Course Instructors

Laila Alfadhli currently serves as an anti-human trafficking facilitator and program assistant at Sakeenah Canada, a national organization supporting Muslim women and children to escape trauma, violence and homelessness. She is the founder of the Anti-Human Trafficking of Muslim Women Taskforce and is working alongside Sakeenah Canada to co-develop Canada’s first culturally responsive and trauma-informed rehabilitation program for Muslim women and children survivors of human trafficking. Laila has also designed and facilitated educational programs and training on child sex trafficking and online exploitation for students, organizational leaders and communities. Laila has advocated for early intervention, harm-reduction strategies and culturally cognisant programs to raise awareness about the scope of child exploitation in the country.

Dr. Annette Bailey is associate dean of graduate studies and internationalization and associate professor with the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing in the Faculty of Community Services. She completed her PhD in Public Health Science with a specialization in Health Promotion and Education. Dr. Bailey’s research examines violence prevention and traumatic stress and resilience among survivors of community and interpersonal violence, with her most recent research focusing on Black women who have lost children to gun violence and Black youth who have lost loved ones to gun violence in Toronto. Dr. Bailey is frequently called upon to support violence prevention initiatives and education at municipal, national and international levels. In 2021, Dr. Bailey was named one of Ontario’s most outstanding university teachers by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (external link) . Dr. Bailey has co-led the Faculty Working Group of the Presidential Implementation Committee to Confront Anti-Black Racism at TMU. In this role, she championed the establishment of university-wide initiatives and programs for Black scholars and students, including TMU’s Black Scholarship Institute and a Postdoctoral Fellowship Program for Black scholars.

Detective Constable Dayna Boyko is the child forensic interviewing specialist for the Toronto Police Service, working out of the Polygraph Section of the Sex Crimes Unit. She is an advanced level child forensic interviewer and has been interviewing children since 2007. Dayna has specific expertise in the corroboration of evidence through child forensic interviews, interviewing victims of online sexual exploitation and interviewing individuals with disabilities and other challenges. She applies this expertise in developing and providing training in forensic interviewing to professionals working with children who have been victims or witnesses of crimes.

Rhonelle Bruder is a social scientist with expertise on the interpersonal, institutional and systemic factors that contribute to vulnerability and sex trafficking. She is a survivor with lived experience and a dedicated anti-trafficking advocate and practitioner. Rhonelle previously founded and served as executive director of Project iRISE, a community-based organization that provided vital support to women affected by sex trafficking. She presently serves on the Board of Directors at HEAL Trafficking, a consortium of more than 4,000 survivors and multidisciplinary professionals in 40 countries. She is also a teaching fellow at Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and a PhD candidate in Social and Behavioral Health Sciences at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Dupé Daodu has been working within the social work sector for the last 10 years. She entered the field working in residential and treatment services with Indigenous youth and children with mental health and special needs in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She later moved to Toronto, where she worked in various roles such as a case manager at a youth shelter, at CAMH in the hospital's dual-diagnosis unit, and developing youth programming and curriculum for at-risk youth. She completed her MSW at the University of Toronto while maintaining a position at Griffin Centre Mental Health Services as a team lead in a residential program. Upon completing her MSW, she began working at Children’s Aid Society of Toronto on the Specialized Adolescent team. Within four years at the agency, she moved into a management position as the anti-Black racism practice lead and emergency after-hours supervisor. Dupé currently works part-time as a clinical consultant for the African, Caribbean, Black Family Group Conferencing model and at the TDSB, where she provides consultation, support spaces and training for Black and racialized students during transitional periods. Most recently, Dupé has transitioned from Children’s Aid Society of Toronto to the Ministry of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, Anti-Racism Directorate, as the child welfare advisor. In that capacity, she is responsible for creating, developing and implementing anti-racism policies, programs and initiatives within the child welfare sector.

