Faculty, Staff and Contract Lecturer Award Recipients

Dani Gomez-Ortega works as the manager, student experience for the Faculty of Community Services (FCS). In this capacity her role is to actively engage students. However, Gomez-Ortega brings her capacities to help people feel connected and valued to all of her interactions: within the Dean’s Office, among the administrative staff in our diverse schools, and when connecting with faculty -- creating a sense of meaningful belonging for those she works with. One aspect of Gomez-Ortega’s collegial approach is her willingness to step up in almost any situation. At FCS events she is always there or is the one who pops into your office (or chat) and asks if there is anything she can do to help. She steps in seamlessly to solve problems, provide back-up and be a support. Gomez-Ortega volunteers whenever volunteers are called for and offers her time in a way that is collegial, generous, humble and effective.

Honourable Mentions:

• Nadia Bello, FCS Dean’s Office
• Jennifer Poole, Social Work

Professor Idil Abdillahi embodies participatory, student-centred learning. Uncritical views are challenged, but not dismissed. “Every view adds to the collective learning,” she stresses, while showing us how they impact our humanity. “Own your margins, for they are your power,” she reminds us. Nobody feels inadequate or excluded. Imagine the power, inclusion, and celebration that sparkle when Indigenous, Black, MAD, queer, disabled and silenced voices rise up? That is Abdillahi, generously imparting her wisdom and her body-brain-energy.

Bringing in Fanon and others to deconstruct systemic violence, Abdillahi promotes inclusive practices, from Indigenous worldviews to grassroots organizing. Her depth of knowledge is demonstrated by her extraordinary critical analysis, examples cited, guest speakers invited, and outstanding creativity. Unapologetically, Abdillahi reminds students not to sanitize social work spaces. We become the world: messy, creative, bold, mad, jubilant, united, liberated: human. 

Abdillahi’s teaching exemplifies a collective and mnemonic continuum of wisdom-seeking. She epitomizes professional integrity.

Citation by: Emily Imrie, bachelor of social work student, and Ranjith Kulatilake, master of social work student

Jennifer Ajandi, contract lecturer, demonstrates a consistently accessible approach in her design and delivery of course content, critical seminar discussions, and community building in her virtual classroom. She utilizes critical pedagogy, which helps to deconstruct oppressive systems and structures in order to highlight inequities in society. Community building, compassion, and connection are at the core of her approach, which creates a space where students feel prepared to engage in the importance of transformative social change. As an instructor, Jennifer Ajandi embodies the critical social work perspectives that we learn. She communicates enthusiasm for what we are learning and takes the time needed as integral to building trust and encouragement in the class. She is committed to student life-long learning and demonstrates values of reciprocity, openness and diversity of opinions, kindness, and community engagement.

Citation by: Tsvetelina Kolarova, bachelor of social work student

I wish to nominate Ciro LeCompte, contract lecturer, for the Sue Williams Excellence in Teaching Award. I have had the opportunity of being taught by LeCompte through several courses as part of the Occupational Health and Safety program. Throughout my coursework, LeCompte has proven to be an insightful instructor with a capacity to delineate through complex topics in a comprehensive yet conducive manner. He created collaborative environments that proved to be rewarding and meaningful experiences. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, he facilitated engaging activities to prepare us through a career-oriented and tangible framework. Furthermore, LeCompte instilled nurturing atmospheres for his students through guidance and an enthusiastic sentiment. Beyond coursework, he supported me through my personal career aspirations in advice and letters of reference. To conclude, it is with my deepest gratitude to advocate for LeCompte’s competency and more importantly, his adoring and passionate regard for teaching.

Citation by: Muhammad Umer Qureshi, bachelor of applied science in occupational & public health student

Professor Raktim Mitra’s research is ground-breaking, well-cited and globally transformative. His research on healthy movements, active travel and bicycling in Southern Ontario received over 300 citations in 2020 alone. Mitra currently has more than $900,000 in externally funded research ($358,000 as principal investigator), and is training three PhD, three master’s and two undergraduate students. He is a leader in scholarly organizations and sits on the editorial boards of major journals. His rapid pandemic research response in 2020 yielded significant impact for public health and social science scholarship.

Henry Parada is a professor cross-appointed to the School of Social Work and Immigration and Settlement Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University. His research projects exemplify meaningful community engagement and transformative social work research. Parada’s commitment to the communities implicated in his work is demonstrated through his continued readiness to reflect on, refine, and scale his projects’ objectives and scope to account for emerging issues and themes to ensure maximum research impact. Parada is an expert at team building who works hard to maintain equity across partnerships, offering his services to organizations and communities who have engaged with projects. He creates mentorship opportunities for junior researchers and scholars wherever he can. Parada also demonstrates exemplary service to the Toronto Met community through his continued enthusiasm for and involvement in various initiatives aimed at enhancing student wellbeing and success and the recognition and advancement of his fellow faculty and staff members.

Treisha Hylton is a smart, sophisticated Black educator who has inspired all students to think critically, to engage with anti-Black racism in all life contexts, and to absorb complex and difficult materials related to child abuse and trauma through a lens that is inclusive of myriad lived experiences. Hylton has mastered the art of relational pedagogy in ways that engage everyone. Her classes are more than an academic event; they are gatherings of many different communities with the common goal of exploring life as it is and a future that includes everyone.

