Virtual Summit : Keynotes Speakers, Event Details & Schedule

Marva J Ferguson is currently an Associate Professor in the faculty of Child Studies and Social Work, at Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta. She is a public speaker, community advocate, trainer, and a researcher around anti-Black racism, critical race and anti-colonial theory.

Marva received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Social Work from the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. She has a Ph.D. degree from Memorial University, Newfoundland, and Labrador, specializing in social work education. She also holds certificate in Disaster Management from Mount Royal University and is a trainer/facilitator in Mental Health First Aid, Canadian Mental Health Commission, and the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF).

Marva has presented at several local and international conferences and recently presented on The Legacies of Our Elders in Sustaining Communities and Development at the Asian Conference on Aging and Gerontology, Tokyo Japan, 2025.

Marva’ personal journey began in Labyrinth St Mary Jamaica which has created an awareness about rural and urban living which required her to develop adaptive and creative learning strategies. This experience has instilled in Marva a commitment to creating and encouraging students to think broadly, challenge their awareness and apply relevant practice skills in social work practice.

Marva spent the last 18 years working in mental health as the Employee Assistance Program Coordinator Counsellor at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Prairie Region.

Marva’s current research interest is in sequence migration with a focus on The Personal Stories of Jamaican Adults who Migrated to Canada as Children.

Marva is patron of the sports program at the Labyrinth Primary School, St Mary, Jamaica.

Dave Este is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary. He obtained a MA degree specializing in African Canadian and African American History from the University of Waterloo and subsequently completed his MSW and PhD at the University of Toronto and Wilfrid Laurier University respectfully.

During his career, Dave has contributed publications to the discipline of African (Black) Canadian history, Canadian social welfare history along with pieces focused on contemporary issues confronting the African diaspora in Canada. He also co-produced the documentary “We are the Roots: Black Settlers and their Experiences of Discrimination on the Canadian Prairies” which received the 2018 Governor General Award—« History—Community Programming » CAUT. In the same year, he received the Lee Lorsch Award from for professor of the year.

In 2022, he received the Grant McEwan Lifetime Achievement Award from the City of Calgary and earlier this year, he was recognized by the Alberta and Nova Scotia Chapters of the Association of Black Social Works along with the Canadian Association of Social Workers for his contributions to social work. He has worked with organizations/groups such as: “The Association of Black Social Workers” (Nova Scotia), the “Ontario Black History Society” and, the “Race Relations Foundation of Canada”. David has published six books and is author of numerous journal articles and book chapters. He is currently serving as a consultant for the Auditor General Office in Ottawa.

Roxane Caron has been an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work at the Université de Montréal since 2013. A trained social worker, she worked as a practitioner for over ten years in Quebec and internationally. For the past twenty years, she has been conducting research on forced migration and protracted exile, focusing primarily on the SWANA region (Southwest Asia and North Africa). Her work is rooted in transnational feminist and decolonial perspectives, highlighting the power dynamics that contribute to keeping refugee and migrant women in precarious situations.

Through these critical approaches, she examines the strategies and strengths deployed by these women to resist exclusionary dynamics and challenge the structures of power that perpetuate their precarity. Her research is developed in partnership with community organizations and field actors across the SWANA region, collaborating closely with those actively engaged in rights advocacy and the accompaniment of migrant and refugee populations. She holds the VOI. E.X Chair, which explores refugee trajectories and forced migration dynamics in the SWANA region, privileging a critical approach that focuses on the experiences and resistance of affected populations.