Casandra Diamond is a provincially and nationally recognized anti-trafficking leader who serves as a trusted advisor to all levels of government. In 2014, she founded BridgeNorth Women’s Mentorship & Advocacy Services, a registered charitable organization dedicated to ending sex trafficking in Canada through direct service, public education and advocacy. She uses a grassroots, strength-based, trauma-informed approach, drawing from her lived experience and direct knowledge to provide holistic care to exploited and trafficked persons through prevention strategies, exit strategies and safety planning.

Fiona Douglas is a dedicated and compassionate social worker. She currently works as the program manager of the Anti-Human Trafficking Department at Covenant House Toronto. She has spent the last 10 years advocating and working with survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Fiona is a registered member of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. She has been actively involved in developing and facilitating training and workshops to educate and combat human trafficking. She has trained various members of the community including law enforcement officers, social workers, clinicians and more. Fiona is an active member on various committees and has collaborated with organizations to develop and implement programs to support survivors of human trafficking, while ensuring delivery of services is trauma-informed and from a strength-based perspective.

Dr. Kiaras Gharabaghi is dean of the Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). Previous to this, he was the John C. Eaton Chair of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the director of the School of Child and Youth Care, both at TMU. Dr. Gharabaghi started his career in the human services in the 1980s, working directly with young people living in precarious circumstances; managing not-for-profit youth serving programs in child welfare, child and youth mental health, and youth homelessness; and providing family support services to newcomer families. He also worked in pediatric health care settings, schools and the youth criminal justice system. Over the course of the past thirty years, Dr. Gharabaghi has been involved in major child welfare transformations in several provinces across Canada, including a comprehensive review of residential services in Ontario that resulted in the report entitled  (PDF file) Because Young People Matter (external link) . He has contributed to social work projects internationally, particularly in Germany, Austria, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa. Dr. Gharabaghi has published eleven books in English and German that deal with harms, risks, and trauma of young people, including A Hard Place to Call Home: A Canadian Perspective on Residential Care and Treatment (external link) , as well as over 300 scholarly, professional and creative writings. He is a frequent speaker at scholarly and professional conferences in Canada, the United States, Germany, and South Africa, and maintains an active professional engagement with NGOs and government departments globally focused on issues of child welfare and child protection. His own background is marked by both forced and voluntary migrations spanning three continents, multiple languages and engagement with multiple faith groups.

Luana Harper-Shirt is Nehiyaw/Anishinaabe Kwe, originally from Treaty Six Territory. She is a mother of two and a Third Degree Midewiwin from Three Fires Lodge. She is also a cultural knowledge holder, a chartered herbalist, a curriculum developer, writer and classically trained artist. Her work involves promoting holistic health and wellness among Indigenous women and Indigenous language advocacy, which includes land-based teachings, arts and traditional medicines. She currently resides on Williams Treaty Territory (Simcoe County).

Sumayyah Mahmood is the anti-human trafficking program coordinator at Sakeenah Canada. She co-developed Canada’s first culturally-responsive and trauma-informed rehabilitation program for Muslim women and children survivors of human trafficking. She has also developed and facilitated training and educational programs for communities, organizational leaders, and students on child sex trafficking and online exploitation. Her work has had a significant impact on fostering a deeper understanding of these challenges and driving systemic change to support survivors. Before joining Sakeenah Canada, Sumayyah completed her master's degree in Education at the University of Toronto.

Colleen McCulloch has spent decades advocating for the well-being, safety and rights of youth within the child welfare system. Her career began in Thunder Bay, Ontario in the early 1990s, and continued with the Durham Children’s Aid Society in southern Ontario. She currently supervises the Indigenous anti-human trafficking initiatives for Dnaagdawenmag Binnoojiiyag Child and Family Services. Her responsibilities include overseeing the Durham Region CARE team and Indigenous anti-human trafficking liaison workers in the regions, and supporting clinical work in Wiingush Gamik, a specialized Indigenous community care home for survivors of human trafficking. She continues to champion those who need a voice and is steadfast in her commitment to ensuring the safety and best interests of children and youth at risk for or experiencing maltreatment and exploitation.

