Amy Bartlett
Amy is the founder of Global HERizons and a native rural New Brunswicker who has herself made the leap from rural to global. She has spent the past 15 years in the social justice sector, working overseas and in Canada to help create positive change from the grassroots to global levels. A lawyer by trade and a global development nerd by profession, her expertise includes civil society strengthening, advocacy and mobilization, development effectiveness, organization building, governance and accountability. Not to mention championing the need for more women from diverse backgrounds and experiences to get connected and change the world.
Nora Abouguendia
Nora has over ten years of experience working in the fields of international development and humanitarian assistance. Born and raised in Saskatchewan, she currently resides in Ottawa where she works with the Canadian Red Cross. Her expertise includes program and project management, partnership development, government relations, and non-profit organizational strengthening. Nora holds a Collaborative Master’s Degree in International Development and Political Studies from the University of Guelph, where she was awarded the John Vanderkamp Graduate Medal for outstanding academic achievement and contribution to the community.
Leah Bartlett
Leah is a health planner, working to improve access to chronic disease services for vulnerable populations in eastern Ontario. She completed a Masters of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie University, with a stint in Mysore India focused on community lead development. She has worked on a wide variety of projects including rural health, childhood anxiety, impact of resource reliance, and First Nations health survey and information self-governance. Leah is also a trustee with Awesome Ottawa, a micro-granting group advancing awesomeness in Ottawa. Born and raised in southern New Brunswick, she holds a deep love of the Maritimes and the people who reside there.
Lauren Dobson-Hughes
Lauren began her career working in both British and Canadian Parliaments. She is an experienced advocate and campaigner, and a specialist in government relations. A former Executive Director of an international development organisation, Lauren currently provides advice and guidance on global health and women’s equity campaigns. She is also past President of Planned Parenthood Ottawa.
Kate Higgins
Kate is an international development professional with 15 years’ experience managing high-impact initiatives in a variety of strategy, research and policy roles. Substantively, her work has focused on global sustainable development, inclusive growth, women’s economic empowerment and chronic poverty. She is currently the Director of Policy and Campaigns at Oxfam Canada, where she leads Oxfam’s policy, government relations and campaigning efforts. Previously, she worked at CIVICUS, where she led the development of a new strategic plan, and led a flagshift initiative called DataShift. Prior to that, she led the Governance for Equitable Growth team at The North-South Institute in Ottawa and was a Research Fellow with the Growth, Poverty and Inequality program at the Overseas Development Institute in London, UK. Kate started her career with the Australian Government, where she worked on AusAID’s Papua New Guinea program and Indonesia program. Kate grew up in Sydney, Australia, and now lives in Ottawa with her partner and two young children. She has also lived and worked in Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Thailand and Uganda and has worked on assignments in many other countries, including Colombia, Indonesia, Peru, Tanzania and Yemen. She has degrees from the University of Oxford and University of Sydney.
Volunteers
Alex Wong
Alex is the Digital Officer for Global HERizons, primarily managing its website and newsletter. Alex studied political science, public policy, and law at the University of Toronto. Throughout her academic years, she worked and volunteered for organizations involved with advocating for human rights, social justice, and feminist causes. She is motivated by human issues and enjoys serving the public interest, previously working for the provincial government and currently working for a regulatory body in Ontario.
Sanjana Vijayann
Sanjana is Global HERizons’ Social Media Superstar, managing its social media presence and online engagement. Born and raised in India, Sanjana moved to Canada in 2012. She studied Political Studies and Economics at the University of Manitoba. Having lived and worked in two different countries, she is particularly inquisitive about understanding why inequities exist, the power structures at play and what engaged citizens can do to create a more equal world. What drives her is the need to create equal access to resources and opportunities for everyone, universal health equity, and a world free of extreme poverty.
Global HERizons 