Faculty Spotlights - Equity Diversity and Inclusion

Godwin Arku

Godwin Arku is a professor at Western, teaching Geography and Environment in the Faculty of Social Sciences. He recently received funds for two new projects to empower Black youth on and off campus, work he hopes will be transformative for the communities studied. He leads Diversity Western: Enhancing the Black Experience and received the Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence and Equity in hopes of building new bridges between Western and surrounding communities.

Yvonne Asare-Bediako

Yvonne Asare-Bediako is the founder of WeBridge Community Services, a non-profit organization launched in February 2021 amid the Black Lives Matter movement. As a previous faculty member at Brescia University College, Asare-Bediako established WeBridge to address social exclusion and health inequalities faced by Black-identifying individuals in the London area. The organization provides culturally grounded counselling, education and research services, along with other supports.

Chinelo Ezenwa

Chinelo Ezenwa is an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) specialist and academic advisor in Western University’s School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Originally from Nigeria, Ezenwa’s lived experiences as an international student inform her empathetic approach to supporting graduate students. She advocates for student-centred equity and inclusion, drawing on her academic background and personal journey to create safe spaces for meaningful conversations and support.

Cornel Grey

Cornel Grey is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at Western University. He developed coruse content for Western's Minor in Black Studies and now teaches courses in new Black studies major. The program aims to provide diverse perspectives on Black history, culture and heritage, addressing racism and inequity from a scholarly viewpoint.

Melanie Katsivo

Dr. Melanie N. Katsivo is an adjunct Research Professor in Epidemiology & Biostatistics at Western University. She leads and supports equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives at Western and serves as Associate Director of Partnerships and Programs for the Africa Institute and International Partnerships Lead for Western’s Frugal Biomedical Innovations Program. Dr. Katsivo also directs a Global Skills Opportunities project on Health Equity education and researches climate change, sustainable livelihoods, and biomedical innovation.

Erica Lawson

Erica S. Lawson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the University of Western Ontario. Her teaching and research interests intersect with motherhood studies, maternal grief, critical race studies, black feminist studies, and feminist-informed peacebuilding interventions.

Isaac Luginaah

Isaac Luginaah is a professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at Western, recognized as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada for his outstanding contributions to the field. His research focuses on health geography, environmental health, health disparities and the impacts of migration on health. Professor Luginaah's work makes substantial impacts on both academic and policy spheres.

Margaret Mutumba

Margaret Mutumba is the director of Western's Frugal Biomedical Innovations and has actively worked towards addressing the barriers and inequities in healthcare. Her doctoral research focused on implementing accessible and affordable fertility services in Sub-Saharan Africa. In her role at Western, she leads the Frugal Biomedical Innovations program, a multi-disciplinary initiative focused on co-designing, developing and delivering innovative medical technologies to enhance health-care access for patients in remote and low-resource regions. Mutumba has made her mark globally, recognized for her research, innovation and advocacy.

Andrews Tawiah

Andrews Tawiah is an assistant professor in the School of Physical Therapy and a Generative Artificial Intelligence Teaching Fellow at Western. He is dedicated to supporting both students and faculty with the skills and confidence to use AI thoughtfully and ethically in teaching and learning. He was awarded the inaugural GenAI Teaching Fellowship from the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Western. He is developing an AI-supported case-based learning platform for learning and an OER to support pedagogically grounded AI course design.