Canada’s Fair Share

Campaigns Director, Climate Emergency Unit

Anjali Appadurai is a climate justice organizer and communicator. As a young activist she worked with youth movements from around the world to build a strong civil society voice at the UN Climate Convention and to ensure that social movements' demands were heard in the halls of power. Today, Anjali runs the Padma Centre for Climate Justice, a project that brings together diasporic communities to build power around issues of climate and economic justice, and she works as Campaigns Director at the Climate Emergency Unit.

Artist and Community Organizer, Snuneymuxw and Saanich Nations

Jada-Gabrielle Pape is Coast Salish belonging to the Snuneymuxw and Saanich Nations. She has family ties to both Musqueam and Squamish Nations and lives in so-called East Vancouver. Jada is a mixed media artist who creates as a way to find calm in the storms.

Jada has recently been called an ‘activist’ and really resents that label, rather describes her daily actions as living out the core values, intentions and teachings of her ancestors. She is unwaveringly in solidarity with Palestine and has a life long commitment to resistance. Her own resistance to colonialism comes in the form of canoeing, drumming and singing, and consistent, hopeful parenting.

Jada is a mom, an auntie, a community member and a daughter. Jada is an anti-racism educator, a decolonizing consultant and a grief and trauma counsellor. Her fancy accolades mean less and less to her these days.

Head of Programmes, Third World Network

Meena Raman is the Head of Programmes of Third World Network (TWN) and is based in Malaysia where she practiced public interest law for over 25 years, representing grassroots communities taking on big corporations.

At Third World Network, Meena currently coordinates the climate change program and has been actively involved in the intergovernmental climate negotiations, from Bali to Cancún.

She has been monitoring and reporting on the negotiations and providing analysis and support both to developing country governments as well as to civil society participants

Co-founder, Program Co-lead and Outreach Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada

Jamie Kneen co-founded MiningWatch Canada in 1999. As Outreach Coordinator and National Program Co-Lead, Jamie leads MiningWatch's work on mining policy advocacy and mining activity in western and northern Canada, providing strategic and technical support to communities affected by mineral exploration and mining projects.

He also leads the organization's strategic research and communications, as well as research and advocacy in Africa (and previously, Latin America), as well as on mine waste management, mining and Indigenous rights, uranium mining, and environmental assessment policy and practice in Canada.

With a degree in Biology (ecology concentration) from McGill University, Jamie has been involved with environmental and resource management issues, including mining, and related to Indigenous land rights, for many years.

Artist from the Indigenous lands of Kuxkatan, Nekepio, El Salvador

“Kin” the “path” (in Lenca Poton), and “Balam”, (in Mayan Yucatec) translates to “The path of the jaguar”.

Kin Balam is a soulful artist weaving his story and the stories of his ancestral lineage with elements of flamenco, afro-Cuban percussion, Latin American music, Indigenous Mesoamerican music, Afro Latin Jazz, and Hip Hop into a "new yet ancient rooted musical style".

PhD Candidate, McMaster University

Ghada Sasa is a Palestinian activist-scholar, completing her PhD in Political Science (International Relations) at McMaster University, researching Israeli green colonialism. She uncovers Israel's appropriation of environmentalism to colonize Palestine, as well as Palestinian memories, to advocate for decolonization and the dismantlement of the human-nature binary.

Since 2014, she has been heavily engaged in Palestine solidarity organizing while advocating for the liberation of women, queer and Black folks, and other oppressed communities. Ghada published an article in Politics last year and has been interviewed by numerous media outlets.

Climate Justice, Transitions
and Amazon Coordinator at Latin American Network for Economic and Social Justice (LATINDDAD)

Carola Mejía is a Bolivian economist and climate justice activist with a Master’s in Development Economics, with 16 years of experience as advisor, consultant and regional coordinator for public, private and international cooperation institutions and networks, with main experience in environmental projects, climate finance and sustainable development in Latin America. She currently works as Coordinator of the Climate Justice, Transitions and Amazon Area ​​for LATINDADD.

Executive Director, Climate Equity Reference Project Canada

Ceecee Holz is the Senior Research Associate at the Climate Equity Reference Project and the Executive Director of the Climate Equity Reference Project Canada. Ceecee is also an Affiliated Researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute and co-teaches the core course of Carleton University’s Masters’ specialization in climate change.

Their field of research is international and Canadian climate change politics, with an overall research agenda focused on the role of equity and fairness as enablers of ambitious domestic and international action on addressing climate change. Ceecee also researches the role of civil society in international climate change politics and advises several Canadian and international organizations on climate policy.

Researcher, Fair Shares Project 

Raj Deol recently completed his Master of Arts in International Studies at Simon Fraser University. Born in Hong Kong, of South Asian descent and now residing on Turtle Island, he believes in the values of transnational solidarity and community as key to reimagining collective futures and actions. A recipient of the Simons Foundation Canada Graduate Fellowship and the Annie and Leon Josefowicz Memorial Award, he lived out his values through his work advancing caste and social inclusion in international development, researching gender migration discourses in Asia and strengthening the global human rights system from backlash. Raj is also a development practitioner who has worked with the United Nations on gender equality, disaster resilience and migration. Going forward, he hopes to bring people and diverse knowledge together in reshaping policy, norms and practices.

