Donna Richards

Lecturer & Associate Chair (BIPOC Students), Trent University, Durham Campus

Educational Background

  • BA (University of Toronto), BSW-Hons. (Toronto Metropolitan University)
  • MSW (University of Toronto)
  • PhD (ABD- York University)

Practice Background

Donna has been in practice as a social worker for several years in various roles including a case manager and counsellor within governmental social welfare and housing administrative systems, counsellor within the housing and homelessness sectors, infection, Prevention& Control Coordinator (IPAC) and a coordinator of the COVID-19 housing project through a Homelessness Initiative. She was also a practitioner in private practice for more than 7 years.

Teaching and Research Interests

  • Equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)
  • Anti-Colonial theory
  • Race, gender & discourses around mental ill-health
  • Youth mental health & intersectional of race, racism, ABR, ableism (CRT, CDS, DisCrit)
  • Racialized youth mental health & intersections of race, racism, ABR, ableism (CRT, CDS, DisCrit)
  • Community mental health and health inequities
  • Anti-oppressive practice and pedagogy, and social welfare policies
  • Anti-racist education and organizational change

Knowledge Exchange Forums and Workshops Organized

  • 2022    Beyond Invisible: Black Youth Mental Health:  A York Work Teach-In in Collaboration with YouthREX and York Research Chair. This event  featured a opening keynote, one spoken word performance and three concurrent workshop sessions, each featuring two presentations facilitated by youth, academics, researchers and practitioners.  300+ registered and attended on Zoom. October 6 (Collaborated with Dr. Uzo Anucha of YouthRex). https://www.eenetconnect.ca/event/beyond-invisible-black-youth-mental-health
  • 2018     Doing Right together for Black Youth: What we Learned from the Community Engagement Sessions for the Ontario Black Youth Action Plan (BYAP). Study and Report completed by YouthRex (Dr. Uzo Anucha, York University).  Contributed to the review of emerging findings and various drafts of the report. https://youthrex.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/YouthREX-Report-Doing-Right-Together-for-Black-Youth.pdf

Academic & Community Service

  • Advisor, Professional Advisory Committee - Faculty of Applied Health & Community Studies, Sheridan College
  • Funding Advisor, Bell Let’s Talk Diversity Circle of Advisors
  • Member, Academic Network, Youth Research and Evaluation Exchange (YouthRex), York University
  • Member, Editorial Board, International Network on Youth Integration Journal (INYI) @ York University

Conference Presentations

  • May 2025  2nd Annual Innovations and EDI Mental Health and Addictions Conference (Collaborator & presenter), Topic: "Hear me out"- Storying Black Youth mental Health Experiences- Co- Presenter: Dion LaFleur
  • Trent/Flemming School of Nursing, Peterborough Campus
  • February 2025  Trent University, Social Work Department & The Graduate Student Association (with Uzma Danish)- Black History Month Forum (Collaborator)
  • October 2024 The 7th Metropolis Identities Conference- Vancouver, B.C.  Topic: The Impact of COVID-19 on Black youth: Post-pandemic strategies and recommendations. Co-Presenters: Edwards, F., & Gateri, H.
  • Oct 2024  The 4th  annual Canadian children, Youth and Communities (CYCC) Health Inequity Conference, Topic: Post-pandemic & Black Youth Mental Health: The way forward. Termerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Co-Presenters: Edwards, F. & Gateri, H.Apr 2024    2nd International Conference on Mental Health and Addiction, Algoma University, Brampton/Mississauga; Topic: Racial Trauma Unfolds: George Floyd`s Murder, the Covid-19 Pandemic, and Black Disposability (Presented with Dr. P. Adjei)
  • ·Apr 2024    Joint International World Conference on Social Work, Education, and Social Development; Panama (Virtual); Topic: Critical Race Theory and Anti-Black racism in social work research, education and practice, (Presented with Dr. H. Gateri & Fiona Edwards-Akunesiobike)
  • ·Mar 2024    International Social Work Students Virtual Conference, University of Texas, Arlington; Topic: Barriers to Help-seeking for BIPOC Postsecondary Students: Findings from a Scoping Review, Virtual (Presented with Lorraine Baptiste)
  • Oct 2022    2nd International African and Caribbean Mental Health Conference, Nottingham Trent University, UK; Topic: “We are not ostriches, we are just afraid of being called ‘crazy’”: Mental health stigma and help-seeking behaviour among young Black women, 18–25 years in Toronto, Canada (Presenter)             
  • Oct 2022    Beyond Invisible: A Youth Work Teach-In,  YouthREX (Dr. Uzo Anucha, York University) and MacEwan University Virtual Collaborative Conference; Topic: Exploring pedagogies, perspectives, and practices for Black youth mental health (Organizer/Closing Remarks). https://www.eenetconnect.ca/event/beyond-invisible-black-youth-mental-health
  • Nov 2018    Dialoguing and Living Well Together: Decolonizing Conference, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) of the University of Toronto; Topic: When RIP (rest in peace) means ‘return if possible’: The agony of seeking justice as a Black person in the United States and Canada (Presenter with P. Banahene Adjei)
  • Nov 2018    Dialoguing and Living Well Together: Decolonizing Conference, The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISIE) of the University of Toronto; Topic: Race to the bottom: Trump’s election victory and the perceived insidious greed of whiteness (Presenter with P. Banahene Adjei)
  • May 2018    Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Regina; Topic: An octopus skating, the sensation of moving while still standing: A critical look at the racial diaries of Blacks in Canada (Panel Presenter with P. Banahene Adjei, H. Gateri, & P. Issahaku)
  • Nov 2017    10th Anniversary of the Strangers in New Homelands Conference, University of Manitoba; Topic: “When Black women start going on Prozac”: Exploring the experience of stigma on the mental health and help-seeking behaviour of Black female youth (18–29 years) in Toronto, Ontario (Presenter)
  • Nov 2017    14th Annual Crossroad Interdisciplinary Health Conference, Dalhousie University; Topic: Exploring barriers refugees and refugee claimants experience accessing reproductive health care services in Toronto (Presenter)

