Remzi Cej (he/him)
works with the Government of Canada, and was also a founding member of the Bridge to the Rock group, a volunteer group based in St John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador supporting LGBTQ+ refugees from around the world. He is a former Director of the Office of Immigration and Multiculturalism in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Commission, as well as featured speaker for the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights’ Speak Truth To Power project on human rights awareness and education. He is a recipient of the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award and two-time recipient of the YMCA Human Rights Medallion. He has worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross; United Nations Association of Canada; and has volunteered in governance and advocacy roles at Amnesty International and War Child Canada. More recently, Remzi has been serving on the boards of Choices for Youth, a community-based organization supporting resilient youth; and QuadrangleNL, a community centre serving 2SLGBTQIA+ residents, as well as Equitas. In addition to English and French, Remzi speaks Albanian, Turkish, Serbian, Spanish, and German. Remzi’s areas of interest include 2SLGBTQIA+ rights and the rights of religious minorities.
I joined Equitas Board of Directors for the opportunity to advance human rights priorities in a learning setting, while learning from expertise human rights professionals from around the world bring to Equitas is exciting. It is a pleasure and honour to help advance the work of the organization at a board level, in the company of very accomplished staff and board members.
I am energized by opportunities to bring my personal and professional experience and perspectives into the work of Equitas’ board. I have been a strong proponent of the need to make intersectionality a key focus of human rights programs and policies, to ensure a horizontal approach to human rights advances. I hope to continue to bring this perspective into the work of Equitas. I hope we can contribute to advancing human rights issues like islamophobia that continues to be of great concern to me. It is an issue in Canada, but sadly, a very pressing issue internationally. Nearly twenty years after 9/11, Muslim communities continue to live in an environment where discourse about their presence is securitized, and discrimination rampant.