Dr. Glynnis Lieb (she/her) is the Executive Director of Fyrefly, housed in the Faculty of Education. She identifies as a 2SLGBTQI+ community member. Dr. Lieb holds a PhD from the University of Manitoba, and has received the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award (2022) for her activism for 2SLGBTQI+ rights. Prior to her role at Fyrefly, Dr. Lieb served in a number of direct social service provision roles, as well as with Alberta Federation of Labour.

The Fyrefly Institute for Gender and Sexual Diversity is a non-profit organization and research institute housed in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. Fyrefly provides programs and services to support the 2SLGBTQI+ community and its allies. Our work also involves partnerships with organizations such the Calgary Centre for Sexuality, Boyle Street Community Services, and the Pride Centre of Edmonton to provide direct services, including crisis intervention, mental health supports, and 2SLGBTQI+ education.

Gin Marshall (they/he) is the Project Manager for the 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub at the University of Alberta, which supports 2SLGBTQI+ entrepreneurs—especially those from intersectional, Francophone, rural, and northern backgrounds—by advancing business practices, resources, and research. Gin co-founded a Small Business Support organization in the 1990s and has held roles such as Conference Organizer and Treasurer of the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health and co-chair of York University’s SexGen Committee. A PhD student in Social Work at York, Gin researches allyship and queer/trans cultural production through an intersectional, anti-racist, feminist lens, blending 20+ years in IT with social justice work.

Mélanie / Oakley / Rory Jean-Louis (all pronouns) is a queer bilingual accounting student at Campus Saint-Jean - uAlberta who loves working with computer hardware, server management, and playing games of all sorts: board, video, card, roleplaying! Hoping to pursue a masters of accounting then a CPA, Mélanie hopes to work with NPOs and specifically for queer, francophone, neurodiverse, disabled, and Deaf organisations. Currently Oakley works as a research assistant, event accessibility coordinator, and volunteer coordinator at REKH, following a 2025 summer co-op with Bergeron & Cie - a francophone accounting firm - as a non-profit auditor. Prior to this, Rory worked as a page at EPL for 4 years at the Milner (downtown) and Idylwylde (french quarter) branches.

Dr. Michael Lounsbury (he/him) is A. F. (Chip) Collins Chair and Professor in the Alberta School of Business. He is the Academic Director of the eHub Entrepreneurship Centre, and Chair of the Department of Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Management. Dr. Lounsbury is Fellow of the Academy of Management, and has been named by Stanford University and Elsevier to be among the top 2% of all international scientists.

As the University of Alberta’s Entrepreneurship Centre, eHUB provides students with collaborative and interdisciplinary educational opportunities to enhance the entrepreneurial skills, capacities and impact of our youth, thus enabling Alberta’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems to grow and flourish.

Kathryn Last (she/her) is an abstract painter, mental health advocate, writer, educator, and PhD candidate at Trent University. Her research explores trauma, embodiment, and artmaking through critical theory, new materialism, and community-based methodologies. Holding an M.A. in Cultural Studies, she examined the challenges of representing grief through art. A long-time educator and active member of the Trent Arts Research Group, she has co-chaired panels in sociology, phenomenology, comparative literature, and social work. She is also a content creator who strives to make creativity and research more accessible, engaging audiences with care and authenticity. Kathryn is excited to be part of the REKH-CSEA team.