Join Ever Active Schools for an informative online policy clinic designed to support school authorities in navigating the Government of Alberta’s recently announced gender policy legislation. The clinic's purpose is to empower school boards to understand and fulfill their human rights obligations while promoting student well-being in their communities. Participants will experience the benefits of a cohort approach to learning, working within their school board teams through practical discussions and tools offered along the way. The series will cover gender diversity and gender expression research, educational policy, human rights, and the potential school-based impacts of policies on the well-being of students.
Details
- The format is a series of three online 2-hour workshops with 'policy homework' in between
- Sessions will be recorded and available for a limited time to view for registered participants
- There is a maximum capacity of 8 school boards in the cohort, with each team able to bring up to 5 people
- Cost is $3500 plus GST per school board
- Possible session topics
- Gender policy legislation information and misinformation, educational policy best practices, and current research in gender diversity and expression
- Human rights obligations, case law, and precedent
- Policy implications on student well-being in school settings, planning for policy implementation
Online Workshops
Dates
Wednesday, December 4, 2024: 12:30 pm-2:30 pm
Wednesday, December 11, 2024: 12:30 pm-2:30 pm
Wednesday, December 18, 2024: 12:30-2:30 pm
Dates
Spring Policy Clinic Dates TBD
Investment: $3500 +GST
per School Board
INTAKE FORM
School boards can now register for the upcoming series of sessions in Spring 2025. If capacity is reached, additional school boards will be added to a waitlist for future sessions. Please complete this intake form, and we will process registrations as they are received. Ever Active Schools will contact you with updates on the status of your registration and once spring dates are confirmed.
Our Speaker Panel
André P. Grace, PhD
André P. Grace, PhD, Professor Emeritus since July 1, 2021, has served as Professor and Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Sexual and Gender Minority Studies (Tier 1) in the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta. Advocacy and transforming practice in education, social work, healthcare, and other caring professions have been central to Dr. Grace’s academic and cultural work, grounded in the vision that sexual and gender minority (SGM) young people remain a vulnerable population whose safety,
security, well-being, and accommodation are still not fully guaranteed in post-Charter Canada. In 2017, Dr. Grace received the Alberta Justice and Solicitor General Community Justice Award in the Innovation Category for his many contributions promoting community safety through crime prevention for the province’s SGM youth. In 2018, he received the CAFA (Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations) Distinguished Academic Award for his work linking his CRC research program to advocacy and action that recognize and accommodate SGM youth. In 2019, he received the EdCan Network’s Whitworth Award for Career Education Research Excellence in recognition of his pioneering research (funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada since 2002) and his lifelong commitment to addressing the educational and social needs of SGM youth. Dr. Grace continues to advocate for greater collaboration and collective action across education, healthcare, social services, and justice in supporting SGM youth to be accommodated and build resilience in the face of adversity.
Iain A. Walker
Born and raised in Edmonton, Iain joined Parlee McLaws’ Edmonton office as an Associate lawyer in 2016 following completion of his Articles with the firm and became a Partner in 2021. Iain’s practice is focused on the areas of labour & employment law and insurance law. As a labour & employment lawyer, Iain regularly advises employers and employees on a variety of matters including dismissal planning, wrongful dismissal litigation and human rights complaints. Iain also assists employers with drafting and implementing employment contracts, personnel policies and with other human resource related matters. Iain has broad experience in civil litigation matters including all manner of insurance defence and subrogation matters as well as shareholder disputes, debt actions and litigating matters involving fiduciary duties and improper competition. Having been called to the Bar in Alberta and in the Northwest Territories, Iain has appeared before the Court of Queen’s Bench and Provincial Court of Alberta as well as in the Supreme Court and the Territorial Court of the Northwest Territories. In addition to his courtroom experience, Iain has represented clients in various forms of alternative dispute resolution methods including mediation and Judicial Dispute Resolution conferences.
