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Alejandra Bravo, Master of Arts 2021

Toronto City Councillor, Ward 9- Davenport

Alejandra Bravo was elected City Councillor in 2022. She has a 25-year history of leadership with civil society organizations. Driven by a commitment to equity, Alejandra's work has focused on helping communities understand and influence the government decisions that impact them. She was Director of Leadership and Training at the Broadbent Institute, where she built training capacity across Canada and led the institute's convening and work on democratic renewal. She was simultaneously the Director of Power Lab, a leadership learning initiative co-created with the Atkinson Foundation that was focused on local organizing for a more fair economy. Prior to that, Alejandra was the Manager of Leadership and Learning at Maytree, where for a decade, she designed and delivered innovative political and civic training for emerging and diverse leaders. 

For more than twenty-five years, I have supported community and worker organizing efforts, including in the development of leadership. The Adult Education and Community Development program had always been my goal, both to deepen my own practice and to be part of a learning community committed to enabling economic and social transformations.
 
Through the years, I completed my MA part-time, I grew into an adult educator and a more effective community leader. Today I am chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee of Toronto City Council and am accompanied by what AECD has allowed me to learn about making material change with and for people. In my own unfinished process of learning in collective action, being part of an academic community profoundly connected to practice sustains me as I face the challenges of my work.

Megan Haggerty, Master of Arts 2007

Consultant, World Bank

"Many new doors were opened for me through my MA in the Adult Education Program and Comparative, International, and Developmental Education Collaborative Program.

At OISE, I got involved with the Canadian Global Campaign for Education (CGCE), which was just being founded by Professor Karen Mundy. I became the CGCE’s first coordinator and project manager. Here, with the help of many others, I produced the national “Send my Friend to School” and then the “Every Child Needs a Teacher” curriculum. These works aimed to teach Canadian children about the international crisis in educational access, quality and equity, and give them the tools to join other children around the world in advocating for "Education for All."

I wove this activist/advocacy stream into my thesis, which explored a national education network's impact on education policy in Tanzania. I had the pleasure of working with Karen Mundy and Daniel Schugurensky – both world-class academics and leaders in their fields.

Since graduating, I have been consulting, advocating for and writing to improve international support (particularly Canadian support) for quality education in Southern countries. The connections I made at OISE and since have given me the opportunity to work with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), and UNICEF-Canada."

Winnie Ng, Master of Arts 1995

Unifor Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy, Toronto Metropolitan University

For over three decades, Winnie has championed the rights of workers through her involvement with various labour organizations and networks. Her research interest in anti-racism, equality, and capacity-building draws upon her extensive experience in social justice. She's recognized for her leadership in the Canadian labour movement, and recipient of numerous distinctions including the Urban Alliance on Race Relations Leadership Award, the United Farm Workers' Cesar Chavez Black Eagle Award, and the YWCA Women of Distinction.

Kelly Kay, Doctor of Philosophy 2023

Executive Director, Provincial Geriatrics Leadership Ontario

Dr. Kelly Kay brings more than 30 years of varied health system experience to her full-time work developing system infrastructure for clinical services focused on older adults in Ontario. She holds a Master of Arts in Leadership (Health Specialization) from Royal Roads University and a PhD from the University of Toronto (OISE: LHAE, Adult Education and Community Development).

Dr. Kay has participated in the development of quality health standards at provincial and national levels. She is an adjunct professor at Ontario Tech University and a Research and Teaching affiliate with the Institute for Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include health system co-design with older adults and interprofessional team-based care models. Her work fosters collaboration with older adults and health professionals to create new possibilities for integrated, person-centred care for older adults living with complex health needs and their caregivers in Ontario.

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Genevieve Ritchie, Doctor of Philosophy 2021

Lecturer, Western Sydney University 

After completing her PhD in Adult Education and Community Development, Genevieve joined Western Sydney University to design the Bachelor of Youth Work. The first accredited Youth Work degree in Sydney, the program centres on critical approaches to working with young people. Genevieve works with nongovernment organizations in the Western Sydney area to build close connections between youth work curricula and the sector.

Genevieve’s research utilises a variety of feminist and participatory methods to critically interrogate conditions of displacement, dispossession, racialization, youth resistance, public pedagogy, and democratic transformations. She works with community groups, artists, and youth-led initiatives to develop community engaged research, teaching, and education. 

Derya Tarhan, Doctor of Philosophy 2020

Assistant Professor, University of Guelph

Derya Tarhan’s research and teaching focuses on the theory, practice, and intersections of social and solidarity economy (SSE), community and capacity development, and just and participatory socio-environmental change. In his community-engaged research, Derya investigates the impact, limitations, and potential of SSE organizations, including but not limited to co-operatives, in enacting socio-environmental change, with a keen eye on popular democratic participation and social justice. Weaved through his research program are public policy design and implementation processes, social movements and community-based activism, and adult education and learning. Dr. Tarhan has also been involved in renewable energy co-operative development in Ontario and serves as a board member of the Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation.

