RAEGAN SWANSON (she/her)
Executive Director
Raegan has been the Executive Director since 2016. She holds a BA from Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface and a Masters of Information from the University of Toronto iSchool. She has worked as an archivist at Library and Archives Canada, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Aanischaaukamikw Cree Cultural Institute and as the Archival Advisor for the Council of Archives New Brunswick. She is currently working on her PhD focusing on the role of community archives in Indigenous communities. She is a member of the Steering Committee on Canada’s Archives Taskforce to respond to the “Calls to Action” Report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and co-chair of the ACA’s Indigenous Matters Working Group.
JORDAN SAROYA (he/him)
Administrative Assistant
Jordan has served as the Administrative Assistant since January 2020. He holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Toronto, where he studied Human Geography and Women & Gender Studies. He has worked in various administrative capacities and LGBTQ2+ community spaces.
STEFANIE MARTIN (she/her)
Project Archivist
Stefanie has been involved at The ArQuives since 2018. She holds a BA in Sociology from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Masters of Information from the University of Toronto. Stefanie was the Archives Assistant in 2018 and later on became a collections volunteer. In 2019, Stefanie was an intern at the Hamilton Public Library where she developed their 2SLGBTQ+ community archives. She has also worked in non-profit and grassroots organizations serving Filipino youth, newcomers, and migrant workers in the Greater Toronto Area and Manitoba.
Her research interests include community archives, activism and political record-keeping and migration and labour.
JADE NELSON (they/them)
Volunteer Coordinator
Jade works as the Volunteer Coordinator. They have worked and volunteered in various not-for-profit roles and volunteer management positions since 2018. They are currently a Master’s student in the Department of Gender, Feminist, and Women’s Studies at York University. They also hold a BA (Hons) in History and Sexuality Studies from the University of Toronto. Their research focus explores Queer digital futures and is interested in the translation and development of identities, knowledge, memories and publics across digital platforms.
TOBARON WAXMAN (they/them)
Community Outreach Archivist, Trans Collections
As Community Outreach Archivist, Tobaron stewards the Trans Collections. They also outreach to family and partners within trans communities, and other High Priority Groups. Tobaron specializes in active collecting personalized to each donor’s needs. Tobaron produces events and exhibitions for The ArQuives that showcase trans knowledge keepers, activating Trans Collections in relation to history, current events and trans culture. Tobaron is the primary contact for potential donors, museums, curators, educators, and the general public about our Trans Collections.
Tobaron is also a critically acclaimed interdisciplinary artist, developing non-binary thought, transsexual knowledge and pluriversal strategies to grapple with issues of border, body sovereignty, migrancy and nation/state. Tobaron has lectured at CU HongKong, Goldsmiths, SOAS, OCADU, NYU, Bilgi Istanbul and others. Since 2013 Tobaron creates Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency; a combined curatorial, relational/live art, and sociopolitical praxis. Tobaron’s photography and performances have received multiple awards from Canada and Ontario Arts Councils, fellowships from ICI Berlin, FranklinFurnace, AkademieDerKünst and the inaugural Audience Award of Jewish Museum NYC for the endurance performance ‘Opshernish’, recently accessed by Leslie Lohman Museum.
Please email tobaron@arquives.ca about creating your personal archive, or the archive of your trans-led organization/group.
NICO MARA-McKAY (they/them)
Project Coordinator
Nico is a historian taking a leave of absence from their PhD program in History with a collaborative specialization in Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto. Their research focuses on nonnormative gender expressions in late medieval France. Nico has previously worked as a bookseller, a business analyst, a copyeditor, a teaching assistant, a research assistant, and a live transcriber for Deaf and hard of hearing college students.
BAILEY (they/them)
Marketing and Communications Coordinator
Bailey is an evaluation consultant, arts programmer and creative educator focusing on inclusive data, storytelling and futurities. They hold a Masters in Postcolonial Culture and Global Policy. When not consulting or programming, Bailey dabbles in queer film festival programming and volunteers as a crisis responder supporting individuals in distress across Canada.
DEANNA BICKFORD (she/her/they/them)
Senior Development Officer
Deanna serves as the Development Officer. She has worked exclusively in the social profit sector for the past two decades as a communications and fundraising professional. Before joining The ArQuives, Deanna was the Development Director at Inside Out. There, she helped grow community partnerships and expand resources for innovative programs such as the RE: Focus Fund to support women, trans, and non-binary filmmakers. She has also helped build capacity for several community organizations and advocacy groups including, YWCA, United Way, Leadnow, Friends of the Greenbelt, and Ecojustice.
