Maria (she/her) is a Graphic Designer for YouthREX. She received her Bachelor of Design with honours from the YSDN Program at York University. As a designer, she focuses on thinking critically about the capacity that design has as a transformative tool to educate, empower, and inspire people, especially youth.

Outside of work, she enjoys illustrating, travelling, and hanging out with her dog Mango. Born in Colombia, Maria often likes to bring elements of her own culture into the work that she creates.

Hajar Seiyad (she/her) studied a double major in Mental Health Studies and Political Science at the University of Toronto. She is an avid qualitative researcher involved in initiatives focused on subjective well-being, patient-centered practice and policy, health equity, and knowledge mobilization. She is dedicated to co-creating opportunities by youth and for youth, as well as building an equitable future for all, by all.

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Anne (she/her) holds an Honours Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto, an Addictions and Mental Health Graduate Certificate from Humber College, and is currently pursuing a Master of Public Health at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her areas of interest include the social determinants of health, community development, healthy cities, and mental health programming.

Outside of work, Anne enjoys cheering for the Raptors, learning French, and going for lots of bike rides.

Nicole (she/her) was a placement student at YouthREX, driven by the desire to treat people with dignity and respect. She was completing the Addictions and Mental Health graduate certificate program at Humber College.

Nicole is also a health professional, serving as an Emergency Care Worker at the Canadian Red Cross. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health with a minor in Sociology from Brock University.

Nicole enjoys teaching kids at church and dancing to Afrobeats.

Rahma (she/her) is a PhD candidate at York University's School of Social Work. Her research examines surveillance and policing within public housing communities. Her areas of interest include neighbourhoods and housing, urban poverty/income polarization, youth development, social policy, race and policing, resiliency, and community surveillance.

Rahma has also worked in the non-profit sector for 14 years in youth engagement and settlement services for racialized newcomer Canadians, with a focus on Black women's health and wellbeing.

Sinthu (she/her) is a Research Assistant with YouthREX. Sinthu loves qualitative research (especially Institutional Ethnography) and has published her work in the British Journal of Social Work, Health & Social Work, and Intersectionalities: A Global Journal of Social Work Analysis, Research, Policy, and Practice.

Sinthu is also a passionate social worker at the University Health Network’s Red Blood Cell Disorders clinic. Here, Sinthu applies social justice, human rights, and anti-oppressive frameworks to provide counselling and advocacy to people with sickle cell disease, thalassemia, and other hemoglobinopathies. She has practice interests in supporting people at the intersections of racism and ableism.

Outside of work, Sinthu enjoys learning how to play the guitar, reading books, and spending time with her friends and family. One of her most favourite pastimes is watching theatre and musicals.

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Daniel Kikulwe completed his PhD in Social Work at York University in 2014 where he is now teaching. The focus of his doctoral research was on the work and practices of racialized child welfare workers in providing services to families and children.

His area of academic interest is in child welfare practices and policies, as well as immigration. Other areas of research interests relate to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Children and its applicability to the global south, as well as kinship care trends in Canada.

In the past, Daniel also has worked in child welfare, as a frontline staff and supervisor for 14 years. He has experience working with youth, families, and communities. His child welfare experiences have been both in Ontario and the Yukon.

Naomi Nichols is an Associate Professor (Sociology) and the Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Community-Partnered Social Justice at Trent University.

Until August 2020, she was an Associate Professor (Education) at McGill University.

Naomi is the Principal Investigator for a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada Grant called, Data Justice: Fostering equitable data-led strategies to prevent, reduce and end youth homelessness, and another called, Building from Experience: Youth-led strategies for homelessness prevention and housing stabilization.

She is also a research theme lead (knowledge mobilization) for the SSHRC partnership grant: the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness and a research theme lead (prevention) for the Networks of Centres of Excellence: Making the Shift: Youth Homelessness Solutions Impacts Accelerator.

Naomi's research activities and publications span the areas of social inequality; poverty; youth homelessness; youth justice; child welfare; education; “youth at risk;” youth mental health; higher education, research impact and community-academic research collaborations.

Neil Price is an educator, writer, and editor.

Neil is Executive Director at LogicalOutcomes, a not-for-profit consultancy that works to improve human services and social policy.

His writing has appeared in NOW Magazine, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Hazlitt, Studio Magazine, Canadian Art and The Conversation, among other publications. He was previously Reviews Editor at Humber Literary Review.

Neil’s doctoral research is focused on the experiences of Black people in colleges and universities.

Joey-Lynn Wabie is an Algonquin Anicinabe ikwe from Wolf Lake First Nation in Quebec. She is an assistant professor in Indigenous Social Work at Laurentian University located on Atikameksheng Anishnawbek territory (Sudbury, Ontario). Joey-Lynn works in communities at the grassroots level focusing on wellness, culture, and bringing people together. Her research interests are Indigenous youth's perspectives on Truth & Reconciliation, spiritual wellness/healing, and land-based teaching/learning.

Joey-Lynn takes the role of sister, auntie, cousin seriously and is dedicated to ensuring her culture and traditions are passed on through storytelling, ceremony, and the occasional latte.