Hodan

Hodan Ahmed is a senior UN Human Rights Fellow for UNDPAD and Founder of the Arawelo Institute for Leadership and Public Policy, with over 15 years of experience advancing public policy, gender and racial equity, youth justice, and community engagement. Recognized by the United Nations as one of the Global Top 100 under 40 Most Influential People of African Descent, she is also a published author whose work addresses anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, and systemic inequities, translating strategic vision into meaningful institutional change.

Nicholas Marcus

Nicholas Marcus Thompson is a human rights advocate, executive leader, and international speaker focused on confronting systemic inequities and advancing meaningful outcomes for marginalized communities. As President and CEO of the Black Class Action Secretariat, he led a landmark $2.5 billion proposed class action addressing anti-Black discrimination across federal institutions, while also advancing global justice initiatives through the World House Project and the United Nations.

Vanessa

Vanessa Fells is an African Nova Scotian equity advocate and Advisor of Equity and Access for the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society, dedicated to advancing education, justice, and community empowerment. She has represented Canada at the United Nations, contributed to national Black justice initiatives, and played key leadership roles in major equity and policy efforts across Nova Scotia and Canada.

Richard

Richard Sharpe is a human rights advocate with 30 years of experience advancing equity at both community and institutional levels, including senior leadership roles in the Canadian federal and Ontario public services. He co-founded the Federal Black Employee Caucus, has led major anti-racism and equity initiatives nationally, represented Canadian civil society at the UN, and is widely recognized as a sought-after speaker and educator on systemic and anti-Black racism.

Robin

Robin Browne’s activism addressing systemic anti-Black racism began in the late 1980's in Montreal with the ANC Solidarity Committee organizing against South African apartheid and AKAX protesting the shooting of young Black men by the Montreal police. He continues his work reimagining community safety as coordinator of the 613-819 Black Hub, creating a vision for a world without police or prisons or the exploitative capitalism they support.

Lerato

Lerato is the inaugural Associate Vice-President of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism at Acadia University, providing strategic leadership to advance equity, accessibility, and anti-racism across institutional policy, practice, and culture. Trained as an employment equity lawyer, her work is grounded in human rights, decolonial and intersectional frameworks, with a focus on transforming systems to address anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, informed by her legal practice in Lesotho and South Africa and her academic background from Rhodes University and Simon Fraser University.

Bernadeth

Bernadeth Betchi is a mother, a sister, a friend, and a human rights activist deeply committed to collective care and social justice. Grounded in the philosophy of Ubuntu  “I am because you are”, she believes in the power of community, solidarity, and shared responsibility. Through her work on a national and international scene, Bernadeth centres people, dignity, and connection, working to build spaces where individuals and communities can grow stronger together.

Bernadette

Bernadette Hamilton-Reid is an 8th-generation Afrikan Nova Scotian community advocate and Executive Director of the Afrikan Nova Scotian Decade for People of Afrikan Descent Coalition (DPAD), leading transformative work to confront anti-Blak racism and advance systemic change. Deeply rooted in historic Afrikan Nova Scotian communities, her leadership focuses on education, equity, and empowerment to ensure present and future generations not only survive, but thrive.