In 2025 the federal government announced a 10-year plan to implement recommendations in the Black Justice Strategy. Aimed at reducing systemic racism and the over-representation of Black communities in the justice system, the strategy includes 114 recommendations covering areas such as policing, courts, corrections and social supports.
This webcast will bring community and government leaders together to discuss how and when the recommendations will be implemented, along with strategies to support effective communication, engagement and accountability.
A special thank you to our partners at the Foundation for Black Communities (FFBC) and Black Opportunity Fund (BOF) for their on-going guidance and support with this important discussion.
The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) is a federal Crown corporation mandated to raise public awareness of the causes and manifestations of racism in Canada. We work to strengthen the social fabric of our society by supporting, enabling and convening community groups and organizations through our grants, services and network of public, research and community partners.
Learn more at https://crrf-fcrr.ca/
The Foundation for Black Communities was established to support Black-led, mandated and serving charitable and nonprofit organizations across Canada. FFBC works to eliminate systemic barriers and advance the socio-economic outcomes of Black communities through sustainable funding sources and strategic partnerships.
Learn more at https://forblack.ca/
Black Opportunity Fund (BOF) is a community-led registered Canadian Charitable organization, that supports a prosperous, healthy and thriving Black Canada by challenging anti-Black racism in two ways. First, we respond to long standing underinvestment in Black communities. We do this by delivering sustainable and needs-informed capital streams, managed by Black people for the benefit of Black communities, which disrupt ineffective and disempowering contemporary funding practices. Second, we work nationally to strengthen collective actions by Black organizations and leaders, helping them to create new and more impactful ways to support and advocate for our community.
Learn more at https://blackopportunityfund.ca/
Prior to joining LEAF, Ms. Goba worked independently as a consultant and was regularly called on by government ministries, law schools, public school boards and schools, independent schools, law firms, and legal clinics to conduct investigations, provide trainings, and/or speak about human rights, equity and anti-Black racism.
Ms. Goba was the Founding Executive Director of the Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC), worked as an adjudicator and mediator at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and served as Commissioner and Interim Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. She led the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation as their Executive Director and worked in private practice focusing on human rights, racism, gender inequity, and disability discrimination. She has served on LEAF’s National Legal Committee, the board of the National Association of Women and the Law, and the board of the Human Rights Legal Support Centre.
Mohammed Hashim is the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, and has worked as a human rights advocate in Canada for the past two decades.
He has dedicated his career to supporting equity, inclusion, and community empowerment, and has contributed to various legislative and policy agendas to prevent and address racism and hate in Canada.
As CEO of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Mohammed leads the national Hate Crimes Taskforce with the RCMP to better understand the systemic challenges and gaps in addressing hate crimes and incidents in Canada, to support communities, and to equip policing services to prevent, investigate and support prosecutions related to hate crimes.
Fatma Hassan is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Foundation For Black Communities, Canada's first and only Black-led, Black-serving philanthropic organization. Prior to joining the Foundation, Fatma led the development of the inaugural Public Policy Department at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
Juanita Peters is known by many people, as many things. She is an actor, film and stage director, and playwright.
As a film writer and director she has given us: I Made a Vow, Hannah’s Story, Africville; Can’t Stop Now, and 8:37 Rebirth which has won mul-tiple awards in Canada, New York, London and Paris.
Juanita Peters directed two seasons of the Film Nova Scotia Award win-ning dramatic series “Studio Black” and the multi-award winning television series DIGGSTOWN.
As a playwright she has given us: The San Family, The Mother Club, I M Possible and The Green Book.
Founding member of Women In Film and Television Atlantic and Founding member of Atlantic Canada’s newest multicultural festival Nova MultiFest.
Member of Playwrights Atlantic Resource Centre, Canadian Actors Equity, Actra and the Directors Guild of Canada. Board member of The Robert Pope Foundation and Matchstick Theatre.
Named the 2023 Portia White Prize Winner by Creative Arts NS and the 2022 Woman of the Year by the union representing 28,000 professional actors across the country, ACTRA.
Juanita Peters is also a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee medal and the King Charles III Coronation medal.
