EDIA Team
We are committed to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive campus that is accessible to all and free from harassment, bullying and discrimination.
EDIA Data, Strategy and Reporting
Manager Institutional Commitments EDIA Data, Strategy, and Reporting
Email: shikha.nayyar@ucalgary.ca
Shikha Nayyar (she/her)
Shikha Nayyar is the Manager of Institutional Commitments, Data, Strategy and Special Projects in the EDIA unit at the University of Calgary. Shikha has Master of Science from UCalgary with focus on Data Science and Project Management. She also holds Bachelor of Engineering from Kurukshetra University in India. Ms. Nayyar also holds a certified Change Manger and Emerging Leader Certificate holder.
Shikha Nayyar has over fourteen years of experience, spanning over UCalgary and the corporate world. In her most recent role, Ms Nayyar was Senior Data & Reporting Analyst with UCalgary’s International office. Before joining the International Office, she was with Vice President Research Office as Research Analyst, and at Cenovus Energy as a Consultant in their Client Services team.
Ms. Nayyar is an advocate of value driven reporting that derive strategies forward and bring tangible benefits to organizations. Over the course of her career, she has helped teams in developing key performance indicators to align with strategies, led development of highly complex and interactive data dashboards for planning at executive level, cultivated culture of accountability and data literacy, participated at data networks, delivered on operational leanness, and enhanced client experience.
Ms. Nayyar’s personal approach to EDIA is driven by her own experiences as an east Indian immigrant woman. Shikha believes, access to EDIA data is a privilege that need for be handled methodologically with gratitude in heart. She believes in power EDI data both at aggregated and disaggregated level, and how that can contribute to alleviating systematic barriers and process challenges, which will in turn bring voice to underrepresented groups in a strategic and data intelligent manner.
Outside of university life, she is a wife, hands-on mother with two young sons and a daughter. She loves to bike and read in her spare time!
Event Specialist
Event Specialist
Email: colleen.bishop@ucalgary.ca
Colleen Bishop (she/her)
Colleen's journey to the Office of EDI began in Osaka, Japan, where she taught English for nearly two years, immersing herself in the culture and creating lifelong memories. Returning to Calgary, she spent 12 years as an Event Specialist at the Calgary Stampede, orchestrating concerts, weddings, trade and consumer shows, and the Stampede Talent Search committee.
In 2019, Colleen joined the Haskayne School of Business, working with their community engagement team. She moved to the Office of Advancement in 2022, helping organize the return-to-campus celebration for Covid graduates and collaborating on many exciting events with the incredible events team.
A born and raised Calgarian, Colleen is passionate about event safety, sustainability, and bringing people and ideas together. When she’s not crafting unforgettable events, she’s active in community theatre and managing the delightful chaos of her two daughters.
Subject Matter Experts
Academic Director - LGBTQ2S+ Equity, Inclusion and Intersectionality
Email: tdacalla@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Tonya D. Callaghan (she/they)
Dr. Tonya Callaghan is a Professor with the University of Calgary’s Werklund School of Education and an Academic Director for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, two-spirit+ (LGBTQ2S+) equity, inclusion, and intersectionality with UCalgary’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Their second monograph, Homophobia in the Hallways: Heterosexism and Transphobia in Canadian Catholic Schools (University of Toronto Press) has been highly impactful. The overarching goal of their award-winning research is to integrate theory and practice so educational stakeholders become motivated to act as allies to members of gender and sexual minority groups in resisting religiously inspired heterosexist oppression. They specialize in critical social justice theories and anti-oppression education.
Professor Callaghan has been recognized for outstanding commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) at UCalgary with the EDI Award (Faculty). They were also honoured with two UCalgary Curriculum Development Awards for designing and coordinating the undergraduate course Diversity in Learning and the Master of Education program Advancing Healthy & Socially Just Schools & Communities, both of which actively promote EDI principles. Their research in the field of EDI explores resistance to anti-homophobia/transprejudice education in curriculum and policy.
Since joining UCalgary, they have served as Principal Investigator on 10 funded research projects and as a Co-Investigator on 6 collaborative transdisciplinary research projects. All funded transdisciplinary projects examine LGBTQ2S+ individuals’ experiences with homophobia and cisnormativity in a variety of settings (Education, Medicine, Social Work, Psychology, Refugee Settlement Agencies). They have served UCalgary in a myriad of ways ranging from Senator to Academic Co-Lead for Democracy, Justice, and Sustainability with UCalgary’s Institutes for Transdisciplinary Scholarship.
