Executive Director, Working Women Community Centre

Marcie brings 45 years of experience working in non-profit and labour organizations. Marcie’s pioneering work in community development has had at its core the often invisible needs and untapped potential of immigrant women and girls in Toronto’s diverse communities. Marcie has been a leader in the immigrant women’s movement advocating multi-ethnic, multi-racial front-line organizations run by and for immigrant women. Working Women Community Centre is one of the crowning achievements of that movement and Marcie’s tireless work, which began in the mid 1970’s, continues into the present.  Over the past 17 years Marcie has grown the agency from 12 staff to 140 with five locations across the City of Toronto and providing services in over 25 languages.

Session slide description:

Puzzle of signature education programs at Working Women Community Centre. WWCC believes in equal access education for all students and that parents are their children’s first and best teachers. Empowering parents to be engaged in their children’s education equals academic achievement.

Associate Professor, York University

Robert A. Kenedy (PhD) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at York University, Canada. He has written articles about immigration and resettlement in Canada focusing on integration into Canadian society. Professor Kenedy has been studying ethnic identity issues since 1989, with much of his research focusing on collective identity, ethnic communities, Diasporas, and identity formation through resettlement in host countries. He has written refereed scholarly works in the areas of identity, antisemitism, multiculturalism, interculturalism, civic participation, immigration, and resettlement. Most recently, he has been researching Lusophone resettlement in Canada, French Jewish Diaspora, campus BDS, and the new antisemitism.  

Director of Professional Learning, Ontario Principals Council

Committed to research-based practical professional learning for school and system leaders, Nadine Trépanier-Bisson is the Director of Professional Learning for Education Leadership Canada (ELC) at the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC) and the Chief Operations and Leadership Officer of International School Leadership (ISL).

Nadine has been an educator for over 20 years in different capacities including her most recent role as Executive Director for l’Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes (ADFO). In that role, she developed working relationships with many partner education organizations in Ontario, Canada and France. She has participated in the design, development and implementation of many professional learning opportunities, both in English and French.

At OPC and ISL, Nadine spends much of her time working with school and system leaders to develop workshops, courses, online learning programs and other opportunities to develop the school and system leadership skills, expertise and experiences needed in a changing environment.

As a lifelong learner herself, Nadine seeks to challenge her own thinking and learn about current research and practices related to public education. Currently, she is working on her Doctorate of Education (EdD) in the area of International Education.

Nadine is the mother of two. Her interest and commitment to public education in Ontario is both personal and professional.

Chair, Board of Directors, Parents partenaires en éducation (PPE)

Badrieh Kojok is the chair of Parents Partenaires en Education, PPE (ppeontario.ca).

PPE is a provincial organization that acts as an advocate for the parents whose children attend French language schools in Ontario.

PPE is managed by an elected board, consisting of 12 parents; each representing one of the 12 francophone school boards, both Catholic and Public, as well as a chair. Through partnership, PPE is committed to inform, sensitize and equip parents to reaffirm their role as primary educator.

Through a network of parents and partners, PPE is a source of reliable information. It provides opportunities for exchange and learning for parents – via the conversation program, meetings, annual conference as well as practical tools and a rich Website.

Badrieh Kojok holds a PhD in Mathematics, she has more than 20 years of experience in teaching Mathematics and French language at various levels including high schools and universities. She is the mother of a 12 year old boy and has always been involved in the school council and Parents Involvement committee as a parent. She is passionate about education and learning.

She strongly believes that this involvement as a parent makes a big difference not only at a personal level, but also for the whole society.