Nikki Gershbain, National Director

Nikki took on the position of National Director in January 2010. Prior to joining PBSC, she served as Executive Director of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law (2004-2009). During this time, Nikki led a number of major initiatives, including the development of Canada’s first law and justice high school program for at-risk youth (LAWS), the launch of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights, and the planning of a national summit on gender and diversity in the profession. She spent two years as co-chair of the Faculty’s Accessibility and Diversity Committee, and also lead a research and teaching project on access to the civil legal justice system for lower- and middle-income Ontarians. She continues to serve as a member of the steering committee for that initiative.

Nikki earned her LL.B. from U of T in 2000 and was called to the Ontario Bar in 2002. She clerked at the Ontario Court of Appeal and then practiced family law at Epstein Cole LLP, where a significant portion of her practice was devoted to representing low-income clients on a pro bono basis. She worked on cases at all court levels, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

PBSC Manager Nav Johal and PBSC National Director Nikki Gershbain

Prior to law school, Nikki earned an M.A. in Feminist Theory from the New School for Social Research, where she was a Fulbright Fellow.

Navneet Johal, Program Manager

Navneet was appointed as Program Manager in January 2010. She is a member of the Ontario Bar Association’s Equal Opportunity Committee, and works actively with its Disability/Accommodations Sub-Committee. Nav earned her LL.B. from the University of Ottawa’s English Common Law Program in 2007, and completed her articles at the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE). As a law student, she spent her summers working at ACE on disability and age-related access to justice issues.

Prior to law school, Nav completed her B.A. in Gerontology and Health Studies at McMaster University.

Krystyna Drywa, Program Manager

Krystyna joined PBSC in 2008. Before coming to PBSC, she practiced refugee law and managed migration at Duncan Lewis and Co. Solicitors in London, England.

Krystyna received her LL.B. from the University of Toronto in 2003. As a law student, she was a PBSC volunteer and received the Douglas Laidlaw Scholarship for Leadership. After her call to the Bar in 2004, she spent time assisting asylum claimants at Lawyers for Human Rights in Pretoria, South Africa, as part of the Canadian Bar Association’s Young Professionals International Program.

Kim Stanton, Program Manager

Kim completed her Doctorate of Juridical Science at the University of Toronto in 2010.  Kim attended UBC Law and clerked at the BC Supreme Court. Called to the bar in 2000, she practiced litigation in Vancouver, where she was also a board member of the West Coast Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund and actively involved in access to justice initiatives. Kim has worked with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Gaza Strip and with the Center for Democratic Development in Accra, Ghana. She ran a small legal research firm in Vancouver, focusing on Aboriginal, constitutional and equality law, before moving to Toronto for graduate studies.

Rosemary Gallo, National Coordinator

Rosemary is in her second year of the French Common Law Program at UOttawa. Before joining PBSC, Rosemary volunteered with LEAF (Legal Education and Action Fund) and acted as communications director for her school’s LEAF chapter. She also worked as a civil caseworker at the University of Ottawa Community Legal Clinic. Rosemary grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. She earned a Bachelor of Philosophy from the University of British Columbia, and prior to law school she worked with the Association des juristes d’expression française de la Colombie-Britannique, an organization that provides legal information to francophone British Columbians.

Leslie Ning, National Francophone Coordinator

Leslie is in her second year of the double degree in civil law and common law at McGill University in Montreal. In her first year, she worked on a PBSC project with the Canadian Council for Refugees and was an active member of the McGill Human Rights Working Group – Immigration and Refugee portfolio. She earned a Bachelor in International Relations and International Law from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), completing a semester abroad at the Universidad de Chile in Santiago. She participated in UQAM’s International Clinic for the Defense of Human Rights and completed a nine month internship with a Montreal-based organization focusing on human rights in Latin America.