Gender-based violence: how can we reimagine prevention, safety, and justice?

Tamara Angeline Medford-Williams is an artist and community enthusiast of Caribbean descent. As Director of Black Community Initiatives at DAWN Canada, she dedicates herself to empowering marginalized groups. Her roles across various organizations include being a clinical educator, family caseworker, and radio host as well as part-time faculty member in Concordia’s Applied Human Sciences department. Tamara’s advocacy extends to contributing to academic journals, UN reports on racial discrimination, and leading a national feminist disability coalition. With a BA in Human Relations, a graduate degree in Youth Work, and a Master of Social Work, she is committed to providing anti-oppressive services.

Felix Brion (they/them) is the education and outreach coordinator for Project 10, a Montreal-based queer community organization that focuses on youth support. Their work focuses on educating a variety of publics (primarily community organizations and secondary schools) on 2SLGBTQIA+ realities, needs and inclusion. They also collaborate with the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University on the Transformation Hub project, bringing expertise on violence against 2SLGBTQIA+ communities as an often forgotten and specific form of Gender Based Violence (GBV). They are specifically interested in prevention work and the role popular education can play in promoting better understanding of GBV to foster safer communities. 

Marlihan Lopez is a Black feminist community organizer tackling issues surrounding anti-blackness, gender-based violence and its intersections. She coordinated the EDI (equity, diversity, inclusion) division of the Quebec Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres, where she did advocacy work and raised awareness on how gender, race, class and ability intersect in the context of sexual violence. She has also organized with movements such as Black Lives Matter around issues such as racial profiling and police brutality. She was co-vice-president of la Fédération des femmes du Québec and is the co-founder of Montreal's Defund the Police. She is also cofounder of Harambec, a Black feminist organization in Montreal that bridges academia, community and the arts.

Currently a PhD student in the Individualized Program in Fine Arts at Concordia University, she’s also the Academic Advisor for the Women’s Studies and Black Studies programs at Concordia University where she contributes to Black feminist programming and curriculum development.