“Justice education is a pillar for social change.” – Nikisha Browne
Niki graduated from Cathedral High School in Hamilton in 2016. As a student in grades 11 and 12, she participated in several of OJEN’s school-based programs including Mock Trials, Twitter Moots and Sistahs in Law: Paving the Way. While in high school, Niki wrote about her experience attending the Sistahs in Law event in a blog post we published in 2015!
After graduating from Cathedral High School, Niki channeled her passion for social justice into her post-secondary studies. Here’s what she is doing now:
Niki Browne (she/her) is a McMaster Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviours (Mental Health Specialization) Alumni who is currently in her second year of her Master of Social Work at the University of Toronto specializing in Mental Health and Health. She is passionate about mental health advocacy and is primarily interested in researching and directly supporting the mental health of marginalized populations. She has conducted research in social anxiety disorder, the efficacy of scales used to assess psychosis in adolescence, and 2SLGBTQ+ mental health. She has worked in direct practice as a student therapist for persons in low income and racialized communities and is currently providing counseling to students with disabilities. She is also a past programming committee member, Programming Executive, and Co-President of the McMaster Chapter of the Jack.org mental health organization. Her hobbies include poetry, hiking, practicing mindfulness, and continually learning and unlearning.
We asked Nikisha to reflect on her participation in past OJEN programs.
I believe that these activities allowed me to gain more knowledge about world issues and unjust practices that are currently going on in the world, propelling me to want to make a change. It was all of these experiences that sparked my interest in the political sciences, justice, and equity which are topics that intertwine with my education in social work and my passion for social justice.
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