Laurier Professor Ciann Wilson appointed to Region of Waterloo’s Anti-Racism Working Group

Nov. 18, 2020

Ciann Wilson, assistant professor in the Community Psychology program at Wilfrid Laurier University, has been appointed to the Region of Waterloo’s Anti-Racism Working Group.

Wilson is one of 11 members appointed to the working group announced by the Region of Waterloo on Nov. 13. The working group will play a significant role in helping to eliminate systemic racism in workplaces and services throughout the region by providing recommendations, advice and information to Regional Council through its Anti-Racism Plan. Working-group members will serve a two-year term.

More than 70 individuals applied to the working group. Successful applicants were selected based on their history of community engagement, personal lived experience and interests, and experience using an anti-racism and anti-oppressive lens in activities and projects.

Wilson is an accomplished educator and researcher whose work aims to share the stories and lived experiences of Black, Indigenous and racialized peoples in Canada. Her research through the Laurier Centre for Community Research, Learning and Action (CCRLA), where she serves as co-director, includes work on HIV-AIDS in Black and Indigenous communities in Canada, mixed Black-Indigenous community identity and the use of arts-based and digital media in community research.

Wilson has received awards and grants from a variety of provincial and federal bodies, including a Laurier Early Researcher Award in 2019 and funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to establish an arts and digital media research lab.

Wilson holds a Master of Environmental Studies and a PhD in Environmental Studies from York University.