See Yourself Here 2012 Speaker Bios

Jason Badal

Jason Badal is the Director, Business and Legal Affairs at Score Media Inc. In this role he acts as legal counsel to a variety of business units, including: Television (theScore Television Network), Online (www.thescore.com), Live Sporting Events (Score Fighting Inc.) and Mobile (ScoreMobile). Mr. Badal practices in the areas of corporate, commercial, technology, intellectual property, and media law.  Prior to joining Score Media Inc., Mr. Badal was a lawyer with McCarthy Tétrault LLP in the Technology and Business Law practice groups and pursued a career in information technology, which spanned a number of industries, notably videoconferencing, consulting, and logistics management.

In addition to his extensive legal practice, Mr. Badal also teaches Business Law at Ryerson University.

Shane D’Souza

Shane C. D'Souza is an associate in the Litigation Group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. He maintains a general civil and commercial litigation practice and has an interest in securities litigation.

Mr. D'Souza received his J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2009. While attending law school, he chaired Student Caucus of Faculty Council and served as an Executive member of the Legal and Literary Society. He also volunteered with Community Legal Aid Services Program and Pro Bono Students Canada. At Osgoode Hall, Mr. D'Souza received numerous awards, including the Gold Key Award, Legal and Literary Society Student Honour Award, McCarthy Tétrault LLP Leadership Award, Torkin Manes Cohen & Arbus LLP Prize, and the Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Research Prize in Corporate Law. 

Prior to law school, Mr. D'Souza completed his Bachelor of Information Systems (Honours with Distinction) in 2002 from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, winning the Governor Generals Medal and the Onex Corporation Gold Medal. He subsequently worked as a software developer with Sobeys Inc., a national food retailer. 

Currently, Mr. D'Souza is a member of the teaching team for the Lawyer As Negotiator course at Osgoode Hall Law School. He also serves as the Mentorship Program Co-ordinator of the South Asian Bar Association and volunteers as a mentor with the Osgoode Hall Mentorship Program.

Michael Dytyniak

Michael studied Philosophy and Business Management at the University of Toronto, where he gained experience as an advocate, through volunteering outside the classroom and raising accessibility issues by providing feedback to administration and occasionally writing in the student newspaper.  While he had no initial plan to apply to law school, it was suggested to him by some friends and mentors.  He is the first member of his family to attend law school. 

When he arrived at Osgoode in the midst of its planned renovation, he quickly found himself advocating for the removal of physical and attitudinal barriers at the school.  Together with other students with disabilities, he founded Osgoode's first student club dedicated to disability issues.  He specialized in labour and employment law and continued to be active outside the classroom when time permitted.  He also volunteered for student caucus, the Osgoode Faculty Council Equality Committee, and York University's Accessibility Advisory Committee.

Michael furthered his experience in public interest law through summer employment at the Community and Legal Aid Services program (Osgoode's student legal clinic) and ARCH Disability Law Centre; he graduated in June 2011 and is currently looking for an articling position.

Bishu Solomon Girma

Bishu is an articling student with Blakes LLP. Bishu graduated from the JD/MBA program at the University of Toronto in June 2011. She received the Silver Medal for the JD/MBA program, awarded to the graduating student with the second highest cumulative average in the combined program. She also received a certificate for the Dean's List and Sarah Bregman Scholar, awarded to students in the top 10% of the graduating class at the Rotman School of Management. She received her Bachelor of Managerial and Organizational Studies, with distinction, at the University of Western Ontario.

Bishu has worked as the summer program coordinator for the LAWS Program at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. She has also summered at the Canadian High Commission in London, England, where she worked on Canada's projects involving the 2010 G20 Conference. Bishu has also worked in Africa, volunteering for a non-profit organization, where she completed proposals allowing the organization to receive funding through the African Union.

Bishu enjoys creative outlets such as painting and drawing, as well as basketball and yoga. She is conversational in Spanish and Amharic, and she is planning to become fluent in both languages in the near future.

Renu Mandhane 

Renu is the Director of the International Human Rights Program and Clinical Lecturer at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. Renu graduated from the Faculty with a J.D., articled at Torys LLP in Toronto, and completed her LL.M. at New York University with a focus on international human rights law. In addition to publishing in the area, Renu is a member of the main and advocacy committees of Human Rights Watch Canada, and has worked at a number of domestic and international organizations focused on advancing women's human rights, including the Centre for Reproductive Rights in New York, and the Association for Women's Rights in Development in Toronto. Prior to joining the Faculty, Renu practiced criminal law from an equality rights perspective for approximately four years and routinely represented survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as well as federally-sentenced prisoners. Most recently, Renu was an Assistant Dean at the Faculty and worked extensively on the review of the first year curriculum

Ike Okafor

Ike is a Student Recruitment Officer at the University of Toronto. As a first-year student in 1999, he founded the University of Toronto Black Students’ Association, and he is a past president of the group. Eleven years later, the association is one of U of T’s most active organizations, with programming that engages students, faculty, staff, alumni and the local community. Since graduating from New College in 2003, Ike has remained active as a two-time president of the U of T Black Alumni Association, for which he has led membership drives and also organized galas and an international knowledge transfer program. Ike is currently organizing the Black Outreach National Directory (BOND) at U of T, as well as an alumni program for students who have completed the U of T Summer Mentorship Program. Ike was the 2010 recipient of the University of Toronto Arbor Award for outstanding service to the university.

