Jack Layton Leadership School

Ken Moffatt

As the Jack Layton Chair, Professor Ken Moffatt aims to build community-oriented engagement at Ryerson through a multi-disciplinary approach. He is particularly interested in politics, sociology, educational theory, social work, queer theory, and creative arts. Professor Moffatt brings to this position his research expertise in the effects of neoliberalism and new managerialism on policy and education; community-based, culturally-focused social interventions; mechanisms of power contributing to social inclusion and exclusion; as well as critical reflective practice and pedagogy.

Olivia Chow

Ryerson University's Distinguished Visiting Professor Olivia Chow is the Founder and Director of the Institute for Change Leaders (external link)  since March 2015. Olivia has a certificate from Marshall Ganz Leadership course from Harvard Kennedy's School Executive Program and has taught over 3,500 people across Ontario. She empowered many women to make a difference through teaching Feminist Community Organizing at George Brown College’s Assaulted Women and Children Counselling and Advocacy Program for six years. Until 2015, Olivia held elected offices for 30 years as a school trustee, City Councillor, and a Member of Parliament. She has tirelessly championed for a universal early childhood education program, a national public transit strategy, and fair immigration policies.

Mike Layton

Mike Layton has been a Toronto City Councillor since 2010. As City Councillor he works to protect and improve city services, and preserve the diverse character of the city's neighbourhoods. He champions affordable housing, investment in arts and culture, Aboriginal issues, and better public transit and cycling infrastructure. He has been a strong voice in making Toronto a leader in combatting climate change. Prior to being a councillor, he worked at Environmental Defense, one of Canada's leading environmental charities. He has an urban planning degree and is and adjunct professor at York University. 

Kiké Roach

Kiké Roach is the Unifor National Chair in Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University. She has served as an Executive Member of: the National Conference of Black Lawyers, the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, the Women’s Coalition for Employment Equity, and Mpenzi: Black Women’s International Film and Video Festival. As a civil rights lawyer, she has advocated for accountability and reform in policing and detention for many years, representing community organizations. She was a regular commentator on current and legal affairs for CTV News and has appeared as a spokesperson on a variety of issues. She is co-author of the book Politically Speaking. Kiké has designed and led workshops for the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and the United Steel Workers among others. She has addressed audiences across Canada and in the United States on issues of anti-racism, feminism, and progressive change.

Jake Pyne

Jake Pyne is an academic and activist in the trans community in Toronto. Over the past 18 years, Jake has worked on projects to improve trans community access to shelters and emergency services, health care, and family law justice, as well as projects to build support for gender independent kids and trans youth. Jake's doctoral research was focused on the current generation of trans youth, some of whom are blocking puberty and transitioning young, and his dissertation posed questions about how their futures and forms of life have become thinkable in this time and place. As a Banting Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Guelph, Jake is currently studying the intersection of autistic and trans experience and the implications for how humanness is understood.

Tara Farahani

Tara Farahani is the Faculty of Community Services and Faculty of Arts Artist-in-Residence. Farahani is a Toronto-based writer, researcher, and creative visionary. Informed by her lived-experience as an Iranian-Canadian Diaspora, she carries an inherent desire to challenge norms, ignite thoughtful dialogues, and engage in continuous learning in all walks of her professional and personal life. When she isn’t working in the non-profit sector, you will find Tara tucked away in the corners of cafes across Toronto writing creative non-fiction prose, typing away on her blog, tarainwonderland.ca (external link) , or in her home office creating jewelry for her side hustle, Anaar (external link) . Recently, Tara was the successful recipient of CUE’s 2018 Writing Program bursary to work on her upcoming non-fiction prose book, I Had a Very Happy Childhood, and has been featured on Metro Morning Radio, CBC News (external link) , Flare Magazine (external link) , Ryerson Alumni Magazine (external link) , and the Toronto Star (external link)  for her poetry and advocacy work. 

Waubkuniikwe

Waubkuniikwe is a member of Wasauksing First Nation, band of Three Fires Confederacy. She has recently graduated with a Masters in Social Work but considers herself a helper within and for her people. Her strength is community development rooted in Anishinaabe ways of knowing, doing and being. She is also an Aunty to many nieces and nephews who are her greatest teachers. She enjoys sharing her learning journey, and gains from these opportunities for further growth.

Curtis Sassur

Curtis Sassur is Ryerson University's Archivist, a position he has held since 2013. He holds a Masters of Information Studies (MISt) from the University of Toronto, and a BA in philosophy from the University of Guelph. Curtis' current research interests include the archiving of local independent music output and the Canadian cultural donation/tax credit system.

Cathy Crowe

Cathy Crowe is a long-time Street Nurse who works in the area of social justice nursing. She is a frequent guest lecturer and commentator on subjects related to advocacy, activism and social justice. Cathy has been the recipient of numerous awards including five honourary Doctorates in Law, Science and Nursing, an international Human Rights Award and the prestigious Atkinson Economic Justice Award. Cathy is also a ground-breaking author (Dying for a Home: Homeless Activists Speak Out) and documentary filmmaker (Home Safe Calgary, Home Safe Toronto).  Her work is the subject of a moving documentary Street Nurse by filmmaker Shelley Saywell. Today she is a Distinguished Visiting Practitioner in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University. She received the Order of Canada in 2018. Cathy’s website is www.cathycrowe.ca (external link) 

Amy Desjarlais 

Amy Desjarlais is a member of Wasauksing First Nation. She currently works at Ryerson University as the FNTI Coordinator of the Bachelor of Social Work program, and works with York University as a knowledge keeper. Amy currently sits as a board member at the Centre for World Indigenous Studies and she is a community member on Ryerson University’s Research Ethics Board. Amy has gained much experience working with Indigenous teaching styles from her work as Manager at Dodem Kanonhsa’ Elders cultural lodge and recently expanded her knowledge in the field of education through contributions in research and teaching. In 2003, Amy founded EarthTALKER, a magazine focused on women and families. Amy is also a hand drummer and singer.

Simone Schmidt

For a decade, Simone Schmidt has been writing new life into and around folk, country, and rock songs. Schmidt has worked under several aliases, fronting bands One Hundred Dollars, The Highest Order and solo project Fiver, releasing six full length albums, 3 of which were nominated for the Polaris Prize. In April 2017, Schmidt released "Audible Songs From Rockwood", a song cycle based on the lives of people incarcerated at the Rockwood Asylum for the Criminally Insane in Upper Canada between 1856 -1881.  Schmidt tours the country widely, and believes in the power of song to bring people together and to compel reflection on our contemporary condition.