Faculty of ArtDr. Farah Shroff
My name is Farah Mahrukh Coomi Shroff. As a social justice scholar, educator, organizer and activist, I really care that we all get a better deal in this world. I started Maternal and Infant Health Canada, (MIHCan) so that women, and those who identify as women, and children here and abroad have the best chances of being healthy. MIHCan focuses on education, research and innovation. Read more
Helina Jolly
Helina is a National Geographic Explorer and PhD candidate at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES). Broadly, her research interests are ecosystem services, Indigenous rights, gender studies, biodiversity conservation and environmental policies. Her doctoral research will examine how the relationship between Adivasi communities and forest ecosystems changed as a function of post-independence forest policies of India. Before joining IRES, Helina worked in India for nearly six years on various environment and development sector projects in association with Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), Centre for Science and Environment and Clinton Climate Initiative. Read more
Sandra Suasnabar
Sandra Suasnabar Alberco is an urban Indigenous queer migrant woman of Andean descent from Lima, Peru. For more than 10 years, Sandra has worked in non-profit, social justice and anti-violence agencies serving diverse communities affected by the interconnections of colonization, white supremacy, patriarchy and systemic violence. She served as the manager of the AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre (SASC) from September 2018 until February 2019. Read more
Tebogo Tebby Leepile
Tebogo Tebby Leepile is pursuing a Doctorate of Philosophy in Integrated Studies in Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and is a UBC Public Scholar. In her research, she aims to understand the association between household food security and the nutritional status of women of childbearing age and young children amongst the Indigenous People (San/Basarwa/Bushmen) in Botswana. She will also explore the development, role and use of Indigenous-knowledge based nutrition interventions. Tebby hopes to expand this work into other African countries in the future due to the scarcity of information on these groups across the continent. Her other research interests include women empowerment, research ethics and policy design and evaluation. She is adamant in engaging with the gendered dynamics in her research, and provoking more academic opportunities for women like her. Read more
Christine D’Onofrio
Christine D’Onofrio is an Instructor at the University of British Columbia, Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory. She teaches and practices in lens-based and digital media. Her recently-launched user-content-generated archive site Intuition Commons aims to connect women artists and cultural contributors by way of intuitive, affective, and tacit links that inform creative output and ways of being in the world. User interaction activates the online archive as viewers navigate an array of narratives that fed a visual installation shown in the Fall 2018 exhibition Collective Acts at the Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery at UBC Vancouver. You can view her portfolio at http://www.christinedonofrio.com/ Read more
Niki Najm-Abadi
My name is Niki, I use she/her pronouns. I am an uninvited migrant here on Coast Salish lands. I live on Squamish lands and work and study here on Musqueam lands. I am Iranian, and my intersecting identities of being a woman of colour guides a lot of my activism. At the heart of what I’ve strived to do is create space and hold safe space for folks. Community means something different when you’re marginalized; you face risks and persecutions on a campus like UBC. My organizing has always, first and foremost, wanted to create a space that bridges difference for folks. A lot of that is guided by my lived experience, but it’s also guided by the experience of other brilliant folks —women of colour, non-binary folks of colour— that want to help make it happen.
I’ve organized with the Women’s Centre for three years now, and am co-president. I also work at the UBC/AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre. At the SASC, I do outreach and education. A lot of my work is providing education and helping other folks facilitate space that is survivor-centric and intersectional in their approach to fighting sexualized violence and rape culture.Read more
Marianne Vidler
In my work, I see women and families every day that are suffering horrible health consequences that are just blatantly unjust. And that motivates me. Seeing those injustices really drives me to improve their health in ways we know we can, with things that are preventable, treatable and easy to monitor.
I am also motivated by the opportunity to meet and bond with other female researchers, especially junior researchers and clinicians in the countries where we work --so mostly and in Africa and South Asia-- and developing friendships, bonds, partnerships and capacity-building that we have over the years. To see these partners grow, advance and flourish, and having that relationship and bond, women helping each other through maternal health, is my call to action. Read more
Sara Eftekhar
Every place and person has a role to play in advancing gender equality.” Sara is currently a Labour and Delivery Nurse at B.C Women's Hospital and a research nurse with the UBC examining the effectiveness of a Health Promotion Intervention for women who have experienced intimate partner violence. For the past few months, she has been working with the Youth Secretariat and holding round table discussions with youth to create Canada's first ever youth policies. Read more
Do you know someone who should be profiled? Tell us more…
