Chris D’Souza is an equity and anti-oppression activist with over twenty years of experience. He has delivered more than 5,000 impactful workshops across Canada. With a Master’s in Equity Studies, Chris has taught in the faculty of education pre-service primary, junior, and intermediate teachers at York and Brock University. The Harmony Movement, a leading provider of diversity and equity training programs, has awarded him a National award and he has written three children's books. His most recent book for adults is called "A C.R.A.S.H. Course on Anti-oppression: Examining Classism, Racism, Ableism, Sexism and Heterosexism."

Keynote topic: Tools for Navigating the Rise of Right-Wing Ideology

D.E.I. initiatives are being underfunded and undermined in the current landscape but it is inherent that anti-oppression work continues with the goal of student (and school board employee) well-being. This keynote will provide strategies that can be used to mentor Indigenous and racialized colleagues doing the work and focus on the importance of allyship.

In her role as the Human Rights and Equity Advisor for the Waterloo Region District School Board, Deepa Ahluwalia helps to support the establishment of a human rights culture. This is achieved by helping the senior team to identify and address systematic barriers and gaps, and to also support the resolution of Code-based complaints. Deepa oversees the Human Rights Branch, whose mandate also includes providing professional learning and training as it relates to anti-oppression and human rights, and to assist in the resolution of complaints by providing coaching and conducting investigations.

Keynote topic: Cultivating Cultural Humility for Productive Engagement with Family Advocates

Parents have a legal right to bring a representative of their choosing to school meetings. This right is vital as advocates help minimize the power imbalances that families experience and help to ensure that concerns from marginalized communities are effectively heard and addressed. Based on the Council of Ontario Directors of Education “Framework for Engaging with Advocacy Groups,” this interactive session focuses on practicing cultural humility and self-reflection to avoid defensive reactions during difficult conversations. The session provides practical guidance and essential considerations for school staff to implement before, during, and after engaging with family advocates to foster productive communication and ensure that the student’s right to a safe and equitable education is prioritized.

Keynote topic: Lighting the Way: Cultivating Leadership by Uplifting Everyday Acts of Courage

An exploration of how mentoring Indigenous and racialized employees for leadership is both an act of resistance and a necessity in Canadian schools amid the rise of right-wing ideology. Situating the work within Ontario’s current political and social climate, this session examines how misinformation, populist rhetoric, and challenges to equity-centered education increasingly shape school environments. The interactive presentation highlights how administrators and educators can challenge oppression through everyday acts of courage: upholding inclusive policies, protecting learning spaces, supporting staff, and centering student dignity. Particular attention is given to practices that cultivate leadership while addressing systemic barriers faced by Indigenous and racialized educators. The session concludes by inviting participants to reflect on what courageous leadership looks like for students and for themselves, emphasizing sustainability, collective care, and ethical responsibility in the ongoing work of equity.

 
Natasha Bascevan (miskwaabiimizh mashkiki — Red Willow Medicine) is an Indigenous Relations Consultant, evaluator, and educator with fifteen years of practice across education, health, and government sectors. Holding an MEd from OISE (Leadership, Policy & Change) and certification with the Ontario College of Teachers, she serves on the boards of the Odeiwin Foundation, the Indigenous Evaluation Network, Feather Carriers and EECOM. 

At this year's EDI Summit, Natasha introduces "Colonial Detours" — a diagnostic framework identifying the six ways institutions deflect structural change without producing it — giving Indigenous and racialized leaders a shared language for naming what they experience.

Keynote topic: Colonial Detours

An original diagnostic framework for naming the six mechanisms institutions deploy to absorb demands for structural change without producing it: procedural, temporal, representational, evidentiary, rhetorical, and comfort-paced deflection. Grounded in the scholarship of Glen Coulthard, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, and Tuck & Yang, and illustrated through documented cases across education, health, and justice sectors, Colonial Detours gives Indigenous and racialized school leaders a precise shared language for what they already know is happening — and a tool for calling it out in real time. In a moment when right-wing ideology is actively accelerating these patterns inside Ontario schools, naming the mechanism is not a soft skill. It is a survival skill.