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Racial Justice Theme Page

RACIAL JUSTICE

150,000

First Nations children suffered abuse in Canadian residential schools 🔗

12,000

reports of anti-Asian hate in the U.S.A. from March 2020 to the end of 2023 🔗

12%

is how much less a typical Black worker makes compared to a White worker in the U.S.A 🔗

Racism and discrimination continue to shape daily life for many. Explore how you can stand up for equity, challenge injustice, and build inclusive communities.

SUBTOPICS

Anti-Black Racism
Anti-Roma Racism
Islamophobia
Antisemitism
Indigenous Rights
Interfaith Acceptance
Anti-Asian Racism

MEET OUR AMBASSADORS FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

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Sareya Taylor

Poet, Community Worker

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Imarn Ayton

Motivational Speaker, Racism Thought Leader, Actress

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Zulaikha Patel

Co-founder of Dare to Change, 2x Bestselling Author

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Samantha Jack

First Nations Youth Advocate, Educator, Community Leader

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Eltayeb Bashar

CEO of Global Rights Alliance, Co-Founder of The Anti-Racism Initiative

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Katja Phutaraksa Neef

Community Advocate, Development Practitioner, Political Artist

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Shu (Viola) Tian

Public Policy Strategist, DEI Advocate, Co-Founder of Lightbulb Strategy

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Jemmar Samuels

Co-Founder of Halo Code Campaign, Founder of Collective Punishment

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Mei Tomko

Founder of Adoptee Alliance

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Khawala Ksiki

Co-Founder of Voices of Black Tunisian Women and Falgatna

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Skylar (Nibi) Louttit

Omushkegowuk Ininiw (Cree) Changemaker, Advisor, Researcher

OUR PARTNERS FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

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Mohamed Arafa

Adjunct Professor & Visiting Scholar at Cornell, Co-Author

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Dan Pavel Doghi

Expert in Roma Inclusion, Equality, & Non-DiscriminatioI

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Sareya Taylor

POET, COMMUNITY WORKER

USA

Sareya Taylor is a White Mountain Apache and Navajo poet and community worker. A graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts with a BFA in Creative Writing, she served as the Inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of Phoenix, Arizona, using poetry to center Indigenous narratives. Sareya has earned fellowships with Planet Forward, In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations Poets), the Intertribal Agriculture Council, and UNITY (United National Indian Tribal Youth). She was honored as the 2023–2024 Miss American Indian Higher Education Consortium, featured in Teen Vogue’s Indigenous Changemakers, and named an honorary UNITY 25 Under 25 Youth Leader. Her poetry has appeared in Thin Air Magazine, Tribal College Journal, Yellow Medicine Review, Another Chicago Magazine, and the All Free Nations Anthology.

Beyond the arts, Sareya’s activism includes raising over $35,000 in COVID-19 relief and delivering PPE kits to her community during the pandemic as part of the International Indigenous Youth Council. She was also selected to represent Indigenous youth globally at the UN FAO Global Indigenous Youth Forum. Sareya continues to merge creativity, culture, and community action, amplifying Indigenous voices and reshaping the future through advocacy and art.

Imarn Ayton

MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER, RACISM THOUGHT LEADER, ACTRESS

United Kingdom

Imarn Ayton rose to prominence during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, organizing the historic June 6th demonstration attended by over 20,000 people. She has since become a prominent motivational speaker and racism thought leader, with global recognition through media coverage on CNN, BBC, Good Morning Britain, GB News, Elle UK, The Face Magazine, and British GQ, where she authored a widely read article on institutional racism. Her iconic image, photographed by Misan Harriman, was featured in British Vogue’s landmark September 2020 issue “Activism: The Faces of Hope” and shared by Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief Edward Enninful. During the protests, Imarn was invited by global icon Madonna to deliver a personal speech, and also shared the stage with actor John Boyega in a moment that resonated around the world. A graduate of the BRIT School of Performing Arts, Imarn is also a trained actress and former teacher specializing in PSHE, drama, and public speaking. She continues her impact through anti-racism workshops in schools, aimed to disrupt cycles of racist bullying by equipping young people with the tools to recognize, understand, and challenge systemic discrimination. Through seminars, articles, and community-led initiatives with the Black Reformist Movement (BRM), Imarn continues to educate, empower, and inspire a new generation to build a more just and equitable society.

