Ashley Harripersad

What I do here: I support OJEN’s Educator Support and Outreach Departments at OJEN. I am lucky to get to work on a few different projects/programs. 

3 Things I did before OJEN:

Back in highschool, I had the opportunity as a LAWS (Law in Action Within Schools Program) student at Central Technical School to participate in some of OJEN’s very own programming. Shoutout to OJEN Mock Trials and Courtrooms & Classrooms programming for opening doors!

I did my Bachelor of Arts at the University of Toronto, Victoria College and graduated in 2016. I double majored in Political Science and Equity Studies. Studying subjects with contrasting lenses allowed me to critically assess as well as challenge what I was learning. 

I graduated from Windsor Law in 2023 and practiced plaintiff-side personal injury for 2 years before returning to OJEN! 

The most useful thing I learned in school was: 

“Room must be created within the fabric of Canadian society that is accepting of difference and open to mobility of values. We must not position difference as the problem, rather we must work with the strength of difference, welcoming difference as an opportunity for us to grow together as a nation/community.” 

– George Dei, 2011

There is just something about finding the words that describes a greater goal and a set of difficult feelings that is very motivating and empowering.