HEAL Spotlight: Shawna Lewkowitz
- Post by: Anastasia Soukhov
- 9:35AM Sep 16, 2026
- No Comment
The HEAL Spotlight series is a monthly feature where we celebrate the people behind the research and highlight the diverse voices that make the HEAL such a vibrant community.
Meet Shawna Lewkowitz:
Hometown: London, Ontario Hobbies: Running, hiking, yoga, reading
Education: Honours BA Psychology/Women’s Studies at the University of Guelph. MEd in Adult Education/Community International and Transformative Education at OISE/University of Toronto;
Current role at HEAL: PhD Candidate (defense Oct 2026). Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Jason Gilliland and Dr Stephanie Coen. Community Liaison, HEAL Management team.
Joined the HEAL: September 2021
My PhD research is on the relationship between public toilets and socio-spatial gendered exclusion and belonging in Canadian urban parks using mixed qualitative methods encompassing policy and lived experience. I approach my research as a feminist geographer and served as the Co-Chair of the Canadian Association of Geographers Feminist Intersectional Solidarity study group. I also co-lead the HEAL’s Youth Advisory Council and do participatory research with youth on healthy cities for young people. I am also the Community Liaison for the HEAL, where I develop, grow, and collaborate with our many local partners. In addition to my work the HEAL, I teach in Social Justice and Peace Studies at King’s University College and am active in community engaged research and experiential learning.
What Shawna Enjoys Most About Working with HEAL:
I love being a part of a growing interdisciplinary team of diverse research backgrounds and experiences who are always willing to lend a hand. I have also truly enjoyed engaging directly with the HEAL’s community partners and program participants while working as a co-administrator on the Grade 5 ACT-i-Pass team. These experiences have provided me with the opportunity to hear firsthand stories from children, parents, and service provider representatives of the positive impacts that the HEAL’s projects, such as the ACT-i-Pass, have had on local communities. I greatly appreciate having been able to help support the lab’s continued focus on community-based research, youth health promotion, and knowledge mobilization initiatives in London and across Southwestern Ontario.