum laude from the University of Ottawa Common Law Program, where she had an opportunity to intern at the Supreme Court of Canada.  She has a Master of Arts degree in International Relations and more recently completed a Master of Arts in Gender and Peacebuilding from the United Nations mandated University for Peace in Costa Rica.  Prior to working with the federal government Marisa worked with a number of Canadian and international non-governmental organizations in the area of human rights promotion and protection.

In February 2018, Geoff Dubrow chaired and facilitated Infonex’s inaugural GBA+ conference. He has participated enthusiastically in every subsequent Infonex GBA+ conference, as chair and/or presenter.

Geoff is Founder and Principal Consultant at Nexus PFM Consulting Inc. As an experienced, results-oriented consultant and high-energy facilitator, Geoff has provided training and capacity development for civil servants, parliamentarians and civil society organizations in over 40 countries on six continents as well in every province and territory in Canada.

Specializing in Public Financial Management (PFM), Geoff’s experience related to gender-responsive budgeting includes:

• Applying Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) to public policy proposals;
• Providing strategic advice related to the rollout of GBA+ tools across the Government of Canada;
• Developing an Action Kit on Gender Responsive Budgeting and Parliaments for UN Women, which will be published in early 2022; and
• Providing strategic advice regarding the alignment of Canada’s PFM programming in the Caribbean to the objectives of the Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP).

With over 15 years of experience in the Public Service Ashley has worked on both economic and social statistics. This experience was gained while working at Statistics Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada. Coupled with a Master’s degree in Sociology and Women’s studies she has extensive experience in research, data analysis and project management, and specializes in topics such as equity, racism, discrimination and gender gaps. She is currently managing Statistics Canada’s Disaggregated Data Action Plan –an initiative that supports more representative data collection methods, enhances statistics on diverse populations to allow for intersectional analyses, and supports government and societal efforts to address known inequalities and promote fair and inclusive decision-making. She also has wide-ranging volunteer experience from researching educational statistics in Africa to working with the Elizabeth Fry Society in our criminal justice system.

Erin has 9 years of experience working in the BC Government, with 7 of those years working in the Corporate Information Management Office in strategic policy and legislation. Prior to her recent arrival at the BC Data Service, she was a member of the small team that delivered the new Digital Policy Framework, including a new set of Digital Principles, and she held the lead pen on the development of the net new Managing Government Information Policy (MGIP). Erin is currently working on a Data Management Policy for the BC Government and assisting with the implementation of the new Anti-Racism Data Act.

Erin is a dedicated champion of equity and inclusion, appointed as lead chair of a cross-government working group developing a Gender and Sex Data Standard for the Province of BC, and as a Gender Equity Advisor for the BC Government. Erin has an MA and Ph.D. in History, focusing on gender and immigration identities.

Ian Thomson leads Oxfam Canada’s work on government relations, corporate engagement and feminist policy influencing in Canada and internationally.  He has also worked as their policy specialist on extractive industries and natural resource management.  Prior to joining Oxfam, he coordinated the human rights and natural resources program of a national ecumenical coalition and chaired the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability. He is a board member of the Canary Institute and the Maquila Solidarity Network, and holds engineering degrees from Queen’s University and the University of Toronto.

Cynthia MacFarlane is the Director of Compensation and Recognition at KPMG, leading the design and delivery of cash compensation programs to over 10,000 professionals. She has worked as both a compensation consultant at Mercer, and has led total rewards functions for two large federal Crown corporations. At Mercer, Cynthia led several provincial and federal pay equity projects.

Maja Bosnic, is an economist, specialized in public financial management and gender-responsive budgeting with 20 years of professional experience in international development projects. During her career, she has been cooperating with international financial institutions, bilateral donors and governments around the world – in the area of PFM reforms and GRB.

Ms Bosnic was a Team Leader of one of the largest global projects on gender-budgeting: Gender Budgeting in Ukraine Project funded by Sida (2013-2020). The main objective was to support Ministry of Finance of Ukraine and all line ministries in including gender aspects in financial and budget policies and programs. In her work with international finance institutions, including International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank group (WB), she has most recently cooperated with the WB PEFA Secretariat in developing new tools to ensure gender equality is taken up in public finance management processes (PEFA Assesment for Gender Responsiveness in Public Finance). She has been working with IMF on developing and implementing number of training programs globally -South Asian countries, African countries, Caribbean region as well as Europe in cooperation with IMF and Joint Vienna Institute. She was a member of Working group that developed sub-indicator SDG 5c1 (tracking finance for gender equality)

Ms Bosnic is currently Sector Lead for Governance portfolio of Niras International Consulting, where she coordinates the work on governance projects across 23 offices globally. She is also often invited to speak on the topic of gender and finance and gave TED talk at TED Women Conference in Palm Springs (2021).

https://www.ted.com/talks/maja_bosnic_how_to_share_public_money_fairly?language=en

Maryam Monsef is the Founder and CEO of ONWARD. She is a globally recognized feminist, leader, and changemaker. This Afghan-Canadian activist comes from a long line of strong and resilient women. She rose from refugee, to community organizer, to Cabinet Minister where she drove social and economic justice files for the Government of Canada at home and abroad.