Zulaikha Patel

CO-FOUNDER OF DARE TO CHANGE, 2x BESTSELLING AUTHOR

South Africa

Zulaikha Patel is a South African anti-racism activist, international speaker, bestselling author, and founder. At just 13, she became a national symbol of resistance after leading the #StopRacismAtPretoriaGirlsHigh protest against discriminatory hair policies at her school. Her silent defiance sparked global attention, with a viral video and a petition that garnered over 34,000 signatures, prompting national policy reviews and a wider reckoning with racism in South African schools. Zulaikha is the bestselling author of ‘My Coily Crowny Hair’ and ‘Brave Like Me!’, empowering children to embrace Black identity. She co-founded Dare to Change, a nonprofit that promotes Black literacy and achievement, establishing Library Corners accessible to over 8,000 children. An advocate for anti-racism, decolonization, gender equality, and youth empowerment, Zulaikha sits on the Nala Feminist Collective Council, advancing Demand 3 of the African Young Women Beijing +25 Manifesto. She has spoken at the UN Young Activists Summit, TED, and Oxford University, and was named to the BBC 100 Women list and Mail & Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans (Editor’s Choice). Through her work, Zulaikha is shaping a decolonized, just future where African children are empowered through education, activism, and representation.

Samantha Jack

FIRST NATIONS YOUTH ADVOCATE, EDUCATOR, COMMUNITY LEADER

Canada

Samantha Jack (she/her) is a Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Yale First Nations youth advocate, educator, and community leader. Grounded in her teachings and guided by the legacy of her ancestors, she works at the intersection of Indigenous rights, youth empowerment, and decolonization. Samantha has spent the past eight years leading transformative work across local, national, and international platforms—including serving as the National Youth Executive for the National Association of Friendship Centres and the North American Focal Point for the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus at the United Nations. Her advocacy is rooted in justice, love, and responsibility to future generations. She is also an instructor of Political Science at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, where she brings lived experience into the classroom to foster critical conversations on policy, Indigenous sovereignty, and Indigenous governance. Samantha has facilitated over 100 trainings on Indigenous cultural safety, reconciliation, lateral violence, and youth leadership across Canada. From community-based workshops to international diplomacy, her work always centres Indigenous youth voices and the need to transform systems—not just work within them. Samantha is committed to creating spaces that are culturally safe, empowering, and rooted in relationship, where young people feel supported to lead with their whole selves. She believes that no one should carry this work alone, and she walks forward holding both the weight and the hope of her communities with deep care.

Eltayeb Bashar

CEO OF GLOBAL RIGHTS ALLIANCE, C0-FOUNDER OF THE ANTI-RACISM INITIATIVE

United Kingdom

Eltayeb Bashar is an award-winning activist, human rights researcher and founder, committed to advancing equity and justice through law and grassroots leadership. Eltayeb began his activist journey at 19, co-leading a racial justice protest of thousands in Worcester alongside his sister. Their work led to the city’s first official Black History Month and Windrush Day, now preserved in the Worcester Museum. In 2024, he co-founded The Anti-Racism Initiative, a registered charity promoting racial harmony through education, advocacy, and events in collaboration with local government. He is also the Founder & CEO of the Global Rights Alliance, empowering young human rights leaders across 18 countries. Eltayeb was invited to UK Parliament, where he drafted parliamentary questions for Baroness Cox. He has lectured hundreds of trainee teachers on DEI and represented youth voices internationally at the NATO Youth Summit in Montenegro. Eltayeb also served as a participant in the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women for UN Women and is a member of European Youth Parliament. For his impactful work, he was named UK’s 2025 Youth Activist of the Year and a recipient of the 2024 HART Prize for Human Rights. Holding an LLB (Hons) and currently pursuing a Master’s in International Human Rights Law at the University of Birmingham, Eltayeb’s research focuses on international law and human rights. He has been published in the Oxford Human Rights Hub, the LSE Human Rights Blog, and contributed to a forthcoming Oxford University Press book—cementing his role as one of the UK’s most promising young changemakers.

