Our Team

became a child refugee during the India-Pakistan partition. She moved to Fredericton, New Brunswick in 1962 with her husband, the recently deceased Ram Verma, a physics professor at the University of New Brunswick. Upon moving to Fredericton, Madhu and Ram experienced racism and discrimination. Madhu felt isolated in a place where very few South Asian immigrants and people of colour lived. Madhu would go on to establish organizations such as the Asian Heritage Society of New Brunswick and the Multicultural Association of Fredericton, organizations dedicated to welcoming newcomers. Madhu’s work has been recognized with several honours, including the New Brunswick Multicultural Council Legacy Award, the New Brunswick Human Rights Award, Canadian Governor General's 125th Anniversary Commemorative Award and the Queen's Jubilee Medal. She is responsible for an official New Brunswick multicultural and human rights education policy. She is currently working on a memoir and history of South Asians in New Brunswick and Canada. Madhu’s story is featured in the CBC Radio Series, The Secret Life of Canada.

is a human rights lawyer and a senior researcher with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ottawa. From 2020 to 2022, he was the human rights representative for CUPE in the Maritimes region and appeared before the PEI legislature as an expert witness during deliberations about PEI’s Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act. Prior to CUPE, Aditya worked at Amnesty International Canada where he provided litigation support for Amnesty International's intervention in the Supreme Court of Canada case Chhina which recognized the right of immigration detainees to use habeas corpus applications in provincial superior courts. He is also a founder of the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants Rights and served on the NB Media Co-op board of directors from 2020 to 2022.

is the National Director of Operations and Projects for the Canadian Health Coalition and an Assistant Professor at St. Thomas University. Her activism and scholarship is focused on supporting communities affected by resource extraction, migration and border policies, and inadequate health care access. She is a member of the Migrant Workers in the Canadian Maritimes researrch team (tfwmaritimes.ca). She is the coordinating editor of the NB Media Co-op and an organizer with Reproductive Justice NB and the Fredericton chapter of the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network.

is a Mayan human rights activist. In 2002, he arrived in Canada as a refugee. Since 2003, he has been a Settlement Worker with the Multicultural Association of Fredericton. He is an active member of the Canadian Council of Refugees and the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network. Jeremias’s story of surviving the Guatemalan civil war is told in Eve Mills Allen’s book, In the Arms of Inup.

is an Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, Canada. He is author of the book Shifting Livelihoods Gold Mining and Subsistence in the Chocó, Colombia. Daniel’s research is focused on oil palm plantations and agrarian change in Colombia. Daniel has worked with migrant workers in Ontario and the U.S.

is the staff lawyer for the Madhu Centre. She holds a Juris Doctor from the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. During her time at law school, she completed a placement at the Dalhousie Legal Aid Service. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English from Dalhousie University. Avery is a member of the Law Society of Prince Edward Island and the Canadian Bar Association. She has been selected to participate in the Canadian Bar Association - Immigration Sponsored Mentorship Program.

is the casework manager for the Madhu Centre. He is a Peruvian lawyer trained at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and holds a Masters in Political Science from the University of New Brunswick. He immigrated to Canada in 2022. His research is focused on human rights and discrimination suffered by Latin American migrant workers. He is also member of the Latino Community of Fredericton, New Brunswick since 2023.

is a caseworker for the Madhu Centre. She is also the foreign worker coordinator for the Miramicihi Multicultural Regional Association. She holds a diploma in the Commuintnity Services Worker program from Trios College in Kitchener, Ontario. She has worked and volunteered at the YMCA Immigrant Services in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. She is originally from Queretaro, Mexico, and came to Canada in 2009 and is now a Canadian citizen.

is the Sanctuary Network coordinator for the Madhu Centre. He is an immigrant to Canada and has lived in NB since 2022. He has been a researcher in theoretical physics and currently teaches at UNB Saint John. He was an organizer with the Student Federation of India and has worked with other groups on education, poverty, animal care and street theater. In NB, he has been involved in organizing for Palestine solidarity, affordable housing, student activism, political education and most recently, food security.

is on leave from the Madhu Centre. Previously, she was the Sanctuary Network Coordinator and the Resources Coordinator for the Madhu Centre. Her doctoral dissertation focused on the adaptations of settler families and communities to historic climate and climatic change in the Wolastoq/St. John River Valley. Most recently she has conducted research into mindfulness in society, traditional uses of black ash by Wolastoqey, and environmental history in Atlantic Canada. With the Multicultural Association of Carleton County, she coordinated a forum on rural issues and immigration.

is the UNB Arts 4000 intern for the Madhu Centre. She is a community-driven student leader and activist. Originally, from the UAE, Ridhima has called Saint John, New Brunswick her home since 2021. She has been involved with student governance in various capacities throughout her university journey. This year she is thrilled to serve as a student representative on the Senate. She is a political science student, interested in geopolitical economy. Ridhima can currently be found reading Rumi in her free time.

іs the UNB Arts 3000 intern for the Madhu Centre. Originally from Ukraine, has been a part of the multicultural community in Fredericton since her arrival in 2020. Working as interpreter with the Multicultural Association of Fredericton, she bridges cultural gaps and fosters inclusion. She is currently double-majoring in Criminology and Laws and Society at the University of New Brunswick, driven by a passion for justice and equality. Now as Canadian citizen, Tory is committed to promoting fairness and support within her community.