Date & time
6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
October 7: SGW Campus – all in-person classes and activities are cancelled.
Read more.October 7: SGW Campus – all in-person classes and activities are cancelled.
Jacqueline Beckles in conversation with Kelaiah Steer-McPherson
This event is free.
Pavillon Guy‐De Maisonneuve
1550 De Maisonneuve St. W.
Room 410
Yes - See details
Join the Black Perspectives Office for an engaging conversation with Jacqueline Beckles, Concordia alumna and Deputy Director General (acting) and General Counsel with the Department of Justice Canada.
She will share personal insights on goal setting, trusting your instincts, being fearless and careers in the legal profession.
About the speakers
Jacqueline Beckles will be in conversation with Concordia alumna Kelaiah Steer-McPherson.
Jacqueline Beckles
As general counsel with the Department of Justice Canada since 2009, Jacqueline provides strategic advice to the Minister of Justice on a range of complex matters of critical importance to the country.
Raised in Montreal’s West Island by her Bajan mother, she was surrounded by a community of formidable Black women from a young age.
Jacqueline holds degrees in civil and common law from the University of Ottawa and has been a member of the Law Society of Ontario since 2003, and practiced criminal law as a member of the defence bar in Ottawa from 2003 to 2006. She has clerked for the Supreme Court of Barbados and worked as a Research Fellow at the University of the West Indies.
Kelaiah Steer-McPherson
Kelaiah is a recent Concordia alumna and the 2025 recipient of the Community Engagement Excellence Award, presented by the NouLa Centre for Black Students.
During her time at Concordia, she held key student leadership roles, including President of ACSioN-Concordia and Recruitment Chairperson for the Garnet Key Society, where she championed student engagement and community-building.
Kelaiah’s interest in the legal field grew through Concordia’s Jurist-in-Residence Mentorship Program, where she was selected to lead a student visit to both the Palais de Justice and the Municipal Court. She later interned with a judge in the Youth Division of the Court of Québec, gaining valuable exposure to courtroom procedures and youth justice.
This event is presented by Concordia's Black Perspectives Office. Registration is required.
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