Meet Our Team
Yasemin Mamaloglu
Yasemin goes to the Sheridan College in Toronto where she is enrolled in the Paralegal program. She already has her degree in Mathematics and Law. Upon the completion of her program, she will be qualified to write the Law Society of Ontario licensing examination.
With the motivation to bring equality and reform to the justice system, Yasemin founded the Northern Justice Watch. Her goal is to use her education and legal experience to help the society. She is not only the President of our organization, but also the director of the Victim Support and Welcome Centre Team.
Serif Aydin
Serif is the Executive Director at Northern Justice Watch, where he channels his passion for justice and human rights. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Serif has been a community leader in several Canadian cities. He has been instrumental in organizing a range of events, including friendship dinners, public heroes recognitions, festivals, and forum panels. These initiatives consistently support diversity, encourage peace, and drive positive change within Canadian society.
In 2018, Serif founded Ses Dergisi Magazine and has since served as its Editor-in-Chief. The magazine stands as a beacon for diversity, amplifying voices from underrepresented communities and championing the embrace of varied thoughts and differences. His collaborative spirit at the Youth 4 Success Platform earned recognition with an award from Crime Prevention Ottawa in 2021 and a nomination as a finalist for the Pathways to Possibilities award. At the core of Serif's endeavors is a commitment to uplifting voices, fostering inclusivity, and advocating for victims of atrocity crimes.
Altaf Hafiz
Altaf currently goes to McMaster University, studying Honours Life Sciences and pursuing a minor in Psychology, Sustainability, and a concurrent certificate in Rehabilitation Sciences. As a Hazara student, he is deeply driven by his identity and lived experiences to advocate for justice, equity, and representation for minorities and marginalized communities. His background has instilled in him a strong passion for amplifying the voices of those who are often unheard and striving to create inclusive spaces where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
Altaf serves as an executive member of the Hazara Women Organization, where he contributes to initiatives that raise awareness about the systemic challenges faced by persecuted groups. Additionally, through his role as Outreach Director for McMaster Students in Support of the UNHCR (MSSUNHCR), he actively engages with communities to support refugees and displaced populations. These leadership experiences have strengthened his skills in communication, advocacy, and strategic outreach, while reinforcing his commitment to humanitarian efforts and social justice.
Advisory Board
Steven K. Young
Steven Young, B.Ed. MBA PMP ICD.D is an educator, consultant, executive, and coach who is passionate about leadership & building high performance teams. Through his experience as a student athlete with the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey team, as a Police Officer for 18 years, university lecturer, consultant or as a Member of the Alberta Legislature where he served as the Chief Government Whip, Steven’s understanding across athletics, politics, academics, government and business provides a broad perspective on the challenges and opportunities of leading and building successful teams. Steven is currently a project and change management consultant and sits on the board of Alberta IoT and the Alberta Criminal Code Review Board, a lecturer at the Alberta School of Business and instructor at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and continues to consult with businesses on aligning their strategy, processes and tapping into their most valuable corporate assets – their people.
Alex Neve
Alex Neve is an adjunct professor in international human rights law at the University of Ottawa and Dalhousie University, and a Senior Fellow with the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. He served as Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada from 2000 - 2020. He took part in over forty human rights research and advocacy delegations throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, Guantánamo Bay and, closer to home, First Nations communities in Canada. He has an LLB from Dalhousie University and a Master’s Degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Essex. He has served as a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, taught at Osgoode Hall Law School, been affiliated with York University's Centre for Refugee Studies, and worked as a refugee lawyer in private practice and in a community legal aid clinic. Alex has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Trudeau Foundation Mentor. He is a recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He has received three honorary Doctorate of Laws degrees.
James Joseph
James is a human rights advocate, academic, published writer and expert commentator on international human rights issues as well as the Executive Director of The Duty Legacy human rights consultancy. James works with genocide victim communities across the world advocating for recognition for their suffering.
Joanne Hodges
Joanne Hodges is a filmmaker interested in social justice and human rights issues. Joanne is part Tigrayan and became a community organizer and advocate for peace, justice and the wellbeing of Tigrayans when the war on Tigray broke out in 2020. She is a board member of Ethiopian Canadians for Peace, a member of United Tegaru Canada, a member of Tigray Advocacy Canada, a co-founder of Friends of Tigray and a founding member of the Alliance of Genocide Victim Communities, which was formed along with representatives of the Tigrayan, Tibetan, Tamil, Uygher, and Rwandan communities and recently welcomed the Hazara community.
Mukesh Kapila
Mukesh Kapila has extensive experience in humanitarian affairs, conflict and security, global health and international development, human rights and diplomacy, He has qualifications in medicine and public health from the Universities of Oxford and London.
He is Professor Emeritus of Global Health and Humanitarian Affairs, University of Manchester, Senior Adviser to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean, and serves on several international boards.
His work has taken him to some 120 countries including the world’s most devasting disasters, wars and genocides in all continents. His leadership functions have included senior directorships at the World Health Organization and United Nations, and as Undersecretary-General at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Previously he was Head of Conflict & Humanitarian Affairs at what is now the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office.
He was also Special Representative for the Aegis Trust for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity, and chaired Minority Rights Group International, and Nonviolent Peaceforce which was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016. He has advised many multilateral institutions including the World Bank. UN agencies, and international NGOs. His many awards include a CBE from King Charles III, a Global Citizenship Award for “moral courage, personal integrity, and passion...dedicated to solving the most pressing problems facing the world”, the “I Witness!” award for human rights protection, and a special resolution of the California State Legislature for “lifetime achievements and meritorious service to humanity”.
His first memoir “Against a Tide of Evil” was shortlisted for the 2013 Best Non-Fiction Book award. His further book (2019) is entitled “No Stranger to Kindness”. He is a public and media speaker, and his writings can be sampled on https://www.mukeshkapila.org
Mark Kersten
Mark Kersten is an Assistant Professor in the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, and a Senior Consultant at the Wayamo Foundation in Berlin, Germany. He has a law degree from McGill University (2022) and a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics (2014).
Mark is the author of numerous academic articles and the book, Justice in Conflict. He runs a blog by the same name. From 2023-2024, Mark worked as a legal researcher for the Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, focusing on the application of international criminal law and human rights law, the primary areas of his expertise and research. Mark's research often appears in media publications, and he writes regularly for news outlets, including the Globe and Mail, Al Jazeera, and the Toronto Star. Outside of his work, Mark has a passion for gardening, reading, traveling, hockey (on ice), date nights, late nights, Lego, and spending time with loved ones.
Toby Mendel
Toby Mendel is the founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy, a Canadian-based international human rights NGO which provides legal and capacity building expertise regarding foundational rights for democracy, including the right to information, freedom of expression, the right to participate and the rights to freedom of assembly and association. Prior to that, he was for over 12 years Senior Director for Law at ARTICLE 19, an international human rights NGO focusing on freedom of expression and the right to information. He has collaborated extensively with inter-governmental actors working in these areas – including the World Bank, UNESCO, the UN and other international rapporteurs on freedom of expression, the OSCE and the Council of Europe – as well as numerous governments and NGOs in countries all over the world. Before joining ARTICLE 19, he worked as a senior human rights consultant with Oxfam Canada and as a human rights policy analyst at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). He is the author of a large number of articles, monographs and books on a range of freedom of expression, right to information and communication rights issues, including several books published by UNESCO.