Biographies
 Dr.
Jasmine Zine
Dr. Jasmine Zine is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, Wilfred
Laurier University where she teaches in the area of education,
social justice and social inequality. She has published widely
in the field of anti-racism education and inclusive methodologies.
Her research also includes a study on homelessness among Latin
Americans and Muslims in Toronto.
 Dr.
Morton Beiser
A noted scholar and activist in cultural psychiatry, Dr.
Morton Beiser has a "fascination with how culture works in
creating and mitigating mental illness". He has developed
programs for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH),
was former Director for the Centre of Excellence for Research on
Immigration and Settlement (CERIS) and chaired the Canadian Task
Force on Mental Health Issues Affecting Immigrants and Refugees.
In 2004, Dr. Beiser was a recipient of the Order of Canada.
 Chioma
Born in Nigeria, amidst war and chaos, Chioma and her extended
family immigrated to Canada in the mid 70's. At an early
age, Chioma's innocence was stolen by her uncle and her life
almost destroyed because of the secrets she had to keep and the
fear of people finding out. Today, Chioma uses her experiences
to provide inspiration and encouragement to individuals facing
life challenges.
Wayson Choy
A teacher and writer, Wayson Choy is an internationally acclaimed
author of "The Jade Peony", "Paper Shadows" and "All
That Matters". His writing and talks address racism, sexism,
cultural diversity and respect for minorities.
Ben
Chin
A familiar TV broadcast journalist, Ben Chin helped launch Toronto
1 and has held numerous anchoring and reporting assignments with
the CBC, CTV and CITY News.
Halim Amini
Halim Amini is the founding member
and a Board Advisor to the Sabawoon Afghan Family Education
and Counselling Centre (SAFE),
an agency that provides various programs and services to
the Afghan community. Halim uses innovative approaches to raise
awareness through education on highly stigmatized issues such
as mental
illness and youth suicide within the Afghan and mainstream
communities.
Latha Sukumar
Latha Sukumar is a practicing lawyer and Executive Director
of the Multilingual Community Interpreter Services, the designated
service of the domestic violence court, hospital and community
based programs in South central Ontario and of the Toronto
Police Service. Latha has a Masters degree from York and a law
degree
from Osgoode.
Dr. Ted Lo
Dr. Ted Lo is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto
and Staff Psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental
Health (CAMH) and Mount Sinai Hospital. He is a consultant to
the Culture Community and Health Studies Program, Hong Fook Mental
Health Association and the Across Boundaries Ethnoracial Mental
Health Centre. Dr. Lo was the founding President of the Hong
Fook Mental Health Association (1980) and received a Service
Award from the Canadian Mental Health Association in 1993. In
2001, he was appointed to the Toronto Peel Mental Health Reform
Implementation Task Force and co-chaired the System Responsiveness
Subcommittee. He started the Friends of Alternative & Complementary
Therapies Society (FACT) and received the Prix Clarite Award
from the Canadian Complementary Medicine Association.
Wanda Marsman
Wanda Marsman is the Coordinator for ProLink, Mentoring Program
for Internationally Trained Professionals at COSTI Immigrant
Services. She has worked as a Job Search facilitator for over
10 years, training 15 - 20 Internationally Trained Professionals
on a monthly basis. Her close partnership with agencies such
as the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI),
keep her on the cutting edge of trained professionals.
As a Project Coordinator at the Multicultural Inter-Agency Group
of Peel she was responsible for a successful series of Newcomer
Settlement Project Workshops to increase the knowledge and expertise
of staff and social service agencies in Peel. Wanda has contributed
to community development through committee participation as former
Director of the Visible/Racial Minority Reference Group, Peel-Halton-Dufferin
Training Board, Healthy Communities Committee, Peel Housing Department,
Steering Committee Member for Mentoring for Change Project (Punjabi
Community Health Centre in partnership with Victim Services of
Peel), and Regional Director, Board of Directors, OCASI.
Aamna Ashraf
Aamna Ashraf has an M.Ed. in Counselling Psychology, specializing
in the area of cross-cultural counselling, family counselling
and feminist therapy. Her practical experience includes working
on violence prevention, issues related to immigrant women and
youth, settlement services, and health promotion. Aamna is
presently Cross-Cultural Coordinator at the Canadian Mental Health
Association
where her work includes the overseeing of five settlement agencies
and the presentation of workshops onCross-Cultural Mental Health
and Resettlement Stress.
Rani Srivastava
Rani Srivastava has held academic appointments at the University
of Toronto and Memorial University of Newfoundland and her practice
background includes experience as a staff nurse, advanced practice
nurse, director of nursing and professional leader for nursing.
Rani's interest is in the area of clinical cultural competence.
She has worked with the College of Nurses of Ontario in developing
professional standards for culturally sensitive care and has
served with the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario as a
board member and has led workshops related to cultural diversity
in health care. Rani is currently authoring a book on Clinical
Cultural Competence and serving as panel chair for a Healthy
Work Environment Best Practice Guideline on Cultural Competence.
Rani's doctoral work is examining the influence of organizational
factors on clinical cultural competence.
Ann Pottinger
Ann Pottinger has provided nursing care to diverse individuals
and families who have mental health and addiction issues in both
hospital and community settings. She has focused on care strategies
and approaches that honour the values and preferences of persons
from diverse groups. Ann has an interest is in the area of clinical
cultural competence at the individual and organizational level
and has participated in several initiatives designed to foster
clinical cultural competence. More recently she participated
in the development, delivery, and evaluation of an innovative
education program designed to bridge the gap between cultural
awareness and the delivery of culturally competent clinical care.
Jasmine Artis
Jasmine Artis currently manages the downtown office of Operation
Springboard and is actively involved with organizations that
deal with youth and the disadvantaged. Over the past 17 years,
Ms Artis has been involved in numerous community organizations,
including the Social Planning Council, Onestep and the Canadian
Centre for Minority Affairs. She has also played an integral
role in the development of the Scarborough Employment Services
Group and served as Chairperson until 2002.
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Revised: January 31, 2007
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PROGRAMS AND COURSES 
