{"id":81308,"date":"2022-03-07T11:13:38","date_gmt":"2022-03-07T16:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=81308"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:22:28","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T14:22:28","slug":"inspiring-student-leaders-making-a-difference-in-their-communities","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/inspiring-student-leaders-making-a-difference-in-their-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring Student Leaders Making a Difference in Their Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Inspiring Student Leaders Making a Difference in Their Communities\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

On International Women\u2019s Day, Carleton University honours women throughout the world and encourages everyone to work to #BreaktheBias so that we can all live in a more equitable society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From leaders in STEM to disability rights activists, Carleton students are making a positive impact in their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn more about a few of our inspiring women leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anastassia Gharib <\/strong>Recognized for Work Supporting Women in Engineering<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When Electrical and Computer Engineering<\/a> PhD candidate Anastassia Gharib first arrived at Carleton as an international student from her home in Jordan, she didn\u2019t know anyone in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, by harnessing her passion for engineering, she was quickly able to forge strong connections by becoming involved in her local IEEE<\/a> chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cIEEE is like a family that connects people of the same interests,\u201d says Gharib, who currently works on managing information-centric wireless sensor networks for enhanced user security satisfaction at the Sensor Systems and Internet of Things Laboratory<\/a> in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

From her early days as chair of her local affiliate, Gharib has become a cornerstone of the IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) community<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD candidate Anastassia Gharib<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Her work was recently honoured with the inaugural IEEE WIE Committee Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was very surprised, honestly. I wasn\u2019t aware of the fact that I would be receiving it,\u201d she said of being awarded the global prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am the first person to receive it as well, which is very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gharib was recognized for her work with regional coordinators throughout the world to harmonize their approaches to establishing guidelines for the organization. IEEE WIE noted in bestowing the award that this effort not only helped regional groups at the time but has also set the organization up for future success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Gharib looks ahead, her future plans include continuing to work with the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as IEEE WIE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know that I will continue with IEEE WIE, as it has become a big family for me,\u201d she says. \u201cI have connected with many extraordinary women that I would have never thought I would even meet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Megan Linton\u2019s Mission to Create a More Accessible World<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sociology<\/a> PhD candidate Megan Linton has been involved in disability justice community organizing for the past decade. Her research uses her experience in community organizing to make sure that disabled people are included in policy, data, and have access to justice.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019m so grateful for the disability community and want to do everything I can to support others, particularly those who have been routinely forgotten for so long.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

