Human Rights and Equity Office

Lavonne Hood

burtcha — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 19:07:22 +0000

Lavonne Hood burtcha Wed, 04/30/2025 - 15:07

Last name

Hood

First name

Lavonne

Position / job title

Associate Vice-Principal (Human Rights, Equity, and Inclusion)

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Lavonne has been the Associate Vice-Principal (Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion) since June 2023. Prior to joining the HREO, Lavonne served as the University Ombudsperson at ��ϳԹ��Դ from August 2019.

Throughout her career, Lavonne has been deeply committed to I-EDIAA. Before joining ��ϳԹ��Դ in October 2018 as Senior Legal Counsel, she worked as Legal Counsel for the Department of Justice, where she served as the Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee on Visible Minorities. This work garnered her both the individual and team National Awards for Employment Equity and Diversity Leadership from the Department of Justice.

Lavonne is a central point of contact with respect to providing expertise on statutory human rights matters, advancing equity and accessibility policy development and education, and establishing and fostering positive relationships with equity-deserving communities and organizations both internal to ��ϳԹ��Դ and within the broader Kingston community. Lavonne also works closely with the Vice-Principal (Culture, Equity, and Inclusion) and senior leadership to develop and implement long-term strategic planning to guide institutional areas of focus and university wide objectives aimed at advancing human rights, equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and accessibility.

To schedule a meeting with Lavonne, please reach out to Meri Diamond at: diamondm@queensu.ca.

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Administration

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Curriculum Vitae

Staff Equity Representative (Staff)

burtcha — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:15:37 +0000

Staff Equity Representative (Staff) burtcha Wed, 06/17/2026 - 13:15

This training is mandatory for committee members, who are designated as the Equity Representatives on staff hiring committees. This course will provide you with the tools and resources that you will need to serve as the Employment Equity (EE) Representative on hiring committees. As the EE Rep you will have the responsibility of ensuring the Committee adheres to the rules and expected practices that assure equity, data collection and submitting information to Equity Services. Your goal as the EE Rep is to ensure that barriers that equity seeking groups face are identified and eliminated.

Audience: Mandatory for any individual that is to serve as the Employment Equity Representative on the a hiring committee.

Length: 2 hours

Register at: /hreo/education/staff-equity-representatives

Event Category

HREO Training Session

Employment Equity Representative for Faculty Hires (Faculty)

burtcha — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:14:45 +0000

Employment Equity Representative for Faculty Hires (Faculty) burtcha Wed, 06/17/2026 - 13:14

This training is mandatory for faculty members, who are designated as the Employment Equity Representatives (EE Reps), on Appointments and/ or RTPC committees as mandated by the by the Collective Agreement between ��ϳԹ��Դ Faculty Association (QUFA) and ��ϳԹ��Դ at Kingston. The EE Rep is responsible for ensuring that Committees adhere to obligations and expected practices with respect to equity-related decision making, data collection, and reporting to Equity Services and senior administrators. The EE Rep plays an important role in ensuring fairness as well as identifying and challenging barriers to the recruitment and advancement of equity-seeking group members.

Audience: Mandatory for faculty members that are serving as the Employment Equity Representative on appointments or RTPC committees.

Length: 2 hours

Register at: /hreo/education/employment-equity-representative-faculty-hires

Event Category

HREO Training Session

Staff Equity Representative (Staff)

burtcha — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:10:58 +0000

Staff Equity Representative (Staff) burtcha Wed, 06/17/2026 - 13:10

Audience: Mandatory for any individual that is to serve as the Employment Equity Representative on the a hiring committee.

Length: 2 hours

Register at: /hreo/education/staff-equity-representatives

Event Category

HREO Training Session

Accessibility Café: Neurodiversity Workshop

burtcha — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 18:33:19 +0000

Accessibility Café: Neurodiversity Workshop burtcha Tue, 04/07/2026 - 14:33

Co-Hosts: Haley Clark and Cheryl Lee-Yow, PhD candidates in the Faculty of Education at ��ϳԹ��Դ

Join Equity and Accessibility Services from the Human Rights and Equity Office (HREO) for the final Accessibility Café of the 2025-2026 academic year, held in partnership with the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL).