Michelle Coombs, Doctor of Philosophy 2018

Executive Director, The Jean Tweed Centre

Michelle is a nonprofit sector leader with over 20 years’ experience working with homeless men, women and families and people living with mental health issues and addictions. Her theoretical interests include how discourse constructs notions of gender, difference and leadership and how this relates to the practice of leadership in the charitable sector. In her sector work Michelle applies an adult education approach to her leadership and community work.

She is presently the Executive Director of The Jean Tweed Centre, an organization that supports women and their families in the pursuit of health and well-being, and the Chair of West Toronto Community Legal Services. 

Simon Adam, Doctor of Philosophy 2017

Assistant Professor, York University, Faculty of Health

Simon is an assistant professor at York University’s Faculty of Health, in the School of Nursing. His program of scholarship centres around the mental health industry, its various institutional and discursive dimensions, the consumer/survivor experience, and alternative and counter-hegemonic ways of conceptualizing human suffering, pain, and crisis.

Simon’s other interests include social movements, activism, and resistance, particularly in the context of the medicalization of mental health. He has worked as clinician in the emergency department and volunteered on street outreach and harm reduction initiatives in Toronto, Canada.

Alex Abramovich, Doctor of Philosophy 2014

Independent Scientist, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)

An internationally recognized leader in the area of LGBTQ2S youth homelessness, Dr. Alex Abramovich works closely with municipal and provincial governments to develop strategies that address the needs of LGBTQ2S youth experiencing homelessness.

At OISE, their doctoral research investigated homophobia and transphobia in Toronto’s shelter system, looking at the experiences that LGBTQ2S young people have in the shelter system and how broader policy issues serve to create oppressive contexts for LGBTQ2S youth. In 2019, Alex was selected as member of  for Canada's Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Bethany J Osborne, Master of Art 2009; Doctor of Philosophy 2014

Program Coordinator and Professor, Honours Bachelor of Social and Community Development, Sheridan College

“What our communities need is leaders who are trained to listen, to be accomplices and to work collaboratively towards structural change. I am thankful for the learning and opportunities that I received through the Department of Adult Education and Community Development at OISE. I rely on that learning and on the community that I built through the program, as I support emerging leaders on their learning journeys”.

Bethany is an educator and community organizer with over 30 years experience working in the nonprofit and voluntary sector. She has an arts-based practice that she integrates into both her community and academic work. Bethany has worked with diverse communities for the past three decades, with a focus on finding ways to amplify voices from systemic excluded populations. Bethany has an interest in how interpersonal and structural violence impact our communities, and how communities impacted by violence can support each other in the process of healing, and in restoring a strong sense of agency.

For the past decade, Bethany has been a faculty member in the School of Community Studies at Sheridan College. She was hired to collaboratively develop a degree completion program called the (launched in 2022) for students graduating from human service diplomas, providing students with an opportunity to complete their honours bachelor degree in two years. Graduates from this program go on to impact communities supporting and mobilizing change across the sector, some taking a path through OISE’s program in Adult Education and Community Development.

Shama Dossa, Doctor of Philosophy 2011

‎Director Evaluation Research and Learning Unit, Aga Khan Foundation

Shama is a researcher and community development practitioner with over fifteen years of experience working in the Asia Pacific region. Her interests include participatory research methodologies, qualitative research, arts-informed research, empowerment theory and youth leadership.

She recently completed her tenure as Director Evaluation, Research and Learning with Aga Khan Foundation in Afghanistan where she headed the AKDN Quality of Life Study for Afghanistan. Previously, Shama worked with the Asia Pacific Resource and Research Center for Women (ARROW) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Shama has also held academic posts at Ryerson University, Aga Khan University, and Quid-e-Azam University.

Chris Glover, Doctor of Philosophy 2018

Adjunct Professor, York University
MPP, Critic Colleges and Universities Standing Committee on General Government

Dr. Glover is an Adjunct Professor at York University, teaching courses on education and public policy, and has taught at the University of Toronto and East York Collegiate. He has worked internationally, developing and teaching health programs for children in India, Kenya, and Turkey. Working as a research consultant, his clients include Toronto Public Health, the United Way of Greater Toronto, Parent Action on Drugs, and Trustees of the Toronto District School Board. His projects have successfully promoted high school students, and have evaluated community health and education needs. Chris is currently an MPP, representing the electoral district of Spadina-Fort York.

Sohelia Pashang, Doctor of Philosophy 2011

Professor and Academic Coordinator Social Service, Immigrant and Refugee Program, Seneca College

Dr. Pashang's research explores the lived conditions of non-status women and ways in which these women manage to navigate the system with limited access to human services, human rights, health, and legal support.

Prior to  her studies at OISE, Sohelia worked as a social worker and therapist assisting immigrants and refugees, children and families dealing with psycho-socio-physical challenges, survivors of war and torture, victims of sexual and physical abuse, people dealing with mental health and addictions, and other marginalized groups.

Jorge Sousa, Doctor of Philosophy 2005

Associate Professor, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Alberta

Dr. Sousa's research falls within the context of the intersection between community development and adult education, including community governance models, participatory decision-making, and housing policy and practice. Currently, Jorge is working with stakeholders interested in converting public housing into a tenant managed arrangement. The objective is to develop learning strategies to institute a process that can account for the needs of citizens and their housing community.