Simon Fraser University Vancity Office of Community Engagement

Community-engaged scholar, current Researcher-in-Residence with SFU’s Community-Engaged Research Initiative and food system planner Tammara Soma joins Am Johal on this episode of Below the Radar. She shares with us what drives her interest in food systems and sustainability, and their relationship to equity and justice. Tammara speaks to her experience and the process of researching in communities –– where she aims to have everyone’s voices represented at the table. 

We hear about the impetus behind co-creating the Food Systems Lab, and how Tammara views the impact of COVID-19 on our current food systems. We also discuss issues with charitable responses to food security, and what kind of justice-centered solutions are needed in a paradoxical system where we have massive food waste, but also food insecurity and hunger.

Lawyer, climate storyteller, and founder of the UBC Climate Hub, Grace Nosek, joins host Am Johal on a mission — to publicly uncover feelings of ‘climate doom’ and ‘individual responsibility’ as narratives dispelled by the fossil fuel industry. While leading this charge, Grace speaks about Exxon Mobil at the forefront of climate science — spinning its narrative web that entangles any space from broadcasting and universities, to legislation. 

Grace also discusses her work with the UBC Climate Hub, and the integral role that youth (as well as Indigenous and racialized people) have in this movement of anti-capitalist defiance. She and Am also speak about overcoming eco-anxieties, the importance of making a small day-to-day difference that can ‘ripple outward,’ and Grace’s belief in Pleasure Activism. They end this interview with a brief discussion of Grace’s inspiration to write her hopeful young adult climate fantasy series, Ava of the Gaia.

Dancer, aerialist, choreographer and producer Gabrielle Martin joins host Am Johal on this episode of Below the Radar. Gabrielle tells us how her passion for dance has taken her from spinning fire in an East Van park, to touring the world with Cavalia and Cirque du Soleil, to choreographing and producing her own works.

In the episode, they talk about Gabrielle’s youth as an unschooler/alternative schooler, and how she developed a love for performance and dance through stilt walking, fire dancing, hula hooping and more. Gabrielle also shares her thoughts on the impact of the pandemic on the performing arts, her work as festival manager with the Vancouver International Dance Festival, and the making of Limb(e)s, a feature-length show she developed with her partner, Jeremiah Hughes.

Barb is a self-advocate leader who has helped shape the disability movement into what it is today. She is a founding member of BC People First, and has been on the Boards of Inclusion BC, the Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL), and International Inclusion. She is presently serving on the board of directors for PLAN Institute, and also works with ImagineACircle, a consulting collaborative, that acts as both a consultant and voice for inclusion.

In 1995, Barb addressed the UN General Assembly (GA), becoming the first self-advocate to present to the GA. She also played a very important role in 1986, when the Supreme Court of Canada made The Eve Decision and ruled that developmentally disabled adults cannot be forcibly sterilized. Barb was on the Editorial Committee for CLBC and contributed to their Just Say HI campaign. In 2011, Barb published her memoir, A Goode Life, and is currently working on the next edition.

Barb is a prolific presenter and workshop co-host for a variety of groups including; Spectrum Consulting, BC Representative of Children and Youth, ESATTA as a voice for self-advocate leadership, and most recently on a webinar with Cornell University Citizen-Centred Leadership series.

Tim Louis is a practicing lawyer who has been actively involved in Vancouver civic politics for over forty years. Tim has lived and worked in Vancouver all his adult life. From his early days as a law student at UBC – during which time he co-founded Vancouver’s custom transit service for people with disabilities [HandyDART], through to his terms as an elected official on both Park Board and City Council, Tim has listened to, and advocated on behalf of, communities across Vancouver.

Penny Parry was born in Montreal and moved to BC in the late 1970’s. She has worked as a university professor, psychologist and artist, among other things. She is a former Child and Youth Advocate for the City of Vancouver. Pennyhas a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and a BA and PhD in psychology.

