Empowering Women in the Workforce

Samantha Blostein is the founder and director of Research for Change, a consultancy that works to strengthen the gender equity movement through systemic change and economic development. Samantha helps organizations to demonstrate and further their impact, to implement best practices, and to mobilize knowledge and enact change.

Samantha has worked to advance outcomes for survivors of gender-based violence with local and global organizations and she has extensive national and international policy advocacy and research experience using a trauma-informed approach and gender-based analysis lens.

She leads Equity and Inclusion research and strategy to support inclusive learning environments and workplaces through all stages, including recruitment, hiring, retention, advancement, professional development, and institutional support.

Samantha is a skilled educational facilitator. She manages capacity building programs related to Anti-Oppressive and Decolonial Practices, Anti-Racism, and Bystander Intervention training for a wide audience, including students, faculty and staff, policymakers, and community members.

She designed the first ever community-engaged experiential learning course in International Development Studies at the University of Guelph, and she has taught that course for the past 8 years in her role as Global Community Engagement Specialist with the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute.