Olivia Ghosh-Swaby (she/her)
A Vanier Canada Doctoral Scholar in Neuroscience at Western University and a recipient of the 2023 SWAAC Student Award in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Her research focuses on preserving brain health and cognition through lifestyle interventions and mechanisms of neuroplasticity in obesity and aging. Olivia is extremely passionate about embodying and developing leadership in sport and higher education through an equity lens. She champions various initiatives in academia and sport, influenced by her perspective as a low SES, first generation, biracial and Black presenting woman and student-athlete. In academia, she has advised on the Anti-Racism Retreat Planning Committee and Strategic Planning Committee at the Schulich School of Dentistry & Medicine. She was a trainee representative on the Personnel Awards for Trainees Advisory Committee at the Heart & Stroke foundation, which resulted in funding for Black scholars. Her work in these spaces motivated her to initiate systemic change within her institution as the founder and co-chair of the Schulich Council on Reforming Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for Trainees. In 2022, Olivia was granted $55,000 by E-Campus Ontario to develop an open-access, EDI-D toolkit for the biomedical sciences, known as Inclusive Science 4 All. In sport, she provincially and nationally advocates for collegiate women and racialized individuals in American football as the Executive Director of the Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Football Association that supports 400+ girls and women and 70+ coaches across 14 institutions in Ontario. She is also a member of Football Canada’s EDI Task Force and Non-Contact Football and Officials Committees. Olivia is recognized as a trailblazer, educator and consultant in EDI featured in several news articles, panels, lectures and talks nationally and internationally.