03/10/2022
Meet our Panelists for People.
Jennifer Watts
Jennifer Watts is CEO of Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS), the largest immigrant-serving agency in Atlantic Canada. ISANS provides a wide range of programs and services including resettlement, language, employment, business development, employer engagement, community integration and online programs both pre and post-arrival. Trained as an Urban and Rural Planner, Jennifer has a background in community development, urban and rural planning and municipal issues having served as a Municipal Councillor on Halifax Regional Council from 2008-2016. Jennifer has lived overseas in Central America and the Middle East and her family has been involved in supporting refugees through private sponsorships and university refugee programs.
Mapfumo Chidzonga
Mapfumo Chidzonga is currently working at Halifax Regional Municipality as a Diversity and Inclusion Advisor within the Planning and Development department. While he began his career as an intern, he is now a Diversity and Inclusion Advisor working at the forefront of championing equity, diversity and inclusion as primary and core considerations in policymaking, city-building plans, service delivery and community engagement practices. He is passionate about building trust, equitable service, inclusive and meaningful relationships and centring the voices of underrepresented communities. Mapfumo’s life journey started in Harare, Zimbabwe and so, his values are proudly rooted in the African worldview of Hunhu (Ubuntu) through which he was raised to embody and instill the qualities of integrity, compassion, community responsibility, empathy, respect for life and dignity of all persons. He describes himself as an aspiring change-maker committed to life-long learning. He holds a master’s degree in International Development Studies from Dalhousie University.
Carmel Farahbakhsh
Carmel Farahbakhsh (they/them) is a community educator, art maker, and youth worker. They have collaborated on The Khyber Centre For The Arts board for four years, and are enjoying their new position as co-director of local music festival EVERYSEEKER. They recently transitioned from a five-year term coordinating the South House Sexual and Gender Resource Centre to working as the Executive Director at the Youth Project-- seeing a direct link between this community work and access to creative spaces/arts community. As the Executive Director of the Youth Project Carmel works holds a youth-centric approach to organizational movement and support. Carmel builds their vision from their community education background and aims to apply an anti-racist and trauma-informed framework to their work. They also collaborate and organize with local initiatives, artist-run-centres, and community partners with an aim to create a wider 2SQTBIPOC community and support systems within the HRM.
Image Description- All three images are at the center of the image in a circular background are our panellist. On the top left of this is an image of Jennifer Watts, on the top ride is an image of Mapfumo Chidzonga and at the center of the bottom is an image of Carmel Farahbakhsh. Behind all of this is a black background with grey dots at the bottom and blue, yellow and neon pink arrows at the top.
Register from the link- shiftplanningconference.webnode.com/tickets
Dalhousie Architecture Students Association Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission Inspiring Communities Develop Nova Scotia Waye Mason Dalhousie University Dalhousie Student Union Sup Dalhousie
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