The Office of EDI

Executive Assistant to Dr. Malinda Smith - Vice-Provost and Associate Vice President Research (EDI) 

Email: rupa.shankar@ucalgary.ca

Rupa Shankar, (she/her)

Ms. Rupa Shankar is the Executive Assistant (EA) to Dr. Malinda Smith, Vice Provost and Associate Vice President Research (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion) of the OEDI. 

With a career spanning several countries and regions, Ms. Shankar has extensive global experience working with people from diverse backgrounds. Before joining the OEDI at the University of Calgary, Ms. Shankar worked as an Executive Assistant and Compliance Training Lead in the Healthcare Compliance Department at Janssen Pharmaceuticals in Toronto.  

Ms. Shankar holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Administration and Communications. She completed her early schooling and graduation in the Kingdom of Bahrain, where she also started her career working with several ministerial and financial institutions. She has 19 years of experience in office administration, working with various sectors in different countries, including financial industries, aviation, construction, and pharmaceuticals.

OEDI Executive Assistant

Amanda Schevalier (she/her)

Amanda Shevalier is a Williams Lake First Nations band member belonging to the Secwepec Nation and an experienced Executive Assistant with over 15 years of experience working within an office in assisting roles.

Amanda has extensive experience working in various office settings, including her most recent role as an Executive Assistant to the Deputy Superintendent at Lakeland Catholic School District. In 2018, she played a key role in developing and implementing the school board's "Inclusive Communities" policy and procedure. This policy ensures that every student and staff member is provided with a welcoming, caring, respectful, and safe learning environment that embraces diversity and promotes a sense of belonging. It also emphasizes the importance of all school communities working together in an atmosphere of respect for the dignity of all individuals. 

Amanda is deeply committed to upholding her core values and remaining authentic to her beliefs. Her top three core values, which guide her actions and interactions, are respect, kindness, and honesty, not forgetting her main priority in life is her family and being a mom to her beautiful boy.

Associate Director - EDI Data, Strategy and Special Projects

Email: shikha.nayyar@ucalgary.ca

Shikha Nayyar (she/her)

Shikha Nayyar is the Associate Director, EDI Data, Strategy and Special Projects in the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OEDI) at the University of Calgary. Shikha has Master of Science from University of Calgary with focus on Data Science and Project Management. She also holds Bachelor of Engineering from Kurukshetra University in India. Ms. Nayyar also holds a certified Change Manger and Emerging Leader Certificate holder.

Shikha Nayyar has over fourteen years of experience, spanning over University of Calgary and the corporate world. In her most recent role, Ms Nayyar was Senior Data & Reporting Analyst with University of Calgary’s International office. Before joining the International Office, she was with Vice President Research Office as Research Analyst, and at Cenovus Energy as a Consultant in their Client Services team.

Ms. Nayyar is an advocate of value driven reporting that derive strategies forward and bring tangible benefits to organizations. Over the course of her career, she has helped teams in developing key performance indicators to align with strategies, led development of highly complex and interactive data dashboards for planning at executive level, cultivated culture of accountability and data literacy, participated at data networks, delivered on operational leanness, and enhanced client experience.

Ms. Nayyar’s personal approach to EDIA is driven by her own experiences as an east Indian immigrant woman. Shikha believes, access to EDIA data is a privilege that need for be handled in a methodologically with gratitude in heart. She believes in power EDI data both at aggregated and disaggregated level, and how that can contribute to alleviating systematic barriers and process challenges, which will in turn bring voice to underrepresented groups in a strategic and data intelligent manner.

Outside of university life, she is a wife, hands-on mother with two young sons and a daughter. She loves to bike and read in her spare time!

Director - Operations + Programs

Email: andrea.rowe@ucalgary.ca

Dr. Andrea May Rowe (she/her/elle)

Dr. Andrea Rowe, PhD, is the Director of Operations & Programs in the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (OEDI) at the University of Calgary. Andrea has a PhD in Comparative Public Policy from McMaster University and a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Victoria. 

