Youth Speakers Bureau
Jeremy Dias | Shelly Rabinovitch
These Canadians are expert speakers who can educate and speak on issues of discrimination and diversity in Canada. These persons have triumphed over discrimination and work to promote diversity in Canada. The service connects you with a variety of speakers, who can speak in schools and communities.
Jeremy Dias
Jeremy Dias was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and grew up there until moving to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where he attended high school. As a youth, he was motivated by social and political inequality to take action, volunteering with numerous organizations and charities. In high school he started and lead a number of clubs including Stop Racism and Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving. He also founded and coordinated the Sault Ste. Marie first regional LGBTQ youth group.
After coming out in high school, Jeremy faced extreme cases of discrimination by school officials. At 17, he began a legal case against his school and school board, and at 21 won Canada’s largest human rights settlement. Jeremy used the money to found Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative and the Jeremy Dias Scholarship.
Jeremy has been featured on Canada AM, Much Music, CTV News and CBC News; and has been a keynote speaker at countless conferences and events. He is completing an Hon. in Psychology and Political Science at the University of Ottawa, and continues to volunteer for a number of organizations.
Jeremy Dias currently serves as Jer’s Vision’s Executive Director,
proudly carrying out the Jer’s Vision mission.
Lecture Topics: Youth challenges; Youth Motivation; LGBTQ and youth; LGBTQ in Canada; LGBTQ and visible minority; visible minority and youth; visible minority in Canada; marginalizing people; impaired driving and youth; (particularly different youth). (Other topics available, please inquire.)
Location: Ottawa, ON
Language: Bilingual (French, English)
Contact: info@jersvision.org
Shelly Rabinovitch
Shelley Rabinovitch (Ph.D.) teaches in both religious studies and women's studies at the University of Ottawa. She was Ottawa's first woman radio news reporter/announcer during the 1980s, and after a few years off deciding what tickled her fancy next, she returned to university for graduate work. Her studies have focussed on very non-traditional religions, including modern Paganism, First Nations, and folk religion. She is an anthropologist and folklorist who uses popular culture examples to explain how deeply imbedded discrimination is in North American culture. She grew up in a religious minority household, and also deals with discrimination on a day to day basis due to her disabilities and her size.
Lecture Topics: sizeism; religious discrimination; "othering" and marginalizing people (particularly visible minorities); Aboriginal women in North America; LGBTQ issues; polyamory; BDSM as subculture; religious expression; modern Paganism and Goddess worship; Neo-Satanism. (Other topics available, please inquire.)
Location: Ottawa, ON
Language: Bilingual (French, English)
Contact: tsivia@uottawa.ca
