Areena Antoine
Fluent in French and English, Areena Antoine was born in Mauritius Island and grew up in Vancouver, BC. Areena is an undergraduate Sociology student at the University of British Columbia. Sociology has helped Areena discover her passion for women’s rights. After her studies, she hopes to become a lawyer specializing in human rights. Passionate and dedicated, Areena Antoine is the host of Self-Love Lounge Podcast which is a platform for empowered women to empower others.
Her extra-curricular activities include mentoring with Go Girls for building young girl’s confidence and self-awareness to thrive, and in the past has volunteered with the Francophone Association of Surrey and with the Association Canado-Mauricienne de la CB.
Noor Fadel
Noor Fadel is an award-winning educator, spoken word poet, and public speaker. In 2017, her Facebook post on her experience with racism and violence in Vancouver went viral, reaching over 10k views and 7.5k shares and prompting Justin Trudeau to officially call Noor for her bravery in telling the story. Since her pivotal speech at WE Day Vancouver and Edmonton, Noor has been featured on CBC, Vancouver Sun, CTV, Richmond News, Global News, The Guardian, Huffington Post, BBC UK, AJ News and in news outlets across North America and Europe. Her story has gotten her invitations to speak at events and work with high school students.
A believer in the enormous opportunities that education and social advocacy provides, Noor inspires students, educators, and communities with her conviction that everyone has the right to “live unapologetically” and achieve their dreams. Drawing on personal experiences, Noor examines the role of race, culture, gendered base violence religion and spoken word poetry in student and racialized women experiences in Canada. An impassioned and dynamic speaker, she incorporates creative elements into her work such as spoken word poetry and audience collaboration. Noor is pursuing an Associate of Arts degree in Peace and Conflict Studies. Noor is known for her unique combination of down-to-earth authenticity and inspiring eloquence.
Rebecca Pacheco
Rebecca Pacheco (she/her) graduated with a Masters of Social Work from Ryerson University. She has over 5 years research experience and has led and assisted on many research projects. She is driven by her passion for gender equity and her research interests include technology-facilitated sexual violence and gender-based violence. She completed her undergrad in Social Development Studies at the University of Waterloo where she minored in political science and specialized in social policy and social action.
At YWCA Canada, Rebecca coordinates national projects and research. Currently she is leading the Not Online. Not On Campus project, which aims to address sexual violence and technology-facilitated sexual violence on post-secondary campuses across Canada. She is also leading the Block Hate project, a research and knowledge mobilization project aimed at creating solutions for online hate speech and hate crime in communities across Canada. You can find Rebecca on LinkedIn here.
Sydney Piggott
Sydney Piggott (she/her) is civil society leader, researcher, and advocate for equity and inclusion on a global scale. Sydney is the Director of Community Engagement at Elevate–an organization connecting thought leaders, innovators and policymakers to solve complex social problems and the Canadian headquarters of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She is also a Fulbright Canada Fellow, a British Council Future Leaders Connect fellow, and a contributor at Btchcoin News. She is a thought leader who has been a speaker at international events including the Commission on the Status of Women, Women Deliver Conference, and RightsCon.
Sydney holds a Master of Global Affairs from the University of Toronto – Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy and a bachelor’s in International Development Studies from McGill University. She brings an intersectional feminist lens to all her work informed by her proud Afro-Caribbean heritage.
Tara Small
Tara Small is a Canadian-Caribbean technology educator based in Montréal. She holds both a Bachelor of Social Sciences and Master of Arts in Criminology with a specialization in women’s studies from the University of Ottawa. Through her academic and professional journeys, coinciding at unique intersections where she thrives as a black woman, she works to empower and educate youth on how they can be proactive members of society by creating the world they wish to live in. Strong-hearted, passionate and engaged with her community, Tara brings a flare for educating those most in need, not only because of their socio-economic or cultural backgrounds, but also on the basis of their need for hope in a future where they can thrive without barriers.
You can find Tara’s BIPOC Representation on Instagram at: @congr.ts
Ruby Thelot
Ruby / aka Justice on-line / is an artist, writer, and curator based in Montreal. His work focuses on the long-term implications of technology as it intersects with culture, society, and art. His work has been featured in Ljubljana, Berlin, and Toronto.
You can find Ruby on LinkedIn.