Steering Committee

May Chiu is a family mediator and long-term community activist, having been involved in many social justice struggles ranging from the South African anti-apartheid movement to the fight for climate justice. In her current role at the Chinatown Roundtable (Chinatown Reimagined), she coordinates a horizontal decision-making structure that enables collaborators to work together across class lines to rebuild Chinatown from a decolonial perspective, promoting the voices and viewpoints of the most vulnerable of the community.

Constance Lafontaine facilitates collaborations across stakeholders from academic, community and public sectors to achieve a more equitable and inclusive digital society for older adults. In her role as Associate Director of Concordia’s ACT (Aging + Communication + Technologies) Lab, she uses participatory action research, co-design, living lab and research creation approaches to mobilize community members as powerful advocates for social change.

Shawna Moore is a member of the Temagami First Nations and has ancestry in Ireland and Scotland. She is a Program Manager at Indigenous Youth Root’s Creation Funding Program, which provides financial support to Indigenous youth-led councils, and community and grassroots organizations. She is also a Board Member at the Centre for Community Organizations (COCo), and sits on both COCo and SHIFT's governance hubs.

Seynabou Ndiaye is a software engineer with a strong commitment to advancing best practices for greater equity and inclusion in the STEM fields. A graduate from the Gina Cody School of Engineering & Computer Science, Seynabou has launched and collaborated on a diverse portfolio of start-ups focusing on sustainability, responsible investing, and mental wellness. She currently works with Sama, a Bcorp leader in ethical AI practices.

Danièle-Jocelyne Otou-Nguini works to create safe spaces that enable all the voices in the room to feel heard. Her background in social innovation, design thinking, strategy and communications guide how she accompanies leaders and teams to navigate organizational change through her consultancy work as co-founder of the New Room Group, as well as in her role as Board Chair at the Black Healing Centre.

Ezgi Ozyonum is a PhD candidate in education at Concordia University. Her work examines international students’ experiences and agency in Canadian universities through a decolonial framework. Additionally, she is the event coordinator at the Decolonial Perspectives and Practices Hub, a SHIFT-funded project. Ezgi is also a researcher at the EDI Lab of Concordia’s Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Amy Poteete is an interdisciplinary scholar of social ecological and political ecological issues, with a focus on responsive governance, commons and commoning. In partnership with community groups like Les amis du champ des possibles, her current research highlights the contributions of informal urban green spaces to biodiversity, climate resilience and social inclusion. She has been on the faculty at Concordia since 2006.

Florencia Vallejo-Ortiz is a Concordia alumni in Women's Studies and Immigration Studies. As Organizational Development and Training Coordinator at COCo (Center for Community Organizations), Florencia supports the non-for-profit community sector in Quebec through an intersectional and anti-oppression lens. Florencia has extensive experience in community engagement and student organizing around issues of migrant justice, environmental activism, prevention of gender-based violence, and movements in solidarity with BIPOC communities.

Andre Williams is the Digital Media Coordinator at inPath, a training hub and connection point for artists, educators, and professionals committed to supporting Indigenous youth through the arts. In his role, he has also worked on research and data collection and was the lead project and content manager for the Uusdaadaouw Project book publication. Additionally, through personal interest, Andre has experience supporting project managers and local communities in creating inclusive public spaces; he assisted in the design, research, public engagement, and creative direction.

Sara Baptiste-Brown has worked around the world in the non-profit, private and social enterprise sectors, bringing a balance of empathy, objectivity and critical analysis to social impact initiatives. A JMSB graduate, she is now immersed in the world of experiential learning in her role as Manager at the Institute for Cooperative Education.

Susan Edey is the Senior Director, Community Engagement and Social Impact. Susan builds on her ten years of experience with SHIFT and the Office of Community Engagement to provide strategic leadership to both units. She is ensuring that both teams have the resources they need to successfully advance Concordia's community engagement and social impact work more broadly.