Tamara (she/her) likes to refer to herself as the “One Woman Show” because of all the different hats that she wears from advocate, to trainer, motivational speaker to even entertainer; she has done it all.
Tamara is an honours graduate in Psychology and Sexuality Studies from the University of Windsor and has been with the federal public service since 2005. Since beginning her career; Tamara has been active in promoting diversity, inclusion and the importance of mental health both inside her workplace for the past 16+ years as well as within her community.
She has been a member of the Committee for Diversity and Inclusion, The Women’s Advisory Committee, The Co-Chair of her district’s Mental Health Committee, The Public Service Pride Committee, the 2SLGBTQ+ Committee and has recently co-developed and delivering the Anti-Racism Training for her department.
Tamara is also trained as a Positive Space Ambassador where she delivers Positive Space training to all her colleagues discussing the importance of the 2SLGBTQ+ community and its’ history. She was also recently appointed as her region’s 2SLGBTQ+ Champion, a role that is befitting considering her continued activism in this field.
Tamara received her Mental Health First Aid training from the Mental Health Commission of Canada and facilitates numerous workshops across the federal government on Mental Health In The Workplace.
In the community, Tamara has been a board member of Serving With Pride since 2019 and was recently appointed as the Co-Director of Halton PFLAG. Through her community work with Halton PFLAG, Tamara began reading queer themed children’s books, virtually during the pandemic, in partnership with The Milton Public Library as her alter ego, “Fairy T”.
All of her hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed when this past August, Tamara was awarded the first ever Public Service Price Award in the “Agent of Change” category and she was the recipient of The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013.
Tamara has also been also been a Sessional Instructor at both Sheridan College and Humber College on such topics as Psychology Core Concepts and Diversity, Values and Ethics.
And don’t look any further for motivational star extraordinaire as Tamara has given countless motivational presentations to various post secondary schools, she hosts the annual Women As Career Coaches event since 2013, which is attended by over 500 women and high-school females. She has even presented at the Human Resources and Professional Association’s (HRPA) Conference and she has her own TEDx Talk!
One thing that Tamara is really proud of is her participation in EGALE Canada’s Coming Out Loud campaign in honour of National Coming Out Day in October 2020. Tamara came out to the nation and spoke about her journey through an intersectional lens. Tamara wanted to lend her voice for those who may feel that they don’t belong and demonstrate that you can be who you truly are and love who you love.
When Tamara isn’t heavily involved in her advocacy work, she finds the time to volunteer with her local TV Cogeco station as an On-Air Personality, she performs in various shows at the local arts centre in her community and runs her condo board.
Awards:
Public Service Pride Award in the Change-Maker Category, 2021.
The Regional Director General’s Award in Team Work for her commitment to mental health in the workplace.
Topics:
Positive Space Ambassador
Intersectionality
Mental Health
Women’s Empowerment
Fee: Tamara is happy to accept an honorarium for non-profit events ($100-250). Her fee would vary from $250-$1500.
