Daniela Pelaez is an undergraduate student pursuing her Honours Bachelor of Commerce in Management with a French Immersion stream at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa. As the Manager of Communications, Outreach & Events for the UnborderED Knowledge / Savoirs sans frontières project, she leads communication, engagement, and event initiatives that support knowledge mobilization and community outreach. Daniela has experience in content creation, digital communications, social media management, event coordination, and visual storytelling. She is passionate about making knowledge more accessible through creative communication, strategic engagement, and collaborative design.

Jesee Ng’ang’a Njoroge is a Research Assistant with UnborderED Knowledge / Savoirs sans frontières, contributing to research focused on access to education, migration, and equity-informed policy. He relocated from Kenya to Canada in 2023 as a Refugee and brings an international perspective shaped by cross-border educational and social contexts. Jesse is currently a CPA student with CPA Ontario and is studying Accounting at York University, where he is developing strong competencies in research methods, data analysis, and evidence-based inquiry. His academic interests include applied research, financial and institutional analysis, and the use of data to inform inclusive policy and program design.In his role at UnborderED Knowledge, Jesse supports research initiatives through systematic literature reviews, data organization and analysis, and the preparation of research outputs. He is committed to methodological rigor, clarity, and collaborative research practices that advance knowledge in forced migration and higher education access.

Ayewa Donkoh is a PhD candidate in International Development Studies at the University of Ottawa. Her research interests include Feminist Flourishing,  African feminisms, intersectionality, postcolonial theories, and decolonization. Specifically, she explores the various systems that maintain oppressive hegemonies by marginalizing perspectives and epistemologies from the Global South. She is also interested in the different media African women are employing to reclaim and rewrite their own narratives. Ayewa has several years of experience in various aspects of civil society, advocating against issues like child marriage, gender-based violence and civil society sustainability.

Cassandra Fournier is currently a doctoral candidate in social work at the University of Ottawa. Her thesis focuses on interventions with unaccompanied minors in Greece. She completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in international development and globalization at the same university. Her master's thesis focused on the role of Spanish civil society in supporting refugees. Her main research interests are forced migration, international volunteering, youth protection, and civil society. Cassandra is fluent in French, English, and Spanish.

Magi Hadad is a graduate student in the Joint Master's Program in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg. She holds a BA in Human Rights and Conflict Resolution Studies from the University of Winnipeg. Originally from Syria, Magi came to Canada as a refugee in 2016 and brings her lived experience into her community and academic work. She currently works at the Immigrant and Refuge Community Organizationof Manitoba-IRCOM inc. as a Research & Evaluation Assistant and Lead Project Facilitator, focusing on youth empowerment, human rights education, and community programming for newcommer racialized refugee youth.

Noémie Boespflug is a research assistant at UnborderED Knowledge and a candidate for a double master's degree in international development at Sciences Po Bordeaux and Université Laval. Interested in migration policies, her thesis focuses on funeral rituals and death management in migration in the Mexico-Canada corridor. Her fieldwork experience includes emergency work in camps in Calais, post-earthquake management in Turkey, and cultural work in Benin. She has also worked for the Human Rights League, the Maison de l'Europe, and a law firm specialising in immigration. At CELAT, she worked on the rights of Ukrainian exiles in Canada and will soon join SOS Méditerranée as an intern. She works today at UnborderED Knowledge in policy analysis and data management to facilitate access to higher education for displaced persons in Canada.

Parisa Azari is a Ph.D. Candidate in Law at the University of Ottawa, with a background in International Law. Her research focuses on the role of higher education networks specifically the World University Service of Canada (WUSC) and Scholars at Risk (SAR) in advancing the concept of protection for forced migrants within international law. Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked with international and non-governmental organizations supporting Afghan refugees. As a Research Assistant with the UnborderED Knowledge project, she contributes to creating a database of existing and available higher education opportunities for forced migrants across Canada.

Elishma Noel Khokhar (she/her) is a multi-genre artist, author and activist. She has exceled in various roles and has over a decade’s experience in rights-based research, advocacy, public education, campaigning and front-line service provision. Currently, Elishma serves as a campaigner at Amnesty International Canada’s English-Speaking Section.

Estifanos Wondem Meshesha is a Software Engineering student at the University of Ottawa, with a specialization in Management and Entrepreneurship. He is passionate about the intersection of technology, information management, and social impact. His experience includes software development, web development, IT support, and data management. He is bilingual in English and French and committed to producing high-quality, detail-oriented work. He looks forward to contributing to the UnborderEd Knowledge project through technical development, effective data management, and knowledge mobilization initiatives.

Gamelle Kamga is an undergraduate student pursuing her BASc in Software Engineering with a specialization in Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Ottawa. As a Communications and Knowledge Mobilization Assistant, she contributed to the technical development of digital platforms, including  database modeling, web integration, and translation accuracy for bilingual content. She had previously worked on web development projects focused on user experience, content management, and accessibility. Passionate about inclusion in education, Gamelle is committed to using technology to support equity driven initiatives.

Leen Aboujaish is an Honours BSc graduate in Biopharmaceutical Science from the University of Ottawa and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Biotechnology at Carleton University. As a Communications and Logistics Assistant for the UnborderED Knowledge Project, she developed the project’s website and supported its initial design and launch before it transitioned to new team members for ongoing updates. She also managed logistics for meetings and workshops on campus, supported the coordination of multi-partner research activities, and created multimedia materials (videos, infographics, and designs) to share research in engaging and accessible ways. Leen continues to follow the project’s progress and remains supportive of its goals. 

Lois Klassen is an artist, writer, and researcher based on Coast Salish Territory (traditional and unceded) in what is referred to as Vancouver. Klassen’s long-range art projects such as Reading the Migration Library engage participants in collective actions that deliberately face ethical demand by way of social, aesthetic and material methods. Lois Klassen’s academic research has focused on ethics and participatory art practices—a topic she covers for the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards Circle of Experts. She is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at criticalmediartstudio (cMAS), School of Interactive Arts and Technology, Simon Fraser University, and a research ethics coordinator at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Marcella Randazzo is a Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning Advisor at WUSC, supporting education and refugee pathway projects. With a background in Economics, she specializes in performance measurement and program evaluation across development sectors.

Serge Billong is a bilingual (French–English) human resources and administration professional who arrived in Canada in July 2025. Born and raised in Belgium, of Cameroonian origin, he has lived and worked in both Belgium and the Netherlands, gaining extensive experience in international and multicultural environments.​ He holds a master’s degree in labour sciences, with a specialization in training and career transition management, from the Université libre de Bruxelles. Driven by a desire to support others, Serge places great importance on listening to people’s life stories and accompanying them through periods of transition. Convinced that everyone has a story to tell, he believes that every journey deserves to be heard, recognized, and valued.