2025-2027 Executive Committee

PRESIDENT (2023-25)

STEPHANIE STOBBE, MANITOBA

Gender: Female

Biography: Dr. Stephanie P. Stobbe is the Chair and an Associate Professor in Conflict Resolution Studies at Menno Simons College (a College of CMU) at the University of Winnipeg, and a leading expert on Southeast Asian processes of dispute resolution. As an active educator, trainer, and ADR practitioner, she has worked and conducted research in Canada, United States, South America, Europe, India, Asia, and Southeast Asia. Over the last few years, she has facilitated and conducted conflict resolution and peacebuilding seminars and workshops in Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand, with political leaders, NGOs, and civil societies. Her recent books include: Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding in Laos: Perspective for Today’s World (2015) and Conflict Resolution in Asia: Mediation and Other Cultural Models (2018). In 2016, Stephanie chaired CARFMS 9th Annual Conference on Freedom of Movement of refugees and forced migrants fleeing to Europe. Stephanie serves on the Executive of Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS) and the Expert Advisory Board for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies (CAPRS) at Auckland University as well as the Board of ADR Institute Manitoba and ADR Institute of Canada.

VICE PRESIDENT (2023-25)

JAMES C. SIMEON, ONTARIO

Gender: Male

Biography: Dr. James C. Simeon, LLM (Cantab), Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, York University, Toronto, Canada, is a past President of the Canadian Association of Refugees and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS) and Director-at-Large. He serves as the Coordinator of the International Association for Refugee and Migration Judges’ (IARMJ) Inter-Conference Working Party Process. His areas of research includes international refugee law, human rights law, humanitarian law, criminal law, and public policy and administration. He publishes in these areas of research and organizes and leads academic and professional conferences, symposia, and workshops. Prior to joining the faculty at York University, he served on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) and as the Executive Director of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ), the predecessor of the IARMJ.

SECRETARY (2025-27)

Emily Le Roux-Rutledge, UK

Gender: Female

Biography: Dr. Emily LeRoux-Rutledge is an Assistant Professor in Social Psychology at the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol, UK, and Chair of the UWE Global Migration Network. Her areas of research include refugee wellbeing, refugee identity, media narratives about refugees, and public representations of refugees. She also conducts research in collaboration with refugee support organisations to improve services for displaced communities, and each year she convenes the UK-based Asylum Seeker and Refugee Wellbeing Conference, bringing together academics, civil society organisations, healthcare providers and local government. Prior to completing her doctorate at the London School of Economics in 2017, she worked in International Development, and has conducted research in more than 25 countries. Originally from Canada, she has also lived in Kenya, France, the UK and Bangladesh.  

TREASURER (2025-27)

ANNA PURKEY, ONTARIO

Gender: Female

Biography: Dr. Anna Purkey is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Human Rights program at St. Paul’s University College at the University of Waterloo. Previously she worked as an Evaluation Measurement Officer at the IRB (2020), held the position of Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Refugee Studies at York University and was the 2019-2020 Director of the Centre’s internationally renowned Summer Course on Forced Migration and Refugees. Dr. Purkey taught as Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies at St. Jerome’s University in the University of Waterloo for three years and was the 2015-2016 Gordon F. Henderson Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa. She completed her Doctorate of Civil Law at McGill University in 2015. She holds a B.C.L./LL.B. from McGill University as well as a Masters in Law from University of Toronto and is a member of the Quebec Bar Association. Previously, she held the position of legal counsel at the Department of Justice Canada. She is a member of the board of directors of Action Réfugiés Montréal. She has been an invited speaker on numerous occasions, including before Global Affairs Canada, the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and at the Canadian Council for Refugees Annual Consultation. She was also awarded the 2016 Lisa Gilad Prize by the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration.

Her research focuses on both domestic and international refugee law, with a special emphasis on protracted refugee situations and themes of human capabilities, legal empowerment, human dignity, vulnerability, governance, and transitional justice.

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER (2025-27)

Shayne Wong, Manitoba

Gender: Female

Biography: Shayne Wong is a doctoral student in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manitoba. Her research focuses on gender, peace and security, ethnopolitical conflicts, and peacebuilding and how these intersect with refugee and forced migration contexts. Her current research is centred on the roles and contributions of diaspora communities in peacebuilding initiatives. Shayne has been involved in research projects in Canada, Greece, Myanmar, and the Great Lakes region of Africa. She has worked with various organizations and networks in Canada and around the world and is a member of the Rohingya Human Rights Network team.

POLICY PARTNERSHIP OFFICER (2025-27)

Lori Wilkinson, Manitoba

Gender: Female

Biography: Lori Wilkinson is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Manitoba. She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Migration Futures. Her applied research in migration and refugee resettlement has instigated policy changes in Canada that have facilitated the successful resettlement of thousands of refugees. Her work on youth migration catalyzed policy reform that continues to influence how Canadian and international governments assist refugees. She is an active volunteer working with several local and national settlement and resettlement organizations in the migration sector. In 2024, she was elected to the Royal Society of Canada.

STUDENT DIRECTORS (2025-27)

Bereket Daniel, Ethiopia

Gender: Male

Biography: Bereket Daniel is a passionate human rights advocate and a dedicated student of international law and migration studies. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Law and Governance Studies from Bahir Dar University and a diploma in International Organizational Management from the University of Geneva. Bereket has been actively involved in human rights and student-focused initiatives through his role at the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, where he currently serves as a Project and Communication Officer.

