Global Ideas Institute

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Advisory Committee

JANICE GROSS STEIN is the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and the Director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Her most recent publications include Networks of Knowledge: Innovation in International Learning (2000); The Cult of Efficiency (2001); Street Protests and Fantasy Parks (2001), and Canada by Mondrian (2006). She is the co-author, with Eugene Lang, of the prize-winning The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar. She was the Massey Lecturer in 2001 and a Trudeau Fellow. She was awarded the Molson Prize by the Canada Council for an outstanding contribution by a social scientist to public debate. She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Alberta, the University of Cape Breton, and McMaster University. She is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.

JOSEPH WONG is a Roz and Ralph Halbert Professor of Innovation Policy and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Health and Development. He is also the Director of the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs. Wong is the author of many academic articles and several books, including Healthy Democracies: Welfare Politics in Taiwan and South Korea and Betting on Biotech: Innovation and the Limits of the Asian Developmental State, both published by Cornell University Press. Professor Wong has been a visiting scholar at major institutions in the US (Harvard), Taiwan, Korea and the UK (Oxford); has worked extensively with the World Bank and the UN; and has advised governments on matters of public policy in Asia, the Americas and Europe. Wong’s current research focuses on poverty and health, as well as state management of disease and epidemics. Wong was educated at McGill and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

EILEEN LAM is Associate Director of the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. She is an award-winning administrator (Dean’s Faculty of Arts and Science Student Life Award 2011 & Stepping Up Recognition Award 2008) and has been with the University in various capacities. Prior to that, she was Partner at Shianlin & Associates, an international marketing consulting firm specializing in working with developing countries. She has an interest in fundraising and has coordinated events to benefit community organizations, such as Second Harvest, Nellie’s, Mon Sheong Home for the Aged, and CARE Canada.

ROSEMARY EVANS is the principal of University of Toronto Schools, a secondary school for high achieving students affiliated with the University of Toronto.She received her BA in history from the University of Western Ontario and her MA, BEd, and MBA from the University of Toronto. She served as a teacher, department head, and subject coordinator for the Peel Board of Education, and later as a vice-principal in the former East York Board of Education. During her time as an instructor in the Initial Teacher Education Program at OISE, Rosemary was the recipient of a Teaching Excellence Award. She later accepted the role of Academic Head at Branksome Hall, where she oversaw the implementation of the International Baccalaureate Programs from junior kindergarten to grade twelve. Rosemary is the author of a number of history textbooks, and has given presentations locally and internationally on topics such as assessment and evaluation, critical thinking and inquiry based learning, and global education.

University of Toronto Schools

University of Toronto Schools (UTS), a school for students in grades seven to 12, affiliated with the University of Toronto, serves as the school partner with the Munk School of Global Affairs, organizing and supporting the Global Ideas Institute (GII). UTS has been part of the University of Toronto community since 1910 when the school was created by the provincial government and the University as a model school and practice teaching site for secondary school teachers. UTS' former principal Michaele Robertson conceived of the Global Ideas Institute together with the Director of the Asian Institute, Prof. Joe Wong. As a partner, UTS serves as a "hub" school, connecting public schools, independent schools, and teacher candidates studying at OISE with the Global Ideas Institute. Currently 14 schools and over 80 students are part of the GII. Current principal of UTS Rosemary Evans meets regularly with the teacher facilitators and together with other members of the Organizing Committee they structure the students learning experiences. The Global Ideas Institute provides a unique opportunity for secondary students to experience innovative university teaching, research, and international outreach - first hand. Student participants in the GII also have an opportunity to tackle university level work including research, complex interdisciplinary problem-solving, developing an academic poster, and a compelling pitch. As part of the final symposium the students receive feedback from the University experts. Each year the student and teacher participants provide their feedback for improving the GII. The results are an exceptional learning experience.

Organizing Committee

Carmen Ho

CARMEN HO
Manager
Carmen is a PhD student and SSHRC Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. She is also the manager of the Global Ideas Institute on child malnutrition and co-chair of the university's Interdisciplinary Society for International Development. Her research focuses on food and nutrition security in low and middle income countries, and her dissertation looks at the role of politics and governance in scaling up maternal and child nutrition interventions. Her past experience includes the analysis of nutrition interventions with UNICEF in NYC and work to scale up sustainable rice production with the Local Governance Support Program for Local Economic Development (LGSP-LED) in the Philippines. She holds an HBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University and an MSc in International Public Policy from University College London (UCL), both with distinction, and has studied at the National University of Singapore.

Bev Bradley

BEV BRADLEY
Manager
Bev is a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry. As a student in the Centre for Global Engineering (CGEN) and the Collaborative Doctoral Program in Global Health, Bev’s research aims to improve medical oxygen delivery systems for hospitals in low-income countries. Oxygen is an essential medicine for treating illnesses such as childhood pneumonia, which is the leading cause of death in children worldwide. Her country of focus is The Gambia, West Africa. Before joining CGEN, Bev completed a BASc in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo (2006) and a MASc in Biomedical Engineering at Carleton University (2008). Bev has worked in several healthcare and research settings, including the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the Grand River Regional Cancer Centre, and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Bev has been involved with the Global Ideas Institute since 2011–2012, was on the organizing committee for the Social Change and Youth Leadership Conference at U of T in 2012, and has been a member of Engineers Without Borders since 2003. Bev also enjoys travelling, running, and yoga!

Hormuz Dadabhoy

HORMUZ DADABHOY
Mentor Coordinator
Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Hormuz is currently in his fourth year pursing a degree in Asia-Pacific Studies and studying with the Centre for the Environment. He is currently working on a senior thesis focusing on affordable housing in Mumbai. Hormuz’s interest in the environment brought him to Ecuador where he spent the better part of the past summer conducting research in the Ecuadorian Andes and Amazon looking at plant adaptations to the different topographies and climactic zones. Having been involved with GII for the past two years as a mentor, Hormuz is excited by the prospect of helping to run the program.

Katelyn Yoo

KATELYN YOO
High School Coordinator
Katelyn is Research Manager at Rotman School of Management focusing in areas of global health, policy, and economics. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce. Her interest in health economics and policy was furthered through an environmental economics course she took at Harvard University, and through the Harvard Summer Abroad Program in Kenya, to make healthcare delivery more efficient and safe, and to design budgets that improve the efficacy of health systems. Previously, she has worked at various non-profit organizations and the City of Boston in the Office of Jobs and Community Service to provide eligible taxable income refunds to the low-income quintile. She also worked at Kraft Foods as a Business Analyst and on sustainability, ensuring appropriate and sustainable resource allocation and resource management were fulfilled in Kraft’s supply chain. In her free time, she volunteers at the United Nations Association, and at the Social Spark writing cases in collaboration with Free the Children and Engineers Without Borders. During the span of her childhood, she lived in many different places including Indonesia, Hawaii, Canada, and Korea. She has passion for travelling, especially to the developing countries: She has travelled to 23 countries and over 50 major cities. Her international framing carries over to her passion for global health, public policy, and health economics.

Nandita Perumal

NANDITA PERUMAL
Logistics Coordinator
Nandita is a first year doctoral student in epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She holds a BSc in nutrition science from McGill University and completed her MPH in epidemiology at the University of Toronto. Her research interests are in nutrition and maternal, newborn, and child health in the global health context. Her previous work includes conducting data analysis of micronutrient supplementation trial in Bangladesh and working in Kenya on an agriculture and health integrated project to alleviate vitamin A deficiency among pregnant women and their children. Nandita enjoys being involved in student engagement initiatives and is also a co-chair of the Interdisciplinary Society for International Health (ISID).