Darnel T. Forro is passionate about the critical examination and deconstruction of dominant discourses that define and silence the realities of oppressed populations. As a PhD student at Memorial University, his doctoral work is invested in understanding the sexual experiences of migrant and racialized queer Filipino men in rural Canadian contexts. His study is informed by intersectional, critical, structural, and anti-colonial lenses. Darnel is an advocate for the centering of pre-colonial global south knowledges as means for resistance and liberation, and as a potent tool for exploring contemporary experiences of individuals and collectives whose life stories are marked by invisibility and erasure.

Darnel is a faculty member at Red Deer Polytechnic’s social work program in Central Alberta where he demonstrates pedagogical, curricular, and instructional leadership in methods courses. As a social work educator, he strongly believes in the inclusion of diverse and marginalized voices, and of safe, equitable, dynamic, and critically reflexive learning spaces. He is a faculty sabbatical award recipient at RDP. Prior to his teaching career, Darnel was a medical social worker with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority where he was privileged to provide psychosocial assessment and intervention for Manitoba’s most disenfranchised health and mental health service users.

He holds a Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, with a master’s clinical focus on the intersectionality of oppression experienced by queer persons with multiple marginalized social locations. Darnel is a recipient of Dr. Helen Riesberry Scholarship Award from the UofM Faculty of Social Work. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from Central Philippine University where he graduated with Latin Honours (cum laude) and was awarded as one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP) – Region 6 (Western Visayas).

As a registered social worker, Darnel previously served as council member of the profession’s regulatory body, the Alberta College of Social Workers and board member of the Social Workers Association of Alberta. In the past, he was elected to the board of directors of Rainbow Resource Centre in Winnipeg and Central Alberta Pride Society in Red Deer. Darnel organized various initiatives promoting social awareness of racialized queer issues and sexualities in Central Alberta. He also served as speaker on these topics at numerous educational events and conferences.   

Contact email: darnel.forro@rdpolytech.ca