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 bonobasis. She worked on cases at all court levels, including the Supreme Court of Canada.

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. 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. She was a member of the Ontario Bar Association’s Equal Opportunity Committee, and worked with its Disability/Accommodations Sub-Committee. 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.