Our Team
Staff
Alexis Marcoux Rouleau – Research director
I am a non binary trans, queer, disabled, and AuDHD activist-academic (they/them, iel/ellui). I live on Nitaskinan, the ancestral territory and motherland of the Atikamekw Nehirowisiw Nation. As a as a white settler and homeowner, I actively benefit from the historical and ongoing settler colonial tactics of theft and occupation enacted against the Atikamekw Nehirowisiw. I am JusticeTrans’ Research Director, meaning I take care of all things related to research! I am also a criminology PhD candidate at the Université de Montréal. My professional and academic work centers social and penal control of marginalized or vulnerable populations such as women, trans people, Indigenous people, youth, and victims of crime. My sociological and interdisciplinary approach is rooted in a theoretical and practical commitment to social justice and community-building. In recent years, I have developed an expertise as to in-prison occupations, which I broadly conceptualize as leisure. I also engage in critical reflections on my home discipline, criminology.
Ro Mather – Finance & Operations Manager
Ro (they/them) is an artist based in Tiohti:áke / Montreal, on the stolen territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka. Ro holds a BA in Diaspora & Transnationalism and a post–grad in Climate Change Policy from the University of Toronto. They have primarily worked in eco-tech and not-for-profit environments. Ro is passionate about barrier-free access to knowledge and economic empowerment for queer & trans people. They devote much of their time to providing accessible business literacy and mentorship services for emerging queer/trans artists, entrepreneurs, and sex workers. They are a board member on multiple queer events & production companies, and they regularly volunteer in harm reduction for queer nightlife. In their personal life, Ro enjoys photography and illustration. They are currently working on their tattoo flash portfolio and a poetry zine collaboration with friends. If they are not in their studio, you can be sure to find them at the dog park.
Jack Saddleback – Programs Manager
Jack Saddleback (he/him) is a Cree, Two-Spirit, transgender, pansexual man in a gay relationship from the Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis, Alberta. An internationally renowned public speaker, activist, and equity champion, Jack is a staunch advocate for Two Spirit topics, mental health initiatives, Indigenous engagement, gender and sexual diversity, equitable policies, and social stewardship. Jack unapologetically brings these passions to the roles he has held over the years, such as the former Co-Interim Executive Director with OUTSaskatoon and the Board Co-Chair with 2 Spirits in Motion. The tireless initiatives work he spearheads in the Queer community and Indigenous communities brings attention to reconciliation and decolonization work that incorporates an intersectional lens. As the former President for the University of Saskatchewan Students’ Union (USSU), Jack was the third Aboriginal person and the first transgender person to hold the role and successfully introduced the mandate of Indigenous content in all degree programs at the University of Saskatchewan during his tenure. A recipient of numerous awards, such as the 2018 SK Young Humanitarian of the Year from Red Cross, Jack’s calling to create an equitable and accessible future that is steeped in sâkihito-maskihkiy (love medicine), the teachings that stem directly from the holistic worldviews his culture.
Board of Directors
Pierre Cloutier de Repentigny – Co-Chair
Pierre Cloutier de Repentigny (he/she/they) is a non-binary queer disabled Assistant Professor of Environment, Law and Social Justice at Carleton University. They are currently finishing their PhD at the Centre for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa where they were a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar and a SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholar. Pierre is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and practiced law as a sole practitioner in Toronto. A sizable portion of their practice was pro bono work, principally for members of the queer community. They were trained in both common law and civil law, and, as a settler, is a student of Indigenous laws. Their professional experiences include working for the federal government, a federal commission of inquiry, the Federal Court, a member of the International Law Commission of the United Nations, and the University of Ottawa as a part-time law professor. Pierre’s identity and past (professional and lived) experiences greatly influence their scholarship, teaching and activism.
Evan Vipond – Co-Chair
Evan Vipond (they/them) is a Ph.D. Candidate in Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies at York University. Their doctoral research focuses on trans rights, critical politics and representation. Evan is actively involved in the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities in Tkaronto, Ontario, and has been involved in numerous community-based trans and nonbinary health and justice initiatives. Their work has been published in Feminist Legal Studies (2023), a/b: Auto/Biography Studies (2019), Canadian Review of Social Policy (2017), Gender and Education (2017), Western Journal of Legal Studies (2015), and Theory in Action (2015) among others. Evan is trans nonbinary queer and invisibly disabled.
Taryn Husband – Treasurer
Taryn Husband (he/him) is multiply disabled white settler transmasculine advocate, educator and support giver. He is originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, but has been based in Ottawa since 2007. His activism is centred around advocating for the trans and disabled communities in Ottawa, particularly access to justice and community care. In addition to his role as the Director of Finance at JusticeTrans, he is currently employed by the federal government (where he is heavily engaged in diversity and inclusion efforts), and volunteers with KindSpace (an Ottawa-based 2SLGBTQ+ organization), where he runs the GenderQuest support and social group for trans, non-binary, Two-Spirit and questioning adults and co-facilitates the CafeQ youth group.
Gwen Rose, Secretary
Gwen Rose (she/they) is a non-binary/trans-feminine person from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on Treaty Six territory. She is a graduate student in English at the University of Saskatchewan, and in fall of 2022, she will begin her dissertation on reading transgender characters in the modernist period. They are also a research assistant on the TRANS project, a U of S research project dedicated to improving trans and non-binary healthcare in Saskatchewan. Gwen is also a parent and a musician.
Founder
Benjamin Mitsuk
Benjamin Mitsuk, BES and JD, (they/them) is the founder of JusticeTrans. In addition to constructing the JT website and app, they have also dedicated their time to numerous LGBTQ and Indigenous causes. They identify as Two-spirit, queer, and trans, and are currently the Manager – Economic Development and Culture, Policy Advancement with Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami.