Our incredible board of directors keep the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace running! Read their inspiring bios below.
Scroll to the bottom of the page if you are interested in learning about VOW’s past honoured board members.
Lyn Adamson – National Co-Chair
Lyn is a mediator and trainer in conflict resolution. She has trained peace teams in conflict zones with Nonviolent Peaceforce and Peace Brigades International. A Quaker and mother of two, and grandmother of three, Lyn is also Co-Chair of ClimateFast. She works on the climate emergency crisis through ClimateFast and through VOW’s Demilitarize/Decarbonize campaign for a just and peaceful safe climate future.
Hannah Hadikin – National Co-Chair
Hannah is a long-standing feminist peace, human rights, and social justice activist. She is deeply committed to addressing structural causes of wars, poverty, social inequality, environmental degradation and promoting a vision where differences are respected and honoured. The roots of Hannah’s values stem from her Doukhobor heritage and the historical opposition to militarism and violence. She is dedicated to working for total global disarmament. Hannah is also a proud Mom of three daughters and Baba to two granddaughters.
Ainun Afroza – National Board Member
MBBS (Ban), FCPS (Ban), Dip Med Ed (UK), M Med Ed (UK), CTTP (Can)
Ainun Afroza is a Pediatrician and Medical Educator having Teaching, Clinical, and Research experience for more than three decades. Born in Bangladesh, Ainun graduated from Medical School in 1980. She did her Post Graduate Fellowship in Pediatrics from Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1988. In 1995, Ainun completed her Diploma and Masters in Medical Education from the University of Dundee, Scotland, UK. She also did a Post Graduate Diploma in College Teacher Training Program from George Brown College, Toronto in 2016.
Ainun worked for the Ministry of Health and the Medical University of Bangladesh for 32 years. She was appointed as an International Professional for Southeast Asia Regional Office of WHO, New Delhi, India. She has experience working as a resource person in countries like Japan, India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Timor-Leste. Before moving to Canada in 2012, she was the founder Chair and Professor of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition in the BSM Medical University of Dhaka. Ainun was a pioneer and an accomplished professional in Health, Nutrition and Education in the SEA region. She is also a co-founder of Green Life Medical College in Dhaka.
Ainun is a valued member of number of National and International professional bodies. She is an EC member and Advisor of South East Asia Regional Association of Medical Education (SEARAME), since 1996. She has been serving on boards of ‘Not for Profit’ Organizations in Canada. Ainun has been in the delegation team for attending United Nation’s “Commission on Status of Women” in UN Head Quarter, NY, for consecutive 5 years.
Ainun has authored books, published more than 40 articles in medical journals, and presented scientific papers in International a National Conferences. For her skills in effective communication, she was invited by several organizations to deliver professional and public lectures in the areas of Health, Nutrition, Education and Environment. She acted as a resource person for UNICEF, WHO, World Vision, BMRC, CAB, BBF, IPH, CME and conducted workshops and TOTs in various fields.
“PEACE” is the philosophy and passion of her life.
Janis Alton – National Board Member
Janis is a long-time activist in the domestic and international peace movement focused on the demilitarization, delegitimization of war, and the inclusion of women directly in all decision-making processes of peace building from conflict prevention to reconstruction. She has conducted 20 study/consultation/lobbying tours for women to United Nations sites, initiated and coordinated many national women and peace conferences and international workshops.
Linda Kalafatides – National Board Member
Linda Kalafatides is a secondary school teacher dedicated to anti-violence education. She has taught and written curriculum for Equity courses such as Gender Studies. Linda is currently teaching the grade 12 Equity and Social Justice course for the Toronto District School Board. Linda is active in VOW’s Disarmament Education Project.
Jill Carr-Harris – National Board Member
Jill has been a teacher and a practitioner of community development, international development and peacebuilding for more than three-and-half decades. In the community work, she has been engaged with adult learning with poor rural women; with regard to international development, she has worked on land reform, environment and gender mainstreaming policies and programs in Philippines, India, and Bangladesh; and in peacebuilding, she gives classes on nonviolence in schools and Universities in India and Canada.
Jill’s teaching has been based on her experience in working with the poor. Deeply influenced by Gandhi’s methods of peace and nonviolence, she highlights the importance of land rights and livelihood for the empowerment of women at the grassroots-level. After securing land rights, women have the increased capacity to build their leadership skills. These skills use nonviolent strategies and are critical for them to resolve social conflicts in the family and society.
