The Team

[Image Description: Close-up portrait of Chloë smiling into the camera. She has short brown hair, cropped on the sides. She is wearing a navy blue tank-top and gold chain necklace. Behind her is a gallery wall with various vintage portraits and landscape paintings.]

Chloë G. K. Atkins, PhD, Co-Executive Director, Associate Professor (status-only), Department of Political Science, University of Toronto

Dr. Atkins (she/her) has research interests in disability, bioethics, vulnerable minority identities, human rights, phenomenological research and narrative scholarship. She has held grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Department of National Defense Research Council, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, TechNation and other foundations. Atkins holds a PhD in Political Science (Political Theory) and a postdoctorate from Cornell University Law School in feminist legal jurisprudence. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in law, political science, bioethics, feminist theory, communications, cultures studies and disability studies. Atkins is the author of My Imaginary Illness (Cornell 2010), awarded 3 prizes including The American Journal of Nursing’s Book of The Year (2011). Has held Killam, Clarke, Fulbright and SSHRC Fellowships.

[Image Description: Close-up portrait of Aruna smiling into the camera. She is wearing rainbow glasses, red lipstick, black eyeliner, and silver pendant earrings. Her grey hair is tied back. She is wearing a blank sleeve-less top and a silver chain necklace. She is in a restaurant booth.]

Aruna L. Mitra, BScOT, MEd, Co-Executive Director

Ms. Mitra (she/her) has extensive professional experience administering and delivering healthcare for people with disabilities and those requiring long-term care In Ontario and Alberta. She has worked in private enterprise, government and nonprofit sectors focused on clinical and professional development and education, health care services for the elderly, the disabled, people with brain-injuries and vulnerable populations. Mitra has taught, carried out research and, has volunteered in policy development and the expansion of the ethical capacities and practices of health care professionals in across Canada.

[Image Description: Close-up portrait of Atticus gently smiling into the camera. They have short, dark brown hair and is wearing black-framed glasses and a black shirt. He is standing in an office with a window and green panels behind him.]

A. Atticus Hawk, PhD (ABD), Research Project Manager 

A. Atticus Hawk (he/they) is in the final year of their doctorate at the Faculty of Information, University of Toronto. Their interdisciplinary dissertation explores networks of care and sexual harm reduction practices within the Toronto-based disabled, genderqueer and non-white communities. His research investigates Toronto’s history of queer disabled population control and community self-image through oral histories with queer elders, analyses of urban development policy, crip architectural critique and place-based information mapping practices. Pulling from his identity as a mixed race, transmasculine part-time cane user, Atticus’ recent writing focuses on bathhouses for disabled people, the history of Toronto’s Glad Day Bookshop and the accessibility of Toronto’s Gay Village. Outside his academic work, Atticus is involved in harm reduction for vulnerable and houseless communities and provides health care navigation and advocacy services for queer and trans people with chronic and complex health conditions. He also holds an MMus in cello performance and an MA in performance studies. 

A young woman with large round glasses smiles at the camera. She has olive skin, dark brown eyes and wavy brown hair in a ponytail. She is wearing a blue blazer with a black shirt underneath. She is standing outside, and the blurred background is grey and green.
[Image Description: A chest-up portrait of Isabelle smiling into the camera. Her curly brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail and her long earrings are visible. She wears a blue blazer with with a black shirt and gold necklace. She wears rounded glasses and stands in front of a blurred background.]

Isabelle Avakumovic-Pointon, MA – Research Associate

1st yr PhD student, Department of History University of British Columbia

Isabelle (she/her) is an incoming History PhD student at the University of British Columbia. Her research examines the experiences of disabled people in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Balkans. Isabelle completed an MA European and Russian Affairs at the University of Toronto in 2023, and she also has a BA in History and International Relations from the University of British Columbia (2021) and a Diplôme du college universitaire from Sciences Po Paris (2021). Isabelle’s lived experiences with mental illness and ADHD led her to a deep interest in disability history and disability justice. In her free time, Isabelle enjoys swing dancing, reading fantasy novels, and playing board games.

[Image Description: Close-up colour portrait of Keegan smiling. They are a white-bodied non-binary person and have long, curly brown hair with bangs. Two piercings on the right side of their lip and one in the bridge of their nose. He is wearing a grey, navy blue and white striped sweater.]

Keegan James, Development Officer

Keegan (he/they) is a first year Master of Information Student with the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto and holds a diploma in Indigenous Community and Social Development from Georgian College and a Bachelor of Social Work from Toronto Metropolitain University. They have over a decade in international, national and grassroots Pride organizing experience (President of Fierte Simcoe Pride from 2020 – 2021, Regional Representative for Ontario with Fierte Canada Pride from 2020 – 2021, Regional Representative for Canada with InterPride from 2019 – 2020, and the Secretary of Fierte Simcoe Pride from 2017 – 2020). He has founded multiple community events that still occur annually (Annual Winter Feast, Trans March). From 2021 – 2024, Keegan was a Program Coordinator with a federally funded 2S-LGBTQ+ inclusion education program, developing workshops and providing virtual training to over 20,000 individuals. They are currently the lead and co-founder of the In Love and Leather Community Archive- a grassroots, queer/trans initiative dedicated to processing the personal collections of queer and trans older adults and elders. Since July 2024 he has been the Centre Coordinator for the Centre for Global Disability Studies, an interdisciplinary center of disability studies scholarship based out of the University of Toronto. He currently lives in downtown Toronto with his partner, three cats and a rapidly increasing collection of nordicware cookie stamps.

[Image Description: Close-up colour portrait of Lark smiling. She has shoulder-length brown hair and silver hoop earrings. She is wearing a black tank-top and stands in front of a wood and silver background.]

Lark Huska, Social Media Administrator

Lark (she/her) is a 4th year student at the University of Toronto, majoring in Diasporas and Transnational Studies and double minoring in Political Science and Visual Studies. Lark’s main interests are Indigenous reconciliation in Canada and alternative forms of governance. Outside of her studies, Lark is high school rowing coach and member of her local community centre’s Community Health Concerns Committee.

[Image Description: A full-body image of Zephyr smiling. Her curly hair is pulled into a low ponytail with silver-framed glasses, and facial hair. They are wearing a white button-down shirt, grey blazer, traditional kilt, black tights, and sandals. Her hands are clasped at her waist. They stand in a white-walled corner where family portraits are hung beside a window.]

Zephyr Mitra, Secretary of the Board

Zephyr Mitra (she/they) is a 4th year student at The University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A voracious reader, Zephyr’s main research interests are in Classics, early modern studies, and daily life in ancient Rome. Dedicated to community wellness and support, Zephyr was the 2022 student patrol supervisor. They will continue their studies at the graduate level and are currently on The University of King’s College President’s List for outstanding academic achievement.  

Former PROUD Project Team Members

  • Andrea Whiteley
  • Brenna Leslie
  • Ahad Alingary
  • Caroline Casinelli
  • Rachel Desborough
  • Zephyr Atkins-Mitra