EDI Workshop facilitators

Kaitrin Doll

Kaitrin Doll (they/them) is a fifth-year doctoral candidate with a focused research interest in sexual and gender diverse (SGD) populations. Their work explores the complex relationships between community membership, social support, connectedness, and mental wellness. Kaitrin’s doctoral research delves into the impact of sport participation in affirming environments, with a particular emphasis on roller derby, to understand its role in stress-coping, identity affirmation, community building, joy, and mental wellness for SGD individuals. 

With a diverse background in social work practice, Kaitrin brings hands-on experience in inner city social work, community development, social innovation, and 2SLGBTQIA+ health and policy.  

They are currently a course instructor in social work and social policy at the University of Toronto, where they are dedicated in advancing social work knowledge, destabilizing the status quo, and actively supporting and uplifting student voices and learning experiences. 

Joelleann Forbes

Joelleann (Joelle) Forbes, MSW, RSW is a registered social worker, a psychotherapist, and one of the co-founders and president of Hope Leads Mental Health Care. In addition, Joelle has provided program consultation to community health organizations to support mental health teams’ processes and team-based collaborations.  Joelle provides counseling and psychotherapy to adults across the gender spectrum, 18 years and older. Her therapeutic approach highlights the importance of empowerment, healing generational wounds, and nurturing the authentic self. She has experience supporting clients with navigating grief and loss, depression, anxiety, trauma, burnout, self-esteem, life transitions, and various forms of oppression. Throughout her years of practice, she has worked with adults with many different cultural backgrounds and life experiences. Joelle’s practice informs her teaching style and this semester, she looks forward to teaching the following courses during the Fall: The Context of Mental Health & Health Practice (SWK 4412H) and Social Work Practice in Mental Health (SWK 4604H).  

Kyle Ganson

Kyle T. Ganson, PhD, RSW, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. His research focuses on eating disorders, muscle dysmorphia, and muscle-building behaviours among adolescents and young adults, particularly boys and young men. Dr. Ganson has authored over 175 peer-reviewed academic papers in leading adolescent health, eating disorder, body image, and substance use journals. His research has been featured in national and international press, including the CBC, CTV News, U.S. News and World Report, Healthline, Fatherly, and Runner’s World, among others. Dr. Ganson teaches clinical social work courses to MSW students. He has over 10 years of direct clinical social work practice experience and currently has a small private practice in Ontario.  

Eunjung Lee

Eunjung Lee, PhD, MSW, RSW is a Professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, which she joined in 2007. She has over 20 years clinical social work practice in various mental health fields serving marginalized populations with trauma and violence experiences. She has worked as a clinical supervisor, currently keeping a small clinical consultation. 

Dr. Lee is a psychotherapy-process researcher focusing on cross-cultural clinical practice in community mental health. Using critical theories in language, discourse and power, her research focuses on everyday interactions in clinical practice and simulation-based learning in social work education. Analyzing social policy and media studies, her research also explores how policy and its underlying politics construct dominant discourses that impact immigrants and refugees in a global neoliberal era, and theorize Canadian multiculturalism and welfare state. 

She teaches clinical courses in mental health in the MSW program and social work theory in the doctoral program at FIFSW. She is Factor-Inwentash Chair in Social Work in Mental Health & Health. 

Vilmara Lucas

Vilmara Lucas is a registered social worker, mental health practitioner, Ph.D. student, and course instructor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. Her research centers on the mental health experiences of Black immigrant professionals in Canada’s post-pandemic job market. She is also the recipient of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship. 

Vilmara’s Social Work practice involves research, practice, and advocacy, all aimed at enhancing the well-being and opportunities of Black and immigrant communities. With extensive experience working within Toronto’s diverse communities—spanning government, non-profits, and private practice—she brings a holistic perspective to her work. In her private practice, Innerme Psychotherapy, she specializes in serving Portuguese-speaking immigrants, providing comprehensive support tailored to their unique needs. 

Micheal Shier

Dr. Micheal L. Shier is Associate Professor and MSW Program Director at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. He is a Canada Research Chair holder in Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in the Human Services and serves as the coordinator for the Human Services Management and Leadership MSW Field of Study, and the faculty lead and developer of the Certificate in Human Services Management and Leadership (School of Continuing Studies, University of Toronto).  His research focuses on the broad study of contemporary social welfare systems, with a particular focus on the non-profit human service organization environment (both internally and externally). He has contributed to expanding knowledge on how to support human service organizational environments that promote equity and inclusion, are anti-oppressive and trauma-informed, and that enhance worker/workplace well-being. With an inter-disciplinary focus on social innovation and social entrepreneurship in and by nonprofit organizations, his research and program of study has supported the advancement of social welfare and community economic development, along with enhancing leadership capacity within the field through education, training, consultation, and support. 

Shawnette Thompson

Shawnette Thompson is the Supervisor of Clinical Affairs at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Social Work’s Talk It Out Clinic, where she supports the clinic’s day-to-day operations and supervises practicum students. With a deep understanding of trauma and complex trauma, Shawnette brings this expertise into all areas of her work, including her private practice and in facilitating equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) workshops. Her approach is rooted in creating spaces that are inclusive, affirming, and trauma-informed, ensuring that her work is impactful across diverse settings. 

Tin D. Vo

Tin’s interdisciplinary, equity-focused research centres on social climate and exclusion as determinants of health. Using a critical lens, his research evaluates policies and systems for diverse populations, and explores the intersectional lived experiences of historically marginalized communities to enhance their belonging and wellbeing in various contexts, including higher education, leisure spaces, and community settings. 

Keri West

Keri West, MSW, RSW (she/her), is a PhD Candidate at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. Her work within the Canadian healthcare system spans policy and practice, in the areas of knowledge mobilization, government relations, and medical social work. Keri’s doctoral research explores the structural relationship between childhood adversity and inflammatory diseases in mid- to late-life. Her pedagogical program of research is focused on neurodiversity and ableism in social work education, with a particular interest in the development of neurodiversity-affirming competency frameworks and evaluation methods, and the intersection of race and neurodiversity in the context of professional identity formation. 

Ruth White

Ruth C. White, PhD MPH MSW RSW is a writer, speaker and consultant in equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. She is currently the EDI Project Advisor at the Rotman School of Management, teaches in the Factor-Inwentash School of Social Work at U of T, and is a part-time therapist in private practice. Dr. White has written for Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Tracy Anderson Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, and more. She has also authored several books including, The Stress Management Workbook. Dr White gained tenure in social work at Seattle University, then taught in the virtual MSW program at the University of Southern California for 7 years. She has also taught at UC – Berkeley, San Francisco State, Simmons & Fordham. As a subject matter expert in EDI, Ruth has appeared on the Today Show, BBC World Service, various podcasts, & radio, and was a mental health contributor on KRON4-TV (San Francisco) for 3 years. Dr. White is passionate about wandering the planet and being outdoors – especially with her adult daughter, Maya.