In her most recent role, Andrea was the EDI Specialist at the Global Institute for Water Security (GIWS) and Global Water Futures (GWF) at the University of Saskatchewan. There, she led the development and implementation of an EDI strategy to address some of the world’s most pressing water challenges. 

Andrea has led change in technology, innovation, and sustainability as the co-founder of Feminuity and founder of Reflect Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, two boutique consulting firms that support industry leaders in embedding EDIA in their operations. Andrea has also served as the Manager of Strategic Policy in the Intergovernmental Relations Secretariat in the BC Public Service. 

Andrea's approach to EDIA is also deeply personal. Born with a rare congenital heart defect, she has experienced firsthand the transformative power of inclusive innovation. This fuels her dedication to creating systems, policies, and practices that support transformative change. 

Selected Publications

Rowe, A.M., Schuster-Wallace, C. (2023). Implementing EDI across a large formal research network: contributing to equitable and sustainable water solutions for a changing climate. GeoForum. 147 (103881) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103881

Rowe, A.M. Global Water Futures Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Events Protocol. Global Water Futures. The University of Saskatchewan. (2023). https://hdl.handle.net/10388/14971

Rowe, A.M., Schuster-Wallace, C. Global Water Futures Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Field Research Protocol. Global Water Futures. The University of Saskatchewan. (2023). https://doi.org/10.23688/6yctb503

Rowe, A.M. (2018). "Gender and innovation policy in Canada and Sweden," International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, Vol. 10 Issue: 4, pp.344-360, https://doi.org/10.1108/IJGE-04-2018-0039

Event Specialist

Email: colleen.bishop@ucalgary.ca

Colleen Bishop (she/her)

Colleen's journey to the Office of EDI began in Osaka, Japan, where she taught English for nearly two years, immersing herself in the culture and creating lifelong memories. Returning to Calgary, she spent 12 years as an Event Specialist at the Calgary Stampede, orchestrating concerts, weddings, trade and consumer shows, and the Stampede Talent Search committee.

In 2019, Colleen joined the Haskayne School of Business, working with their community engagement team. She moved to the Office of Advancement in 2022, helping organize the return-to-campus celebration for Covid graduates and collaborating on many exciting events with the incredible events team.

A born and raised Calgarian, Colleen is passionate about event safety, sustainability, and bringing people and ideas together. When she’s not crafting unforgettable events, she’s active in community theatre and managing the delightful chaos of her two daughters.

Academic Director - LGBTQ2S+ Equity, Inclusion and Intersectionality

Email: tdacalla@ucalgary.ca

Dr. Tonya D. Callaghan (she/they)

Dr. Tonya Callaghan is a Professor with the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education and an Academic Director for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit+ (LGBTQ2S+) equity, inclusion, and intersectionality with UCalgary’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Their second monograph, Homophobia in the Hallways: Heterosexism and Transphobia in Canadian Catholic Schools (University of Toronto Press) has been highly impactful. The overarching goal of their award-winning research is to integrate theory and practice so educational stakeholders become motivated to act as allies to members of gender and sexual minority groups in resisting religiously inspired heterosexist oppression. They specialize in critical social justice theories and anti-oppression education.

Professor Callaghan has been recognized for outstanding commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) at UCalgary with the EDI Award (Faculty). They were also honoured with two UCalgary Curriculum Development Awards for designing and coordinating the undergraduate course Diversity in Learning and the Master of Education program Advancing Healthy & Socially Just Schools & Communities, both of which actively promote EDI principles. Their research in the field of EDI explores resistance to anti-homophobia/transprejudice education in curriculum and policy.

Since joining UCalgary, they have served as Principal Investigator on 10 funded research projects and as a Co-Investigator on 6 collaborative transdisciplinary research projects. All funded transdisciplinary projects examine LGBTQ2S+ individuals’ experiences with homophobia and cisnormativity in a variety of settings (Education, Medicine, Social Work, Psychology, Refugee Settlement Agencies). They have served UCalgary in a myriad of ways ranging from Senator to Academic Co-Lead for Democracy, Justice, and Sustainability with UCalgary’s Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship.