DANIEL PAYNE (he/him)
Reference Archivist
Daniel holds a Masters of Library and Information Sciences and a Masters of Arts in Musicology from Western University, as well as a Bachelor of Education from the University of Windsor. He has recently served as part time Social Sciences & Humanities Librarian at York University and a Sessional Lecturer at the University of Toronto’s iSchool, where he teaches a graduate-level course he developed in Art Librarianship. Between 2002 and 2021, he was Head of Reference and Instructional Services at the OCAD University Library, where he used studio-based pedagogy to activate library services. His research interests include exploring the history of art and design education, using art exhibitions as information literacy, and understanding how the Mi’kmaq teaching of Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) can activate research models using Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Daniel is also principal cellist with Counterpoint Community Orchestra, the world’s longest standing 2SLGBTQ+ orchestra.
Email Daniel at queeries@arquives.ca for information about visiting The ArQuives’ collection for research. Email him at referencearchivist@arquives.ca for any other inquiries.
ROXY MOON (they/them)
Archives Assistant
Roxy holds a Master of Information in Archives and Records Management from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. Prior to this, they completed their BA (Hons) at UofT, where they specialized in Sexual Diversity Studies. They began working/became interested in archives and libraries in 2021 after working as an administrative record-keeper. Their research interests include community and independent archives, archives as sites for resistance and liberation, and how sexuality and gender appear in nation-state propaganda.
Board of Directors
President
Courtnay McFarlane
(he/him)
Courtnay McFarlane is a Jamaican-born visual artist, curator and poet. His poetry has been published in several African Canadian and Queer anthologies including: Fiery Spirits, and Voices: Writers of African Canadian Descent, Word-up, and Plush. A long-time activist in Toronto’s Black LGBTQ communities, he was a founding member of groups from the 80’s and 90’s such as Zami, AYA Men, The Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention and Blackness Yes, the organizing committee for Blockorama at Toronto Pride. These groups and organizations were forerunners providing voice and visibility to Black LGBTQ issues, and laying the foundation for events, organizations and movements addressing those issues today.
He created Legacies in Motion: Black Queer Archival Projects in 2019 and curated its first exhibition in April of that year: See We Yah! The exhibition unearthed and celebrated the political and cultural activism of Black LGBTQ communities in Toronto.
In his other life Courtnay works in the community health sector. He is currently Director of Child, Youth and Family Services at Regent Park Community Health Centre.
Treasurer
David DesLauriers
(he/him)
David is retired from a 30-year career in investment banking in Toronto and New York and is focused on personal pursuits in volunteering, consulting and mentoring. As a seasoned financial executive, David brings considerable expertise in client relationship management, finance and risk management, and as a trusted advisor on strategic and governance matters. David is currently volunteering on several community boards in a variety of capacities. David lives in Toronto with his husband, Nicolas Burbano Diaz.
Director
Kelvin Kung
(he/him)
Kelvin serves on the Board of Directors chairing the Relocation Committee to help preserve Canada’s precious and hard-fought LGBTQ2+ history. Kelvin is a Project Architect at Gensler, with 12+ years of professional experience in Toronto, Montreal and Japan tackling Canadian Class A Art Galleries, Healthcare, Sciences, Community Centre, High-Rise Residential, Hotel, Commercial Real Estate, Luxury Retail and Gastronomy, Mixed-use and Master Planning practice areas. His work was awarded the Canadian Architect Award of Excellence in 2021.
Exhibiting inquiry driven leadership, he uses machine learning and healthcare architectural design to solve palliative care for everyone while being inclusive of low-income, immigrant families, and other marginalized groups. Kelvin serves as a Global McGill Ambassador, representative at Society of Architectural Historians, and Architecture is Free Foundation. He graduated with three architectural degrees from McGill School of Architecture—including a History and Theory degree handling 13th century primary sources.
He is a Gensler Pride Co-chair, creating safe spaces for collaboration. Kelvin solves problems for those with neurodiverse and accessibility needs – as a Peer Reviewer of Neurodiversity in the Workplace, and as a Microsoft Jury to Artificial Intelligence for Accessibility. His next project solves for lab automation, pharmaceutical workflow and responsive palliative care.
Director
Lucas Wilson
(he/him)
Lucas is the Justice, Equity, and Transformation Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Calgary. He holds graduate degrees from McMaster University, Vanderbilt University, and Florida Atlantic University. His academic work has appeared or will appear in Modern Language Studies, Canadian Jewish Studies, Flannery O’Connor Review, The Journal of Jewish Identities, and Studies in Jewish American Literature and in edited collections published by The MLA, SUNY Press, The University of Alabama Press, and DIO Press. He is currently working on a book about the children of Holocaust survivors (under contract with Rutgers University Press); an edited collection about the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors (under contract with Lexington Books); and an edited collection of stories of conversion therapy survivors (Jessica Kinsley Publishers). His public-facing work has appeared in The Advocate, Queerty, LGBTQ Nation, and Religion Dispatches, among other venues.
Director
Heather Riley
(they/them)
Heather Riley is an artist, zinester, and arts professional of settler decent, currently residing on Williams Treaty territory in Toronto. They received a Post-Graduate certificate in Museum and Gallery Studies at Georgian College and completed a joint program in Art and Art History at the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College.
