Adriana Leigh

Adriana Leigh is Founder and Principal Consultant at ALG Consulting. She brings 19+ years of diverse global experience as a workplace human rights lawyer and facilitator in gender equality, sexual harassment, and gender-based violence prevention and diversity and inclusion. She has vast experience working nationally and internationally with the United Nations, universities as well as the non-profit and private sector.

Trilingual in French, English and Spanish, Adriana leverages her well-rounded background to support organizations to build sexual and gender-based harassment-free, inclusive environments and relations through training, policy development, coaching, thought leadership and knowledge produce creation. Prior to her consulting work, Adriana spent several years as a human rights lawyer specializing in workplace discrimination and sexual harassment and taught Women and the Law at the University of Ottawa.

Adriana previously held the position of Director, Organizational Wellness at Homewood Health, developing workplace solutions in areas including gender diversity, sexual harassment, and workplace mental health. In addition, she worked with Equitas – International Centre for Human Rights Education leading development of gender equality action planning and international guidelines and protocols to prevent sexual and gender-based violence.

Recent work includes:

• UN Women Georgia: building the capacity of private, public and NGO partners and security institutions to prevent and address sexual and gender-based harassment.
• Canadian STEM companies: building gender equitable, inclusive, and psychologically safe work environments.
• UNFPA East and Southern Africa, UNFPA Arab States Office, UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme to Eliminate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): development of GBV and SRHR prevention and response policy and issue briefs, knowledge products and advocacy campaigns.
• McGill University Desautels Faculty of Management: training business leaders on building cultures of respect and preventing sexual and gender-based violence.
• Crossroads International: sexual violence prevention policy, reporting processes and capacity building
• UN Global Compact Network of Canada: contributing to the development of the Blueprint for Gender Equality in the Canadian Private Sector.

A natural facilitator, at once positive, passionate, forceful, articulate, and pragmatic, clients respond most favourably to Adriana’s candor, sense of humour, warmth, and knack for communicating concepts practically, building capacity and identifying gaps in policy and culture. Adriana was included on World Pulse’s list as one of 21 Women Leaders to Watch in 2021 and received a 2022 Digital Changemaker Award as one of the World Pulse 50 Rising Voices, recognizing 50 leaders who are shaping our future.

Adriana holds a Civil and Common Law degree from McGill University, a B.A. in International Development/Spanish from Dalhousie University, a Master’s Certificate in Adult Training & Development from the Canadian Organization Development Institute/York University Schulich School of Business, is a Certified Training Practitioner (CTP) with the Canadian Institute for Performance & Learning and has been trained in Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Professional Associations

• PSEA Service Provider, Cooperation Canada - Canadian Centre of Expertise on the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (DIGNA)
• Certified Training Practitioner (CTP), The Institute for Performance and Learning
• Law Society of Ontario
• Society of Gender Professionals
• The Coalition of Feminists for Social Change (COFEM)
• World Pulse, Vocal Contributor Encourager
• Past member, McGill University Interdisciplinary Research Network on Discrimination and Inclusion
• Past Member, Board Education Committee, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF)

Education

• Nonviolent Communication Foundation 2: Empathic Listening for Connection, Henry Wai, Presence and Possibility, 2022
• Fraud and Corruption Awareness and Prevention, UNFPA, 2021
• Creative Facilitation 1, PYE Global, 2019
• Status of Women Canada, Gender-based Analysis+ (GBA+), 2018
• United Nations, Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, 2018
• Barreau du Québec, Civil, Commercial and Workplace Mediation Training, 2014
• Canadian Organization Development Institute/York University Schulich School of Business, Master’s Certificate in Adult Training and Development, 2013
• Workplace Institute: Workplace Investigations: The Fundamentals of Effective-Fact Finding, 2013
• McGill University, C.L./LL.B., 2006
• Dalhousie University, A., International Development/Spanish, 2001