Academic Director, EDI, Disabilities and Accessibility

Email: gwolbrin@ucalgary.ca

Dr. Gregor Wolbring (he/him)

Dr. Gregor Wolbring is a tenured full Professor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, Program in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies. He is presently also a member of the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe, Germany and a senior fellow of the Institute for Science, Policy and Society, University of Ottawa, Canada.

Dr. Wolbring defines himself as an ability studies, disability studies, sustainability studies and science and technology governance studies scholar. 

Some of his awards include: Recipient of the University of Calgary’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award (Faculty and Postdoctoral Scholars category) (2022); Runner up, University of Calgary Sustainability Award (category Faculty Sustainability Research) (2020); Tanis Doe Award from the Canadian Disability Studies Association (2017); Bachelor of Health Sciences Research Mentor Award in recognition of making undergraduate students succeed in research (2014, 2016, 2018), the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal awarded by the government of Canada in recognition of the benefit of his academic work to the greater community (2013) and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, National Award (1998)

Some of the issues his research group works on include: ability studies (ability, ability expectation and ableism ethics and governance); disability studies; social, ethical, legal, economic, environmental, cultural and governance issues of existing, new and emerging sciences and technologies (S&T) such as quantum technologies, artificial intelligence/machine learning and reasoning, cognitive sciences, neurotechnologies, genetics, robotics, brain computer interfaces, human enhancement. They also explore the impact of S&T on marginalized populations, especially disabled people; sports; human security, global health; health- (technology assessment, law, care and policies); sustainability; conflict studies; peace; ecohealth; climate, water and energy issues; environmental education; environmental activism; emergency and disaster management; burnout; and equity, diversity and inclusion.

Senior Advisor Anti-Racism and Racial Equity

Email: ghada.sfeir@ucalgary.ca

Dr. Ghada Sfeir, (she/her/elle)

Ghada Sfeir, PhD, is the inaugural Senior Advisor, Anti-Racism and Racial Equity with the Office of EDI at the University of Calgary. Dr. Ghada Sfeir holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. Her research interests focus on Cosmopolitanism, Multiculturalism, Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Decolonization, Anti-Racism, and Global Citizenship Education. Using the cosmopolitan lens, which entails the “equal moral worth” of every individual across all categories of difference, Dr. Sfeir advocates for implementing the fundamentals of EDI and anti-racism to identify and remove systemic barriers facing underrepresented and racialized groups educationally, socially, and politically.

In her previous role at Concordia University, Montreal, she taught her graduate and undergraduate courses from a social justice perspective. She has recently co-edited the International Journal of Talent Development and Creativity (2022) special issue to promote cosmopolitan pathways for Canada’s growing diversity from coast to coast to coast and beyond. Her advocacy is not limited to her publications and teaching from a social justice perspective but also includes various academic initiatives to advance collective public understanding of the principles of justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and decolonization.

Mojtaba Rostami (he/him)

Mojtaba Rostami is a dedicated PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary, specializing in the social psychology of identity and intergroup relations. His educational background includes a BA in English Language and Literature, a master’s degree in Applied Linguistics, and a second master's degree in Sociology.

A lifelong fascination with cultural diversity and a commitment to fostering positive intercultural contact among diverse social identity groups are the driving forces in Mojtaba’s academic pursuits. His research is centred on elucidating the factors that shape perceptions of social inclusion or exclusion and their consequent impact on mental well-being, social participation, and professional productivity in culturally diverse urban environments.

At the PhD level, Mojtaba's research specifically addresses the challenges confronting multiculturalism in Canadian post-secondary education. His goal is to identify the factors that either contribute to or undermine initiatives aimed at creating an inclusive, culturally rich, and emotionally safe space for all members of the campus community.