Jill and her partner Rajagopal, a well-known Gandhian social worker, have led a group of fifty persons from 12 countries in the 2019 – 2020 in what was called, the Jai Jagat March, a cross-continental walk from New Delhi to Geneva over the course of one year. The aim was to reflect the inclusion in the SDGs of the marginalized, discriminated, ecologically-displaced and those affected by war. This was a kind of public education for those witnessing the Jai Jagat march, as it showed the importance of including all people in the economy, leaving no one behind. The Jai Jagat aimed at strengthening SDGs to make these policies more inclusive. (See www.jaijagatinternational.com.)
With an interest to bring the deeper development learnings to Canada, Jill completed a Master’s Degree with a dissertation on Nonviolent Social Movements at St. Francis Xavier in Nova Scotia, and a PhD on Nonviolent Leadership at OISE, University of Toronto. Her unflagging interest of informing through practice how nonviolent strategies can address deep inequities and social conflicts, is her way of learning and practicing peacebuilding.
Yusur Al-Bahrani – National Board Member
Yusur Al-Bahrani is a communications professional and journalist. She has MA of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University and BA in Mass Communications from the American University of Sharjah. She also has completed Social Media Marketing from University of Alberta and Freelance Writing from University of Sharjah. She has extensive experience and knowledge in communications and journalism, and would like to contribute her knowledge to support Canadian Voice of Women for Peace. Yusur has been a VOW member since 2012, when she first participated in the summer peace camp. Her work appeared in a number of national and international publications.
Oyeyinka Oyelowo – National Board Member
Oyeyinka graduated with a Journalism degree (Honours) from Carleton University in 2013. After working in the documentary film industry for two years, she ventured to law school. Oyeyinka graduated from Osgoode Hall in 2018. While at Osgoode, Oyeyinka Oyelowo acted as President of the Canadian International Law Students Conference and received a 2018 Dean’s Gold Key Award for her outstanding contribution to the Law School.
Charlotte Sheasby-Coleman – National Board Member
Profoundly impacted by the fact that her two grandfathers fought in the trenches on opposite sides in the first world war, by her parents’ personal experiences in WWII and, especially by her mother, Dorothea Sheasby’s subsequent dedication to working for peace and social justice, Charlotte has tried hard to make her life count — not just to her family but also to her community, our country, our planet and all life upon it.
Marla Slavner – National Board Member
Marla is a woman of many interests and talents. Her passion and commitment to caring & making the world a better place has seen her participation at the community, government & board levels advocating for youth, education, peace, gender equality, environment, arts & literacy, access to justice, elimination of violence against women & girls, human rights issues. She has facilitated restorative peace-building circles to help divert youth from the criminal justice system, is a trained facilitator in trauma and transformational healing with the Capacitar World Network. Additionally, Marla is an accredited family court support worker for victims of abuse. Marla has been a member of The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace for the past 10 years. She has attended The Commission on the Status of Women at the UN for the past 8 years as a VOW delegate.
Rana Zaman – National Board Member
Rana Zaman is a Pakistani Canadian currently serving on 13 not-for-profit committees. She’s a founding member of United For One Association that raised $200,000 for Syrian refugees. Rana is the founding member and president of the Caring Human Association, which serves home-cooked meals to aid organizations. Additionally, she is the founding member and past president of the Pakistani Canadian Association of Nova Scotia which promotes Pakistani culture through various events. She’s part of Diverse Voices For Change Halifax which is part of the Federation of Canadian municipalities five-city initiative to increase the number of women from diverse communities who are actively informed by and engaged in local government decision-making.
Rana regularly mentors youth and women to take leadership roles in community activities and causes and has worked with politicians at the municipal, provincial and federal level. Rana speaks on various subjects, including the Ivany report, feminism, racism and Islamaphobia. She has published articles on some of these subjects as well. Rana’s activism has resulted in her recognition as:
- Halifax Hero 2015,
- Narcity top 16 for 2016
- My Halifax Experience top 25 Maritime Immigrant Awards for 2017
- The Fearless Woman Award
- The National RBC’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award (2018)
She’s a strong leader and a voice for social justice causes. Rana dedicates her time to giving back in her community, which she is grateful to be a part of.
We appreciate all the efforts that our board of directors put in to making the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace successful. More information on our honorary board members can be found here.
Honoured Past Board Members
Brigid Toole-Grant – National Board Member
Brigid stands among those Fredericton artists whose painterly direction and style was informed and influenced by the presence of the UNB Art Centre and, particularly, the resident artists who impacted activities there in the short and long term since the 1940s – including Lucy Jarvis, Fritz Brandtner, Alfred Pinsky, and Bruno and Molly Lamb Bobak.