Fanshawe College announces new Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Fanshawe is pleased to announce the appointment of Joseph Pazzano as Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) effective November 22, 2021.

Pazzano is an experienced EDI professional and strategist, attorney and adjunct professor. He has established a reputation for crafting and advancing strategic EDI plans, providing community-based and risk-informed EDI advice to senior leadership, identifying biases and barriers within complex policies and systems, and establishing pathways to EDI excellence. He has a critical understanding of the importance of liaising with and involving all equity-deserving communities.

“I am pleased to welcome Joseph to Fanshawe College and look forward to working with him and the entire College community as we explore and expand our equity, diversity and inclusion activities in ways that everyone feels a sense of belonging,” says Fanshawe President Peter Devlin.

Pazzano joins Fanshawe from the University of Guelph where he held the position of Training, Education and Inclusion Officer in the Office of Diversity & Human Rights. He lectures extensively in undergraduate courses on human rights, legal theory and social justice topics. Previously, Pazzano worked at the University of Waterloo’s Office of Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion. He is also licensed as an attorney in the state of California and worked in a number of practice-settings including a corporate law firm, a plaintiff-side workers’ rights firm, and the United States Court of Appeals. His work spanned a wide range of relevant legal areas, including human rights, discrimination, employment and labour law.

Pazzano is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law with a Juris Doctor with a Public Interest Law Certificate; York University with a Master of Arts in American History; and Wilfrid Laurier University with an Honours Bachelor of Arts, with High Distinction, in Political Science.

“I am delighted to join the Fanshawe community in this inaugural role of Director, EDI,” says Pazzano. “One of the things that drew me to Fanshawe is how its mission to unlock potential lives so boldly in everyone I have met. This, to me, is directly tied to EDI. The more our students, employees, and community members experience a profound sense of belonging, the more potential we will unlock for ourselves and as a College.”

This appointment follows a nation-wide search involving advisory committees that assisted throughout the search.

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