Christian Medina is a technology practitioner with a decade of experience within and outside of government. Prior to his current role, Christian managed public participation and data governance programs in Ukraine, supported gender, migration and human trafficking data and research in Southeast Asia, and led advocacy efforts to make government transparent through open and shared data across Latin America. At Open North, a Montreal not-for-profit with a mandate to use technology for the common good, Christian leads a portfolio of projects focused on data partnerships and collaborations to address gender-based violence and sexual assault in Canada. Christian’s current work includes technology and data collaboration with civil society; supporting advocates for populations at risk; use of AI in the not-for-profit; data governance and cybersecurity training for front-line community and social service organizations; and applied research on digital divides, intersectionality in data, and inclusion (and exclusion) of traditionally marginalized populations in technology decisions. Christian is a sitting member of Canada’s multi-stakeholder forum on open government, and has a master’s degree in Conflict and Post-conflict Studies in International Affairs from Carleton University.

Julie Moore, anti-human trafficking program director at Victim Services Toronto, is a dedicated advocate working with survivors of human trafficking and exploitation. Thirteen years of front-line experience has taught her the importance of immediate and seamless supports being available to survivors. She has supported many resilient and courageous individuals as they navigate their journeys of healing, and leverages a trauma-informed strength-based perspective to empower survivors to rebuild their lives. Julie is also an active member on multiple community committees collaborating on advocacy and education to support individuals affected by human trafficking.

Dr. Henry Parada is a cross-appointed professor at Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) School of Social Work and the Immigration and Settlement Studies graduate program. His experience includes working in the Caribbean, Central America, and their respective diaspora populations in Canada, on issues surrounding child protection, human rights, youth participation, and the settlement and resettlement of immigrant and refugee populations. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses at TMU and was a regular lecturer at universities in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Argentina. His research interests include immigration, children and youth rights, international cooperation, Institutional practices, diasporas and refugees. He has published in the areas of child protection and governance of workers and clients, institutional ethnography, the construction of subject locations and community social work. He has co-edited two books on anti-oppressive research and practice. Presently, Dr. Parada is the principal investigator of a seven-year project working with six Central American and Caribbean countries and their diasporas in Canada in areas of youth immigration, child welfare and violence against youth.

Jennifer Richardson has worked in the anti-human trafficking sector for over 24 years and is considered an expert in her field with extensive knowledge of human trafficking in Canada. She is known for her research on sexual exploitation and for her innovation in leading partnerships across sectors. Jennifer was the first director of Ontario’s Provincial Anti-Human Trafficking Coordination Office where she oversaw the development, implementation and review of Ontario’s response to human trafficking. She held the position from 2016-2022. In addition, Jennifer uniquely understands the barriers and challenges that face victims of human trafficking as she, too, was a victim of human trafficking for many years.

Sandra Rupnarain is the executive director at Family Services of Peel. Her work includes leading services that provide direct support to victims and survivors through a community-based human trafficking mobile clinic established through an equity framework, survivor-informed evidence-based research, and developing and implementing training for front-line staff working with survivors of human trafficking. She fosters a culture of learning and motivating through mentoring using a systematic approach and evaluative measures based on actionable long-term and short-term outcomes. Sandra is also a clinical fellow with the American/Ontario Association of Marriage & Family Therapists and is registered with the Canadian Marriage Registry. She established the Peel Institute on Research and Training, a research branch of Family Services of Peel that bridges academia and community to develop evidence-based services to the community.