Renée Pelletier 

Renée Pelletier is the managing partner at Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend LLP. Renée is of Maliseet ancestry. Her practice includes work on Aboriginal and treaty rights litigation and specific claims in Ontario. She also has litigated judicial review applications and child welfare matters, and appeared before courts on motions, trials and appeals. Renée advises First Nations and Aboriginal organizations on reserve land management and impacts and benefits agreements.

Renée has worked at Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, volunteered for the Native Women’s Resource Centre, and worked with the Innocence Project to free wrongfully-convicted Native American Leonard Peltier. Renée was also a Native Court Worker at College Park Criminal Court.

Renée is a member of the Indigenous Bar Association and the Ontario bar. Her first language is French, and she is fluently bilingual in both French and English.

Sukanya Pillay

Sukanya Pillay is the Director, National Security Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Sukanay joined in October 2009. She was previously a law professor at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law (2002-2008), in-house legal counsel for Hutchison Telecommunications in India (2000-2002), Director of the Law & Human Rights Program at TVE International New York office (1998-2000), and Program Director of Witness with the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First), New York (1995-1998). She made over twenty missions to conflict zones worldwide in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. She has appeared before UN treaty bodies and Canadian courts on human rights issues, and has represented clients or presented expert evidence before administrative and judicial bodies in the US, India, Canada, and Europe.

Her research focuses on protecting the rights of vulnerable groups including the poor and disadvantaged in developing countries, refugees, and victims of human rights abuses, and she has written numerous papers published in academic journals on these issues. Sukanya won the Holmes-Cardozo award for research excellence from the American Academy of Legal Studies in Business (2006) for a co-authored paper on privacy, an Award for Excellence in Research from the University of Windsor (2005) for research and a documentary film on the effects of NAFTA on Mexican corn farmers, and an Outstanding Faculty Member Award from the Students Law Society Windsor (2003).

She graduated with a JD from the University of Windsor (1990), became a member of the Ontario Bar in 1992, and received an LL.M. in international legal studies from NYU School of Law (1994) where she was a graduate editor of the Journal of International Law and Politics. She worked at Davies Partners in Toronto (1992-1993), articled at Borden & Elliot (now Borden Ladner Gervais, Toronto) (1990-1991), clerked with the Ontario Court of Justice (1994-1995), and was seconded to work on the First Civil Justice Review with the Honourable Justice Robert Blair. Her documentary films and photography on human rights issues have appeared on BBC World, CBC, and in many film festivals.

Paula Seymour

Paula Seymour is an associate with the law firm of The McLeod Group, Barristers & Solicitors, where she practices almost exclusively in the area of criminal law.

Ms. Seymour’s career in the legal profession began when she applied for law school as mature student in 2003, and was subsequently accepted in Osgoode Hall Law School in 2004. She earned her Bachelor of Laws degree in 2007 and was the recipient of the Legal and Literary Society’s Student Honour Award for her outstanding contributions to the law school community. She served as the President of the Black Law Students Association of Osgoode Hall Law School, and in 2008-2009 as the External Affairs Officer of the Black Law Students Association of Canada. She also served as a student caseworker in the Workers’ Rights Division at Parkdale Community Legal Services where she represented employees in a variety of employment related matters.

Prior to her career in law, Ms. Seymour enjoyed her position with Service Canada in the Employment Insurance Department and for 2 ½ years she worked as a flight attendant.

Outside of law, Ms. Seymour is Vice President of the Board of Directors at Dr. Roz’s Healing Place, a not-for-profit organization that provides innovative programs and services for women, children and youth overcoming abusive relationships.

She is also the co-founder and instructor of the Tiger Karate Club, an organization that has mentored and assisted disadvantaged youth and their parents in athletic, academic and personal pursuits for over 20 years.

Andrea Sobko

Andrea is the Director of Educator Support at the Ontario Justice Education Network OJEN), a non-profit organization that brings together institutions and individuals from the legal and education sectors to collaborate on initiatives designed to foster public understanding of the justice system. Andrea has previously worked as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, and has experience in program development and curriculum design garnered from her previous work with youth and women's rights organizations in Canada and Malaysia. She holds an honours B.A. (sociology/psychology) and a B.Ed. from the University of Toronto, and is currently completing her J.D. part-time at Osgoode Hall Law School.

Cornell Wright

Cornell Wright is a partner with Torys LLP. He graduated from the JD/MBA program at the University of Toronto in 2000. He practices corporate and securities law with a focus on M&A and corporate finance, both public and private. He also advises companies, boards of directors and shareholders on corporate governance matters.

Cornell is a council member of the Law Alumni Association of the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto and is a member of the Faculty's steering committee for its Law in Action Within Schools (LAWS) Program.Cornell is a member of the board of directors of Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation, which grants university scholarships to high school students across Canada who show promise of leadership and a strong commitment to service in the community.He is also a former member of the board of directors of the Oriole Park residents’ association, the board of directors of Goodwill Toronto and the North Toronto Collegiate Institute Foundation Advisory Board.