Racha Abou Chakra has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Administration, a Master’s degree in Political Science specializing in International Relations and Diplomacy, a course in International Criminal Law and Procedures, summer school in Law and Armed Conflicts, Community-Based Participatory Action Research Course Training, Advocacy Bootcamp for Sustainable Development, ARMATUS Online Abuse Prevention Training, workplace, and Business Leadership and Financial Management Fundamental programs. Racha is a member of the United Nations Association in Canada Toronto Branch selected writer, an associate member of the Canadian Council on International Law. In addition, Racha is the first point of contact as Administrative Assistant at Milton Community and Family Services at the Salvation Army in Canada. Racha took the opportunity to engage with the Ontario Council for International Cooperation for training, education, and networking toward focusing on an interest in international development, global social justice, and human dignity. Moreover, Racha has years of experience providing customer service and administrative support in an office setting, committed to helping the community through development awareness projects and presentations. Racha is applying several hard and soft skills, for example, Microsoft office, management, research, analytical, leadership, written communication and oral, organization, initiative, problem-solving, attention to detail, teamwork, and language skills in English, French, and Arabic.

Hyang Cho has been working in international development for 13 years in the NGO and GO sector. Hyang is passionate about Diversity & Inclusion and equal opportunities that every person deserves. Hyang works as an executive director at Good Neighbors Canada, working for woman’s rights and health through education.

Kaitlyn Gilham (she/her) is a long-time health and equity advocate, currently works at CAMH as a Community Health and Epidemiology Coordinator. She earned her MSc in Population and Public Health from the University of British Columbia, where she developed a deep interest in the socioeconomic determinants of health. Climate change poses a great health and socioeconomic status risk to the world, and it will have the most pronounced impact on women and other equity-seeking groups. From this context, Kaitlyn is looking forward to bringing her public health and leadership expertise as a delegate to the CSW66.

Veda Jain (she/her) is a fourth-year undergraduate student at York University, pursuing a double major in political science and global health. She is also a fellow with the Mosaic Institute, where she works on projects to address racism and discrimination within Canada. Veda is passionate about global health advocacy. Much of her work in advocacy has focused on universal education, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases.

Sarah Kamau is passionate about championing the rights of the less privileged through advocacy and community development. While living in Kenya, she worked in various national and international organizations in refugee camps and in the humanitarian field. Through these experiences, Sarah has witnessed firsthand loss of lives and livelihoods, and forced migration due to climate change. Currently, Sarah contributes her expertise and passion for climate change action as the Climate Change Project Coordinator at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM); as well as the co-founder and coordinator of the Africa Climate Action Initiative (ACAI), a CAP Network initiative to coordinate and build the capacity of African communities and partners to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

Bella Lam (she/her) has over 20 years of experience in international cooperation, amplifying the work of local partners across regions of Latin America, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. As Director of Programs at the Jane Goodall Institute of Canada, she leads a team to address the convergence of three crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental inequity. She has in-depth experience with community-centred conservation and climate change adaptation/mitigation, recognizing that the well-being of people, animals and the environment are deeply interconnected. Her expertise in program management incorporates a strong focus on inclusiveness, gender equality and applying a rights-based approach to development.

Harshini Ramesh (she/her) is a Research Associate at Smart Prosperity Institute, where she focuses on researching clean economy policies. She is also the Executive Director of the Youth Policy Advocates’ Policy Corner, a platform working towards providing policy publishing and skill-building opportunities for youth in Canada. Through her years spent in biomedical and health education research, public health programming, and a health sciences education, she has shaped a unique multi-sectoral and interdisciplinary lens that she applies to her work. Harshini is an advocate for increasing meaningful youth engagement in policymaking and has furthered initiatives at local, national, and international levels.