Dr. Lee Airton
Dr. Lee Airton is an Associate Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies in Education at Queen's University. Their research explores how Canadian K-12 education and teacher education are responding to gender identity and gender expression protections in human rights legislation. Dr. Airton has founded campaigns and created resources that have changed the Canadian conversation about transgender people and gender diversity, such as www.theyismypronoun.com in 2012, the No Big Deal Campaign in 2016, and [gee gee dot ca] www.gegi.ca, the first bilingual self-advocacy resource for K-12 students experiencing gender expression and gender identity discrimination at school. Most recently, Dr. Airton and colleagues released a white paper titled “No for Now: Guidance for School Staff on Supporting Transgender Students and Parent-Child Relationships,” available at www.nofornow.ca. Dr. Airton's first book, Gender: Your Guide offers practical steps for welcoming gender diversity and has been adopted as a key professional development text in teacher education programs, school districts, the public sector and private sector organizations. In spring 2024, a fully revised and updated edition was published by Adams Media (A Division of Simon and Schuster). With Dr. Susan Woolley, Dr. Airton edited Teaching About Gender Diversity: Teacher-Tested Lesson Plans for K-12 Classrooms. Dr. Airton has been interviewed over 90 times nationally and internationally on topics related to gender diversity, and they were the first early career scholar to be invited to deliver the Annual Canadian Association for Teacher Education Keynote in 2021.
Leela M. Wright
Leela Wright completed her articles with Parlee McLaws and joined the firm as an Associate in 2021. Since beginning work with Parlee, Leela has practiced written advocacy at various levels of court, including Provincial Court, Court of Queen’s Bench, Federal Court, and the Supreme Court of Canada. She has appeared in the Court of Queen’s Bench and in front of Alberta tribunals. Leela’s diverse educational background supports a well-rounded approach to the law. Her B.A. Honours thesis focused on postcolonial literature and her B.Sc. degree focused on neuropsychology and neuroscience. She has been published in Glass Buffalo Literary Magazine and Student Health 101 Magazine. She has presented at Global Health Rounds through the faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Leela has always held a strong commitment for volunteer work both locally and globally. Her volunteer work has focused on public health initiatives and work with low-income populations. Her efforts within the Edmonton legal community include involvement with Student Legal Services (Outreach Project and Legal Reform Project (focus on Alberta’s Mental Health Act)), Pro-Bono Students Canada (Queen’s Bench Amicus Court Assistant Program, and Centre for Public Legal Education Writing Program). For her work with Queen’s Bench Amicus Program, Leela won the volunteer of the year award. Leela also had the unique opportunity to work in Alberta’s new Mental Health Courts, where she assisted Legal Aid with clients whose needs are not met by the traditional criminal justice system. She is currently maintaining her commitment to the Edmonton legal community through her volunteer work with Edmonton Community Legal Clinic.
Robert P. James, KC
Rob has been head of the Parlee McLaws LLP Labour and Employment Group for over 20 years and has extensive experience in the practice of labour and employment law. Rob advises a wide variety of federally and provincially regulated clients on labour and employment matters including grievance arbitrations, Part III Canada Labour Code adjudications, human rights complaints and hearings, wrongful dismissal litigation, dismissal planning, collective bargaining, privacy complaint hearings, defence of occupational health and safety prosecutions, workers’ compensation issues, and the development of employment contracts and personnel policies. Rob’s trial and appeal experience is extensive and he has appeared before every level of Court in Alberta. In addition, Rob has comprehensive knowledge of, and experience in, extra-judicial dispute resolution processes, including mediation, judicial dispute resolution, and arbitration. Rob’s clientele include many public and non-public Alberta based and national companies. He also acts for a number of secondary and post-secondary educational institutions, and a number of non-profit organizations.
Sanjana Ahmed
Sanjana began her legal career in the Edmonton office of a regional law firm. She practiced in the area of general litigation with a focus on Indigenous and Labour and Employment matters. Sanjana currently works at the Alberta Human Rights Commission as legal counsel to the Director. With an array of human rights complaints in the areas of employment, tenancy, and goods and services, and the Covid-19 pandemic bringing forth novel human rights issues due to Covid-19 restrictions, it has certainly been an interesting time at the Alberta Human Rights Commission and Sanjana maintains a busy practice
