"We lift each other up, share our stories, and remind each other that we’re not alone": Hummingbird Feminist Disability Coalition and DAWN Canada Partnership

The Disabled Women’s Network of Canada (DAWN Canada) is an intersectional feminist human rights organization that seeks to end poverty, isolation, discrimination, and violence experienced by women and gender-diverse people with disabilities.  

DAWN Canada has been a long-time partner of the Live Work Well Research Centre (LWWRC) on various projects. DAWN Canada collaborated with the Centre on the Disability Inclusion Analysis of Lessons Learned and Best Practices of the Government of Canada’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic as well as the Disability and Livelihoods in Canada partnership.  

Additionally, DAWN Canada has been a leading contributor in the LWWRC’s Engendering Disability Inclusive Development – Genre, handicap et developpement inclusif (EDID-GHDI) partnership as well as their Canadian Feminist Disability Coalition (CFDC) project. Beginning in November 2021, the CFDC was a 30-month project under the LWWRC before it re-launched with DAWN Canada in March 2024 as the Hummingbird Feminist Disability Coalition (HFDC). The project aimed to build the leadership and advocacy skills of diverse women and girls with disabilities to become agents of change for their rights in Canada, as well as creating opportunities for collaboration and connection. 

Today we’re highlighting DAWN Canada’s News section in which they focus on a variety of disabled voices through the lens of intersectionality. On February 19, 2025, they shared a Q & A with Joy Ejabena, an HFDC member. Joy talked about systemic disability barriers and the intersections of Blackness and disability.  

To learn more about their research, education, policy, and advocacy work, visit DAWN Canada’s website.