Roster of Independent Practitioners
Ethical Associates Inc. maintains a roster of diverse human rights lawyers, equity practitioners and adjudicators who work independently and are available to serve as dedicated neutrals in the resolution of complex disputes. Please contact us if you wish to retain any of the independent practitioners on our roster.
Michelle Poirier
Director of Human Rights
Michelle currently serves on the National Executive of the Canadian Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education (CAPDHHE) and was the 2019 recipient of CAPDHHE’s Leadership in Learning Award.
Michelle Poirier is (she/they) brings 20 years of expertise in equity, diversity, inclusion, and human rights practice and has applied this skillset in post-secondary institutions since 2006. She is currently the Director of Human Rights with Ethical Associates Inc. where she manages the conflict resolution program and administers the firm’s operational functions.
Michelle recently served as the Acting Director of the Office of Human Rights and Equity at Brock University, having previously served as Brock’s Advisor on Human Rights for five years. Michelle’s responsibilities included leadership of a team that managed program areas including sexual violence prevention and response, anti-racism, accessibility, inter-cultural education, Ombuds services, and the Student Justice Centre. Michelle was also the primary contact for Brock’s Human Rights Program and provided informal resolution on hundreds of cases and administered formal resolution processes on many others, including investigations into allegations of discrimination, harassment, bullying and sexual violence. Michelle also worked as the Complaint Resolution and Equity Specialist and Human Rights Specialist at McMaster University for seven years. Before then, she worked in various administrative roles at the University of Toronto.
Michelle currently serves on the National Executive of the Canadian Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education (CAPDHHE) and was the 2019 recipient of CAPDHHE’s Leadership in Learning Award. She also served as a member of the board for the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion, which was a partner in establishing the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre
Michelle holds a Master of Education in Adult Education and Community Development from OISE, a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Women and Gender Studies from the University of Toronto, and certificates in Project Management (U of T), Advanced Investigation Techniques (Rubin Thomlinson) and Executive Certificate in Conflict Management (Windsor U Law).