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Project Team

Project Team

The REKH Hub Project is led by Principal Investigators

Dr. Glynnis Lieb and Dr. Michael Lounsbury,

together with a large Project Team.  

Dr. Glynnis Lieb
Principal Investigator

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Dr. Glynnis Lieb (she/her) is the Executive Director of Fyrefly, housed in the Faculty of Education. She identifies as a 2SLGBTQIA+ 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 2SLGBTQIA+ 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.

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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 2SLGBTQ+ 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 2SLGBTQ+ education.

Gin Marshall
REKH Project Manager

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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.

Jared Wesley 
Research Lead

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Jared Wesley is Associate Dean (Graduate Studies), a professor of political science, and member of the Black Faculty Collective at the University of Alberta. He leads the Common Ground research team, which is examining the intersection of public opinion, political culture, and public policy in Western Canada. He has co-authored two leading textbooks in Canadian politics and public administration.

Randy Wimmer
Research Lead

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Randy is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. At the graduate level, he teaches in the area of adult and higher education in the Faculty of Education, in Health Sciences, and law and ethics for teachers at the undergraduate level. As a researcher, Randy works alongside marginalized communities including Indigenous, international, and gender diverse educators. He is also affiliated with the Fyrefly Institute for Gender and Sexual Diversity and with the Centre for Research in Teacher Education both at the University of Alberta.

Gillian Robinson
Research Team

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Gillian Robinson (she/her) has been a social studies and French immersion teacher for 16 years and is a doctoral candidate in educational policy studies at the University of Alberta, where she is an instructor and educational coach. Her research encompasses anti-oppressive education, with a focus on queer and trans theory and sexual violence. Her research aims to improve queer-inclusive policy frameworks for better educational outcomes, while mobilizing the work of Black, Indigenous, and people of color theorists to understand how institutional whiteness blocks transformative change in schools.

Danielle Gardiner Milln
Research Assistant

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I am a scholar at the University of Alberta focusing on education policy, student service professionals, equity in post-secondary education, and multiple ways of knowing and learning. I have extensive experience with professional writing and editing, and have centered my career around post-secondary student support to facilitate fulsome adult student success.

Lydia Christine Nabunya
Newcomer Liaison

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Lydia Christine Nabunya aka Luda is an advocate for LGBTQI+ rights and mental health awareness, drawing from my lived experience within these communities. I share stories of my journey to inspire others to embrace their authentic selves and prioritize mental health. With a major in Public Relations, my goal is to gain more experience working with diverse Communities and getting to know their needs because I am a believer and practitioner of making the world an inclusive and safe space for all people experiencing barriers or discrimination.

Maobi Obikwelu
Research Assistant
 

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Maobi is a recent graduate from the University of Alberta, holding degrees in Psychology and Economics along with a certificate in Applied Social Science Research. She is deeply passionate about promoting diversity, amplifying marginalized voices, and fostering social change. As a member of the Rainbow Hub, Maobi contributes as a research assistant on the "Emancipatory Entrepreneurship: 2SLGBTQIA project" where she works to identify current patterns in entrepreneurship and contribute to expanding opportunities for queer business starters.

Kathryn Last
Research Assistant
 

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Dr. Michael Lounsbury
Principal Investigator

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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.

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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.

Dr. Micah Rajunov
Research Lead

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Micah Rajunov is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta's School of Business. Micah's research explores how social and technological disruptions are redefining our understandings of work, and how these challenges shape our professional identities. Micah holds a PhD from Boston University, and has experience working in both entrepreneurial startups and trans health advocacy.

Leanne Hedberg
Research Lead

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Leanne Hedberg is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at MacEwan University and a Canada Research Chair for Inclusive Entrepreneurship. Dr. Hedberg's international research focuses on social innovations including cross-sector collaborations and inclusive entrepreneurship and has been published in regional and international journals including Administrative Sciences Quarterly (ASQ), Organizational Science, Research on the Sociology of Organizations, Canada Food Studies, Ivey Case Publishing, WDI, Wisconsin Medical Journal, Human Resources Management Review and the Employee Commitment Handbook. Dr. Hedberg co-leads an international learning community of ethnographic scholars in organizational studies and is currently conducting community- based research on a cross-sector collaboration for a metropolitan entrepreneurship ecosystem with the vision of creating a more inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Anne-José Villeneuve
Research Lead

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Anne-José Villeneuve (She/her) is an associate professor of French linguistics at Campus Saint-Jean and associate professor at the Department of Linguistics of the University of Alberta, where she directs theEspaceLiFT (Linguistic Space for a Francophonie in Transformation). Her research in sociolinguistics focuses on linguistic variation and change, bilingualism, language contact and language teaching. Through her research, teaching and service to diverse communities, she seeks to demystify the connections between language, diversity and equity.

Seon Yuzyk
Research Lead

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Seon Yuzyk is a doctoral candidate (ABD) in political science at the University of Alberta, specializing in Canadian politics, political theory, and racial capitalism. Yuzyk's research explores systemic racism, economic inequality, Black Queer radical traditions and climate colonialism. Yuzyk publishes articles on Substack, addressing race, economy, and environmental justice to drive change and is the Research Lead for the Emancipatory Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub qualitative segment, supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ entrepreneurs. He is also Associate Director for the Black Youth for Social Innovation Program, where he trains the next generation of Black social scientists.

Adriana Davis
Research Assistant

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Adriana Davis (she/her), MEd, is a queer, cisgender settler located on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton, AB. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Counselling Psychology at the University of Alberta. Her research interests include climate justice, social justice, environmentalism, hope, and 2SLGBTQIA+ mental health and wellbeing.

Yasmine Abdel Razek,
Fyrefly Communications and Events Coordinator

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Yasmine Abdel Razek (she/her) is the Communications and Events Coordinator at the Fyrefly Institute. Her work entails managing the Institute's communication channels and organizing University of Alberta's Pride Week and the Institute's annual Mayor's Pride Brunch. Besides her role at the Institute, she is currently a Master of Arts Student in Gender and Social Justice at the University of Alberta. In 2021, she completed a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in Psychology at the University of Alberta. Yasmine's interests include social justice, activism, media, and art, which are all areas that she engages in through her work and that are informed by her identity as a QTBIPOC individual.

Conroy Smith
Research Assistant

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Conroy is a doctoral student at the University of Alberta, researching how stigma functions as both a barrier and a catalyst in entrepreneurship. His work explores how stigma shapes entrepreneurial strategies, fosters resilience, and redefines success, while also examining its role in the journey toward entrepreneurial emancipation and identity construction. Through this lens, he seeks to deepen the understanding of marginalized groups' experiences in business and society. Originally from Jamaica, Conroy migrated to Canada in 2013 as a temporary foreign worker, spending four years working at Tim Hortons. He later pursued higher education at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, earning a Bachelor of Business Administration, and in 2023, he completed a Master of Business Administration at Thompson Rivers University. Throughout his academic and professional journey, he has gained experience in both banking and retail management. In addition to his research, Conroy is the event director and founder of the Edmonton Drag Festival and the Edmonton Jerk Festival, as well as the owner of Fula-Flava Ltd. "Be the best you, and know that you are good enough. Love yourself."

Contact

The 2SLGBTQI+ (Rainbow) Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub ("REKH")

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This initiative is made possible thanks to funding from CGLCC’s 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, with backing from the Government of Canada.

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