Advancing Anti-Racism and Resilience through Mentorship and Leadership

Marcel Cadogan is an experienced Registered Clinical Counsellor (R.C.C.) with the B.C. Association of Clinical Counsellors. Marcel has worked in the BC School Districts as a Counsellor for about 7 years. He also serves the community via his own private counselling and consulting practice. Marcel has a passion and understanding of the importance of racial and ethnic identity and the obstacles that are apparent for those of a minority racial/ethnic background. It is his goal to provide strategies, awareness and understanding on how various forms of racism in the professional space impact and challenge mental health.

Valerie Jerome is an African-Canadian retired Track and Field sprinter, educator, and political activist. She competed in the women’s 100 metres at the 1960 Summer Olympics. She finished third in the 1959 Pan American Games 4 × 100 metres relay. Jerome also finished seventh in the 1959 Pan American Games long jump. Jerome is the only Canadian athlete to compete in five track and field events in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, or Pan-American Games. She is the sister of Harry Jerome and the granddaughter of John “Army” Howard, Canada’s first Black Olympian in 1912.

Janelle Reid is a multidisciplinary artist with a passion for singing, acting and marital arts. She has a Bfa double major in music composition and theatre and has a second bachelor’s degree in Education. Her ability to sing in a variety of genres has granted her the opportunity to sing alongside a wide range of other artists. She is always excited to take the opportunities given to share her passion of singing and performance as a means to bring people together.

Carolyn Roberts is a renowned educator, speaker and storyteller with a wealth of experience and expertise in Indigenous education and decolonization. She is a St’at’imc and Sto:lo woman belonging to the Thevarge family from N’quatqua Nation and the Kelly Family from the Tzeachten Nation and a member of the Squamish Nation. Throughout her illustrious career as an educator and administrator for over 20 years, she has consistently demonstrated a passion for supporting Indigenous resurgence through education.

Currently Carolyn holds the position as an Indigenous academic and Faculty Lecturer in the Teacher Education Department of the University of British Columbia. Her dedication to building teachers’ understandings in Indigenous history, education, and ancestral ways of knowing has not only garnered her recognition within education community, but it has also had a positive impact on the decolonizing of the education system.

Michael Newman is a Regional Emmy award winning TV personality, journalist, actor, and mindfulness meditation facilitator. He has extensive experience as an on-air talent for both live and pre-recorded broadcasts, and as an editor for most of his projects. He is recognized for making an impact in his roles, such as serving as the Community Reporter for Global BC, British Columbia’s top-rated news organization, and hosting the travel documentary series, New Mexico True TV.

Beth Applewhite is the District Principal of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Reconciliation with the Burnaby School District. BC-born and raised, Beth is a bi-racial educator of Trinidadian and Scottish heritages. During her 27 years in education, she has been unrelenting in her determination to challenge the status quo and create equitable experiences and spaces that both acknowledge racial bias and celebrate personal and cultural identities. Beth taught in Burnaby for 14 years before becoming a Vice-Principal in Surrey and later in Coquitlam. She recognizes that most folks value diversity, equity and inclusion. The challenge is encouraging them to be vulnerable enough to explore and reflect on their own biases, practices and rituals that contribute to school/district culture.

Beth has been recognized for her work, including the BC Lieutenant Governor’s Community Achievement Award (2019). She was nominated for a YWCA Women of Distinction Award (2020) and was nominated for a Premier’s Award in Education (2020/21). She has also been named one of the 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women (2020/2021). Beth is a founding Board member and the inaugural president of the BC Black Educational Leaders Association.

Dr. June Francis is co-founder of The Co-Laboratorio (CoLab), Special Advisor to the President of Simon Fraser University on Anti-Racism, director of the SFU Institute for Diaspora Research & Engagement, co-founder of the Black Caucus at SFU and an associate professor in the Beedie School of Business. She is also the chair of the board of directors at the Hogan’s Alley Society, an organization whose mission is to advance the economic and cultural well-being of people of African descent through the delivery of housing, built spaces and programming. She is an advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion for racialized groups as well as human rights through her research, consulting, media appearances and volunteering. June’s extensive experience spans the private sector and the public sector, nationally, regionally and locally, as an entrepreneur with civil society on governance boards, and as an academic.

June has been recognized by the Province of British Columbia and the National Congress of Black Women as a Trailblazer and was named to Vancouver Magazine’s 2022 Power 50 list. The City of Vancouver has also recognized her for her contributions to education and to the City. She is the recipient of the 2021 Rosemary Brown Award for her exemplary work to bring equality for girls and women both nationally and internationally, and the Service Award from the Beedie School of Business for her contributions to the community, among other accolades.

Dr. Glory Ovie is an assistant professor at the Department of Educational Studies, Faculty of Education. She holds a PhD from the University of Calgary. She is a former K-12 teacher and administrator. Dr. Ovie was also a visiting scholar at the Universidad Nacional, Sede Regional Brunca in Costa Rica.

Her research interests include crisis management in schools, educational leadership and administration, equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization, the intersections of teaching and learning, mental health and well-being, and research methodologies. Dr. Ovie’s research seeks to disrupt the status quo in teacher education, making practices more inclusive, equitable, and anti-racist. In her research, she employs mixed methods and qualitative studies, including ethnographies, duo-ethnographies, and narrative inquiry.

A UBC alum, Nikitha teaches and works towards truth and reconciliation on the unceded and traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh People. Recently, she has begun her PhD journey at the University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. This learning venture reinforced her interest in the role of Black women as educational leaders. During her career, Nikitha has successfully piloted district learning programs focused on Black Canadian History, supported the first UBC Black Futures program, and contributed to a Black Peoples’ History of Canada, among other local and national projects. She is also engaged in supporting pre- and in-service teachers in the areas of anti-racism, anti-oppression, and inclusive classroom practice both in English and in French. Currently, she sits as an executive member of BC Black Educational Leaders Association (BC BELA). In and out of the classroom, Nikitha is focused on empowering students and teachers to be joyful, critical, and engaged