PAILLÉ, Sabrina

Sabrina Paillé works as a research professional on the PREV-IMPACT Canada project. She holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in sociology from the Université du Québec à Montréal and pursued her doctoral studies in sociology at York University. In her research, she has shown a particular interest in the sociology of nationalism, reactions to immigration and gender issues, as well as radical right-wing and populist movements in Germany and Europe. Sabrina has several years of experience as a teaching assistant and research assistant. She has been part of the training team at the RPC-PREV since 2021.

Umair has expertise in Sports for Development and Peace (SDP) and Violent Extremism prevention. He is a social activist and the founder of Kafka Welfare Organization Pakistan. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student at UQAM University Canada. He is exploring SDP and Violent Extremism prevention. He works as a research assistant for Project Someone, an initiative that raises awareness, creates spaces for pluralistic dialogues, and combats discrimination and online hate. He has been affiliated with the United Nations and Women Deliver Young Leaders programs. In addition, he has contributed to the Youth Expert group of the United Nations High-Level Meeting 2020 on Sports and PVE. Lastly, he is a board member of the UNESCO Task Force on Youth and Sport, a member of the UNESCO Chair in Curriculum Development at UQAM Canada, and a former faculty member of GC University Lahore, Pakistan. He is very passionate about changing the lives of young people through sports.

Josie-Ann Bonneau is the coordinator of the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Transmission among First Peoples as a Dynamic of Well-Being and Empowerment. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and anthropology and a master’s degree in regional studies and interventions. During her studies, Josie-Ann adopted an intersectional approach to exploring issues related to the integration practices of Latin American women in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. Professionally, she has also worked on the decolonization of relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous organizations, as well as on bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous people closer together through the promotion of Indigenous languages and cultures.

Alessandra Bonci is a PhD candidate in political science at Laval University, under the supervision of Professor Francesco Cavatorta. She is currently preparing a thesis on the political engagement of radical pious women activists in Tunisia since 2011. She is interested in gender studies and politics in Tunisia and the MENA region. Alessandra has also worked on the secular-Islamist divide in Tunisia and the role of the Tunisian diaspora in France and Italy in the 2011 revolution. Among her works, she recently published a chapter of the book “Global Political Demography in the Maghreb Region” with Francesco Cavatorta. Alessandra also published the book chapter “The secular/Islamist divide in Tunisia: myth or reality?” entitled “The Arab Spring: microdynamics of activism and revolt between change and continuity”. In 2019, Alessandra published the review article “Salafi fuel for ISIS’ tanks? The ideological relationship between Salafism and the Islamic State” on the peer-reviewed journal Mediterranean Politics.

Karine Bolduc is currently Executive Secretary for the UNESCO-PREV Chair and for the School of Applied Politics of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Sherbrooke. She was a member of the Board of Directors at Baseball Sherbrooke as Director of Events & Communications for several years. She was able to bring her contributions in terms of leadership, organization and a great capacity for coordination within her team. Her association was even host of the 2017 provincial games and her event was nominated for the Mérite sportif de l’Estrie. She has won the Volunteer of the Year award several times, for Baseball Sherbrooke and Baseball Estrie, as well as at the provincial level. Ms. Bolduc was coordinator for the University of Sherbrooke’s 2012 Centraide campaign and raised an unprecedented amount of nearly $170,000 in funding. This dedication enabled her to win the volunteer award with Centraide twice. Very involved at the community level, Ms. Bolduc is above all a person of challenge and action.

Léa Clermont-Dion is a filmmaker and postdoctoral student at Concordia University. She has a PhD in political science from Laval University. Her research focuses on cyberviolences against women, feminist empowerment on social media, violence against women, etc. She has received the Vanier scholarship, one of the most prestigious doctoral scholarships in Canada. She is interested in online antifeminist radicalization and sexist hate speech. She is the director of three documentaries: T’as juste à porter plainte (Noovo), Backlash: Online Misogyny in The Digital Age (Radio-Canada and Documentary Channel) and Janette et filles (Télé-Québec). She is also the author of three books La revanche des moches (2014), Les Superbes (2016) and Crève avec moi (2019).

Alexandre Ménard is a bachelor’s student in applied politics – public policy path – at the University of Sherbrooke and acts as an intern for the UNESCO-PREV Chair. Very early in his bachelor’s degree in applied politics, he developed an interest in all questions concerning violence in politics as well as those concerning radicalization, particularly those within the university environment. Within the UNESCO-PREV Chair, he wishes to acquire and develop new skills in research in order to continue his graduate studies at the 2nd cycle and to be able to use all of his acquirements in research mainly affecting his fields of interest.

Tarik Tairi is an intercultural mediator specialized in conflict resolution, intervening in the reception and integration of immigrants at SANC Sherbrooke. He is a doctoral candidate in Contemporary Religious Studies at the University of Sherbrooke. His doctoral thesis focuses on the place of Islamic religious discourse in programs for deradicalization and the prevention of violent extremism. The research will make recommendations on how to integrate Islamic religious discourse, as a calming and tolerant alternative discourse, into a prevention/deradicalization program and strategy. 

Wynnpaul Varela is the coordinator of the Innovative Social Pedagogy project. Since arriving in Montreal in 2009, Wynnpaul has worked as freelance editor, researcher, and learning experience designer. Before that, he taught English in Japan for 15 years. He holds a PhD in Education with a focus on how music students practise their instruments.