The Team

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Chloë G. K. Atkins

Chloë G. K. Atkins, PhD – Co-Executive Director, The PROUD Project
Associate Professor (status-only), Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
She/Her 

Dr. Atkins 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.

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Aruna L. Mitra

Aruna L. Mitra, BScOT, MEd – Co-Executive Director, The PROUD Project

Ms. Mitra 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.

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Atticus Hawk

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

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. 

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Isabelle Avakumovic-Pointon

Isabelle Avakumovic-Pointon, MA -Research Associate, The PROUD Project

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

Isabelle 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.

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

Isabelle 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.

Former PROUD Project Team Members

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