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Michelle��Paul��is a mother, treaty rights holder, water protector, land defender, advocate and activist. She is a member of the Wasoqopa'q (Acadia) First Nation. Her advocacy work focuses on Indigenous allies and settler solidarity to resist colonial infringements on Mi’kmaw sovereignty, including the Alton Gas Resistance movement in Mi’kma’ki.

Lisa��Bland��is a registered nurse, health advocate, and community leader from the historic African Nova Scotian community of Windsor Plains, Nova Scotia. With nearly two decades of experience in healthcare, she has worked across perinatal and women's health,�� gynecology, elder care, and health promotion.��Lisais currently pursuing a Master of Science in Nursing at ȫ��̽��, with a research interest in menstrual equity for African Nova Scotians.��

Lisa��serves as the Valley Regional Representative on the Council on African Canadian Education and sits on the board of the Health Association of African Canadians, where she helps advance equity-focused policy and community engagement. She is the co-founder of the Avon River Days Society, a grassroots initiative celebrating culture and community in West Hants, and a longtime volunteer with Girl Guides of Canada supporting youth leadership and empowerment.��Lisa��is widely recognized for her leadership in community health, education advocacy, and rural community development and the recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Dr.��El��Jones��is a poet, journalist, professor, and abolitionist living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was the 5th Poet Laureate of Halifax and a 2015 resident of the International Writing Program at University of Iowa.��El��was the poet in residence at U of T Scarborough in 2021. She won 2 Atlantic Journalism Gold awards in 2018 and 2019. In 2016,��El��was a recipient of the Burnley “Rocky”��Jones��human rights award for her work with prisoners. She was the 15th Nancy’s Chair in Women’s Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University.��El��received her PhD in Cultural Studies at Queen’s University and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political and Canadian Studies at Mount Saint Vincent University.��

El��was the lead author of the report,��Defunding the Police: Defining the Way Forward for HRM. Her second book,��Abolitionist Intimacies, a collection of poetry and prose examining abolition through Black feminist practices of care and resistance is being released from Fernwood Press in November 2022.��

Huwaida��Medani��is The Employment Equity Manager with People and Culture at ȫ��̽��. She brings over 20 years experience in equity, diversity, and inclusion. She holds a Master’s degree from the Mount Saint Vincent University and has received and gave extensive training in equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.��Huwaida��has��expertise��in community connections, employment equity planning and implementation and leadership development.��

Outside her day job,��Huwaida��is active in her local Sudanese-Canadian community and the broader community of immigrants and newcomers in Nova Scotia.

Karen Mutyabule currently serves as the Director of Equity and Community Supports at University of King's College. She is a strategic leader with multi-sector experience in driving transformative change at the intersection of equity, strategy, risk management and organizational culture. She leads initiatives that address gaps and turn complex challenges into actionable solutions that strengthen institutions and communities.��

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Dana Elborno is a Palestinian-Canadian social and human rights advocate, spoken word poet, and multidisciplinary artist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She holds a degree in Child and Youth Studies with a minor in Psychology from Mount Saint Vincent University and currently works as a mental health clinical worker with Autism Nova Scotia at the IWK, supporting youth and families in navigating care, identity, and healing.

As a member of the Palestinian diaspora, Dana’s advocacy is deeply rooted in both personal and collective history. Her family, like millions of Palestinians, was forcibly displaced during the Nakba—a legacy of loss that continues to shape her understanding of justice, belonging, and resistance. Her activism began at the age of 17 following the events in Sheikh Jarrah in 2021, when she recognized a critical need to amplify Palestinian voices within her local community in Halifax.

Since then, Dana has dedicated herself to bridging global struggles with local realities. Her work focuses on raising awareness about Palestinian liberation while addressing intersecting issues such as systemic violence, gender-based violence, apartheid, and ongoing displacement. She is particularly passionate about engaging youth and marginalized communities, creating spaces for education, dialogue, and collective action.

Alongside her advocacy, Dana has recently expanded into the world of art as a powerful extension of her voice. Through spoken word and creative expression, she transforms lived experience into storytelling that is both intimate and political. For Dana, art is not separate from identity—it is a continuation of it. Coming from a lineage of Palestinians who create, she believes that to be Palestinian is to be art in itself. Art is not just what she does—it is who she is, because she is Palestinian.

Her work exists at the intersection of healing and resistance, using both clinical practice and creative expression to challenge injustice, hold space for community, and imagine futures rooted in liberation.

Liza Arnason BA, MA��is the founder and Chair of the Ase Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities, Owner and Principal of Arnason Consulting, Chair of the UCalgary Black Alumni Network, and above all a mom, grandma, and mentor.

Liza's commitment to the principles of "nothing without us" and "for us, by us", has always been the cornerstone of her work as an educator, administrator, and community advocate. Her depth of knowledge and expertise is informed by her lived experiences, research and policy initiatives, and work experience over 30 years.

Liza draws on critical pedagogy, including Black Feminism, disability justice, and critical race theories to inform community-based research and policy change initiatives. She unapologetically brings the lived experiences of those intersectional experiences of race, gender, and disability to the "table," identifying nuances, gaps, and disparities within systems, structures, and research. Through resistance and collective leadership across Canada, Liz continues to design and advocate for new models and systems that will affect real change.