Elli Dehnavi

Elli is a university teacher, storyteller, and public educator, who has has been actively engaged in the community to raise awareness about interpersonal and systemic discrimination. She has developed adult education resources, coordinated training programs, and managed research and community-based projects. Elli joined CFRAC in 2017 as a Project Consultant and coordinated two main projects: Race and Respect, and Refugee Awareness Alberta. She then served as our Senior Consultant for a year and supervised the work of other researchers and consultants virksomhedens hjemmeside. Elli has designed and delivered courses and educational workshops on intercultural communication, EDI,  Implicit Bias, Creating Inclusive Communities, and gender equity. Now in her new role as the Executive Director, Elli is committed to building equitable relationships in line with CFRAC’s vision and mission.

Eugene Chok

After completing his Bachelor of Business Administration degree at the Texas Tech University, Eugene immigrated to Canada in search of the good life and an opportunity to develop his skills in the field of accountancy. From 1980 to 2000, he worked as an accountant in both industry and government organizations revia cena. Along the way, he picked up a professional Accountancy Designation with the Certified General Accountant Association of Alberta. In 2000, he accepted an offer to work as an accountant with The Alberta Lung Association and has continued working in the non-profit sector since. He admires the strong commitment that NGO workers hold toward their cause and plans to finish his career in this sector. In his spare time, he teaches Tai Chi Chuan to seniors at the Chinese Freemason Association in Edmonton.

Mansoureh Modarres

Mansoureh has been an educator and a researcher for over a decade and has worked in post-secondary sector and adult education as well as in the public sector and community engagement programs. Her academic work is focused on transnational feminisms, intersectionality, community and narrative studies, and storytelling. She has designed, developed and facilitated numerous educational programs for diverse audiences, on topics such as diversity and inclusion, writing for academic purposes, and literary studies. She joined our team in January 2020 as a Project Consultant, developing the educational resource “Gender Inclusivity in the Workplace: A Practical Guide”. Currently, she is with the Centre in the role of Education and Research Programs Consultant, and also coordinates our new initiative “Challenging Discrimination through Community Conversations”. Mansoureh is committed to raising awareness about social issues and fostering inclusive practices.

Reuben is the Coordinator for our Nehiyaw Language Instruction program. Reuben has been working with Aboriginal youth and adults within Edmonton for 16 years. He has been a Cultural coordinator and Cree instructor for Edmonton Public Schools, Mother Earth Children’s Charter School, as well as the Edmonton Young Offender Center https://newzpharmacy.com/.
Reuben grew up in the residential school era and when the Blue Quills School was taken over by the Aboriginal community, there was a resurgence of language and cultural teachings. Reuben credits the late Mrs. Rosanna Houle for reviving the Nehiyaw (Cree) Cahkipeyihkanah and teaching it to all the students who had been liberated from residential school. The Nehiyaw Cahkipeyihkanah, or as some refer to it ’the Star Chart’, is a tool Reuben uses for teaching the Cree language.

Myriam Gerber

Myriam is currently completing her PhD degree at Concordia University, Montreal, in History with a focus on Holocaust education. She completed her BA and MA at the University of Victoria, BC, and also holds a Graduate Professional Certificate (GPC) in Cultural Heritage Studies revia cena. She has been involved as a docent at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre and the Montreal Holocaust Museum. Myriam has over ten years experience in conducting community-based research, as well as a facilitator and educator. Being of German descend, she takes a strong interest in how societies and individuals deal with historical trauma such as racism, discrimination, persecution and genocide, and she is passionate about raising public awareness about difficult heritage and history through curatorial interventions and experiential learning. Myriam has joined the CFRAC team as Research Coordinator for the Understanding Newcomer Experiences of Inclusion research project, and she also contributes to the Gender Inclusivity in the Workplace project.

Roxanne Felix-Mah, BSc, MSc

Noelle Jaipaul, BA, MSc

Kaitlin Lauridsen, BSc, MPH

Ian Mathieson, BA, MA

Ashima Sumaru-Jurf, BA, BEd

Ada Tai, MBA, CPHR, C.Mgr.