Heather is currently the Project Coordinator for Digital Collections at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, focused on creating an engaging online portal for visitors to access the art collection. Heather is dedicated to accessibility and is interested in examining the queer histories hidden within art collections, and the ways in which queer bodies have existed throughout history.
Originally from a farming community on Treaty 16 Territory, Heather can often be found on the farm baling hay, feeding horses, and making maple syrup.
Director
Mark Lipton
Mark joined the University of Guelph in 2004 following academic positions at New York University (NYU), Vassar College, and the University of Toronto. His research practice studies young adults’ conceptions of media, culture, and learning. Mark wrote the award-winning Smoke Screens: From Tobacco Outrage to Media Activism and created numerous works about performance, privacy, digital culture, sexualities, pedagogies, media, and education.
Alongside academic worlds, Mark worked as a sexual health educator (NYU) and activist for groups like ACT UP (NYC; 1989-1999), Queer Nation (NYC; 1990-1994), the Pink Panthers Patrol (NYC; 1990-1994), NYC Gay & Lesbian Anti-violence Project (1994-1996), NYC’s Hetrick-Martin Institute, and its Harvey Milk High School (1996-1999).
Working among such live-or-die organizations prepared Mark for community leadership during times of uncertainty; from cocktail adherence to civil disobedience, Mark brings diverse collaborative leadership skills and is eager to grow together.
Director
Terra Gillespie
(they/them)
Terra Gillespie is a marketer, fundraiser, and strategist based out of Toronto. Their work has been dedicated to progressive non-profits, political issues, charities, and organizations.
Early in their career Terra was pivotal in the organization Women In Toronto Politics, which led local and national conversations on equity in politics. That sense of equity has followed through not only where Terra works, but how they approach work. Whether it’s how to empower folks to be civically engaged by employing digital tools that make that engagement easy and accessible, leading conversations on ethical ways to use and store data, or stewarding relationships to elevate others to share their stories with pride and autonomy, Terra’s commitment is through every step of a communications campaign.
Terra has executed campaigns for organizations such as Cystic Fibrosis Canada, Ontario’s New Democrats, Oxfam Canada, YWCA Canada, Mercy Home Chicago, Canadian Red Cross, and Jack.org. They have also published health policy commentary in The Maple, and Canada Health Watch. And recently, their cat Alexis went viral on TikTok.
Director
Lisa Freedman
(she/her)
Lisa Freedman is a recently retired lawyer with a passion for advocating for LGBTQ2+ rights. With a 22 year distinguished career in governance management positions at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Lisa brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the table.
Lisa finished her professional career as an Adjudicator on the Social Benefits Tribunal from 2012-2017.
In addition to her professional achievements, Lisa has been actively involved in the LGBTQ2+ and feminist communities as a volunteer. She was a collective member of Broadside: A Feminist Review, a monthly magazine that made significant contributions to feminist journalism in the 80s and 90s. In 2012, the collective reunited to establish a dedicated website and publish a compilation of the best feminist journalism from Broadside, resulting in the book “Inside Broadside: A Decade of Feminist Journalism” by Women’s Press in 2019.
One of Lisa’s most notable accomplishments was her involvement in a landmark legal case in 1996. As one of four non-biological mothers, she fought for the rights of same-sex couples to bring joint adoption applications. Their efforts led to a groundbreaking ruling that the Child and Family Services Act of Ontario violated Section 15 of the Charter. This ruling made Ontario the first province to legalize adoption for same-sex couples. To celebrate this victory, Lisa’s family was honoured as one of the Grand Marshals of the Pride parade that year.
Director
Jacqueline Murray
Jacqueline Murray is Professor Emerita of History and former Dean of Arts at the University of Guelph and Adjunct Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, and former Professor of History at the University of Windsor. Her research focuses on issues pertaining to sexes, sexualities, and genders in the Middle Ages.
Murray teaches and researches topics of importance to our society, such a queer identities and trans people in the past. Her op-eds on the medieval roots of same-sex marriage led to her presenting an affidavit for MCC in its court challenge, ultimately leading to legalization. She is a frequent public speaker and, in addition to academic scholarship, regularly publishes in the media on the medieval foundations of contemporary values and beliefs, including “red light” districts, female virginity, misconceptions about conception, and how medieval trans people provide a deep history of trans, nonbinary, and other queer people today.
Jacqueline has been involved in AIDS Walks in Windsor and Guelph, ARCH (formerly the AIDS Committee of Guelph, and Out on the Shelf (Guelph). She has also fundraised to support the education of girls and women in Afghanistan. She volunteered with the World University Service of Canada, completing three placements in Accra, Ghana. She serves on the board of the Canadian NGO Ghana Medical Help, which provides equipment and education to support rural healthcare in Ghana.