My own research on marginalized people’s challenges in accessing quality healthcare is echoed in Inter Pares’ work – in Canada through the Canadian Health Coalition, and in the Philippines with Likhaan Centre for Women’s Health.
And as a person who has travelled and worked in different parts of the world, I think it is important that we make linkages between issues in Canada and abroad. The promo voice of The Sprout Network for ten years and Verizon 411 for eight, you can hear her today on spots for Xfinity On Demand Cross-Channel, Hershey Park, IKEA (national spots for HGTV), and many more. I love that the work is firmly rooted in social justice, rather than in a charity model. For 15+ years, Jeannie has lent her unique brightness to thousands of projects and brands. Inter Pares’ international solidarity approach fits well with my values. This gives me the opportunity to link my past experiences to my current work on health and human rights, and bring these issues alive for my students. These days, I am a professor at York University’s inter-disciplinary health program. In my work, I have been involved with informal groups with shoestring budgets, community-based services, as well as the United Nations. The social justice issues that I am passionate about are the environment, gender issues, access to healthcare. I have been on the board since 2010, but the years have flown by. Voice 0 Jeannie (Voice Actions) is a virtual assistant with over two Million downloads, now also available via API. As a member of the Board of Directors, I travel to Ottawa from Toronto four times a year to participate in board meetings. This connection deepened my relationship with Inter Pares even further. I got to hear about their work to protect and promote women’s reproductive rights in Peru. While I was there I visited DEMUS, one of Inter Pares amazing counterparts. In 2016, I travelled to Peru for research on marginalized communities’ access to healthcare.