Former Fellows, Collaborators, and Student Affiliates
Moska Rokay
Moska Rokay is an Afghan refugee and settler living and working in Toronto, as a PhD Candidate in UofT’s Faculty of Information (Archives). Her doctoral research explores the archival needs of diverse Afghan communities in Canada and challenges the archival field toward more community-centred practices for refugee and diasporic communities of war. Through oral history and digital collection-building, her work models archival practice grounded in feminist ethics of care, community engagement, refugee knowledge, lived experience, and storytelling on community terms.
Christelle Tessono
Christelle Tessono is a tech policy researcher and doctoral student at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information. Her work examines the relationship between racial inequality and digital technology from a policy lens. She has worked on projects related to political advertising on social media, gig work, facial recognition technology, data governance, and AI regulation. As a CBP affiliate, Christelle may support conversations around technology, policy, CVs, cover letters, research pathways, and the digital conditions shaping Black public life.
Gigi Wong
Gigi Wai-Chi Wong is a doctoral student in Media, Technology, and Culture in the Faculty of Information. As a research assistant to Prof. SA Smythe and the CBP, Gigi supports administrative matters related to the lab’s sustainable development and community-facing strategic goals. She is also an External Research Associate at York University’s York Centre for Asian Research, where she fosters dialogue and community engagement around Chinese-speaking queer racialized migrants’ everyday experiences in Toronto. Her doctoral research explores queer Asian diasporic affect and digital intimacies in digital art, platforms, and emergent media.
Dina Blanco Pena
Dina Blanco Pena is a multidisciplinary public historian committed to celebrating the diverse histories of Canada’s marginalised communities. A first-generation Japanese-Dominican Canadian raised in downtown Toronto, she developed an early passion for the city’s underrecognised histories. She recently contributed to York University’s Heritage Singers Project, a multimedia exhibition honouring Caribbean folk music in Toronto. Dina holds a Spec. Hon. B.A. in History and a Certificate in Public History from York University and completed Museum Studies at the University of Toronto. At the CBP, she contributed to social media, FLOW’s summer book drive, Nightly Visions film series, and Museum Professionals of Colour collaborations. As a Master of Museum Studies student and Co-President of the Museum Professionals of Colour student association, Dina’s work centres public history, community-building, and cultural memory. At the CBP, she has contributed to Night Visions and Freedom Library for Otherwise Worldmaking.