About Me
Cecilia Benoit, PhD (Sociology, UofT) is of Mi'kmaw and French ancestry and is currently a Scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and Professor of Sociology. Her research examines social inequities embedded in laws, policies, programs and research agendas and searches for evidence based solutions. She has been instrumental in making known the indigenous knowledges held by Aboriginal midwives and birthing women and worked to change health care policies so that Indigenous and non-Indigenous midwives could legally work and have their services reimbursed by the public purse. Cecilia's other research has shed light on the forces that create social inequities for a variety of marginalized groups, all of who are overrepresented by Indigenous peoples, including: women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, street-involved youth, pregnant women facing poverty, substance use and other challenges and adults in sex work. Using a community empowerment and transformative learning methodology, she works closely with those in need of services, frontline service providers, and other stakeholders to develop innovative interventions to promote equity, dignity and human rights for disadvantaged groups. She is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellow.