Equitable communities

UN Sustainable Development Goal: Reduced inequalities, Gender equality

Eider ducks and Inuit-led research in Canada’s North

A pair of Eider ducks is seen landing on a rocky shore. Photo credit: Alysha Riquier

“We are interweaving the tools of research as we understand them with diverse sources of biological information and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, localized and culturally relevant ways of knowing.”

- Dr. Christina Semeniuk

Eider ducks provide many things to Inuit communities in Canada’s north. But as the impacts of climate change are felt in the North, researchers are working to understand what this means for the distinctive black and white seabird that is a source of food, a commercial trade, and an important cultural focus for Inuit people.

Earlier spring weather may benefit the ducks by giving them plentiful food, but sea ice breakup increases the number of polar bears raiding eggs, which destroys the nest and scatters valuable and culturally significant Eider down feathers to the winds. Christina Semeniuk, in collaboration with Environment and Climate Change Canada and Carleton University, is working to support Inuit communities in gathering knowledge about the ducks and how they are affected by a warming climate.

“Our mission with this project is to understand what Inuit communities need, not to map Southern research priorities on to them,” says Dr. Semeniuk, whose predictive ecology lab at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research has done significant work with seabirds in the past. “We are interweaving the tools of research as we understand them with diverse sources of biological information and Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, localized and culturally relevant ways of knowing.” The project will knit research methodologies from both the natural sciences and the social sciences together with local sources of knowledge.

Conceptualized as a departure from the traditional academic mode of research, the project has the goal of being fully led by Inuit partners such as hunting and trapping associations and the community of Kinngait (“High Mountains;” formerly Cape Dorset). Academic partners provide support, but the objectives and the methodologies are both defined by the Northern communities. “We had to change the way that we think about research teams and project structures,” says Semeniuk, who adds that no data collection is being undertaken in the project’s first year. “This period is devoted to relationships and putting together the right team of coordinators and students.”

Even the process of applying for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s Discovery Horizons Grant, which will fund the work, revealed barriers. Discovery Horizon grants are designed to be interdisciplinary, and weave natural and social sciences together to meet the needs of communities. But the agency’s forms originally required individual collaborator names, and the Kinngait Hunters and Trappers Association does not wish their involvement to be represented by one person. The agency made its form more inclusive at the team’s request, by making it possible to identify an organization or whole community as a collaborator.

The team expects to learn much about eider ducks, but its goals go beyond data collection. “Research has a lot to offer communities threatened by climate change, but there is a tradition of leading with our own needs and values, instead of letting the community lead.” Semeniuk notes that the fifth and final year of the project will be devoted to supporting the community in how it wishes to use data that has been collected. “The purpose of our work is to interweave our knowledge with theirs and form something new—science that is for, and of, the people it impacts.”

“The purpose of our work is to interweave our knowledge with theirs and form something new – science that is for, and of, the people it impacts.”

- Dr. Christina Semeniuk

Breaking down barriers to employment

Odette School of Business professor Dr. Kemi Anazodo is an Employment Reintegration Research Advisor at the John Howard Society of Ontario.

“This work challenges biases and humanizes people with criminal records among future business leaders as they learn.”

- Dr. Kemi Anazodo

A criminal record can be difficult to overcome despite best efforts towards demonstrating redeemability and reform.

From this perspective, the criminal record can become an insurmountable barrier to the stability that comes with employment and housing. At the Odette School of Business, Kemi Anazodo works to study, unpack, and tear down barriers to employment for people with criminal records. Dr. Anazodo has been collaborating with the Centre of Research & Policy at the John Howard Society of Ontario (JHSO) for several years. When the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor signed a memorandum of understanding with JHSO in 2022, it put the relationship on an exciting new level, which involves a commitment to supporting initiatives of the Fair Chances Coalition.

Together with colleagues and research assistants, Anazodo worked alongside the team at JHSO to support and contribute to the development of material for EMPower, a pre-employment program that was delivered to promote employment and social participation among marginalized communities. The program ultimately helped connect job seekers who have been justice-involved with employers who are open to hiring them. The program was delivered in three cities in Ontario, and many participants had jobs lined up before even completing the full curriculum.

In her capacity as Employment Reintegration Research Advisor at JHSO, Anazodo has led the Employment Reintegration Research Team, comprised of academics spanning the United States and Canada. Together, they have partnered with the Centre of Research & Policy at JHSO to engage in employment research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. “Through engaging in this research, several employers have expressed an openness to the prospect of hiring someone who has a criminal record,” says Anazodo, but there are systemic barriers. “Several factors limit their capacity or attempt to hire, such as internal policies, or personal apprehensions and biases that are difficult to overcome.” Factors like background checks can also cause applicants to self-select out of the process, even when the work they are applying for is totally unrelated to what might appear in their history. “For example, should a DUI prevent someone from working in a bookstore, or any other job that doesn’t require driving? Criminal histories can be completely irrelevant to the jobs people are applying for, but getting employers to see that is a challenge.” Anazodo describes her research as holistic; she works to understand the needs of both employers and those seeking employment, and working with the Centre of Research & Policy at JHSO allows her to work directly with both groups. The goal is to dismantle biases and logistical problems that prevent companies from hiring justice-involved job applicants.

“I am proud to work in partnership with Centre of Research & Policy at JHSO, and while research is a big part of our partnership, we have a much wider mandate to translate and disseminate knowledge,” Anazodo adds. “It’s about having a real impact on people’s lives. Ultimately, I want my research to live within and beyond the academy.” She also brings her work back to the classroom. “This work challenges biases and humanizes people with criminal records among future business leaders as they learn. Fair chance employment matters, and we miss out as a society when we don’t give people an opportunity.”

“It’s been such a privilege to get the opportunity to collaborate so closely with Dr. Kemi Anazodo and the academics from the Employment Reintegration Research Team. Dr. Anazodo’s approach pairs academic rigour with a desire to make real-world impact—a commitment we share, and we are very proud of the work we have accomplished to date. Our innovative partnership with the Odette School of Business on initiatives like the Fair Chances Coalition serves to literally translate research into action, and influences the Canadian employment landscape when it comes to greater inclusivity for people who are exiting the justice system.”

- Reza Ahmadi, Director of Research & Evaluation, John Howard Society of Ontario

Expertise on the global stage

Dr. Laverne Jacobs (seated) and three students meet with Canada’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland and Legal Counsel. Back row, left to right: student Jessyca Durivage Morgan, Legal Counsel Mariam Khan, representative Patricia McCullagh and students Gabrielle Gibbs and Kayla Israeli.

“I want students to think about the possibilities that are out there for ways of sharing knowledge to help their communities. We often think about how to serve our immediate communities, but skills can have an impact on a global community.”

- Dr. Laverne Jacobs

Laverne Jacobs’ election to the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities almost didn’t happen. “I didn’t actually see the call for nominations when it first went out,” says Dr. Jacobs, who has taught in the Faculty of Law for almost 20 years, and then held the busy role of Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies. Colleagues encouraged her to put her name forward to become Canada’s nominee. Jacobs describes the process as multilayered. “I put my name forward with the support of several organizations in the disability community and was invited for an interview with Global Affairs. People may not realize this, but that’s only the beginning. Once I became Canada’s nominee, the next step was to run for election.” She campaigned for more than a year, giving talks and meeting with diplomats who reported back to the ambassadors who would ultimately cast votes at the UN. Jacobs is grateful for the support she received from the University of Windsor, Global Affairs, the disability community, academia and many others. She was elected to the Committee in June 2022, to serve a four-year term working to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities across the more than 180 countries that are states parties to the Convention.

On the UN Committee, Jacobs mobilizes years of research on the intersections of law and disability and strives to add focus on other intersecting lived experiences including women, LGBTQ2S+ people, people of different ages and racialized people. Her background as both human rights lawyer and academic, and her lived experience with disability, give her a unique and important perspective on the cases that come before the Committee. “The work is very governance-focused,” she says, “and learning about the many different governance structures that impact the lives of people with disabilities has been fascinating.” She describes the work as intense and deeply rewarding, adding that it is humbling to be able to work on an international level.

“There are so many untapped opportunities for Canadians with disabilities. Expanding public awareness about the Convention and how it works is very important to me.”

- Dr. Laverne Jacobs

Jacobs brings her UN Committee experience to the classroom at the Faculty of Law. She teaches a course called Law, Disability and Social Change and leads the Law, Disability and Social Change Project research cluster. She has also designed a seminar specifically on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities that offers students the opportunity to intern alongside her at the UN. “I want students to think about the possibilities that are out there for ways of sharing knowledge to help their communities. We often think about how to serve our immediate communities, but skills can have impact on a global community.” Jacobs also finds that her UN Committee work has expanded the scope of her research as she sees how the Convention can work in different ways. “Experiencing the Convention in practice is very different than reading it,” she says, smiling. “There are so many untapped opportunities for Canadians with disabilities. Expanding public awareness about the Convention and how it works is very important to me.”