Katja Phutaraksa Neef

COMMUNITY ADVOCATE, DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONER, POLITICAL ARTIST

New Zealand

Katja Phutaraksa Neef is community advocate, development practitioner, and political artist working across the Pacific, Asia, and beyond. She currently serves as the Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning & Capacity Building Manager at Habitat for Humanity NZ, supporting shelter resilience and partner development in Tonga, Fiji, Samoa, and Bangladesh. Katja has coordinated youth leadership programs in Eastern Indonesia and West Papua with UnionAID, advised on inclusive policy as a UNESCO Aotearoa Youth Leader, and supported youth civic engagement through the Auckland Council Youth Demographic Advisory Panel. As an Advisor and Artivist-in-Residence at ICAAD, she uses storytelling and visual mediums to advance conversations on racial justice, forced displacement, and Indigenous sovereignty. In collaboration with ICAAD, Katja worked closely with Banaban elders, youth, and women, co-creating an archive of songs, oral histories, and visual stories. With the blessing of Banaban elders, she co-designed exhibitions in Rabi and Auckland, sharing Banaban histories, cultural resilience, and New Zealand’s colonial complicity in the phosphate trade. Katja recently completed her master’s in Development Studies, with a thesis on ‘Banaban youth aspirations and capacities in a post-relocation and mining context on Rabi Island’. Her broader research and advocacy interests include Indigenous rights, climate justice, and migration—grounded in a commitment to ethical, community-led storytelling and systemic change.

Shu (Viola) Tian

PUBLIC POLICY STRATEGIST, DEI ADVOCATE, CO-FOUNDER OF LIGHTBULB STRATEGY

Canada

Viola Tian is a public policy strategist and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) advocate. She is the Co-Founder of Lightbulb Strategy, a consultancy advancing equity through tailored DEI education and policy advising. Viola has delivered anti-Asian racism workshops to institutions such as the City of Oshawa, Royal Roads University, and the University of New Brunswick.

As National Strategy Lead at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, Viola led the creation of Canada’s first national pan-Asian coalition and spearheaded a two-year anti-Asian racism strategy. Her work involved drafting policy reports, advising on federal legislation, and organizing national summits connecting grassroots leaders with government officials. She has also authored policy briefings and legislative submissions and facilitated consultations with over 200 stakeholders.

Currently, Viola serves as Project Manager at the Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice, contributing to the federal policy report on Bill 63 and its implications on online hate targeting Asian communities.

Jemmar Samuels

CO-FOUNDER OF HALO CODE CAMPAIGN, FOUNDER OF COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT

United Kingdom

Jemmar Samuels is a campaigner and writer, passionate about using storytelling to drive social change. She is the co-founder and co-organiser of the award-winning Halo Code campaign, which works towards a future free from afro-hair discrimination. She is also the founder of Collective Punishment, a campaign dedicated to raising awareness of and addressing the impact of parental imprisonment on families—particularly children—in the UK. In recognition of her years of youth activism, she was honoured with a Diana Award in 2019.  

As a writer, Jemmar has contributed to gal-dem, Black Ballad, and LAPP The Brand, primarily focusing on personal essays that embody the belief that “the personal is political.”  

She also has experience in documentary filmmaking, having contributed to four documentaries. One of these, which featured her story, won a 2018 Children’s BAFTA, while another received an award at the 2020 Little Wings Festival.

Mei Tomko

FOUNDER OF ADOPTEE ALLIANCE

USA

Mei Tomko is a transracial intercountry adoptee born in China and raised in the United States. She currently works in health care advocacy as a program manager. Being a transracial adoptee greatly influenced her passion for furthering racial justice, intersectional advocacy, and human rights as international and transracial adoption uniquely intersect with these issue areas. As an undergraduate student, she created American University’s first adoptee student organization, Adoptee Alliance, and has been a vocal advocate for adoptee representation within broader social movements. As Co-President and former Advocacy Chair of American University’s Asian American Student Union, Mei organized and facilitated educational teach-ins on topics including racial triangulation, the Model Minority Myth, and Asian American history. In collaboration with Georgetown University’s Adoptee Alliance, she led dialogues on adoptee identity and international adoption, fostering space for underrepresented narratives. She additionally presented her research exploring racialized perceptions of parenthood at the 2022 National Conference on Undergraduate Research. After graduating, she co-lead event planning for the Chinese Adoptee Alliance Washington, D.C. chapter in 2024 and maintains the Adoptee Resource Database, a user-friendly online platform compiling tools and information for adoptees. Mei is committed to amplifying adoptee voices and continues working toward greater inclusion and understanding of adoptee experiences in racial and social justice conversations.