For his exceptional perseverance and commitment to student success during the unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. His continued guidance, patience, flexibility and knowledge are incredible resources for both Toronto Metropolitan University and for the students fortunate enough to enroll in his courses.

Devin Glowinski has been teaching at The Chang School, Interdisciplinary Studies, since 2013. He creates relevant course content that intersects the built environment with community health. Glowinski was previously a guest critic and advisor with a project at the Toronto Met School of Interior Design due to his former role at Ontario Ministry of Health as a lead on the province’s Dementia Strategy. Students there were tasked with creating a conceptual redesign of the Alzheimer Society of Ontario’s offices. Glowinski truly practices interdisciplinary collaboration on campus by building practical experiences for learners and by seeking opportunities to collaborate across different faculties.

Ciro Fernando Bustillo LeCompte has set himself apart amongst his peers in terms of his professional qualifications, teaching expertise and personal involvement. LeCompte is a Professional Engineer (PEng) in Ontario with distinctive degrees at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels. He has extensive experience in both industry and academia, allowing him to draw on each when needed. Finally, In addition to numerous conference presentations, LeCompte has published over 20 articles in high-impact journals, as well as six conference proceedings, two book chapters and three books.

Kateryna Metersky is an engaging and highly enthusiastic educator, well- respected colleague and team-player, dedicated clinician, and committed researcher. In all areas of her professional life, Metersky continuously strives to learn, grow, and innovate, ensuring she continues to create and utilize effective teaching and learning approaches in a clinical setting, classroom (whether online or in person), and beyond. Metersky’s inclusive, diverse and student-focused approaches to teaching and learning are exemplary. As one of her past students mentioned, Metersky’s “passion for nursing and academia is inspiring.”

Eric Liberda has devoted his career to using science to understand human xenobiotic exposures. The majority of his research has involved working with remote Indigenous communities in Canada. His work exemplifies a unique method of team building that includes community-based participatory research and “two-eyed seeing” with Indigenous youth and elders, students, and researchers from the sciences and humanities. His efforts have resulted in research that brings together Indigenous community partners, other departments within FCS and the Faculty of Communication and Design, and from other universities, while pushing the boundaries of innovative and tangible research.

The University Advancement (UA) Employee Engagement Task Force strengthens employee engagement. Volunteers from different units in UA come together to create opportunities for professional development, team building and enhanced wellbeing. Launched as ‘UA Colleague,’ it has become a lifeline for team cohesion, especially in the new remote work setting. Led by the EETF team, UA Colleague hosts a variety of events, professional development sessions, and provides a platform for colleagues to get to know each other better. The team’s work to create community and take employee satisfaction seriously has resulted in a marked improvement in morale across UA.

Kristine Newman is an associate professor at the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing. Newman’s research explores knowledge translation, assistive technologies to detect agitation in persons with dementia, and dementia awareness within intergenerational relations and amongst caregivers. Recognized internationally for her innovation in knowledge mobilization, Newman’s originality in communicating her research is highlighted in projects such as Spare a Thought for Dementia (external link)  and Embody – Experiencing Dementia through New Media. This engagement with audiences, from students to caregivers to community partners, exemplifies excellence in knowledge mobilization beyond the university.

As a Black woman and the mother of a teenage son, Juanita Stephen’s commitments to the safety and wellness of her community inform everything she does. At present, she is a part-time lecturer in the School of Child and Youth Care in FCS  at Toronto Metropolitan University and a PhD student at York University in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies. Her research focuses on Black feminist practices of care. 

Stephen is also the executive director of the Child and Youth Care Alliance for Racial Equity (CARE), an organization which she co-founded in 2017 with the intention to disrupt the erasure of BIPoC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) folks in child and youth care education. It has since developed into an organization supporting efforts toward racial justice in youth-serving institutions throughout Ontario. 

Stephen’s work reflects her commitments to living in respectful, reciprocal relationship with the earth, its inhabitants and the ancestors; to challenging all systems and forms of domination that result in oppression, exclusion and violence; and to working continually toward a world in which her children are safe, valued and free.

Mehrunnisa Ali’s contribution to interdisciplinary education is best reflected in her philosophy towards graduate teaching and education: “like holding [students’] hands as they leap from being consumers of knowledge to producers of knowledge.” Ali was a key faculty member involved in the launch of the Immigration and Settlement Studies MA program, in which she regularly teaches and has supervised 12 major research papers to date. In addition, Ali supervised four doctoral dissertations in Policy Studies and regularly co-publishes with her graduate students.

An interdisciplinary and experiential learning leader, Nina-Marie Lister’s research, teaching and practice are impactful, collaborative and often community-based. Her work is uniquely positioned at the intersection of science and design, in the interstitial space between planning, landscape, ecology and urbanism. Lister founded and directs the Ecological Design Lab, whose mission is to connect people to nature in cities, and through learning by doing. Her students’ work is profiled in the lab as research assistants and co-authors in publications, impactful studio projects, and graduate research.