Shawna Paris-Hoyte ONS, KC, is an innovative and dedicated dual-professional with over four decades of experience in community-based social justice initiatives. She is the Executive Director of the African Nova Scotia Justice Institute and an experienced lawyer with 29 years of practice in Nova Scotia. She has appeared at all court levels and administrative tribunals. Shawna successfully presented the R. v. LTH case at the Supreme Court of Canada regarding protocol for police when interviewing youth under the YCJA. More recently, she was legal counsel for Be the Peace Institute, a participant group in the Mass Casualty Commission Public Inquiry in Nova Scotia, specific to gender-based violence. In addition, Shawna has adjudicated and chaired administrative matters under the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act and the Residential Tenancies Board. As a multi-disciplinary and dual professional, Shawna has been a practising psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker in Nova Scotia and Ontario for almost twenty years. She has been on the front lines of law reform, policy development, and social justice reform for decades. Her work intersects law and social work. Shawna is also the founding Executive Director of the National Institute of Forensic Social Work in Canada. She provides expert consultation and training to grassroots community organizations, NGOs, and federal and provincial governments on integrated social/legal issues. Additionally, she designs, develops, and implements curriculums and professional development training programs at the university level for lawyers, social workers, social service workers, and others. Shawna has sat on many Boards, including as past chair of the Community Justice Society in Halifax and the Board of Directors of the Canadian Women’s Foundation. Shawna has received many awards and accolades for her dedication to Nova Scotians including, but not limited to, the Order of Nova Scotia (2020), the Distinguished Service Award from the Nova Scotia Barristers Society (2022), the Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Association of Social Workers/Nova Scotia College of Social Workers (2016). And the Queen Elizabeth II -70th Anniversary Platinum Jubilee Medal for public service and volunteerism (2022), the Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) designation in 2011, among many other awards and accolades.