As a student member of several regional and global networks focused on refugee rights, climate justice, and youth leadership, Bereket has continually worked to amplify student voices in policy and advocacy spaces. He recently participated in the International Civic Forum 2024 in Johannesburg and the 8th East Africa Human Rights Program.

Bereket is committed to promoting greater student participation in CARFMS activities and fostering inclusive dialogue among emerging scholars across disciplines. He brings both leadership experience and a collaborative spirit to the role of Student Affairs Officer.

Natasha Sofia Martinez, Ontario

Gender: Female

Biography: Natasha Sofia Martinez is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Politics at York University, with a specialization in International Relations and Women and Politics. She is also a Research Associate with the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC). Natasha is a critical scholar whose work bridges political science and digital migration studies. Her research uses digital ethnography to investigate transit migration in Latin America, with a unique focus on Migrant TikTok. She is interested in understanding how migrants share their stories and challenge borders, utilizing testimonio as a method.

STUDENT AFFAIRS OFFICER (2023-25)

CASSIE DONG, MANITOBA

Gender: Female

Biography: Ha Bich (Cassie) Dong (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Peace and Conflict Studies at University of Manitoba. Her research focuses on engaged peacebuilding (peacebuilders as healers), women’s peacebuilding, and decolonization in education and development in Vietnam and North America. She is currently a Research Assistant on the Hearts of Freedom Project and the Managing Editor at At The Forks, an open-access journal for writings on the intersection of Indigenous rights and human rights. Outside of her studies, Ha serves on several boards of directors and committees at different organizations across Canada, the United States, Vietnam, Kenya, and Nepal in areas of education, human rights, and sustainable development.

PRACTITIONER AND ADVOCACY OFFICER (2023-25)

Lynn Weaver, British Columbia

Gender: Female

Biography: tbc

DIRECTORS AT LARGE

Abdullahi Mire, Kenya

Gender: Male

Biography: Abdullahi Mire, founder of Refugee Youth Education Hub, was named the 2023 Nansen Global Laureate, UNHCR’s highest honor in recognition of his work with RYEH. Mr. Mire dedicated the award to his mother, and to “every child who was scooped up in someone’s arms as they ran. Because anywhere was safer than here.” Refugee Youth Education Hub (RYEH) is a refugee-led organization empowering young people to be outspoken, self-reliant, and dedicated to community service. Founded by Abdullahi Mire, a former refugee and a group of dedicated refugee youth in Kenya, RYEH champions the voices, actions, and ambitions of refugees themselves so they can take a leadership role in humanitarian action in Kenya. 

Shilan Saadi, Tehran-Toronto

Gender: Female

Biography: Shilan Saadi is a passionate filmmaker and photographer with roots in Mahabad, a Kurdish city in Iran. Drawing inspiration from the culture, people, and natural beauty of my hometown, I specialize in storytelling through visual media. My work focuses on capturing and immortalizing the unique narratives of individuals, highlighting their daily struggles and preserving the essence of forgotten cultures. Committed to using cinema as a medium for cultural expression and social awareness. 

Adèle Garnier, Quebec

Gender: Female

Biography: Adèle Garnier is an Associate Professor and Undergraduate Prorgam Director at the Department of Geography, Université Laval and the Director of the Centre de recherche Cultures-Arts-Sociétés (CELAT). She holds a PhD in Political Science from Macquarie University (Australia) and the University of Leipzig (Germany). She has done postdoctoral research at Université de Montréal and Université Libre de Bruxelles and was a Lecturer then Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University (Australia) before joining Université Laval in 2020. She has been a co-editor of Refuge: Canada’s journal on Refugees since 2022.  Her research has been published in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Refuge, Global Policy, Hommes et Migrations, la Revue Canadienne de Sociologie and she is the coeditor, with L. L. Jubilut and K. B. Sandvik, of the volume Refugee Resettlement: Power, Politics of Humanitarian Governance (Berghahn Books, 2018);  with Karine Côté-Boucher, Luna Vives and Mireille Paquet of a special issue of the journal Criminologie on Frontières (2024) and with Christina Clark-Kazak and Sarah Dubuc of the open-access book La migration forcée au Canada (McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming 2025). 

Mohammad Aziz Rahman, Ontario

Gender: Male

Biography: Aziz Rahman is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow of the Centre to Counter Trafficking (CCHT) at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), Laredo, Texas, USA. Prior to this, he was a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Migration and Integration Program at Toronto Metropolitan University. He completed a Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) at the University of Manitoba, following an honors degree in sociology (Bangladesh) and three master’s degrees: Sociology (Bangladesh), Regional Development Planning (Germany and the Philippines), and Criminology (Canada). Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship and perspectives, Aziz’s research and publications have focused on sociological and criminological issues, including refugee integration, public views of policing, ethnic violence, colonialism, terrorism, and gig work. Aziz is the recipient of a number of scholarships, including the SSHRC Joseph Bombardier Doctoral Scholarship and the SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship. His PhD thesis explored refugee economic integration in Canada. Aziz’s SSHRC-funded postdoctoral research focus is on refugee entrepreneurship in Canada.