In addition to this Juanita Peters is the Executive Director of the Africville Museum
Akwasi Owusu-Bempah, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto and Chair of the Governing Board of Massey College. He holds affiliate scientist status at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. His research examines the intersections of race, crime, and criminal justice, spanning policing, courts, corrections, and drug policy in Canada and internationally. Dr. Owusu-Bempah is the co-author and co-chair of Canada’s Black Justice Strategy. He began his academic career at Indiana University, Bloomington, and previously worked with the Canada’s National Judicial Institute, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Ontario’s Ministry of the Solicitor General. He publishes widely and regularly advises governments, justice institutions, and media.
Ms. Martine St-Louis is a Public Service Leader Who Translates Policy into Action
Ms. St-Louis is a results-oriented professional with extensive experience in designing and delivering various public-sector initiatives. Her experience includes project leadership, strategic planning, financial and human resources responsibilities, performance assessment, policy research and advice, recruitment, classification and compensation, performance and talent management, and sound public sector management.
Ms. St-Louis is a seasoned leader who has a deep understanding of the machinery of government. She has worked for central agencies including the Public Service Commission, the Department of Finance, and the Treasury Board. She has also worked in operational departments, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Natural Resources, and the Canada Border Services Agency.
Ms. St-Louis believes strongly in the importance of mentoring and developing others. She has built this into her ongoing work and has also obtained graduate training to become a more effective mentor, coach, and sponsor.
Craig Wellington is CEO for Black Opportunity Fund, a national charity that promotes socio-economic empowerment for Canada’s Black communities. At BOF he is currently helping lead transformative initiatives in the areas of health, justice, education, homeownership and entrepreneurship. Wellington has helped lead the development of BOF's investment entity, BOF Capital, which has launched a $100 million Growth Fund to invest in Black led businesses, and a $50 million Housing Fund to create opportunities for home ownership for Black Canadians.
Wellington has held leadership positions in not for profit organizations for more than 30 years, and is a tireless champion for social justice and equity. Craig is an accomplished EDI consultant, who has helped organizations in Canada and the U.S. transform their culture.
Craig is a 2025 recipient of a King Charles III Coronation Award, and was named to the 2023 list of Top 100 Canadian Professionals.
Dr. Emily Laidlaw is a Canada Research Chair in cybersecurity law and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary. She is also a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, an Associate Member of the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Law, Technology and Society and a Fellow of the Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies. She is currently serving as the Rovinescu Visiting Scholar on anti-hate speech at the University of Ottawa. Beyond academia, Dr. Laidlaw contributes her expertise on the boards of the National Cybersecurity Consortium and the Canadian Internet Society.
Her research centres on technology regulation, cybersecurity, and human rights, with particular emphasis on platform regulation, privacy, online harms, freedom of expression, and corporate governance. Dr. Laidlaw is the author of Regulating Speech in Cyberspace: Gatekeepers, Human Rights and Corporate Responsibility(Cambridge University Press, 2015) and co-editor, with Florian Martin-Bariteau, of the forthcoming book Security of Self: A Human-Centric Approach to Cybersecurity (Ottawa University Press, 2025).
Dr. Laidlaw’s academic journey began in the United Kingdom, where she earned her LLM and PhD from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and held her first professorship at the University of East Anglia Law School. She initially practised as a litigator and has since returned to legal practice, now operating her own law firm. In 2014, she joined the University of Calgary.
For over 20 years, Francis has worked with communities, institutions, governments, and service providers on issues of equitable social and economic integration of racialized communities. Francis’ current role as Executive Director of ActionDignity and previous roles as VP, Strategy at the Centre for Newcomers and former co-chair of the Calgary Anti-Racism Action Committee attest to his commitment to contributing to building an equitable Calgary community. He is a sessional instructor at the faculty of social work, university of Calgary, adjunct professor at the Cumming School of Medicine and currently a Board member of Canada’s first Black Foundation-Foundation for Black Communities (FFBC).
Ian Bailey is a reporter with The Globe and Mail’s Ottawa Bureau. This is his latest assignment in a journalism career that has taken him across Canada, from a posting as the St. John’s correspondent for The Canadian Press, through CP assignment’s in Toronto and Vancouver. Also in Vancouver, he reported for The National Post and the Province, where he covered federal and provincial politics.
