SME - Subject-matter expert

Expertise: Media and Culture, Human Rights, Media Policy, Ethics, Canada and Multiculturalism, Islam and Media Representation, Interpersonal Communication, Racism, Social Justice

Associate Professor at the School of Social Communication | Saint Paul University, Ottawa ON

Reach out to Dr. Aliaa Dakroury

Dr. Aliaa Dakroury is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Communication, Saint Paul University. She holds a PhD from Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication. She taught at the University of Ottawa’s Department of Communication and Carleton University’s Departments of Sociology and Anthropology, Law, and Journalism and Communication. Her fields of interest are: communication rights; history of communication; globalization and information technology; governance and Canadian media policy; social justice and cultural rights; and Islam and media representation.

Professor Dakroury has taught various classes on a variety of subject, such as: Media Ethics; Media and Great Social Debates; Knowing the Media; Interpersonal Communication; Organizational Communication; Electronic Journalism; Theories of Mediated Communication; Media and Religion; Women, media and Islam, among others.

Professor Dakroury is the co-editor of the Global Media Journal—Canadian Edition, and her publications appear in various journals, including the Journal of International Communication, Media Development, the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Studies in Contemporary Culture, the Journal of InterGroup Relations, the Global Media Journal, the Journal of Culture, Language, and Representation, among others.

Expertise: Transformative Leadership, Interpersonal Communication, Cultural Diversity, Mental Health

Assistant Professor at the School of Transformative Leadership and Spirituality | Saint Paul University, Ottawa ON

Reach out to Bianca Briciu

I am assistant professor at the School of Transformative Leadership and Spirituality, Saint Paul University. I teach courses in emotional and spiritual intelligence, positive psychology, mindfulness and transformative leadership.

I am also a certified coach in Emotional Intelligence and the founder of Emotional Balance. My passion is to help people integrate intellect and emotions in order to experience well-being, wisdom and compassion.

I lived and studied in four different cultures and I have a great respect for cultural diversity. I did research on migrant experiences and collective trauma, a topic I am very interested in. I also have a research background in gender equity, partnership based relationships, empathy and compassion.

Expertise: Intersection of Health Law, Children's Rights, Social Assistance, Immigration Law

Pro Bono Ontario lawyer at SickKids, Toronto ON

Reach out to Lee Ann Chapman

Lee Ann Chapman is the Pro Bono Ontario lawyer at SickKids. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto Law School. Since her call to the bar, she has focused her practice on social justice issues, particularly with respect to children and youth.

Lee was the originating lawyer in the Family Legal Health Program at SickKids, in partnership with Pro Bono Ontario, over 12 years ago. The Program, Canada’s first Medical Legal Partnership, is a free legal service to patients and families at SickKids, addressing legal impediments to child health. At SickKids she has developed an expertise on issues related to newcomer health, due to the significant percentage of newcomers in the patient population. She has been a guest speaker at national and international conferences on Refugee Healthcare. She has also contributed to law reform at provincial and federal levels with respect to the needs of children whose parents have precarious status.

Before coming to SickKids Lee was a children and youth rights lawyer at Justice for Children and Youth, where represented young people on legal matters at all levels of courts and tribunals.

She has contributed to several articles in journals and books on issues related to Children’s Rights in Healthcare. She is a member, and former Vice Chair of the Canadian Coalition on the Rights of the Child, where she made submissions to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, on shortfalls pertaining to child health in Canada.

Expertise: Immigrant Mental Health, Community and Hospital Mental Health Standards Subject Expert, Mental Health and Social Systems Navigation

Registered psychotherapist, College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario University Health Network; Accreditation Lead, Toronto ON

Reach out to Micheal O'Rourke

Micheal O'Rourke is the team lead for a unique and culturally sensitive program serving the immigrant population in downtown Toronto, the Community Mental Health clinic. His duties include: day-to-day leadership oversight on culturally appropriate patient centered care, identifying areas for improvement and providing individual therapy.

Across the program there are language specific clinics for Asian, Spanish, Portuguese and English-speaking community members.

In his previous role as Clinical Manager for an online delivered CBT program, he provided clinical oversight of the entire program, developing quality assurance reports, on-boarding and supervision of therapists, and continued monitoring of the program to ensure it supported the demands of providers and business partners.

The program is now part of the Ontario governments ‘Roadmap to wellness plan’ and is offered free of charge to all Ontarians, to help build stronger resiliency and improve mood and anxiety concerns. The program has similar features to other OHIP funded programs such as BounceBack, MindBeacon and Together All.

Just recently appointed Accreditation lead for UHN’S Centre for Mental Health, he is responsible to provide oversight, coordination, and management of processes to ensure compliance with Accreditation Canada Qmentum Program guidelines & standards, Ontario Excellent Care for All Act, and other related legislative/associated regulatory and best practice requirements.

As the National Social Care Advisor for a not for profit organization, that provides outreach support and information to Immigrants across Canada, his role is to develop and strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders to support the well-being of this marginalized population group. Since taking up this position, the program has expanded and he serves as a key advisor to high profile stakeholders within the Irish community across Canada. Success factors include: his ability to navigate diverse stakeholder groups, subject matter experts, mental health charities, and corporate contacts for potential sponsorship and funding support to help achieve the organization’s overall strategy.

As an immigrant, Mr. O'Rourke has a great awareness and appreciation for the diversity found in Canadian communities. In his role as National Social Care Advisor, he has experienced first-hand the barriers faced by many in accessing timely and affordable mental health care. As an expert in the specialized field of Health Psychology, he recognizes the role social, cultural, family and community factors play in determining the stability of the individual’s overall well-being.

Early in his career, he was fortunate to work in the UK, under a model of care that is now being established as a model of practice in the mental health sector in Canada. The stepped care approach, when clearly conceptualized, is a policy that can co-ordinate essential services and activities to ensure that treatment and care is delivered to those in need while at the same time, preventing fragmentation and inefficiencies in the health system.

Expertise: Immigration and Multiculturalism, Equity and Inclusion, Cultural Diversity, Racism

Associate Professor at the School of Ethics, Social Justice and Public Service | Saint Paul University, Ottawa ON

Reach out to Dr. Rajesh Shukla

Dr. Rajesh C. Shukla is an Associate Professor at the School of Ethics, Social Justice and Public Service, Faculty of Philosophy, Saint Paul University, Ottawa, Canada. His research interests reside at the intersections of moral and political philosophy, focusing particularly on the conceptions of friendship and justice, migration and immigration, ethics and public policy, secularism and democratic citizenship. Rajesh has published in the following journals: Theoforum (2019); Annales: Ethics in Economic Life (2018); French Journal of Media Research (2018 & 2016); Frontiers of Philosophy in China (2014); East and West Thought (2014); Toronto Slavic Quarterly (2013); Contemporary Thought (2013); Philosophy, Culture and Tradition (2013); Maritain Studies (2013); and Existenz (2011).

He has served as the guest editor for the Journal of Philosophy, Culture and Tradition (2013), and French Journal of Media research (2018), and has co-edited books with his colleagues. Rajesh’s current research project is devoted to understanding the impact migration (including immigration) on the functioning of democratic societies and welfare states. In addition, he is also editing works on “Ethics and Public Life” and leads a research group on “Ethics and Public Policy” at Saint Paul University.