Research Projects

Janelle Brady (she/her/hers) is the Principal investigator in the Honouring Black Refusals project. She is an assistant professor of Black Studies in the School of Early Childhood Studies, Faculty of Community Services at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her area of research explores Black mothers’ effective resistance strategies, race and racism in early years, and Black feminisms. Some of her peer-reviewed publications appear in the Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education, The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory, Emerging Perspectives, Palgrave Macmillan and Myers Education Press. Her two most recent articles were published in the Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood and the Journal of the Motherhood Initiative.

 Rachel Berman is a co-investigator in the Honoring Black Refusals Project. She is an immigrant and white settler who grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is the traditional territory of many nations including the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples, and is covered by Treaty 13. Rachel is a Professor in the School of Early Childhood Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University and an adjunct member to the graduate program in Gender, Feminist & Women's Studies at York University. Her research and teaching focus on ‘race’ in early childhood settings, theoretical frameworks, in particular critical race theory and feminist theories, and critical qualitative methods. Her research has appeared in the International Critical Childhood Policy Studies Journal, the Journal of Childhood Studies, Children & Society, and the International Journal of Qualitative Methods amongst others. 

 Lu (she/her) is a Research Manager for the Honouring Black Refusals project. She has been supporting Drs. Janelle Brady and Rachel Berman since November 2025. She is a Registered Early Childhood Educator with a strong passion for advocacting for high-quality, inclusive, universal early learning and child care for all. Grounded in her professional experience across diverse child care settings, her work integrates research with practice. Her interests sit at the intersection of gender, media, and early childhood education policy, with a focus on how power relations, political events, and media shape public opinion and influence child care policy. She is set to begin her PhD in September 2026, further exploring her interests in policy, research, and practice. 

 Salado Abdulle is a Research Assistant for Dr. Janelle Brady and Rachel Berman's Honouring Black Refusals project. This project focuses on exploring and centering the narratives and experiences of Black individuals who refuse compliance with dominant systems of power, highlighting how refusal can be an act of resistance and survival. Salado is currently pursuing her bachelor of Arts in early childhood studies at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she is interested in research that intersect with issues of race, culture, and education. As part of her role in the Honouring Black Refusals project, Salado is contributing to the development of a deeper understanding of how Black communities resist and challenge systems of oppression, with a focus on amplifying the voices and experiences that have been historically marginalized.

 Sneh is a Research Volunteer supporting Dr. Janelle Brady and Dr. Rachel Berman’s Honouring Black Refusals project. Currently in its third phase, the research study centers on the experiences of Black Elders as knowledge holders that focuses on the role Black Elders played in anti-racism initiatives that took place in the early 80’s and 90’s in the City of Toronto. Sneh holds an equity and social justice lens and is passionate about research centering anti-racism, equity, child care, immigration, and mental health and wellbeing analyzed through the lens of systemic inequities to bring positive social and structural changes.   

 Tess Welbes is a Research Volunteer for the Honouring Black Refusals research project. She is currently an undergraduate student in Early Childhood Studies at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her passion for research in the childcare sector includes topics like social justice education, realising anti-racism in ECEC and transformative education. By contributing to this research project, she aims to broaden her understanding of current reality and historical context of anti-racist practices in childcare and assist in the overall research process. 

 Georgiana Mathurin (she/her) is a PhD student in the Policy Studies program in the Immigration, Settlement and Diaspora stream at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU). She completed her Master of Arts in Early Childhood Studies in 2022 and a Master of Arts in Immigration and Settlement Studies in 2023. Georgiana received the Viola Desmond Student Award in 2023 at TMU, which acknowledges Black students’ leadership and contributions. She received the Best Major Research Paper Award in 2023 for her work titled Black Feminist Autoethnography: African/Black Women With Precarious Migration Status in Canada for the Master of Arts in Immigration and Settlement Studies. Georgiana is a Registered Early Childhood Educator passionate about Black childhood futurity in Early Childhood Education and Care settings using a Black feminist lens.  

 Paulyn Mandap (she/her) was a dedicated Research Manager for the Honouring Black Refusals project. Her passion for research has led her to work on various research projects alongside Dr. Brady, including Forgotten Voices and Black Undocumented Mothers. She holds a Master of Social Work from York University. Paulyn's research interests encompass immigration, youth, mental health, and the Filipino community, striving to bring awareness and create change through her work.