Ian joined The Globe and Mail in 2007, covering politics, crime, the B.C. film and TV production sector, and a range of other stories while based in the Vancouver Bureau. His West Coast reporting included the Surrey Six murders, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and the 2011 Stanley Cup Riot.
Born in the U.K. and raised in the Toronto area, Ian graduated from York University and Toronto Metropolitan University.
Willow reports and writes stories related to Indigenous Affairs for the Globe and Mail, where she has been a staff reporter since May 2020. She is based in Northwestern Ontario, where she was born and raised.
Willow is a former videojournalist for APTN National News in Thunder Bay and a three-time finalist for the Canadian Association of Journalists awards and the recipient of the 2017 Emerging Indigenous Journalist award. She has covered stories of national and global interest including an assignment in Rome, Italy in 2022 when Pope Francis first offered an apology to residential school survivors from Canada.
Willow is Anisininew from Sandy Lake First Nation in Treaty No. 5 and a proud Kokum (grandmother) of four beautiful grandchildren.
Zilla Jones is an African-Canadian lawyer, writer and educator of Afro-Caribbean, Chinese and European descent living and working in Treaty 1 territory (Winnipeg). She received her Bachelor of Musical Arts degree from Canadian Mennonite University and her law degree from the University of Manitoba in 2011, where she won many academic and service awards and graduated with fourth highest standing in the class. She practices criminal defence and human rights law with Jones Law Office in Winnipeg, and has appeared at all levels of court in Manitoba and the Supreme Court of Canada. She teaches at the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba.
Zilla is the co-author and member of the Steering Group for Canada’s Black Justice Strategy, an initiative of the federal Minister of Justice, which made 114 recommendations to the Minister to eliminate anti-Black racism in Canada’s justice system. She currently sits on the Implementation Group for the Strategy. Zilla is also the Past Chair of the Board of Directors of the John Howard Society of Manitoba and a member of the Board of the John Howard Society of Canada.
As a public speaker and anti-racism educator, Zilla has presented to groups across the country, including the University of Manitoba, Dalhousie University, University of Toronto, Law Society of Manitoba, Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Black Opportunity Fund, Commonwealth Bar Association, and many more. She has twice represented Canada at the United Nations Permanent Forum for People of African Descent.
Zilla is also an acclaimed published fiction writer who has won the Journey Prize and the Writers Trust Rising Star award, amongst other accolades. Her debut novel, The World So Wide, was published this past spring and a collection of short stories will follow in 2027.
Anne-Marie Pham is a nationally recognized leader in diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), with over 25 years of experience working with diverse communities and workplaces across Canada. Based in Calgary, she currently serves as the Vice-President of Engagement at the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI), where she mobilizes research, education, and strategic partnerships to drive systemic change.
Anne-Marie holds a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) and a BA in Sociology, along with senior HR certification from the Society for Human Resource Management. She is a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory and has led many equity and anti-racism initiatives for organizations such as Spectra Energy, the City of Calgary, and the Government of Canada.
A first-generation immigrant and passionate community builder, Anne-Marie co-founded the Calgary Vietnamese Youth Association, the Asian Professional Network of Calgary, and most recently the National Council of Asian Canadians. She has served on the City of Calgary’s Anti-Racism Action Committee, is a current board director of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation as well as a member of the Government of Alberta’s Anti-Racism Advisory Council.
Her community contributions have been recognized with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Alberta Centennial Medal. Anne-Marie is a sought-after speaker on inclusive leadership, allyship, and anti-racism, and continues to mentor DEIA professionals and youth across sectors.
Darrin Spence is from Marten Falls First Nation. Darrin grew up between Constance Lake First Nation and Marten Falls First Nation. Darrin began his professional career with the RCMP, served 17yrs. Later moving on to working in policy and operational development with Nishnawbe Aski Nation in Community wellness response. This is where Darrin was introduced to the ISC Emergency Management Assistance Program with providing operational guidance to evacuated communities. Darrin became an advocate to redefining emergencies to include Social Emergencies to response models. Darrin was successful as the Ontario Provincial government funded 11 positions, later growing that funding to 20 positions. Darrin created the ontario First nation Emergency Response Association. FNERA had representation from all territories of the province. Darrin was recently elected to Council at Marten Falls First Nation.