Rumina Morris is an Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression, Equity and Inclusion expert providing consulting and coaching services to leaders and organizations who are committed to affecting change. She has spent over 17 years in leadership positions where she has managed diverse teams in the human services sector and currently serves as the City of London’s Director of Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression. Rumina has been a strong advocate for Social Justice and Human Rights and has used her privilege as a leader to draw attention to systemic inequities and demand change.

A dynamic and engaging individual, Rumina thrives on lifelong learning and unlearning. By creating space for others to do the same, Rumina is able to facilitate critical self- reflection drawing attention to unconscious biases.  Her expertise has bridged the gap between the vision of being an inclusive  organization and actioning those goals in an intentional and strategic manner.  She explores organizational culture with an equity lens to shed light on opportunities for growth.

Nirvana Mujtaba is a human rights activist with over 10 years of experience working on issues related to gender justice, labour and migrant rights and social protection of vulnerable and marginalized communities. She gained her technical expertise working with countries in Southeast Asia, East Africa, the Middle East, and North and Central America, and with UN agencies and international non-profit organizations. She has a MA in Economics from York University.

Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah is an award-winning Black feminist with over 8 years of local and international advocacy experience through feminist initiatives in the Ottawa-Gatineau region  and through working at Oxfam Canada and Global Affairs Canada. She became the Executive  Director at the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (CCGSD) in July 2020. The  Centre is a youth-focused organization that promotes diversity in gender identity, gender  expression, and romantic/sexual orientation in all its forms on a national level through services  in the areas of education and advocacy.

Samina Sami is the CEO of COSTI, a diverse social impact and innovation organization. In this role, she oversees a range of programs, including education, skills training, settlement services, counselling, and mental health.  Samina has a broad 26-year career in public sector working in government, universities and in community settings. She was amongst the first women hired as a Senior Instructor at the Ontario Police College, where she led the development of new curricula and training programs in community policing, hate crimes, and adult education. Her career has included oversight of justice and public safety programs and policies, large-scale transformation initiatives and multi-million-dollar transfer payment programs. Her sectoral experience spans justice, human rights, gender-based violence, education, innovation, and economic development.

A creative and results oriented professional with an enthusiasm for people, organizational change, and innovation, Samina has led diverse teams who have earned awards for innovation, teamwork, and excellence. In 2020, her team earned a York University presidential service excellence award and a commendation from the City of Toronto and the Red Cross for leading evacuation and relief efforts for residents of the Gosford Tower Fire. She also oversaw emergency planning and response for COVID-19. In 2016, her teams won the provincial Amethyst Award for leading the development of a gender-based violence prevention campaign, which was the most successful campaign created by the provincial government, with a global following. She also led an international summit on gender-based violence, in collaboration with governments, universities and community organizations.

She has worked with diverse teams internationally in Brazil, India, China and Hong Kong on international education and trade initiatives.

Samina holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, a Master of Education from the University of Toronto, a joint Global Executive Master of Business Administration from Schulich School of Business, York University and Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. In addition, she has a Senior University Administrators Certificate from the University of Manitoba.

Catherine (she/her) has been working in the field of community mental health for over 25 years, in a diverse range of national and provincial contexts, and always with a focus on person-centered care, and ensuring that lived experience perspectives are integrated into policies, programs and services. Catherine holds a Master of Health Science and brings her experience working closely with experts in mental health and substance use health, research and community engagement to her role Manager of Policy and Research. She works with the MHCC team, partners and stakeholders across Canada to ensure that achieving mental equity is a key area of focus in our collective efforts towards system transformation.

Margaux Wosk (Retrophiliac) is an Autistic, Non-binary, self-taught artist, designer, writer, entrepreneur, disability advocate and activist based in Vancouver, BC (Unceded Coast Salish Territory). Margaux has always been a creative person. Coming from an eccentric family of artists, they credit them for fostering their unique vision. They have been able to utilize their one-of-a-kind ideas as an outlet for positive change, self expression, and vibrant works of art.

Margaux designs merchandise including a line of neurodiversity pride pieces and hopes to break down barriers and eliminate stigma Proudly, they utilize their art to open a dialogue of what Autistic and disabled people are capable of. Margaux’s body of work comes in many forms, including vibrant, retro inspired paintings and mixed media work, to enamel pins, patches and stickers.

They have received multiple BC Arts Council Grants, their art was featured on the cover of York University’s Mental Health Literacy Guide for Autism, they also have extensive press coverage and have shown in multiple galleries.

Margaux’s merchandise is available on retrophiliac.etsy.com, as well as www.shopretrophiliac.com. They also have their items in 20 brick and mortar retail stores. They are the Lower Mainland West Director of BC People First, they founded the Facebook groups ‘Made by Autistics Community’ and ‘Made by Autistics Marketplace’.

Most notably, Margaux’s neurodiversity and autistic pride collections have garnered attention from around the world. Utilizing their art to open a dialogue of what disabled people are capable of, Margaux continues to trailblaze the way for other self-employed people in their position.