People

Nikki Gershbain, National Director
 

Nikki’s appointment as National Director commenced January, 2010.  Prior to joining PBSC, Nikki served as Executive Director of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, from 2004 to 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 (the LAWS program), 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, receiving a University staff award for enhancing diversity-related student services at the law school.  Nikki also served as the staff lead on a project on access to the civil legal justice system for lower- and middle-income Ontarians.  The project has received the support of the Chief Justice of Canada, the Chief Justice of Ontario and the Attorney General of Ontario and other individuals and organizations in the access to justice community in Ontario. Nikki continues to serve as a member of the Steering Committee of 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, and where she developed expertise in same sex adoption applications.  At Epstein Cole she worked on cases at all levels of courts, 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.  From 2003-2007, she was a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Equity Advisory Group. 

Krystyna Drywa,Court and Tribunal Program Manager

Navneet Johal, Community Placement Program Manager

Navneet’s appointment as Community Placement manager began January 12, 2010.  Nav earned her LL.B. from the University of Ottawa’s English Common Law Program in 2007 and recently completed her articles at the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE), a Legal Aid Ontario specialty clinic.  Prior to law school, Nav completed her B.A. in Gerontology and Health Studies at McMaster University.  Nav is a longstanding advocate for social justice.  As a law student, she spent her summers working at ACE on disability and age-related access to justice issues.  Most recently, she was invited to serve as a member of the Ontario Bar Association’s Equal Opportunity Committee, and has been an active member of that Committee’s Disability/Accommodations Sub-Committee. 

Gillian Scarlett, National Coordinator

Gillian Scarlett is entering her third year of law school at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University in Halifax. As National Coordinator, she will be working directly with Program Coordinators from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Ontario (except the University of Ottawa Civil), as well as the University of New Brunswick. Gillian grew up in Lacombe, Alberta, and moved to Edmonton to pursue a Bachelor of Music in voice from the University of Alberta. Gillian was an active volunteer with groups such as Make Poverty History and Students for Literacy throughout her undergrad, and participated in pro bono projects in her first and second year of law school. 

Jean-Sébastien Tremblay is entering his third year in law at the l’Université de Montréal.  Born and raised in Charlevoix, he completed a Bilingual International Baccaulerate specializing in languages before graduating from l’Université du Québec à Montréal with a degree in communications.  Jean-Sébastien has volunteered at human rights organizations and devoted some of his spare time to defending the rights of HIV-positive individuals.  As PBSC’s National Francophone Coordinator, he is responsible for all of our chapters in Québec, the University of Ottawa (Civil) and Moncton University.