It’s not an easy job, she concedes. Travel for people with disabilities can be challenging, and she often has had to take extra steps to get to the UN Committee because many aircraft do not have a cargo hold that can accommodate her wheelchair. But being able to bring her students to the UN in Geneva as part of her seminar on international disability rights law shows how great an impact her work can have. She hopes students will consider making disability rights law part of their legal careers and that they will aspire to global influence.

Accessing justice through the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Dr. Emmanuelle Richez (centre front) and her team hosted a conference exploring Charter rights in Canada.

How well do you know the rights guaranteed to you by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms? Emmanuelle Richez says the average Canadian is under-informed about the protections given to them by the Charter and are therefore at risk of having their rights violated. Dr. Richez is an expert member of the Court Challenges Canada, a program established in 1978 to help Canadians protect their constitutional rights, especially their language rights, which represent about one third of the protections afforded to Canadians by the Charter. Thanks to funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and contributions from the Department of Political Science, the Faculty of Law, the Outstanding Scholars Program, and the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, this year she leveraged her knowledge and network as well as her role as the 2022-2023 Fellow of the Humanities Research Group at the University of Windsor to host a community symposium on Charter rights and freedoms.

“Access to justice is a big challenge for Canadians whose Charter rights have been violated,” says Richez, whose goal in hosting the symposium was to increase awareness of Charter rights among average Canadians. The Humanities Research Group acted as the official host for the symposium, which brought together a spectrum of political scientists, legal scholars, and legal practitioners to explore the many ways that Canadians can demand their Charter rights through the courts and how accessing Charter rights intersects with race, religion, ability, and language. Funding in support of the symposium was provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Delivery in both official languages presented unique challenges for the symposium, but Richez recognized the value of making knowledge available to Anglo- and Francophone Canadians. The team engaged specialists in live translation with the tech tools to deliver the symposium in a hybrid environment. Despite taking place under threat of record-breaking snowfall in March 2023, several panels were standing-room only, with more than 100 participants joining virtually. “It can be difficult for people to attend these events,” notes Richez, “especially with a blizzard bearing down. Being able to stream our symposium expanded our reach and diversified our audience.”

Richez hopes that her work will help Canadians increase their knowledge of the Charter, especially locally. “Many in Windsor do not realize just how many Francophones are in our community, or how many of them are newcomers.” Lack of access to services in both official languages can make it harder for new Canadians to thrive in our region.

Digital storytelling for change in education systems

Esther Ezen, seen here speaking to a group of students in Nigeria, is one of the activists who created a digital storytelling piece for Leading Change. Ezen works for CHEVS, a youth-led organization campaigning for LGBTQ2S+ rights in West Africa.

Catherine Vanner has been trying to understand gender-based violence in schools since the start of her research career, and she is bringing student activist stories, both in Canada and internationally, to the fore in innovative ways in the Faculty of Education. Her newest project, Leading Change, lets young people lead the conversation about their experiences advocating for gender transformative education.

Dr. Vanner’s work is informed by a key principle of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is that children and young people should have a say in the issues that affect them. The Leading Change project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, consults youth activists working to make education more inclusive and empowering. It uses a digital storytelling approach that allows the research participants to craft the story they want to tell. “The activists tell us what’s important to them and the main messages they want to communicate, and or team’s role is to work with them to record and refine digital stories that document their activism experiences and then get those stories out into the public discourse. They own the process and set the agenda.”

This year, Vanner and her research team are working with global partners Plan International and Transform Education to assemble three focus groups with youth activists from around the world. The discussions will begin with prompt questions (for example, what would you tell your younger sister if she wanted to become an activist?) and allow the participants to introduce their personal histories. From there, the researchers will mentor the young participants to develop short, multimedia presentations that tell their stories in a compelling way. The digital stories will be publicly screened and made available on the Transform Education website in hopes they will help spark new conversations about gender-transformative education and youth engagement, including giving youth pathways to participation in decision-making bodies. Vanner advocates for policymakers in education to be influenced and informed by the voices of young people. “They are the ones experiencing education systems firsthand, so involving them in design and implementation enhances the relevance and impact of those systems.”