EDI Advisory Council

The Office of the Associate Vice-President (AVP): Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’s Advisory Council (EDI-AC) supports Wilfrid Laurier University’s commitment to human rights, equity, decolonization and Indigenization. It assists the AVP: EDI in identifying and prioritizing equity initiatives across the university’s campuses and facilitates a direct line from front-facing EDI practitioners and equity-denied groups at Laurier to governance and decision-making tables.

EDI-AC works to advance a vision of Laurier’s communities that upholds the following values:

• All students, faculty and staff are valued and have equitable access to services, resources, and opportunities.
• The participation of all members is vital to the creation of a vibrant and inclusive university community.
• The rights of all individuals and groups are protected and recognized for their contributions to the three core activities of the university: education, research, and service excellence.

Mandate

The mandate of EDI-AC is to:

• Identify and anticipate issues affecting members of equity-denied groups within the university, including but not limited to Indigenous peoples, members of racialized communities, members of diverse faith communities, persons with disabilities, women, and non-binary and 2SLGBTQ+ identified people. EDI-AC advocates on behalf of these members and those who work with minoritized communities at Laurier and advises the president and vice-chancellor and the Executive Leadership Team on matters that impact and are relevant to these communities. EDI-AC’s work is ultimately to advance a sense of inclusive belonging for all community members.
• Monitor and evaluate progress toward Laurier’s strategic commitments to equity and diversity by providing reports and making recommendations for action to the president and Executive Leadership Team.
• Create spaces for faculty, students, staff and alumni to offer input and make recommendations to university leadership on issues related to equity and inclusion.
• Provide a forum for university leadership to receive guidance from internal and external experts on matters related to governance, resourcing, policy, and budgetary decisions that support the wellbeing and retention of students, faculty, and staff from under-represented communities.
• Meet once monthly to discuss shared long-term and short-term goals between university leadership and EDI-AC, with the AVP: EDI providing updates and recommendations to Cabinet twice yearly.
• Communicate information, plans, and priorities to the university’s communities to uphold accountability and transparency, including an annual report that identifies priorities and how they are being addressed.

Membership 2025/26

Membership includes front-facing equity and decolonization practitioners, as well as members at large across the university’s campuses and faculties.

In its first year, the Council will establish terms of reference and three working groups to focus on priority areas and bring recommendations to EDI-AC. Working groups will include Council members but will also pull membership from Laurier’s wider communities of students, faculty and staff.

Membership in the Council is drawn from the categories listed below.

Front-facing equity and decolonization practitioners:

• Andrea Davis, AVP: EDI and Chair of EDI-AC
• Heena Mistry, Director, EDI
• Zeeta Lazore Cayuga, Manager, Indigenous Student Services, Office of Indigenous Initiatives
• Julian McCants-Turner, Equity Case Worker and Support Coordinator, Office of Human Rights and Conflict Management
• Fiza Iqbal, Education & Inclusion Coordinator, Centre for Student Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
• Meaghan Ross, Employment Equity & Accessibility Officer, Human Resources Department
• Jeanette Parsons, Director, Accessible Learning Services

Other recurring positions:

• TBC, Black Faculty and Staff Caucus Representative
• Joanne Oud, Coordinator Library Accessibility Services and Instructional Technology Librarian, Disability Caucus Representative
• Danielle Russell, Director-at-large, WLU Alumni Association, Alumni Association Representative
• Sayak Sneddon-Ghosal, VP: Programming & Services in Brantford, Wilfrid Laurier Students’ Union Representative
• Chloe Hsueh, M.A. Candidate Psychology, Graduate Students’ Association Representative

Members at large (one-year terms with possibility of renewal for a second year, selected through calls for expressions of interest):

• Miranda Shumbanhete, Business Administration, Lazaridis School of Business & Economics Undergraduate Student
• Alejandro Vasquez Coronado, MA Candidate, Social Justice & Community Engagement, Faculty of Liberal Arts , Graduate Student
• Shohini Ghose, NSERC Chair for Women in Science & Engineering, FT Faculty Member
• Jaclyn Desforges, English, Faculty of Liberal Arts , Contract Teaching Faculty Member
• Nicole Smart, Athletics & Recreation, Non-Managerial Staff
• Marguerite Campbell, Manager, Education Programs, Faculty of Education, Managerial Staff

Support (non-voting):

• Sam Hershey, Administrative Assistant, Office of the Provost & Vice-President Academic

Terms of Reference

The Terms of Reference for the EDI-AC are available on the Terms of Reference page. 

Further Information

The EDI-AC was developed in response to recommendations 7.1, 7.2, and 7.5 of Laurier’s Strategic Plan for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The mandate of EDI-AC is also aligned with the goals of inclusion Indigenization, reconciliation Indigenization, and decolonial Indigenization outlined in the Indigenous Strategic Plan.

In addition, EDI-AC fulfils the commitment of the Laurier Strategy to foster “a highly personalized equitable, diverse and inclusive community — one in which all members can experience [a] powerful sense of belonging.” This commitment is reiterated in the new Laurier Strategic Action Plan, particularly in the goal of growing and diversifying our student body and diversifying and decolonizing the curriculum.