About Us
The Equitable Pathways Accelerator
Once Child Every Child (OCEC)
(Parallel Paths) (Ethical Space) (Equitable Pathways) (EDGs)
The One Child Every Child (OCEC) initiative, supported by the Government of Canada through the Canada First Research Excellence Fund, is the first major research initiative in Canada to enact Parallel Paths with Indigenous and mistikosiwak (non-Indigenous, in Swampy Cree) peoples, alongside a distinct Equitable Pathways approach for each equity-deserving group.
The Equitable Pathways Accelerator advances this vision by fostering research that reflects the diverse realities of each equity-deserving group (EDGs) through approaches grounded in justice, inclusion, and meaningful engagement. Guided by the principles of “nothing about us, without us” and “one size does not fit all,” we support the implementation of the OCEC EDI Action Plan by developing IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility) in Research educational materials, embedding disaggregated data and evidence-based practices across governance structures, and providing expert consultation to OCEC committees and research programs.
Our scholarly activities are carried out in close collaboration with EDGs and by walking Parallel Paths with the Indigenous Accelerator Team to ensure intersectional approaches that address equity gaps in research design and practice while amplifying community-driven impact. Parallel Paths is then situated within an ethical space—a shared relational space where Indigenous and non-Indigenous worldviews engage on equal footing, fostering mutual respect, co-learning, and accountability. This commitment recognizes similarities, differences, and intersections rather than sameness or identical paths to honour Indigenous self-determination and meaningfully embed equity across research design, governance, and practice.
Equitable Pathways Accelerator Goals
Implementing the EDI Action Plan, which includes:
Educational Resources – developing tools, training, and materials to build IDEA capacity in research and leadership.
Research Support – advancing inclusive and evidence-based research design that meaningfully engages equity-deserving groups.
Expert Consultation – advising programs and committees to embed IDEA principles across OCEC governance and practice.
Meet the Team
Dr. Malinda Smith is the Lead of Equitable Pathways and a member of the Senior Leadership Team at the University of Calgary. She brings a committed approach to dismantling inequities through inclusive research practices and governance.
She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Alberta, and an MA, MDA, and BA (magna cum laude) in Political Science and Criminal Justice from Western Michigan University.
At UCalgary, Dr. Smith serves as Co-Chair of the President’s Task Force on EDIA, Chair of the Dimensions EDI Committees, and Lead of the One Child Every Child Equitable Pathways Accelerator and Council. Nationally, she sits on the SSHRC Council and Executive, Statistics Canada’s Immigration and Ethnocultural Statistics Advisory Committee, and ISED’s External EDI Advisory Board. She is also Vice-Chair of the Scarborough Charter Steering Committee.
Dr. Olajumoke Oyebode is a Research Associate at the University of Calgary. With a PhD in her field, she is deeply involved in research initiatives, contributing her expertise to various projects. Dr. Oyebode’s work is grounded in advancing scientific knowledge, and she plays a key role in her research community, helping to shape impactful outcomes. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a strong commitment to research excellence and collaboration.
Jaime Álvaro Paredes Páez is a PhD candidate at the University of Calgary whose work bridges critical pedagogy, community-engaged scholarship, and equity-driven innovation. He has contributed to research initiatives with the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning to actively advancing IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility) across campus.
His doctoral research explores hope and radical love as transformative frameworks for learning communities, while his broader interests include popular education, dialogic pedagogies, and social inclusion.
Parallel Paths is a research and engagement paradigm in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge systems, governance structures, and research practices are intentionally advanced alongside one another, without assimilation into a single epistemic framework. Grounded in Indigenous oral teachings articulated in the University of Calgary’s ii’ taa’poh’to’p Indigenous Strategy, Parallel Paths recognizes knowledge as carried through distinct yet complementary oral and written traditions. Within this paradigm, Indigenous-led research priorities, methods, and governance retain autonomy while engaging relationally with non-Indigenous scientific and institutional approaches. Parallel Paths thus provides a structured basis for ethical accountability, reciprocity, and sustained collaboration across difference, while preserving epistemic integrity. In One Child Every Child, this framework operationalizes Indigenous self-determination and culturally grounded research alongside shared commitments to improving maternal and child health outcomes
Drawing on Elder Dr. Willie Ermine’s articulation of ethical space as the relational field that emerges when distinct societies with divergent worldviews come into engagement, a shared ethical space is understood here as the structured and negotiated domain through which researchers and Indigenous communities govern their relationship. Operationalized in accordance with TCPS2 Chapter 9, the Tri-Agency’s Research Involving the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples of Canada, this space enables the negotiation of authority, ethical norms, and decision-making across distinct knowledge and governance systems, while explicitly acknowledging historical and ongoing power asymmetries. Ethical space, in this formulation, does not presume epistemic convergence or shared values; rather, it provides the conditions under which respectful, accountable, and community-authorized research can proceed
Equitable Pathways is an ethical, epistemic, and methodological framework that advances inclusive research excellence by addressing structural conditions shaping participation, knowledge production, and recognition. Grounded in intersectional analysis, it develops differentiated, evidence-based pathways for each equity-deserving group, including but not limited to, girls and women, racialized people, 2SLGBTQI+ individuals, and persons with disabilities, while also attending to how identities and experiences intersect. In the University of Calgary’s Dimensions EDI and One Child Every Child, Equitable Pathways operationalizes inclusive excellence by broadening research questions, methods, and interpretive lenses, and embedding inclusion, belonging, and accountability across the research lifecycle, thereby strengthens the rigour, validity, and societal impact of Canada’s research enterprise
Equity Deserving Groups (EDGs) refer to those groups who, by virtue of their identity, face discrimination, disadvantage, and institutional barriers to access and opportunity unrelated to ability that require proactive ameliorative measures. They are identified in the federal Employment Equity Act as Federally Designated Groups (FDGs) and include women, Indigenous peoples, visible/racialized minority persons, and persons with disabilities, as well as LGBTQ2S+ persons.