A former Commissioner with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Rabia is a founder of the Canadian Association of Muslims with Disabilities, Executive Director of the Muslim Council of Peel and President of DEEN Support Services. Rabia has served on many boards and committees including the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council of Ontario, Ethno-Racial People with Disabilities Coalition of Ontario, Ontario Women’s Health Network and Federation of Muslim Women. Currently, she serves on the Mississauga Accessibility Advisory Committee which she has chaired for 8 years, the Peel Region Accessibility Advisory Committee, and the federal Disability Advisory Group. She is also co-chair of the Disability Without Poverty Initiative, a national movement to secure a Canada Disability benefit for disabled adults in Canada.

Through diversityworX, Rabia has provided training, research and consulting services on accessibility, equity and inclusion for a number of organizations including Health Nexus, ICICI Bank, Ontario Coalition of Agencies Serving Immigrants, the University of Guelph and York Region. Rabia has supported organizations in reviewing and developing policies and procedures that ensure a culture of human rights and accessibility including the implementation of policies and procedures on religious accommodation.

Rabia has presented at local and international conferences to raise awareness about disability issues, women’s rights and Islamophobia and has participated in a number of television broadcasts and documentaries. Rabia has been recognized for her leadership and community contributions and most notably, received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

Carmen Papalia is a social practice artist who makes participatory projects on the topic of access as it relates to public space, art institutions and visual culture. His work has been featured as part of exhibitions and engagements at the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, National Art Gallery, Banff Centre, Vancouver Art Gallery, Gallery Gachet and the Tate Liverpool. 

Carmen has received many awards for his work including the Adam Reynolds Memorial Bursary and the Wynn Newhouse Award. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver and a Master of Fine Arts from Portland State University.

His current work includes a movement building campaign for Open Access. One of the tenets of Open Access is, “Open Access interrupts the disabling power structures that limit one’s agency and potential to thrive.” Accessibility isn’t relevant only to people with disabilities, Papalia says, “it is an affirmation of mutual trust.” Along with his collaborator mia susan amir, they have created the The Open Access Foundation for Arts and Culture.

Judy is a lifelong activist and leader in the disability rights movement in the United States and internationally. At eighteen months old, Judy was paralyzed from polio and has been a wheelchair user ever since. 

She is the first person who used a wheelchair to teach in New York City but not before she sued the NY City Board of Education.

In 1977 she led the longest sit-in of a federal building to date, lasting 28 days which led to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The event and its lasting impact is captured in the Netflix documentary, Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” which won the Sundance Audience award. It was also shortlisted for the best documentary at the recent (2021) Academy Awards.

She went on to serve as the deputy director at the Center for Independent Living in California for seven years. She Co-Founded the World Institute on Disability with Ed Roberts She has worked for the World Bank and the Ford Foundation. She was appointed first ever Special Advisor on Disability Rights for the U.S. State Department under President Barack Obama.

Time Magazine featured her on their cover as one of the 100 most influential women of the last century representing the year 1977. She is the author of Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.

Victoria Maxwell, BFA, BPP* is a sought-after international (and funny) keynote speaker, performing artist and workshop leader. She uses her personal story of recovery from mental illness to increase awareness, transform negative beliefs and ignite powerful conversations about mental health. 

Blending 30 years as an actor, and 15 as a wellness warrior, Victoria inspires people to take immediate action to improve their well-being. She was named one of Canada’s top leaders in Mental Health by the National Centre for Addiction and Mental Health centre (CAMH) and honoured with the National Difference Makers award.

Her plays, keynotes and other efforts have won or been nominated for over 14 awards. They include the Entertainment Industries Council PRISM Award, SAMHSA Voice Award, best foreign stage play at the Moondance International Film Festival, and one of Top Ten Entrepreneurs with Disabilities. She has blogged for Psychology Today for the past 12 years.

Barbara Steenbergen has been committed to tenant protection for more than 19 years, starting in 2001 as head of the presidential office of the German Tenants' Union in Berlin and as political coordinator for energy policy and international affairs. Since 2013 she has been a member of the Executive Board of the International Union of Tenants. She is responsible for the political relations and representation of the interests of the European tenant associations towards the EU Commission, the EU Parliament and the EU Council. She is a German citizen and holds a master's degree in political science from the University of Bonn, Germany and a bachelor in public administration.