Invited Presentations

  • April 2022    Panel Discussant, Webinar, York University Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, ABR Initiatives Fund; Topic: Highlighting the impact of anti-Black racism on Black youth mental health
  • Oct 2021    Panel Discussant, Webinar, National Association of Seadogs, Toronto Chapter; Topic: COVID-19 and racialized communities: What have we learned?

Journal Publications (Refereed)

Richards, D & Adjei, P. (Submitted). "Finally a girl is no one": The Narrative experiences of young Black women living with mental health concerns in Ontario, Canada. Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry: Special issue

Richards, D. & Adjei, P. (2024). Racial trauma unfolds: The spectacle of witnessing George Floyd`s murder. INYI. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.25071/1929-8471.141

Gateri, H., & Richards, D. (2021). The implementation of Bill 212 in Ontario schools: Implications for Black students. INYI Journal, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.25071/1929-8471.81

Gateri, H., Richards, D., & Edwards, F. (2020). What is the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social workers? Journal of Concurrent Disorders, 3(1), 17-24. https://cdspress.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/NK04_FINAL.pdf

Gateri, H., & Richards, D. (2021). The implementation of Bill 212 in Ontario schools: Implications for Black students. INYI Journal, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.25071/1929-8471.81

Taylor, D., & Richards, D. (2019). Triple jeopardy: Complexities of racism, sexism and ageism on the experiences of mental health stigma among young Canadian Black women of Caribbean descent. Frontiers in Sociology, 4, Article 43. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2019.00043

Gateri, H., & Richards, D. (2017). Exploring barriers refugees and refugee claimants experience accessing reproductive health care in Toronto: Literature review. Journal of Refugee Review, 3, 122–136. 


Book Chapters (Refereed) 

Adjei, P & Richards, D. (Submitted). The necropolitics of COVID-19 and pandemic social work: Unsettling the politics of care. In S. Schmid & M. Morgenshtern (Eds.), Radical, ethical, social work: The Routledge International Handbook of Radical, ethical Social Work.

Richards, D., Adjei, P., & Gateri, H. (Submitted). We are not ostriches: We are just afraid of being called crazy. In B. Pallicka, H. Gateri, & P. Adjei (Eds.), Critical multicultural social work in Canada. Canadian Scholars.

LaFleur, D. & Richards, D. (Submitted). Policing Black emotions: Dissecting the intersections of racism and mental health challenges experienced by young Black men (16-29 years) in Canada.  In D. Nyaga & Zangeneh, M. (Eds.), Critical Ethics in Mental Health. SpringerNature International publishing.

Palzcert, C., Richards, D., & Persaud, B. (in progress).  The mental health experiences of young adult women, (16-25 years) who have being sex-trafficked in Canada.  In D. Nyaga & Zangeneh, M. (Eds.), Critical Ethics in Mental Health. SpringerNature International publishing.

Edwards Akunesiobike, F., Gateri, H., & Richards, D. (Submitted). Critical race theory in social work education, research, and practice. In B. Paliicka, H. Gateri & P. Adjei (Eds), Critical Multicultural Social Work in Canada- Candian Scholars.

Richards, D., & Zerafa, S. (2024). What’s next?: Surviving the COVID-19 pandemic era and the mental health ramifications among emerging adults (18–25) in Canada. In  Zangeneh, M (Eds.),Essentials in Health and Mental Health. Advances in Mental Health and Addiction. Springer Cham. (pp.135-147). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56192-4_16

Richards, D., Gateri, H., & Massaquoi., N. (2018). The effects of intersectional stigma and discrimination on the mental well-being of Black, LBQ, female youth 18–25 years old. In S. Pashanga, N. Khanlou, & J. Clarke (Eds.), Today’s youth and mental health: Hope, power, and resilience (pp. 119-133). Springer International. 


Other Publications 

Richards, D. (2021, Nov 30). Responding to the ‘new normal’ in a COVID-19 era: Youth mental health in Canada. YouthRex. https://youthrex.com/blog/responding-to-the-new-normal-in-a-covid-19-era-youth-mental-health-in-canada/

Refereed Journal Article Reviewer

  • 2025     Sociology of Health & Illness Journal (SHIj)  , Newcastle, UK
  • 2021    International Network of Youth Integration Journal (INYI), York University
    2023    Canadian Journal of Community Mental (CJCMH), University of British Columbia

Trent University respectfully acknowledges it is located on the treaty and traditional territory of the Mississauga Anishnaabeg. We offer our gratitude to First Peoples for their care for, and teachings about, our earth and our relations. May we honour those teachings.

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