EDI Workshop: Mental Health in Highly Performant Environments

Mental health in high-performing research environments is a shared responsibility and a growing challenge we must address together.

Every professor, student, research staff, and administrative staff can play a vital role in creating healthy, supportive, and inclusive research spaces. This includes standing by colleagues who disclose their disabilities and ensuring everyone can thrive.

In honour of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, D2R is partnering with the to:

• Examine what the data reveals about mental health in Quebec’s research spaces
• Discuss what inclusion and equity mean in the context of mental health
• Explore how to be a meaningful ally and support team members who disclose a disability

Together, we can build research environments where excellence and wellbeing go hand in hand.

Agenda

• 12:00-12:45 pm – Conversation on the state of mental health in research environments in Quebec, examples of mental health equity and inclusion challenges and best practices to be an ally
• 12:45 - 1:00 pm – Q&A

Speakers

Bibiana Pulido, M. Sc
Cofounder and General Director, Quebec Interuniversity Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Network

Bibiana has always believed in the importance of confronting the injustices experienced by the most marginalized groups in society and in creating inclusive environments for all. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Quebec Interuniversity Network for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (RIQEDI) — a non-profit organization and a unique community of practice in EDI at the Canadian level. Through her leadership, she brings together numerous individuals and organizations in collaborative projects related to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), expanding the network’s reach to private and public organizations as well as to francophone countries internationally.

As an expert in EDI, Bibiana contributes to and advises various EDI committees and develops innovative projects with research and governmental bodies, as well as within postsecondary and private sectors. Her collaborations include organizations such as NSERC (Dimensions), Universities Canada, 50–30 Challenge, FRQ, Canada’s Social Finance Fund, ISED, Genome Québec, MILA, IVADO, HEC Montréal, Institut EDI2, Université Laval, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, INRS, Concordia University, 91ºÚÁÏÍø, and many others. She also volunteers her time for various projects supporting students and vulnerable communities.

With a multidisciplinary background in political science, Latin American studies, and human resources/industrial relations management, Bibiana has participated as a researcher in numerous research projects with different teams and has taught at both undergraduate and graduate levels in subjects such as EDI, sociology of work, human resource management, and workplace ethics.

Tara Flanagan
Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at 91ºÚÁÏÍø

Tara has worked in the field of disability for 30 years and is an Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at 91ºÚÁÏÍø. She served for seven years as the Chair of the Joint-Board Senate Subcommittee on Persons with Disabilities that is comprised of a wide array of students, faculty and staff members across 91ºÚÁÏÍø who are invested in recommending university policy and in promoting a more inclusive environment. She also served for seven years as the Graduate Program Director in Inclusive Education. She recently served as the Chair of the Social Inclusion Working Group for the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences’ Autism Assessment for a National Autism Strategy.

She is the Director of SPARC (Social Policy, Advocacy, Research, Community), a research team whose mandate is to promote social inclusion by emphasizing self-determination, community, and participatory approaches to research and practice (55 SPARC supervisees have graduated in MA, MEd, and PhD programs). Her scholarly interests and research grants are in the areas of social inclusion, inclusive employment, transition from school to the community, self-determination, and quality of life among individuals with various types of disabilities and among other equity-seeking groups.

Mariloue Daudier, M. Sc
Senior Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor, D2R

Mariloue is a Senior Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor at D2R. She earned a Bachelor’s degree of Social Work from 91ºÚÁÏÍø in 2013 and a Master’s degree of Social Innovation Management from HEC Montréal in 2016. She has over ten years of experience in coordinating equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) projects in many settings, including the social economy sector, community organizations, the private sector, the Government of Canada (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada) and universities (the Office of Community Engagement at Concordia University, the IVADO initiative at Université de Montréal and the General Secretariat at HEC Montréal). She is regularly invited as a speaker, facilitator, evaluator or trainer to share her expertise in EDI in different contexts. Involved in her community, she volunteers as the President of the Intercultural Council of the City of Longueuil and as a Board Member of Coalition Longueuil - Équipe Catherine Fournier, the elected party in her city.