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Meet our CASJE executive 2025-2026!
Recontrer notre ACÉJS comité exécutif 2025-2026 ! |
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Manu Sharma
Founder and President Manu Sharma is an Associate Professor at Thompson Rivers University in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, where she teaches foundational courses in the Masters of Education program. Her research interests and publications in the field of education are based on equity initiatives, social justice pedagogy, deficit thinking, educational law, and international teaching practicums. Her most recent book, “Disruptive Learning Narrative Framework: Analyzing Race, Power and Privilege in Post-Secondary International Service Learning Experiences” was published by Bloomsbury in 2021. For more information, please visit her website: https://professormanusharma.com |
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Shelly Mehta
Vice-President & Program Chair Supervisor Dr. Shelly Mehta is a Professor, Coordinator, and the International Student Liaison at George Brown College, in the School of Early Childhood Education. Her work is centered on amplifying, historically silenced student, children, and family voices and narratives, especially newcomers, diasporic anti-racist, abolitionist, and liberatory frameworks, counter-narrative storytelling, and critical pedagogical and andragogical strength-based approaches. She is co-author of the ECE Report 2023 and co-lead of the ECE Faculty CARE Collective at the AECEO. Dr. Mehta is owner and educational consultant at McMehta Inc. and is also a certified Diversity & Inclusion Service Management (DISM) ISO 30415:2021 professional. |
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Alana Hoare
Program Chair Dr. Alana Hoare is an assistant teaching professor in the School of Education at Thompson Rivers University whose academic interests focus on the role of cultures and epistemologies and their influence on educational systems. She has an EdD in Educational Leadership from Western University where she explored culturally responsive governance and planning in higher education. Alana’s works focus on critical approaches to open education, and agency, gender, and power in leadership and sport. Previously, Alana taught elementary school and adult English language learners. She also spent nearly a decade as a quality assurance practitioner and maintains a research program in this field. |
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Mary Reid
Program Chair Dr. Mary Reid (she/her pronouns) is an Associate Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto (UofT). Mary is a first-generation settler on Turtle Island of Hakka Chinese descent. In 2020, Mary founded OISE’s Asian Student Alliance (ASA) because she saw a need to offer community and healing spaces for Asian students where they can authentically share their lived experiences with others who have similar backgrounds. Mary also served on UofT’s Anti-Asian Racism Working Group, which is committed to dismantling barriers and discrimination faced by Asian members across the institution. Her research and work promote a call to action for solidarity and unity against all forms of oppression by raising awareness on how and why oppression impacts different marginalized groups in unique ways. in 2022 Mary won OISE’s prestigious Award for Excellence in Educational Leadership for her outstanding work in fostering equitable pedagogy. |
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Andrew B. Campbell (Dr. ABC)
Member at Large (English) Andrew B. Campbell (DR.ABC) is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, in Leadership for Racial Justice in Teacher Education in the Master of Teaching Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. He is the Coordinator for the Black Future Educators’ Program (BFEP) and the newly appointed Centre for Black Studies in Education (CBSE) Director. His exemplary work has seen numerous awards bestowed to him, such as a 2024 recipient of the Black History Month Award, from the Jamaica Canadian Association; The 2022 Award for Excellence in Initial Teacher Education from University of Toronto; The 2021 Distinguish African Caribbean Award from University of Toronto, African Alumni Association; The 2021 Champion Educator Award from the Ontario Alliance of Black School Educators (ONABSE), and numerous others. His scholarship and teaching focus on advancing equity and belonging, affirming Blackness, educational leadership, 2SLGBTQIA+ issues, teacher education and Black educators’ pedagogy and practice. He has presented at numerous conferences and has delivered many presentations as a keynote speaker, motivational speaker, and workshop facilitator. He loves people, food, fashion, travelling and bringing his community together for a good meal. |
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Dany Dias
Member at Large (French) Dany Dias, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Teaching and Learning division at Université de l’Ontario français (UOf) in Ontario, Canada. She has been a social justice educator for fifteen years, first as a teacher in French-language public schools, then as a teacher educator in the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada and now at UOf. Prior to this, she worked for 18 years in mental health intervention and social work. Her research explores critical pedagogies in education, pedagogical relationality, social justice education, and education in French minority contexts. |
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Lucy Fowler
Member at Large (Indigenous) Lucy Fowler, PhD, is a Two-Spirit Métis woman, born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba and an active member of the Two-Spirit Michif Local of the Manitoba Métis Federation. Lucy is an educator, a community organizer, and an academic. She is a co-founder of the Mamawi Project and a founding member of the Circle of Editors of Pawaatamihk: Journal of Métis Thinkers, and serves on several boards, including the board of directors of Two-Spirit Manitoba and Full Circle for Indigenous Education. Lucy is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba, with a focus on Métis youth identity, Indigenous education, queer theory, hip-hop pedagogies, and youth cultures. |
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Hassina Alizai
Communications Director |
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Aleksandra Vojnov
Graduate Student Representative Aleks is a dynamic practitioner-scholar with over a decade of experience in post-secondary accessibility and accommodation services. Currently a PhD student at Queen's University, Aleks brings a rich blend of practical expertise and academic insight to their work, focusing on equity and social justice in teacher education. Their research critically examines the experiences of pre-service teachers with disabilities, with particular attention to practicum placements, mentorship models, and the systemic barriers embedded in current evaluation standards. Through both scholarship and advocacy, Aleks strives to influence inclusive policy, reimagine practicum frameworks, and create a more equitable future for all educators. |
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Denneisha Griffin
Graduate Student Representative & Awards Lead Denneisha is a Doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria. She holds an MA in Adult Education from UBC and an M.Ed in Teacher Leadership from Walden University. With almost 20 years of teaching experience, she has been a guest lecturer presenting on various topics related to social justice. Also, she worked on the USAID's Expanding Educational Horizon early education project in Jamaica, facilitating teacher professional development workshops to support underperforming schools. Her current research focus is on culturally responsive assessment for English Language Learners in Higher Education. |
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Cheryl Lee-Yow
Graduate Student Representative Cheryl is a Phd of Education student at Queen's University focusing on early childhood education and care research. Her research interests include early childhood education, education accessibility, inclusivity practices, GenAI and education, online education, at-risk youth and children, I-EDIAA, critical disability studies, and evaluation and community engagement. Currently, she works on various projects with focuses such as decolonial evaluation learning, technology and food security, teacher expectations in the early years, AI accessibility and knowledge, and disability justice. |
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Prilly Bicknell-Hersco
Graduate Student Representative |
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Gurkirat Singh Sidhu
Graduate Student Representative & Communications Support |
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Nicolas Richards
Graduate Student Representative Nicolas is a SSHRC-funded doctoral candidate. His research interests include film, popular culture, critical media literacy, and public pedagogy. His work can be found in the Journal of Popular Culture; Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies; Critical Arts; and Brock Education. Editorial assistant for Brock Education Journal, medium editor and author for the Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, editorial board member for The Journal of Popular Culture, his professional goals are to empower young people in my role as an educator. |
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Maxine Britto
Secretary/Treasurer Maxine is a postsecondary educator with over 20 years in adult education and leadership. In 2025, she graduated with her PhD in Education, focusing on postsecondary classroom assessment validity. Her areas of focus are how reconciliation, EDI, and sustainability can be important lenses to making interpretations about student learning. Maxine works as a Research Associate at the Dr. Gilles Arcand Centre for Health Equity (Northern Ontario School of Medicine). |
Past and current CASJE executive members. Photo taken by Shelly Mehta.
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CASJE Executive Committee 2024-2025
ACÉJS Comité Exécutif 2024-2025 |
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