Heather Dicks

Heather brings with her over a decade of experience working in the field of International Development; this
includes work with the Canadian government, the United Nations, and several non-governmental
organizations in numerous countries across the globe. At present, she is completing a PhD within the Sociology
Department at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador; her thesis research is centered on the
nexus between International Development and Migration. She is also currently working on a SSHRC-funded
mixed-methods research project exploring the impacts of COVID-19 on Small and Medium-sized Organizations
working in Canada’s foreign aid sector. This research project is being led by the University of Guelph in
partnership with the Spur Change Program. Concurrently she is working on a separate SSHRC-funded
quantitative research project led by Memorial University in partnership with McMaster University. This project is exploring connections between remittance sending behaviors of Canadian immigrants and foreign aid. She
holds a master’s degree in Globalization and International Development from the University of Ottawa and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from Carleton University.

Kevin O'Shea

Kevin O'Shea is the Executive Director of the Public Legal Information Association of NL (PLIAN). Currently living in St. John's, NL, Kevin was called to the bar as a member of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011.

Louise Webb

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Mohammad Mashrur Sakib Khan

Mohammad is an experienced business organization consultant with a law degree who Managed a team of 30+ people in Europe to expand the company into 12 new locations—achieved a 20% annual growth in sales in a startup which was a noteworthy milestone in his career. Additionally, Mohammad has developed a fully satisfied customer concept for repetitive business. During his career, Mohammad has worked in various organizations, gaining skills such as time and team management, inventory management, budgeting, underwriting, analytical ability, critical thinking, problem-solving, etc.

Rose Gyesi

Rose Gyesi is a graduate student studying political science at Memorial University. She is currently a student writer and blog content creator of the Political Science Graduate student association of Memorial University.
She aspires to become an international Policy analyst and an active global citizen.

Valeri Pilgrim

Valeri Pilgrim is the Manager, Aboriginal Resource Offive at the Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) in St. John’s. She has been associated with the Aboriginal Resource Office of MUN since January 2011. She was first hired by Memorial University as the Aboriginal Liaison Officer with the Aboriginal Resource Office for three and a half years. In June, 2014 she took the position of International Student Advisor with the Internationalization Office (IO) where she remained until November, 2018. When the opportunity came up Valeri returned to the Aboriginal Resource Office as Manager in November, 2018. She considers her experiences working with Indigenous and international students extremely valuable, and has always felt enlightened and humbled by students from a variety of cultural backgrounds. In the 1990’s Valeri studied her undergraduate degree in anthropology & sociology at UNB, Fredericton and later completed a Master of Philosophy degree at the University of Oslo in Norway where she lived for two and a half years with her then 7 year old daughter, Kirsten. She self identifies as a Kablunângajuk which is essentially a mix between Inuk (singular for Inuit) and European settler in Labrador. She feels blessed to have grown up in the Inuit community of Nain in Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador) and is a beneficiary of the Nunatsiavut Government. Last but not least, Valeri is the proud mother of 2 children, Dominic 12 & Kirsten, 24.