Presenters

Zachary Weeks is an disability advocate, accessibility consultant and public speaker based in Edmonton, Alberta. As a leader in accessibility strategy and inclusive policy development, he collaborates with governments, organizations, and communities to remove barriers and promote equitable access for all.

Zachary is a member of the City of Edmonton’s Accessibility Advisory Committee and an active voice in advancing accessibility and inclusion across Alberta. Drawing from lived experience, he brings practical insight, humour, and humanity to every conversation about inclusion and change. 

Taylor is a proud Mi’Kmaw woman and member of the Miawpukek First Nation in Conne River, Newfoundland, whose journey exemplifies determination, leadership, and resilience.

As a wrestler, Taylor spent six years competing for the University of Alberta, where she achieved incredible milestones. She won a USports national championship individually and played a pivotal role in securing a team championship banner for the university. Taylor also proudly represented Team Canada on the world stage, competing at two U23 World Wrestling Championships in Serbia and Spain, where she showcased her skill and passion on an international level.

Taylor spends her free time giving back to the wrestling community by coaching, sharing her knowledge, and inspiring the next generation of athletes. She began coaching with the Aboriginal Apprentice Coach Program at the Canada Summer Games in Niagara, where she gained invaluable experience and mentorship. Since then she made history by bringing back the Team Alberta Wrestling to the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) to the competition after years of absence, creating opportunities for Indigenous youth to connect with their culture and excel in sport. She was also the head coach for Team Alberta Women’s Wrestling for Canada Summer Games 2025, Pandas assistant Coach, as well as Edmonton Wrestling Club Assistant Coach. 

Academically, Taylor holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Kinesiology from the University of Alberta. Her master’s thesis broke ground by exploring the experiences of women wrestlers with their menstrual cycles, a topic often overlooked in sports science but critical for athlete support and development. Her work demonstrates her commitment to advancing the sport for women and challenging stigmas in athletics as well as exploring the topic through an Indigenous lens.

Beyond wrestling, Taylor is widely recognized as a co-winner of Season 10 of The Amazing Race Canada. Alongside her best friend Katie, she raced to victory while promoting an empowering message: strong is beautiful, and girls can achieve anything they set their minds to. Their journey inspired countless viewers, showcasing the power of resilience, teamwork, and representation.

Erica Gavel-Pinos is a Paralympic athlete, researcher, and sport leader dedicated to advancing health and performance in athletes with disabilities. She has represented Team Canada on the world stage, including the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and multiple world and regional championships. Beyond sport, Erica has served in key leadership roles with the Canadian Paralympic Committee, International Paralympic Committee, and International Wheelchair Basketball Federation where she has contributed to athlete advocacy, safe sport initiatives, and the development of strategic frameworks that shape the future of Paralympic sport.

Academically, Erica earned her PhD in exercise physiology and rehabilitative sciences and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta. Her research explores pregnancy in Paralympic athletes, hydration, thermoregulation, and bladder health, areas critical to performance and wellbeing yet often overlooked. Recognized internationally for bridging science and practice, Erica is passionate about mentorship and fostering the next generation of sport leaders.

Dr. Lauren McNamara has spent her career reimagining one of the most overlooked spaces in education—the schoolyard. An education researcher, consultant, writer, and Ashoka Fellow, she is widely recognized for showing how recess and play are not just breaks from learning, but vital foundations for children’s well-being, belonging, and school engagement.

With a background in Educational Psychology and the Learning Sciences, Lauren’s research and advocacy have helped shape national and international policy—including Canada’s National Position Paper on Recess. Her work bridges disciplines to show how schoolyards—often overlooked asphalt spaces—can instead become critical infrastructures for equity, inclusion, climate resilience, and mental health.

Lauren is the founder of Schoolyards For Thought and Recess Project Canada, and a Research Scientist at the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University. She has led multi-sector partnerships with education systems, governments, and organizations such as the Physical and Health Education, The Canadian Pediatric Society, the Canadian Public Health Association, and Canadian Human Rights Commission. She has also guided schoolyard transformations in low-income neighborhoods, bringing research to life in ways that directly improve children’s daily experiences.