Dr. Taiwo Afolabi is a recognized leader in socially engaged theatre, with a global teaching footprint spanning five continents. His scholarship integrates social justice and decolonization with theatre practice. Taiwo founded the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre (C-SET), a hub for interdisciplinary learning and social transformation, and co-created the Arts Leadership Training Program (ALTP), empowering BIPOC artists and arts managers in Canada.

Taiwo’s teaching is known for its hands-on, project-based approach, where students tackle real-world issues and engage with diverse community perspectives. His courses inspire students to view theatre as a tool for social change, reflecting his commitment to decolonizing arts education. A student wrote that his classes, “challenge traditional interpretations of classic plays, encouraging students to consider them through a variety of cultural lenses…the result is that his classrooms feel like a community of learning, where each of his student’s insights is valued and explored”

His applied theatre research has led to a Certificate and Diploma in Arts Management and Leadership and a joint doctoral program with the University of the Free State in South Africa. These programs offer students unique opportunities while fostering cross-cultural understanding and collaboration.

Taiwo’s leadership and mentorship is shaping the future of teaching and learning nationally and globally, with impact beyond the classroom, making a difference in students’ lives. A colleague notes he, “has also developed and delivered training in ethical arts practices and leadership, equipping emerging arts leaders with the necessary skills to navigate the complexities of the arts landscape.”

Dr. Stavroula Andreopoulos is a truly innovative educator who creates learning environments in which students feel seen and valued. Her actions demonstrate the life-changing impact a professor can have when they dedicate their efforts to fostering collaborative, inclusive learning environments.

Through the use of active learning, accessible technology, and attention to scientific literacy, Roula brings together various disciplines to deepen the student experience. She initiated innovative interdisciplinary programs with physics and statistics to create new biochemistry foci for aspiring medical and dental students. She is also the catalyst behind a series of interactive, online modules to improve scientific literacy for learners who do not use English as their first language.

As program director of the prestigious Amgen Scholars Canada Program, Roula exemplifies commitment to expanding access to higher education. Through this national initiative, she provides undergraduate students from historically marginalized groups the opportunity to engage in biomedical research alongside U of T faculty.

Roula’s sustained commitment to teaching and leadership is evident through her receipt of numerous teaching grants and awards. Her leadership is further exemplified through her work as an inaugural member of the U of T’s Provost’s Leadership Academy. A colleague shared that, “Roula’s impact on teaching can be felt keenly across her department and our faculty, and her leadership and innovation inspire those within the University of Toronto and beyond.”

In the words of a former student, “Through hard work, dedication, and complete selflessness, Dr. Andreopoulos continues to be an inspiring embodiment of a world-class educator.”

Professor Rebecca Gagan’s educational philosophy prioritizes transformative educational initiatives that amplify diverse voices, build community, increase accessibility, and create meaningful connections so that all students can thrive in post-secondary education. She champions support for students’ mental health and well-being alongside academic learning in her classroom, across the University of Victoria, and beyond.

Students celebrate Rebecca as a compassionate instructor who offers them new ways of seeing and understanding themselves through the literature they read. She encourages students to integrate their critical voices into their writing and reflect on how literature seeks to de-stigmatize conversations around mental health. A former English student noted Rebecca’s unwavering “commitment to helping each student grow holistically, by her efforts to make us feel seen and valued”.

Beyond her classroom, Rebecca offers compassion to students whose stories often go unrepresented. For over a decade, Rebecca had led the UVic Bounce program, highlighting stories of vulnerable personal experiences of navigating academic life. Rebecca’s use of multimedia—podcasts, videos, and documentary film—allows students and faculty alike to share in the mission of wholistic student support. Through Rebecca’s leadership, other Canadian universities have developed similar wellness programs to support students on their campuses.

Ultimately, Rebecca teaches—and embodies—humane approaches to education. Her impact truly extends beyond classrooms and students’ time in post-secondary education. In the grateful words of one of her former students: “You have not only had a significant and positive impact on my academic journey but also on my life and I cannot thank you enough for that.”

Dr. Ahmed Hieawy’s unwavering dedication to teaching excellence and fostering his students’ passion for discovery and knowledge grounds his teaching approach. His thoughtfully designed curriculum, delivered in an engaging and collaborative learning environment, inspires students, both in their educational journeys and professional careers in dentistry. The result is graduates who emerge as both confident dental practitioners and educators, embodying the values of competence, compassion, and innovation.

