Who We Are

The Gender Equality Coalition of Ontario was founded in 2019 to work to create communities where all individuals have equal access to every opportunity, unbiased by gender. We are committed to diversity and inclusion, valuing individuals from all intersectionality’s including, genders, cultures, ages, races, orientations, locations, and abilities. Community representation is essential in the collaborative efforts towards gender justice. We believe that gender justice can only be achieved when all intersectional genders are included.

Linda Davis

Executive Director – Programming

(She/Her)

Linda Davis is President of the Canadian Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW) and currently sits on the Board, the Canadian Federation of University Women London (CFUW). In addition, Linda is also a member of the Ontario Equal Pay Coalition and the National Council of Women Canada (NCWC).

BPW, CFUW and NCWC are all non-sectarian, non-profit, non-partisan NGO organizations which promote the interests of women in our society. They each have Consultative Status with the United Nations ECOSOC. Since joining BPW in 1993, Linda has been working to improve the status of women and gender equality.

In April of 2015 Linda was appointed by Order-in-Council as an External Advisors to the Ontario Government’s Gender Wage Gap Strategy Steering Committee. After holding consultations around the province to hear from Ontarians about closing the gender wage gap, the committee submitted their final report and recommendations to the Ontario Minister of Labour and Minister of the Status of Women in late May of 2016.

Dani Bartlett

Executive Director – Advocacy

(She/Her)

Activist, Advocate & Mom

Dani Bartlett is a tireless activist and has been fighting for the rights of others since 1994.
Dani was trained as a women’s advocate dealing with violence against women for her union. She found her voice fighting for workers rights. She was an elected Trustee, Women’s Committee Chair and Co-Chair for the Human Rights Committee.

She is Co Chair for London Coordinating Committee to End Women Abuse, a steering committee member on the Central Planning Table for the Local Employment planning council, a member of All Our Sisters steering committee and she sits on both London and District and St Thomas and District Labour Council.

Advocacy is an important part of Dani’s life, from lobbying to direct actions to creating equitable policy, she believes in fighting for Gender Equality.

Dr. Amanda Zavitz

Leadership chair

(She/Her) Professor of Sociology, feminist, equality advocate, Marxist, change maker.

What Gender Justice means to me: What Gender Justice means to me: For me, gender justice means equality for all humanity.

M.Tracey Whiteye, BSW., MSW

Leadership Vice chair

(She/Her) Educator, Wholistic Indigenous Researcher, Wholistic Practitioner, activist and advocator. I am currently working at N’Amerind Friendship Centre as Ceremony and Transition Coordinator in Cultural based approaches to Violence Prevention.

What Gender Justice means to me: “That all human beings are valued and treated equally. And, that all human beings have the freedom of choice in developing their own personal abilities and wholistic well-being without limitations caused by stereotypes and gender roles”.

Cindy Marks

Advocacy Chair Board Member

Engineer, Mother of 3 female engineers, advocate and mentor.

What Gender Justice means to me: representation, inclusiveness and strength.

Aiden Buchanan-St. Gelais

(He/Him/They/Them)

What Gender Justice means to me: It means a world where gender is only an expression and gender roles would be a thing from the past.

David Billson

(He/Him) Co-Founder rTraction & RHA, Husband, Father

What Gender Justice means to me: Gender Justice to me means equity. A fair and just society should value contributions from its members equally without prejudice to gender.

Alexander Pershai, Ph.D.

(They/He) Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Specialist, educator, social activist, and agent of change.

Joseph Pazzano

(They/He), Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (Fanshawe College), Sessional Faculty, Human Rights, (St. Paul’s University College)

What Gender Justice means to me: Gender justice is the pursuit of removing gender barriers and supporting people and communities most harmed by gender barriers. It means embedding an intersectional anti-oppression lens to every facet of our lives to break down power imbalances, inequitable access, and obstacles to full and empowered participation.

Joni Nelson

(She/Her) Professor, Instructional Designer, Scholar-practitioner, Equity Advocate

What Gender Justice means to me: The ability for ALL humans to enjoy the same rights, resources, opportunities, protections, and sense of belonging.

Shannon Maheu

(She/Her) Professor of Psychology, Fanshawe College

What Gender Justice means to me: Ending the inequality that is perpetuated between men and women within the family, among the community and in the workplace. This includes ending the additional barriers in society for LGBTQ2S+, and those who identify as non-binary.

Melissa Milligan

(She/Her) Project Coordinator, Daughter, Leader, Community Advocate

What Gender Justice means to me: access, opportunities, equity.

Nisa Rigets

(She/Her) Social Media Coordinator, Public Relations Professional, Communications for Social Impact advocate, Mother, Daughter

What Gender Justice means to me: Opportunity and access across all genders.

Jaclyn Swinkels

Lakeside Web – Webmaster & Editor

Jaclyn is the current webmaster for the Gender Equality Coalition of Ontario. She has been creating and maintaining websites for over a decade.  In early 2019 she started her own web development company, Lakeside Web. This allows her to have a closer affiliation with her clients and their projects.  She loves working in this industry as she has many opportunities to work with a variety of interesting organizations like the Gender Equality Coalition of Ontario.

https://lakesideweb.ca