The Change-maker - When lived experience meets empowered change and brilliance.
Cheyanne Ratnam is a child advocate also has experience as a a post-secondary educator in the social services sector, and was the Phase 2 project coordinator at A Way Home Toronto (a City of Toronto and cross-sectoral community collaborative working with young people as key partners, stakeholders and decision makers regarding the formation of a cross-sectoral youth homelessness strategy for Toronto, in addition to an implementation and sustainability plan). Cheyanne is the primary investigator of the Family and Permanency Project/Study which previously engaged with young people in systems of care across Ontario to explore conceptualizations of permanency and family-making, and currently in the analysis and synthesis phase. She recently joined the Mosaic Institute as a Program Facilitator to deliver curriculum to high school students on complex themes such as inclusion, identity, prejudice, discrimination, and conflict resolution. Cheyanne is a founding member, and lead, of the Ontario Children's Advocacy Coalition, and is on the board of directors of both Scarborough West Community Legal Clinic and the Children's Aid Society of Toronto, as well as a member of the Children in Limbo Taskforce. Cheyanne is an independant consultant, advisor, facilitator, trainer, as well as public speaker, is an ambassador of the Children's Aid Foundation of Canada, and partakes in various communities through voluntary roles such as being the lead of the Gender Equity Committee and Working Group at the Tamil Center for Civic Action, advisor to ISEE Initiative (Tamil initiative regarding gender based violence), and sits on the stakeholder leadership table chaired by the former Ontario Child Advocate regarding advancing principles of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act. Previously, Cheyanne was the founder and co-manager of the "What’s The Map?!" project, mobilizing young people with lived experience of homelessness from the global south to nurture a more coordinated system through multi-governmental policy circles and cross-sectoral community engagement. Some topics she has experience in (lived experience and professional), and is highly passionate about include: youth homelessness, youth in/from the child welfare system, educational outcomes of vulnerable populations, childhood sexual abuse, youth development, mobilization and ethical engagement, equity issues and human rights issues regarding marginalized populations. Cheyanne holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work, and in 2016 she was the recipient of one of four highest accolades presented to York University’s Alumni — the Bryden ‘One To Watch’ Alumni Award ("A graduate who has made significant impact in their field and/or community within 15 years of a bachelor’s degree or 10 years of a professional/graduate degree").
