This podcast explores the challenges, complexities, and impact of representation, as well as its effectiveness in creating meaningful change in systems of oppression. Does representation really matter? What is the role of representation in a move towards justice and liberation? During the episode, co-hosts Muse and Xelena facilitate a conversation around the significance and relevance of representation, alongside our special guests, Mobeen Lalani, Loveleen Kaur, and Nanky Rai! The speakers share their experiences and reflections on representation in schooling, at work and across different industries (consulting, filmmaking and healthcare), naming some of the necessary conditions for representation to be done ethically, responsibly and for the purposes of transformative change.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Mobeen Lalani (he/him) is the Founder and Primary Consultant at Emerging Youth Consultancy (EYC). EYC works to partner with public and private organizations, as well as research groups in co-creating, developing, and implementing equitable youth engagement strategies. He is a Master of Health Informatics student at the University of Toronto with a passion for the areas of policy, evaluation, and assimilation of technologies in adolescent and youth health. Over the past 2 years, Mobeen served as co-Chair for the MLSE LaunchPad Youth Advisory Council and is an active member at the Young Canadians Roundtable on Health.


Loveleen Kaur (she/her) is a versatile non-fiction storyteller. She draws from her past personal, academic, and employment experiences in non-profit and community organizing to create multi-dimensional stories that highlight the voices of those that may be underrepresented.

As a self-taught documentary filmmaker, receiving $15,000 Access and Career Development Grant by the OAC (2015) kickstarted her first project and the selection of her documentary film, Behind The Fare, for the Hot Docs Pitch Competition and a screening at Mayworks (2016). She followed that up with Producing the Breakhroughs Film Festival Audience Choice winner, Worst Student Ever (2019). Loveleen is currently completing a music documentary for OutTV to be released in Spring 2022. Loveleen has also served as an artist-in-residence for TDSB Creates & Powerplant.

She holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science, and an MA in Cultural Studies. She most recently served as the Program Manager and strategist for Toronto-based arts-incubator, HXOUSE.


Nanky Rai (she/they) is a migrant settler from India-occupied Kashmir who is formally trained in public health and practices as a primary care physician in Toronto. They work closely with Black, Indigenous, and other racialized queer, trans and gender nonconforming people, people who use drugs, people who are unhoused and or undocumented and those living with the infectious complications of structural violence such as HIV and Hepatitis C. She has been active in anti-colonial and anti-imperialist grassroots movements for migrant and health justice for over 10 years. As the 2SLGBTQIA+ Health Theme Lead for the medical school at the University of Toronto, Nanky is committed to building anti-oppressive medical education and clinical practice. You can find Nanky on social media via twitter handle @NankyRai.