Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Alumni Tells How the Program Helped Launch Her Career in ADR
Joya is a certified Community Mediator, Assistant Researcher of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Ontario for Humber College, and the Career Program Manager for Dress for Success Toronto.
Joya returned to Toronto in 2018 after working in West Africa, the UK, and the USA, strengthening communities through education, research, and start-up initiatives. She graduated from McGill University with a BA in Political Science and International Development and Middle East Studies and the School of Oriental and African Studies with a Master’s in Violence, Conflict, and Development. Over the course of the pandemic, Joya has worked across the Greater Toronto Area on two pilot projects aimed at offering resources to support organizations and youth to adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic.
She has a strong commitment to serving communities and works to meet them where they are at. Joya’s work and lived experiences have fueled her curiosity about how low-income and equity-seeking communities gain access to justice. Looking to engage in conflict resolution and de-escalation using trauma-informed and anti-oppression approaches Joya applied to the Humber Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Graduate Certificate Program in January 2021.
The ADR Program offered many invitations to open new doors to what can feel like a hard-to-enter field. While a student in the ADR Program, Joya seized opportunities to have placements with the Humber Dispute Resolution Clinic and the Toronto Bail Program. She also completed her practicum with the Durham Legal Law Clinic co-designing and implementing customized conflict resolution skills for lawyers working with low-income and racialized people. Additionally, Joya became an Assistant Researcher for Humber College working on a research project in partnership with the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (ADRIO). The findings of the research project will be the first of its kind for Ontario and released in 2023 to the public.
Joya has a deep commitment to building community. She has presented to diverse groups across Toronto such as St. Stephen's Community House on Mental Health and Conflict Management and Managing Conflict, Restorative Justice Program. She was awarded the Rising Star Award by ADRIO for her efforts in the ADR field in Ontario. After graduating from the ADR Graduate Certificate Program in November 2021, Joya was offered a job at the Toronto Bail Program as an Indigenous Bail Supervisor. Joya worked with stakeholders across the criminal justice system to deepen access to justice for accused Indigenous people in Toronto. She took her passion for access to justice and empowering equity-seeking groups to join the Adolescence Project Advisory Committee as a Board Member.
Through the ADR Program, Joya gained a mentor, a network of peers, job experience, and vital ADR skills that she deploys daily in her work and communities. Joya shares that an investment in Humber’s ADR Graduate Certificate Program is worth it when looking to kickstart your ADR career.
