About Us
Renée Ferguson
Co-Founder & Educational Facilitator
Ph.D.
Hello! Thank-you for visiting our website and learning about the work of Courageous Spaces Consulting. My name is Renée (she/they), and I am a post-secondary educator at Georgian College, currently coordinating a liberal arts program and teaching across the social sciences.
As a person who holds some identities that afford me many privileges, and others that align with societal marginalization, I have a passion for continuous learning and providing educational support and consultation around the impacts of systemic prejudice and discrimination. There is so much hope when communities foster holistic belonging. I am dedicated to this work and actively involved in unlearning my own socialized worldviews to live life as a person who listens, appreciates and values difference, uplifts marginalized voices, and engages in active anti-oppressive practice.
Over the past 17 years at the college, I have engaged in many equity related initiatives and programming. I most recently led the development and launch of the tuition waiver and coaching program for learners from care, and as a former access program coordinator, I championed equitable educational opportunities for marginalized learners with disabilities. I was also the inaugural faculty advisor for Georgian’s Foodlocker program which aims to lessen food insecurity in our student population. Outside of the college, I am an equity advocate, policy advisor, and volunteer through my work with the Child Welfare Political Action Committee of Canada, Education Committee for the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies, and as Chair of the Board for Epilepsy Simcoe County. I have also presented workshops on a variety of equity-related topics such as 2SLGBT+, disability as diversity, and family privilege, to local businesses and organizations. Earlier in my career I facilitated court diversion programming at the Elizabeth Fry Society of Simcoe County, worked in supervised access in child welfare, and was Chair of Public Relations for the Barrie Literacy Council.
My work with Courageous Spaces Consulting is the amalgamation of all that I love; working with people to serve people, make change, and create societally transformative communities where all are welcome.