She has experience in intersectional feminism, human rights, and anti-discrimination matters
Ruth Goba has joined the not-for-profit organization Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) as executive director, bringing her experience in intersectional feminism, human rights, and anti-discrimination matters.
According to board chair Hadiya Roderique, Goba joins during “a momentous year for LEAF and a critical time for the rights of women, trans people, and migrants.”
Goba was an independent consultant for government ministries, law schools, public school boards and schools, independent schools, law firms, and legal clinics. She has conducted investigations and trainings in addition to discussing human rights, equity and anti-Black racism.
She was part of LEAF’s national legal committee in addition to sitting on the boards of the National Association of Women and the Law and the Human Rights Legal Support Centre. She was the Black Legal Action Centre’s founding executive director.
Goba served as commissioner and interim chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission in 2015. She was also appointed an adjudicator and mediator for the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in 2017 and executive director of the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation.
As a private practitioner, she concentrated on issues involving human rights, racism, gender inequity, and disability discrimination. She started her legal career with an international NGO in India and also worked for the United Nations Special Rapporteur.
“Forty years in, the need for LEAF’s work is as great as it has ever been. I am excited to work with our staff and communities to advance gender equality throughout Canada. While there is much to do, we have strength in our relationships, community power, and movement solidarity to push back against misogyny, transphobia, and racism,” Goba said in a statement.
LEAF is a charity that focuses on progressing the equality rights of women, girls, trans, and non-binary people in Canada through litigation, law reform, and public legal education.