Khawala Ksiki

CO-FOUNER OF VOICES OF BLACK TUNISIAN WOMEN & FALGATNA

Tunisia

Khawala Ksiki is a leading Gender, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (GEDI) Advisor at the International Rescue Committee, where she works to embed inclusivity into programming across diverse global contexts. She collaborates with technical teams to integrate GEDI principles using transformative tools, strategic approaches, and training to challenge systemic inequalities and promote justice on every level. Khawala’s activism began with Mnemty (“My Dream”), a grassroots movement that played a pivotal role in the passage of Tunisia’s 2018 Anti-Discrimination Law—the first legislation in the country to criminalize racial discrimination. This landmark success helped ignite national conversations on Black identity and racial justice in Tunisia. Determined to center and uplift marginalized voices, Khawala co-founded Voices of Black Tunisian Women, a powerful advocacy initiative that promotes Black women’s leadership through solidarity-building and policy change. She is also a co-founder of Falgatna, a queer-feminist movement advancing SOGIESC rights (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics) in hostile and marginalized environments. Previously, she served as Regional Program Manager at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, where she led initiatives across North and West Africa focused on women’s rights, climate justice, and grassroots activism. At the core of Khawala’s work is a deep commitment to intersectional activism, with a particular focus on racial justice.

Mohamed Arafa

Adjunct Professor & Visiting Scholar, Co-Author

Egypt

Mohamed Arafa is an internationally renowned legal scholar currently serving as an Adjunct Professor and Visiting Scholar at Cornell Law School. A globally respected voice in human rights, criminal law, and comparative legal systems, Professor ‘Arafa has also made powerful contributions to racial justice, with a forthcoming co-authored book titled “Systemic Racism and Transitional Justice”. His work examines the legal roots and global manifestations of racial inequality, drawing from legal systems across the Middle East, North America, and beyond. He is also an affiliate at the Rutgers Center for Security, Race, and Rights—where he advances scholarship on racial equity, Islamophobia, and post-conflict justice.

Having lectured on five continents and taught at top institutions such as Harvard, Cornell, Monash, and Sorbonne, Professor ‘Arafa is known for bridging Western and non-Western legal thought to tackle entrenched systems of injustice. His publications span over a dozen leading law journals and academic presses, including Oxford, Cambridge, and Edward Elgar.

Dan Pavel Doghi

EXPERT IN ROMA INCLUSION, EQUALITY, & NON-DISCRIMINATION

Romania

Dan Pavel Doghi is a Romanian expert in Roma inclusion, equality, and non-discrimination, with over two decades of experience in European and international institutions. From 2021 to 2024, he served as Team Leader for Roma Coordination at the European Commission’s DG Justice, where he oversaw the implementation of the EU Roma Strategic Framework and coordinated efforts across Commission services and Member States. Previously, 2018-2021, he led the OSCE ODIHR’s Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues (CPRSI), guiding strategic responses to systemic discrimination and crisis situations affecting Roma communities. His earlier roles include Programme Manager at the Roma Education Fund in Budapest, where he managed Europe’s largest Roma tertiary scholarship programme, and National Director for REF Romania. He also held long-standing roles at OSCE ODIHR as Officer on Roma and Sinti Issues, and was an Advocacy Fellow at Columbia University’s Public Interest Law Initiative. His career began at the Foundation Resources Center for Roma Communities in Romania. Mr Doghi holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Diplomacy from the University of Malta and a degree in Social Work and Socio-Psycho-Pedagogy from Babeș-Bolyai University. He is fluent in English and Romani and has published on Roma political participation and minority rights.