Coady Chair in Social Justice

Join us in conversation…

Growing Social Justice at X : Mi’kmaq Circle

When: Monday, September 14, 7:00 PM ADT
Where: Zoom

We are inviting all Mi’kmaw / L’nu people with a connection to Coady, StFX and the surrounding area to join us. The Coady Chair in Social Justice (CCSJ) is a program aimed at engaging StFX University, Coady International Institute and local communities in issues of social justice. Since 2012, this fund has been used to host seven esteemed local and global social justice activists to share stories, to help build right relationships within and among our diverse communities, to examine our strengths, challenges, and obstacles to build foundations for just futures.

We are at a potent time in the world. The COVID 19 pandemic and the global surge in Black and Indigenous Lives Matter movements are bringing important conversations to the surface. As social inequities and systemic racism everywhere are being brought into focus. How we engage in Social Justice now has profound possibilities for the future. This CCSJ Committee has been stepping back to reimagine together what could be. We are asking:

How can the CCSJ best support justice in Mi’kma’ki?

Please join us on zoom.

If you can’t join, but want to share your thoughts, please fill out the survey here.

Growing Social Justice at X : African Nova Scotian Circle

When: Saturday, September 19, 1-2:30 PM ADT
Where: Zoom

We are inviting all persons across the Afro Diaspora – Indigenous Afro-Nova Scotians and People of African Descent living in Nova Scotia with a connection to Social Justice, Advocacy, Business, Leadership, Education, Civil Rights, Indigenous Black Communities, Coady, StFX and the surrounding area to join us. The Coady Chair in Social Justice (CCSJ) is a program aimed at engaging StFX University, Coady and local communities in issues of social justice. Since 2012 this fund has been used to host seven esteemed local and global social justice activists to engage campus and community, to share stories, to help build right relationships within and among our diverse communities, to examine our strengths, challenges, and obstacles to build foundations for just futures.

How can the CCSJ best support Social Justice?

Please join us on zoom.

If you can’t join, but want to share your thoughts, please fill out the survey here.

Registration has closed. If you cannot join please take this survey and share your thoughts.

Past Social Justice Chairs

2018: Mfalatsane Pricillah (Sadi) is the former Chief Director of Sustainable Livelihoods with the Department of Social Development for the Government of South Africa. A member of Coady’s Advisory body and a graduate of Coady’s Asset-based and Citizen-led Development (ABCD) and Livelihoods and Markets certificates, Motsuenyane has a longstanding relationship with Coady, and is a passionate ABCD practitioner.

2017: Dorene Bernard, a respected Mi’kmaq Grassroots Grandmother, dedicates her life to protecting the environment against the impacts of climate change. Her social work career in Mi’kmaki, includes child welfare and support for Indian Residential School survivors and their families. She volunteers to promote culture, language, social justice, Treaty Rights, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, and reconciliation.

2016: Alan Syliboy is an internationally renowned Mi’kmaw artist, filmmaker, musician and social justice advocate whose works have inspired renewed community pride in Mi’kmaw culture and heritage.
A recipient of the 2002 Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, Mr. Syliboy shares his creativity to engage youth and advocate for environmental sustainability, nation-building and reconciliation. May 31 Inverview with CBC radio

2015: Palagummi Sainath of India is the first reporter in the world to win Amnesty International’s Global Human Rights Journalism Prize (2000). Sainath has won more than 40 global and national awards. His book Everybody Loves a Good Drought has remained a non-fiction bestseller. Sainath’s work has been described as the ‘conscience of the Indian nation’, and has helped promote new national policies for the rural poor. May 27 interview with CBC Radio Ideas.

2014: Caroljean Willie, a Sister of Charity of Cincinnati, served as the NGO representative at the United Nations for the Sisters of Charity Federation from 2007 to 2014. In that role Sr. CJ was a leading advocate on issues related to sustainable development, women’s leadership and inter-faith cooperation based on her experience working cross-culturally throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa.

2013: Rajagopal P. V. is a Gandhian activist, Vice-Chair of the Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi,and the president and founding member of Ekta Parishad, a grassroots right-based organization in India. Rajagopal focused on approaches to nonviolent social change, especially on land rights and natural resource issues.

2012: Dr. Deborah Barndt is an Associate Professor in Environmental Studies and Coordinator of the Community Arts Practice Certificate Program at York University. Dr Barndt focused on the themes of arts for social change, local and global food issues.

The CCSJ is an important means to deepen StFX University’s commitment to its service to society’s mission, to develop student’s understanding and sense of social responsibility, and to support the Coady International Institute as a centre for global citizen leadership and social justice at StFX University.