Christina Clark-Kazak is our principal investigator. She is a bilingual research leader in forced migration and age rights, with broad experience in government, civil society and academia. A professor in uOttawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, she previously worked for York University, Saint Paul University, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, and the Canadian government. She collaborates with community partners to provide experiential learning opportunities in courses related to human rights, migration, democratization and research methods. Christina has authored and (co-)edited 12 books, over 30 articles and book chapters, and many policy briefs on ethics, methodology, forced migration and age discrimination. She is regularly invited to contribute to public education, policymaking and media discussions.

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.

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.

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 a Communications and Digital Design Assistant for the UnborderED Knowledge / Savoirs sans frontières project, she contributes to the creation of visually engaging public-facing materials. Daniela has experience in content creation, social media, and visual storytelling. She is passionate about making knowledge more accessible through creative communication and collaborative design.

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.

Ezza holds a Master of Public Health from McMaster University, with expertise in health promotion, population health, and expanding access to care for equity-deserving communities. At the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis (CHEPA), she contributed to policy-focused research on tobacco pricing and strategies to reduce illicit cigarette availability in Quebec and Ontario. She has also led COVID-19 surveillance initiatives in Hamilton and developed multilingual public health promotion materials for community centres, hospitals, and clinics. Currently, as a Research Assistant in the Community-Based Research department at Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services, Ezza leads projects that enhance healthcare access and improve health outcomes for refugees, immigrants, and other priority populations. Her work emphasizes collaborative, community-informed approaches that advance health equity and culturally responsive care.

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

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.