Dr. Roberta Sinclair manages the Strategic and Operational Services Unit of the Sensitive and Specialized Investigative Services at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which is responsible for providing operational research, policy, and health and wellness services. She is also an adjunct professor in the Sociology and Anthropology department and the Institute for Criminology and Criminal Justice at Carleton University. Her areas of focus include sexual abuse, internet-facilitated child sexual exploitation, youth and violence, violence against women, offender trends (youth and adult) and correctional focused research. Roberta has long been an advocate for the health and wellness of police personnel working in high-risk areas and has assisted various national and international police agencies in their development of health and wellness policies. She currently leads research for the Virtual Global Taskforce to confront online sexual exploitation, which is comprised of 13 law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Tanya Smith is a nurse practitioner and co-director of the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, where she provides medical evaluation of youth when sexual abuse is suspected. She is also an instructor at the British Columbia Institute of Technology and an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto. Tanya regularly provides leadership and consultation services to organizations providing support and advocacy to children and youth who have experienced, or are at risk for experiencing, sexual abuse. She works with various interdisciplinary partners – in the areas of child protection, policing, mental health and legal – to provide training for clinicians, law enforcement officers and child protection workers across Canada.

Jennifer Stanton is Crown counsel at the director of Crown operations office for the Toronto Region. Jennifer commenced her career as a Crown attorney in downtown Toronto in 2005. She was a member of the child abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV) specialized teams. As a member of the child abuse team, Jennifer focused on internet child exploitation (ICE) prosecutions. Jennifer also prosecuted several homicides, acted for the Crown at the Ontario Review Board, and argued summary conviction appeals. In 2020, Jennifer held the position of high-risk offender Crown for the Toronto region. She oversaw all applications under Part XXIV of the Criminal Code in the Toronto region and argued complicated dangerous offender applications involving ICE cases. Presently, Jennifer’s portfolio includes overseeing IPV and high-risk IPV across the Toronto region, educating and training Toronto regional Crowns, representing the Crown on various committees, and arguing conflict cases. Jennifer was also responsible for managing the Toronto Regional Bail Centre. Jennifer instructs in the area of ICE at Toronto Metropolitan University, sits as a director on the board for Boost Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, and teaches at the Toronto Police College.

Ambreen Su is a dedicated professional with more than 18 years of experience in child welfare. She has held leadership roles focusing on equity, diversity and inclusion and has a strong understanding of child welfare legislation, equity practices and trauma-informed approaches. She is also a registered member of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and has been actively involved in training, course facilitation and community engagement to address systemic barriers affecting marginalized groups. In addition to her supervisory work in child welfare, Ambreen has collaborated with community agencies to enhance support for families, ensuring service delivery that is both trauma-informed and equitable.

Nunzio Tramontozzi leads the Special Investigations Unit at Scotiabank and is responsible for overseeing investigative operations related to major investigations, transaction monitoring and public-private partnership initiatives. He is a subject matter expert in human trafficking and child sexual abuse material. Prior to joining Scotiabank, Nunzio spent 31 years with the Toronto Police Service, eventually rising to the rank of detective sergeant. He created and led the first Human Trafficking Enforcement Team with the Toronto Police and has an extensive investigative background regarding firearm, drug, and human trafficking, and other major criminal offences. Nunzio was part of the Project Protect team that created the first ever public-private partnership to combat human trafficking.  He was instrumental in assisting with the launch of Project Shadow, an initiative to combat child exploitation and child sexual abuse material. Nunzio was the recipient of a Toronto Police Service Commendation for his efforts in launching Project Protect. Nunzio has successfully completed the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and ManchesterCF certifications for money laundering.

Kayla Yama is the interim president and CEO at Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre. Before joining Boost CYAC, she spent 15 years in the fields of children’s mental health and victim services, providing clinical trauma services to children and youth before transitioning to leadership roles, including managing a gender-based violence program and walk-in clinic. In 2019, she became the clinical director of Victim Services, Durham Region, and served as its interim executive director from June 2020-July 2021. In that role, she diversified funding through grant applications and increased partnerships within Durham Region, expanded clinical teams and support services and established the organization as a progressive leader by chairing the Human Trafficking Coalition and hosting the annual youth conference “Antidote to Human Trafficking”.