As a testament to his teaching excellence, he has received numerous teaching excellence awards within the university and nationally, having been nominated by students and his colleagues. “Students are able to recognize when their teacher truly cares and wants the best for them. Such efforts ignite a flame in the next generations of clinicians and academics that continues to burn long after graduation,” writes one of Ahmed’s former students.

As an innovative educational leader, he is committed to continuous growth with a vision grounded in innovation, adaptability, and purposeful change. He has collaboratively led curriculum renewal, faculty teaching development efforts, and integrating the latest technology into programming with the Dentistry team over several years. As a colleague attests, “his leadership style, characterized by open communication and proactive collaboration with the UBC Dentistry leadership team, has consistently elevated educational quality within the program.”

Ahmed’s leadership in endodontics extends nationally and internationally, where he has been instrumental in collaboration on an international competency framework for caries diagnosis, an applied mentorship model for clinical training, and the integration of Artificial Intelligence tools into dental diagnostics.

Dr. Stacey MacKinnon is a learning leader at the University of Prince Edward Island whose approach is human-centred, whether working with colleagues to draft new frameworks, coaching instructional teams of new teachers, or encouraging students to embrace curiosity and wonder. Her leadership philosophy is supported by three main pillars of leading through inquiry, leading from within and leading with vulnerability.

Inspired by the wonder that blossoms in children, Stacey works to ignite that curiosity in learners of all ages through her Curiosity Project and Inquiry-based learning, not only in her own courses, but across her institution and beyond. Her learner-centred and student-led approach supports student autonomy as they make key decisions about their learning. As one former student states: “I gained so much more than just the credit to fill my degree requirements. Through the curiosity project, I developed a greater understanding of how I learn, and the skills I possessed […] allowed me to be passionate about subjects I would never have had the opportunity to look into.”

Partnering with local middle school and high school students, Stacey’s classes designed projects to incorporate ideas of peace into their communities and the world. This Community Peace Project culminated in a permanent mosaic art piece, in an intergenerational play area for campus daycare and seniors’ college, as well as donation drives, creating a positive impact in the lives of those in their community.

Stacey is an inspiring educator who creates space for students to take charge of their learning through curiosity, asking questions, and looking for answers in new places.

Dr. Steve MacNeil’s innovative contributions to teaching and educational leadership emphasize active learning, metacognition, and the importance of making mistakes as a pathway to deeper understanding. As an organic chemist, Steve views education as a series of transformations, where repeated attempts, failures, and opportunities for reflection catalyse growth in students.

His metacognitive practice is a cornerstone of his teaching, transforming his classroom from a place of teaching chemistry to that of students learning to learn. He has embedded a comprehensive metacognition co-curriculum into his organic chemistry courses that support students in developing critical self-awareness skills through activities such as prior learning assessments, test grade predictions, and reflective surveys.

By providing pre-class content and using class time for active problem-solving and peer collaboration, he has created an engaging and inclusive learning environment even before students enter the classroom. This method not only helps students grasp complex chemistry concepts but also encourages them to take ownership of their learning. A former student notes, “His dedication to fostering an engaging, student-centred environment is unparalleled, and the impact of his teaching transcends the boundaries of the classroom, significantly shaping not only individual student experiences but also the broader educational landscape.”

Steve’s work exemplifies the transformative power of education. His innovative teaching methods, commitment to student success, and leadership in educational practices have had a lasting impact on the academic community. A colleague writes, “Steve embodies a commitment to high-impact teaching practices that not only promote student learning but also inspire his colleagues to reach for high standards.”

Dr. W. Stephen McNeil’s exceptional contributions to higher education include his use of context-embedded curricula, digital technologies, and active learning pedagogies.  Stephen creates an engaging learning environment, even in classrooms of hundreds of students. His teaching strategies address unique challenges associated with learning chemistry while showing his students the important impacts that chemistry has on their lives, environment, and society.

As a chemistry educator and chemistry education researcher, Stephen partners with students to use his classroom as his laboratory, undertaking educational research studies that explore how choices in curriculum and content delivery can promote inclusive and equitable learning environments, support student senses of identity and disciplinary belonging, and improve success for students from all backgrounds. His teaching explores rich and meaningful contexts drawn from environmental, societal, and biomedical topics, including an exploration of the chemistry of a regional Indigenous pit-cooking practice, and he ensures that his learning activities and materials are accessible and freely available to students and faculty colleagues alike as open educational resources.  A former student writes, “I left each of Dr. McNeil’s lectures having not only learned something valuable about chemistry but also motivated to contribute to the world as a leader and citizen.”