Co-founder & Former Director, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute

Bianca is the co-founder and former director of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and former Co-Executive Director and co-founder of The Leap.

She's co-author of the book "Stop Signs" and has written for the Toronto Star, CBC, Ottawa Citizen, teleSur, and Hill Times. 

She currently sits on the board of directors of the Council of Canadians and is based in Montreal.

Senior Researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood is a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, where he focuses on the social and economic dimensions of Canada's shift toward a net-zero economy.

Senior Economist, Canadian Labour Congress

DT Cochrane is currently Senior Economist at the Canadian Labour Congress. Previously, he was an economist and policy researcher at Canadians For Tax Fairness. DT has a Masters in Economics and a PhD in Social & Political Thought. He has researched and written about a variety of political economic issues, including the role of corporate pricing power in the recent bout of high inflation.

US Coordinator, Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice (DCJ)

Victor Menotti is a Senior Fellow at the Oakland Institute in California but since 2016 has been based in Bratislava, Slovakia, where he works as the US Coordinator of the Global Campaign to Demand Climate Justice (DCJ).

He has advised both developing and developed country governments, small producers in the farming, fishing and forestry sectors, as well as labor unions, indigenous peoples' organizations and environmental groups on global rule-making for natural resources in trade, investment, finance and technology policies.

Since 2007, he has also been deeply involved in global climate negotiations at the UNFCCC.

Global Advocacy Lead, Christian Aid

Mariana, from Brazil, is Christian Aid’s Global Advocacy Lead. With over 20 years of experience in policy, advocacy and campaigning, she leads on advocacy on climate and economic justice issues related to global processes. She coordinates Christian Aid’s work at the COP climate summits and has attended numerous UN climate talks. She also co-coordinates the Climate Finance Working Group of Climate Action Network International.

Before working at Christian Aid she worked for Greenpeace’s international, UK and Brazil offices. Mariana holds an MSc in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics (LSE) , and a BA in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University in São Paulo (PUC-SP). She currently lives in Brighton, UK.

Distinguished Professor, Department of Geography at Simon Fraser University

Geoff Mann is Distinguished Professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver BC, where he teaches political economy and economic geography. He is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books, and the author of In the Long Run We Are All Dead: Keynesianism, Political Economy and Revolution, Disassembly Required: A Field Guide to Actually Existing Capitalism, and Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future (with Joel Wainwright). Mann is a senior fellow at the Institute for New Economic Thinking and a Guggenheim Fellow. 

President and Co-founder, Shake up the Establishment

With over 15 years of community organizing experience, Manvi Bhalla (she/her) is a recognized leader in Canada’s environment & climate justice movement. She co-founded the national nonprofit, Shake Up The Establishment (SUTE) and is also a PhD Candidate at University of British Columbia researching intersectional, anti-colonial environmental justice & health policy.

Director of Campaigns & Partnerships, Shake Up The Establishment (SUTE)
Project Officer, Youth & Intergenerational Initiatives, BC Council for International Cooperation (BCCIC)

Originally from Mexico City, Angelo is a passionate community leader and queer climate justice advocate who believes in the power of community and relationality as our saving grace. After moving to stolen xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) land as an uninvited guest in 2018, he pursued a BA in Political Science & International Relations from The University of British Columbia, and has more than 4+ years of experience in justice-oriented community engagement, educational programming and advocacy. In hopes of alternative futures, Angelo enjoys acting as a public speaker, researcher, storyteller, advocate, and facilitator. They are now Director of Campaigns & Partnerships at SUTE, where he co-leads the Shake Up Your Community program, advancing community-identified needs for climate justice with like-minded youth. They also work for Youth & Intergenerational Initiatives at BCCIC to engage and inspire action on global issues with a critical and decolonial lens.

Policy, Community & Campaigns Coordinator at Shake Up The Establishment
Project Coordinator at PARKS+ Collective

Aliya Hirji is a community organizer and environmentalist originally from Toronto (Tkaronto), now living, learning, and liberating in Vancouver (MST territory). Aliya studied European-North American political relations at Sciences Po and is now in her third year of her second Bachelor of Arts in geography at UBC. She is a research project coordinator with UBC and Parks Canada for expanding knowledge on and access to Canadian parks, with a specific focus on connecting researchers to decision makers in BC Parks. Aliya is also a Policy, Community & Campaigns Coordinator at Shake Up The Establishment, contributing to various campaigns for nonpartisan climate action across Canada.

Policy, Community and Campaigns Coordinator, Shake Up The Establishment (SUTE)

Megan (she/her) is an activist-scholar currently living on the unceded territories of the Mi’kma’ki people in what is colonially known as Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Labour Studies department at McMaster University. Her research focuses on the perceptions and experiences of just transition policies among workers and communities in rural Nova Scotia who depend on fossil fuel extraction for economic survival, but at a distance. Megan also works with SUTE as a Policy, Community, and Campaigns Coordinator where she works with like-minded youth to advance climate justice across so-called Canada. This role at SUTE also helps her to make her academic research more accessible to the general public.