We are pleased to announce our keynote speakers for the 2025 International EDI-AR Conference:

Senator Judy A. White

Senator White is a Mi’kmaq, a member of the Flat Bay Band, and a King’s Counsel lawyer with significant experience in human rights issues, Indigenous governance, and legislative matters. She is the first Indigenous Senator from Newfoundland and Labrador (sworn into the Senate of Canada, Sept 2023) and is currently the Deputy Leader of the Progressive Senate Group.

Ms. White was previously the Assistant Deputy Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation in the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador and, through an interchange arrangement, served as Director of Engagement for Distinctions-based Legislation with the Government of Canada.

She has worked on numerous boards and in governance, serving many agencies in various capacities, including as the former Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Newfoundland and Labrador, Chair of the Inuvialuit Arbitration Board, and Co-Chair (Indigenous) of Equal Voice’s Newfoundland and Labrador chapter.

In 2022, Ms. White received the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the advancement of gender equality. She is also the 2023 recipient of the prestigious Gordon M. Stirling Distinguished Service Award from the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Ms. White holds a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University with a particular emphasis on Indigenous law. She also completed the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources, and Governments at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School, the Leading People and Investing to Build Sustainable Communities Program – an Indigenous certificate program – at Harvard Business School, and the Chartered Director Program at McMaster University.

Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard

Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard is a highly regarded social worker, educator, researcher, community activist and advocate of social change. She has worked in mental health at the provincial level, in rural community practice at the municipal level, and, since 1990, as a professor at the Dalhousie School of Social Work, where she also served as director for a decade.

In 2016, she was appointed Special Advisor on Diversity and Inclusiveness at Dalhousie University and she is the first African Nova Scotian to hold a tenure track position at Dalhousie University and to be promoted to full professor. Dr. Thomas Bernard has worked with provincial organizations to bring diversity to the political processes in Nova Scotia and teach community members about Canada’s legislative process and citizen engagement. She is a founding member of the Association of Black Social Workers (ABSW) which helps address the needs of marginalized citizens, especially those of African descent.

As a former member of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, and as its past Chair, was instrumental in the development of advice to ministers regarding frameworks for gender violence prevention and health equity. At the national level, she has served as a member of the National Coalition of Advisory Councils on the Status of Women. She has served as an expert witness in human rights cases and has presented at many local, national and international forums. Dr. Thomas Bernard has received many honours for her work and community leadership, notably the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada.

Carey Majid

Carey Majid, KC (she/her) is the Executive Director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission. The Human Rights Commission is an independent at-arm’s length government agency that is responsible for promoting and protecting human rights in the province.

Carey is a lawyer with over 23 years of experience. She practices exclusively in the area of human rights and administrative law. She was elected a Bencher of the Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2021 and appointed King’s Counsel in 2022. Carey is Chair of the Law Society’s Equity and Diversity Committee and also sits on the provincial Access to Justice Committee. Ms. Majid teaches the Law Society’s bar admission course on human rights and regularly presents on human rights and social justice issues to employers, government, community groups and in the media.

Dr. Paul Banahene Adjei

An award-winning scholar, educator, researcher and public speaker, Dr. Adjei’s expertise is in the areas of social justice, anti-black racism, critical race, critical whiteness studies, anti-colonial theory and Indigenization. Dr. Adjei draws on his African indigeneity to fashion new answers for social work education.

Dr. Adjei has more than six years in his tenure as an inaugural member of the President’s Advisory Committee on Indigenous Affairs, as well as his extensive involvement in the development of the Strategic Framework for Indigenization.

A member of the Committee on Ethical Research Impacting Indigenous Groups, Dr. Adjei is an associate professor in the School of Social Work, where he is a member of a joint Visiting Indigenous Elders pilot project with the Indigenous Student Resource Centre, and a member of the Nunavut Arctic College partnership.

As a community builder, Dr. Adjei serves with the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District Provincial Anti-Racism Advisory Committee and is a member of the Newfoundland and Labrador RCMP Black Engagement Steering Committee.

He’s also the director of the Ghanaian Community of Newfoundland and Labrador Association. He says he is reminded by his Akan Elders of Ghana "that not so much what we are called -- but what we answer to -- is what matters.”

An active researcher, Dr. Adjei has secured funding for his work from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council; published several essays in scholarly journals, written book chapters and co-edited a publication; and has presented at national and international conferences.

Tanya Finlay

Tanya Finlay is Vice President, People and Culture, joined the Fortis group of companies in 2009.  She led the corporate human resource function with Fortis Properties until 2015 and then became Director, Talent Management and Human Resources with Fortis Inc. In 2023, she was appointed Vice President, People and Culture, responsible for the enterprise’s human resources strategy.

Before joining Fortis, Ms. Finlay’s work experience was concentrated in Newfoundland and Labrador’s public health sector, where she held progressively senior human resource management roles, including Vice President, Human Resources with the province’s second-largest regional health authority.

Ms. Finlay earned a Bachelor of Commerce from Memorial University and a Master of Industrial Relations from Queen’s University. 

She has served as a board director in the non-profit and financial services sectors and represented Fortis as a Diversity Champion with the Women Executive Network (WXN), a national organization dedicated to advancing diverse women across Canada.  She presently serves as a Board Director with the Association for New Canadians NL.