As a leader in Canada’s chemistry education community, Stephen creates opportunities for junior scholars to interact and share their educational scholarship. A colleague from UBC Okanagan notes, “He has been a champion and leader for teaching and learning…  [and] has had a profound impact on the support for Chemistry education scholarship, practices, and recognition across the country.”

Dr. Gabriel Potvin is an accomplished and dedicated educator who engages in extensive work in problem-based learning, laboratory and experiential instruction, interdisciplinary and sustainability education, and curriculum design. He is known for his engaging and collaborative teaching style, treating students as true partners in their learning, with students reporting “working with him, not just being his student”.

Gabriel trains engineers who are not only technically proficient, but who have the critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork skills to tackle complex and daunting technical and societal challenges, as part of interdisciplinary teams.  He has developed or co-developed over a dozen courses in chemical and biological engineering, engineering economics, and humanitarian engineering. A student highlighted Gabriel’s “ability to reach across disciplines and integrate different ways of thinking in a single classroom is one of the things that sets him apart.”

As the founding Academic Director of Academic Essentials, Gabriel’s local educational leadership extends beyond engineering. This online orientation program for new UBC students has filled an important transition role for over 25,000-course registrations since launching in 2020. His impact also extends beyond UBC to influence engineering teaching and learning as the Vice President of the Canadian Engineering Education Association.

In the words of a former student, “Professor Potvin is without a shadow of a doubt the greatest teacher and mentor that I have ever known.”

Ms. Saskia Stinson is an innovative educator in adult special education. Through her program, she has challenged the system and developed a culture of inclusivity for youth who are neurodivergent at Thompson Rivers University and beyond. Her students develop a life with a sense of purpose and a sense of belonging, both in postsecondary and out in the community.

Her exceptional contributions to teaching and learning include co-founding the social enterprise Employment Skills Training Market, an initiative that came about from asking students what they wanted to learn about food service training.  This work has been influential in the development of similar projects as part of other inclusive education programs in Canadian postsecondary education.

Students love learning from Saskia because she listens deeply to understand what students want to learn about and provides real-life, experiential learning opportunities to assist them in accomplishing their goals. Students participate in field trips, service-learning projects, and complete journals and practicums in commercial kitchens as part of their education in her program.

Saskia is exemplary in modelling equity, diversity, and inclusion. She advocates for inclusive postsecondary education for students who are neurodivergent, and she models cultural competency and safety by advocating for learning opportunities for all students. In her role, Saskia has made it a priority to connect with local Elders, Knowledge Keepers, Indigenous researchers and practitioners to ensure that she approaches her work from a decolonized and Indigenized lens.

Saskia is a leader in experiential learning and has made a great impact on the lives of her students and inclusive education in Canada.

Dr. Leanne Taylor is an influential educator and scholar whose contributions to teaching, learning, and equity-focused educational leadership extend far beyond her classroom. Guided by her philosophy—meeting people where they are, valuing what they know, making space for new knowledge, and building strategies that generate change and possibility—Leanne is motivated by the reality that there is always more to learn and do.

Leanne effectively designs interactive and meaningful learning experiences that challenge assumptions and inspire action. Using multimedia technologies and innovative approaches, she ensures that students not only explore complex topics such as privilege and systemic inequities but also develop the tools to make meaningful changes in their educational and professional contexts. Students described her teaching as transformative, fostering critical thinking and collaboration among diverse groups of learners.

Beyond her teaching, Leanne’s leadership focuses on “making space” for underrepresented voices in education and scholarship. As Chair of Brock University’s Equity and Social Justice Committee, she has spearheaded institutional initiatives to advance equity, anti-racism, and inclusion. Internationally, her work as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the International Society for Teacher Education amplified global perspectives by transitioning the journal to open access, ensuring broader accessibility and representation.

A colleague described Dr. Taylor as “an educator who builds bridges—between ideas, people, and possibilities.” Her unwavering commitment to creating inclusive and empowering spaces exemplifies the transformative potential of education to drive equity and systemic change. Leanne truly creates inclusive spaces where students and colleagues alike can reflect, engage, and grow.