During the pandemic, Linton helped track COVID-19 cases<\/a> and outbreaks at institutions across Ontario, advocating for disabled individuals to be prioritized for vaccinations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sociology PhD candidate Megan Linton<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re going to vaccinate all of the retirement homes and long-term care facilities,\u201d she says, \u201cwe need to include other types of institutions where people are at a higher risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She helped present research to public health units, politicians, policy makers, organizations and media, leading to a more accessible vaccine roll out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For her disability advocacy, Linton was awarded the 2021 Dr. John Davis Burton Award<\/a> from Carleton\u2019s Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking forward, Linton will continue her disability research and activism to ensure freedom and justice for people with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of this calling, she launched the Invisible Institutions<\/em><\/a> podcast, which examines the history and ongoing use of institutions in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI feel very committed to making sure that the world is a place where my friends can live and have autonomy in their choices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jada Gannon-Day Connects Academic Concepts with Community<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Second year Anthropology<\/a> student Jada Gannon-Day is passionate about caring and advocating for her community. They have a long history of expressing this advocacy through social media channels, so when a research assistant position became available in the Transgender Media Lab<\/a> it was a great opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had originally received an email saying the research position was open, but I wasn\u2019t sure if I was qualified because I hadn\u2019t been working in academic positions,\u201d says Gannon-Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Second year Anthropology student Jada Gannon-Day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They admired the work of the Transgender Media Lab, its research and promotion of audiovisual media created by transgender, Two Spirit, nonbinary, intersex, and gender-nonconforming filmmakers and artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite initial doubts about qualifying for the role, Gannon-Day was successful and got the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a research assistant, Gannon-Day\u2019s work at the lab allows her to get a wide breadth of experience, from helping to develop community engagement policies to handling the public facing aspects of the lab to researching filmmakers and supporting the creation of the lab\u2019s Transgender Media Portal<\/a> database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Content creation is a passion of Gannon-Day\u2019s, and they utilize social media platforms to share concepts normally in the domain of academia with a wide audience.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThere are so many ideas that are important for people to engage with,\u201d says Gannon-Day. \u201cThe beauty of social media is that that many people can engage with these concepts.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As a teenager, Gannon-Day began reading books on social theories and wanted to share ideas, but quickly realized that much of the content was not accessible to many people. Since then, she has utilized the power of social media to connect the academic world with the broader, online community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can eliminate barriers to education as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrea McIntosh Selected for <\/strong>Indigenous-led Design Program in the Circumpolar North<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Master of Architecture<\/a> student Andrea McIntosh is one of nine designers selected<\/a> for the Canadian Centre for Architecture\u2019s (CCA) six-month program,\u202fFuturecasting: Indigenous-led Architecture and Design in the Arctic.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program includes seminars, a trip to Norway, and an exhibit at the CCA showcasing the work produced by participants.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cThis project presents something rare\u2014an opportunity for Indigenous practitioners and students to learn from and work with each other,\u201d says McIntosh, who is Cree of Fisher River Cree First Nation and French Canadian.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI have never participated in a pan-Indigenous architectural workshop, nor have I spent much time with other Indigenous architecture students,\u201d she says. \u201cWe need to see each other and to be with each other, talk to one another, and explore and research together what it means to design for our communities and our future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Master of Architecture student Andrea McIntosh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the project, each participant will present their work for the June 7 opening of the exhibit \u140a\u158f\u1550\u154b\u14a7\u1466<\/em>\/Rovttu guvli \/Towards Home in Montreal<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of her master\u2019s program, McIntosh is also working on her thesis titled\u202fPsychedelic Architecture: set and settings for altered states of consciousness.\u202f<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am researching psychedelic-assisted therapy health care spaces and their role in the treatment of mental health disorders,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McIntosh\u2019s work will establish design considerations for these spaces and explore what can be learned from Indigenous psychedelic communities about how to create \u2018health generating\u2019 spaces and practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think there is so much to be gained from Indigenous perspectives about health,\u201d she adds. \u201cWe are intimately connected to what exists beyond the body, to our relationships with others, with our environment, and to the unknown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patricia B\u00e9rub\u00e9, Accessibility Advocate in Art and Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Accessibility of visual art is a focus of PhD candidate Patricia B\u00e9rub\u00e9\u2019s research. She started by exploring tactile translations of paintings to improve accessibility for visually impaired museum visitors in her master\u2019s program. As part of her PhD in Cultural Mediations<\/a>, B\u00e9rub\u00e9 is adding an audio component to help these visitors experience art in their own terms and with autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cultural Mediations PhD candidate Patricia B\u00e9rub\u00e9<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Upon her arrival at Carleton, she joined the Research and Education in Accessibility, Design, and Innovation (READi)<\/a> training program. The program provides researchers from a variety of disciplines the opportunity to take part in theory and practice in accessibility. In addition to being a trainee, B\u00e9rub\u00e9 is also a Student Accessibility Champion within another program, the READ Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t find such initiatives at my previous university, so this was something that was very important to me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The training READi provided would quickly become helpful in an unexpected way for B\u00e9rub\u00e9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the first year of my program, I received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder type II,\u201d she says, noting the diagnosis finally put words to what she had been experiencing.  \u201cBeing enrolled in the READi program, I decided that I wanted to be vocal about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B\u00e9rub\u00e9 explained that the public\u2019s understanding of her diagnosis, including how it differs from bipolar disorder type I, and neurodivergent accessibility issues in general is limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help educate others and shed light on a subject that is normally hidden, she has shared her experiences through lectures\u2014including the challenges she faced dealing with symptoms prior to her diagnosis while being a high achieving student.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cEveryone is different, and our differences should be seen as normal. We should not all be trying to fit into the small box that we call normalcy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u2014
\nMore Stories<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On International Women\u2019s Day, Carleton University honours women throughout the world and encourages everyone to work to #BreaktheBias so that we can all live in a more equitable society. From leaders in STEM to disability rights activists, Carleton students are making a positive impact in their communities. Continue reading to learn more about a few […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":81337,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[1931,25],"cu_story_tag":[1930,1920,1918,1923],"class_list":["post-81308","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-social-innovation","cu_story_type-student-experience","cu_story_tag-equity-diversity-and-inclusion","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-arts-and-social-sciences","cu_story_tag-faculty-of-engineering-and-design","cu_story_tag-graduate-studies"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":"blueprint"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/81308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/81308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97274,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/81308\/revisions\/97274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=81308"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=81308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}