This workshop will focus on creating a more accessible classroom environment for disabled and neurodivergent students in higher education. Attendees will learn approaches to remove or reduce barriers for neurodivergent students through neuro-affirming and accessible “best practices” for teaching and learning. These strategies can be used to improve accessibility for all students in your courses.

The Café is open to all members of the ��ϳԹ��Դ community and will be offered in-person (Ellis Hall, Room 333) and online.

Event Poster (8.34MB, PDF)

Event Category

Accessibility

HREO Event

Hiwot Mekuanent

burtcha — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 16:51:20 +0000

Hiwot Mekuanent burtcha Mon, 03/23/2026 - 12:51

Last name

Mekuanent

First name

Hiwot

Position / job title

Special Projects Officer

hiwot.m@queensu.ca

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Hiwot is a legal scholar and human rights advocate specializing in disability rights, accessibility, inclusion, and equitable participation. Her work spans research, policy, and institutional initiatives that advance human rights and inclusive practice.

Since 2026, she has served as Special Projects Officer in the Human Rights and Equity Office (HREO) at ��ϳԹ��Դ, where she leads and supports university-wide initiatives that advance Indigenization, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Anti-Racism (I-EDIAA) goals. Her role contributes to strategic projects across Equity and Accessibility Services and Human Rights Advisory Services to strengthen inclusive policies and practices across the university community.

Previously, she served as Director of the Disability Studies and Service Directorate at the University of Gondar, leading initiatives to create accessible and inclusive learning and working environments.

She holds a PhD in Law from ��ϳԹ��Դ, where her research examined the participation of persons with disabilities in Ethiopia’s law-making process, and a Master’s degree in Human Rights Law from Addis Ababa University.

People Directory Affiliation Category

Equity and Accessibility Services

Human Rights Advisory Services

Department

Equity & Accessibility Services and Human Rights Advisory Services

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Elisha Gunaratnam

burtcha — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:25:33 +0000

Elisha Gunaratnam burtcha Mon, 03/23/2026 - 09:25

Last name

Gunaratnam

First name

Elisha

Position / job title

Human Rights Advisor

elisha.gunaratnam@queensu.ca

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Elisha joined the HREO in 2026 as a Human Rights Advisor. She has experience in research and student services and has worked with a number of organizations to bring attention to human rights abuses. Elisha supports students, staff and faculty at ��ϳԹ��Դ by providing them with human rights-related policy advising and working with them to address human rights-related concerns.

Elisha holds a Master of Laws in European and International Human Rights Law and a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Human Rights and Political Science.

People Directory Affiliation Category

Human Rights Advisory Services

Department

Human Rights Advisory Services

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Curriculum Vitae

Anti-Oppression (Staff / Faculty / Students)

burtcha — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 19:19:25 +0000

Anti-Oppression (Staff / Faculty / Students) burtcha Wed, 03/11/2026 - 15:19

In this session, participants will explore the concepts of identity, power, privilege and their relationship to oppression. Through the use of practical examples and strategies, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of anti-oppression.

Audience: Faculty, Staff Students.

Length: 2 hours

Register at: /hreo/education/anti-oppression

Event Category

HREO Training Session

DEAP Demonstrations (Staff / Faculty)

burtcha — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 19:17:33 +0000

DEAP Demonstrations (Staff / Faculty) burtcha Wed, 03/11/2026 - 15:17

The DEAP Tool has been developed by Queen's Equity Services to assist Units to better understand the environments and climate relating to equity and diversity in their Units.

Audience: Faculty, Staff

Length: 1.5 hours

Register at: /hreo/education/deap-demonstrations

Event Category

HREO Training Session

Responding to Disclosures (Staff/Faculty)

burtcha — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 19:11:26 +0000

Responding to Disclosures (Staff/Faculty) burtcha Wed, 03/11/2026 - 15:11

This session is designed to give all employees an overview of how to effectively respond to student disclosures of sexual violence. Some policy considerations will be discussed.

Audience: Staff, Faculty, Senior Admin - Grades 10 and above.

Length: 1.5 hours

Register at: /hreo/education/responding-student-disclosures

Event Category

HREO Training Session