Dr. Hieu Ngo, (he/him)
Hieu Van Ngo is associate dean (teaching and learning) and associate professor in the Faculty of Social Work. As a person with intersecting identities, he has lived with and confronted many inequities facing immigrants, racialized people and LGBTQ2S+ members.
Hieu has been involved in anti-racist and equity work since 1997. To date, he has led over 15 collaborative initiatives addressing systemic discrimination in education, health, and justice. His work explores the challenges and opportunities related to the experiences of racialized and immigrant populations, often highlighting issues such as anti-racism, youth violence prevention, and social resilience. His studies have been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, and he is frequently called upon to provide expert commentary on matters of immigration, diversity, and social policy.
In addition to his research and teaching, Dr. Ngo has been deeply involved in community engagement, collaborating with various non-profit organizations and advocacy groups. His contributions have significantly impacted policy development and service provision for immigrants and refugees, both locally and nationally.
Dr. Ngo's commitment to education, combined with his community-driven approach, has made him a well-respected figure in both academic circles and grassroots movements, fostering dialogue and action toward a more inclusive society.
Academic Director, EDI, Disabilities and Accessibility
Email: gwolbrin@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Gregor Wolbring (he/him)
Dr. Gregor Wolbring is a tenured full Professor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine, Program in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies. He is presently also a member of the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe, Germany and a senior fellow of the Institute for Science, Policy and Society, University of Ottawa, Canada.
Dr. Wolbring defines himself as an ability studies, disability studies, sustainability studies and science and technology governance studies scholar.
Some of his awards include: Recipient of the University of Calgary’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award (Faculty and Postdoctoral Scholars category) (2022); Runner up, University of Calgary Sustainability Award (category Faculty Sustainability Research) (2020); Tanis Doe Award from the Canadian Disability Studies Association (2017); Bachelor of Health Sciences Research Mentor Award in recognition of making undergraduate students succeed in research (2014, 2016, 2018), the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal awarded by the government of Canada in recognition of the benefit of his academic work to the greater community (2013) and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, National Award (1998)
Some of the issues his research group works on include: ability studies (ability, ability expectation and ableism ethics and governance); disability studies; social, ethical, legal, economic, environmental, cultural and governance issues of existing, new and emerging sciences and technologies (S&T) such as quantum technologies, artificial intelligence/machine learning and reasoning, cognitive sciences, neurotechnologies, genetics, robotics, brain computer interfaces, human enhancement. They also explore the impact of S&T on marginalized populations, especially disabled people; sports; human security, global health; health- (technology assessment, law, care and policies); sustainability; conflict studies; peace; ecohealth; climate, water and energy issues; environmental education; environmental activism; emergency and disaster management; burnout; and equity, diversity and inclusion.
Senior Advisors
Senior Advisor Anti-Racism and Racial Equity
Email: ghada.sfeir@ucalgary.ca
Dr. Ghada Sfeir, (she/her/elle)
Ghada Sfeir, PhD, is the inaugural Senior Advisor, Anti-Racism and Racial Equity with the Office of EDI at the University of Calgary. Dr. Ghada Sfeir holds a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. Her research interests focus on Cosmopolitanism, Multiculturalism, Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Decolonization, Anti-Racism, and Global Citizenship Education. Using the cosmopolitan lens, which entails the “equal moral worth” of every individual across all categories of difference, Dr. Sfeir advocates for implementing the fundamentals of EDI and anti-racism to identify and remove systemic barriers facing underrepresented and racialized groups educationally, socially, and politically.
In her previous role at Concordia University, Montreal, she taught her graduate and undergraduate courses from a social justice perspective. She has recently co-edited the International Journal of Talent Development and Creativity (2022) special issue to promote cosmopolitan pathways for Canada’s growing diversity from coast to coast to coast and beyond. Her advocacy is not limited to her publications and teaching from a social justice perspective but also includes various academic initiatives to advance collective public understanding of the principles of justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and decolonization.
Our location
The Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion is located at:
AD116, Administration Building
2500 University Dr. NW
Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4
In 2019 the University of Calgary created the position of Vice Provost Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to oversee a new Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. The OEDI builds on and extends the work of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Protected Disclosure (ODEPD), which was established in February 2014 to advance the core values that underlie the university's strategic direction, Eyes High.
Designed to deal with both individual and systemic issues, the OEDI reports to the Provost and Vice-President (Academic)