West Coast LEAF Board

Nitya Iyer – President
Michelle M. Hassen – Vice President, External   
Catalina Rodriguez – Vice President, Internal
Barbara Bell, CA – Treasurer
Melanie Ash
Pam Bhatti
Karey Brooks
Margaret Knowlan
Janina Kon
Francesca Marzari
Drena McCormack
Annette Murray
Farnaz Riahi-Nejad, CA
Paige Thombs
Robyn Trask
Allison Wolf

 

Nitya Iyer, President

Nitya Iyer joined Heenan Blaikie in 2001. Previously, she taught at the University of Toronto's Law Faculty, and was an associate professor at the University of British Columbia. In 1986, she clerked for the Honourable Gerald E. Le Dain of the Supreme Court of Canada.

Nitya focuses her practice in the area of public law, specifically constitutional law, human rights and pay equity, for which she advises governments and employers, and acts for them in complaints. She has appeared before the British Columbia Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Moreover, from 1997 to 2000, she was a full-time member of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, and has consulted on numerous equality cases.

In the fall of 2001, Nitya was appointed by the B.C. provincial government to study the merits of pay equity legislation for the private sector and to make recommendations to the Legislature. Her report was made public in March 2002. In July 2004, she was appointed as the first Equal Pay Commissioner of the Northwest Territories.

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Michelle M. Hassen, Vice-President External

After graduating with a degree in International Relations from the University of British Columbia, Michelle pursued her passion for advancing human rights and global issues.  She first completed a practicum at the Liu Institute for the Study of Global Issues, co-authoring a comprehensive policy paper on the conflict in Northern Uganda, with a special focus on the plight of war-affected children.   She then returned to Geneva for an internship with the International Committee of the Red Cross.  Working with the Mines Arms Unit in the Legal Division, Michelle focused on the landmine portfolio – an issue in which Canada and Canadians have played a key role.   She helped develop their global communications campaign and participated in the diplomatic processes on the Nairobi Summit on a Mine Free World, which sought to strengthen the global ban on anti-personnel landmines.

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Catalina Rodriguez, Vice-President Internal

Barbara, a small business owner, recently joined the Board of West Coast LEAF as the Treasurer.  Barbara learned about feminism when she started working at the Legal Services Society in 1980, where there were about 45 women working in the head office and only about five men!  After being brought up in a male-dominated family, Barbara completed her degree in commerce at a time when there were three woman to 100 men in the faculty (now, over 50% of the students are women). Barbara had not experienced (or perhaps noticed) much discrimination as a woman until she got her Chartered Accountant designation and became an auditor.  She learned that there were things she was not allowed to do and did not understand what was going on.  So a few years later, having a group of strong women teach her about feminism at the Legal Services Society changed her life, and she has been an advocate for women and women’s rights ever since.

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Melanie Ash

Before becoming a part of Heenan Blakie’s litigation group in 2008, Melanie Ash practiced for eight years as a litigator in New York City. She has a Master of Laws from Columbia University, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of British Columbia, as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Carleton University. While in New York, Melanie served as Co-Chair and Member of the Board of Directors of the Fifth Avenue Committee, a non-profit community development corporation working to advance social and economic justice through, among other things, the construction of affordable housing and workforce development programs. This is Melanie’s first year on the board.  

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Pam Bhatti, Public Legal Education Committee Chair

Pam Bhatti is a Crown prosecutor practicing criminal law since 2003. She has a honours degree in Criminology from Simon Fraser University and earned her Bachelor of Laws from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. She is an active volunteer in equality rights and race issues, and has been a member of West Coast LEAF since 2000, when she was a summer research student. She went on to become a member of the Public Legal Education Committee.  Pam joined the West Coast LEAF Board of Directors in 2006.  She is currently Chair of the Public Legal Education Committee.

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Karey Brooks

Karey Brooks currently works at Janes Freedman Kyle Law Corp, a boutique practice in aboriginal law and civil litigation. She is responsible for resolving legal disputes and representing clients in lawsuits. She has a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in English and Women’s Studies and a Law degree, both from the University of British Columbia. Being passionate about feminism and protecting the equality of women, she began volunteering at West Coast LEAF as a summer student in 1999.

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Margaret Knowlan

Margaret Knowlan is a criminal prosecutor with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. As a prosecutor for the Federal Crown, she conducts trials with a focus on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Previously, she worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania, as an associate legal officer, or clerk. Her experience also includes legal research on immigration law and legal aid issues. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology, a masters degreee in political science with a focus on international policy, and a law degree, which included a semester at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. 

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Janina Kon

Janina Kon has an honours degree in Sociology and a law degree from the University of Victoria.  Janina is the founding principal of Streamline Counsel Inc., a law firm specializing in compliance, training, and policy development. She is also a part time Faculty Member of the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business where she has taught Graduate and Undergraduate courses for 7 years.  Janina is the Co-Chair of the Canadian Bar Association Freedom of Information and Privacy Law Section. She also has experience as a member of an administrative tribunal (Appointment by the Minister of Labour for the Government of British Columbia to the Employment and Income Assistance Appeal Tribunal) and is an active member of the CBA Women Lawyers forum. 

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Francesca Marzari, Legal Committee Chair

When she was two years old, Francesca sat on her mother's lap in the Vancouver City Council Chambers and demanded to know, “Where are all the other Mommies around here?!”  Thus began a life long commitment and passion for issues of women’s equality and participation in our governing structures.  Francesca has been a municipal lawyer at the premier municipal law firm in BC, Lidstone Young Anderson, since her call to the bar in 1999. As a litigator she has represented local governments in every level of court in BC with respect to administrative and constitutional issues. Even before her call to the bar she was working with West Coast LEAF as a summer student, and then as a member, and Chair of the Legal Committee. Francesca has sat on the West Coast LEAF Board, as well as on the National LEAF Program Committee, and is currently on the West Coast Legal Committee and the Board. She graduated cum laude from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and was the recipient of the Sherwood Lett Scholarship and Wesbrook Scholar designation while attending UBC Law.

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Drena McCormack

Drena McCormack is a volunteer with our PLE committee. Her recent experience includes work as an Academic Advisor and Coordinator of the Women's Centre for Douglas College, and Counsellor and Advocate with Vancouver Rape Relief & Women's Shelter. She has also held various elected positions with the BCGEU, including Vice-President of Local 703. She is a Founding Board Member of the B.C. Coalition for Abortion Clinics and Everywoman's Health Clinic. 

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Annette Murray has worked at the BCCPD first as board administrator and then as income assistance disability advocate for over 6 years. She is particularly interested in women’s equality and the challenges faced by women with disabilities and women caregivers living in poverty. She has a paralegal diploma from Capilano College and a background in social services, counselling and theological studies. Her father was a lawyer who practiced family law for a time and she remembers him working long hours and caring about his clients. Her mother was politically active in promoting Medicare and social programs. She is married and lives in a housing co-operative.

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