Inclusion in Canadian Sports Network is excited to present our keynote speakers for the 2nd annual Diversity in Sports Conference. Three remarkable keynote speakers—Minister Carla Qualtrough, Arshay Cooper, and Sabrina Razack—will headline this year’s event.
The Honourable Carla Qualtrough is a lifelong believer in the power that sport has in changing lives. As a leader in sport advocacy in Canada, Minister Qualtrough has served on many boards including AthletesCAN, the Canadian Blind Sport Association, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, 2010 Legacies Now, and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. Notably, she served as the President of the Canadian Paralympic Committee from 2006 to 2010, the Chair of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada from 2010 to 2013, and the Vice-President of the Americas Paralympics Committee from 2013-2015. Minister Qualtrough competed in the Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 Paralympics. She is a three-time Paralympic medalist and six-time medalist at the 1990 world championships for swimming. At the 1996 Games, she served as Canada’s first-ever Paralympic athlete-advocate. First elected in 2015 as the Member of Parliament for Delta, Minister Qualtrough is the first Paralympian to be elected to the House of Commons. Since 2015, she has served in several portfolios as a federal Cabinet Minister including as Minister of Sport and first ever Minister of Persons with Disabilities from 2015 to 2017, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Accessibility from 2017 to 2019, where she passed the Accessible Canada Act, and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion from 2019 to 2023, when she proudly passed the first ever Canada Disability Benefit Act. Minister Qualtrough now serves as Canada’s Minister of Sport and Physical Activity.
Minister Qualtrough has been legally blind since birth and is a passionate advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. As a mother, lawyer, dedicated volunteer, and Paralympic swimmer, she is committed to addressing inequality and championing diversity.
Arshay Cooper is a Rower, Bestselling and Award-winning Author, A 2x Golden Oar recipient for his contributions to the sport of rowing, a motivational speaker, activist, and the protagonist of the film, A Most Beautiful Thing. (Executive produced by Academy-Award and Grammy winner Common, NBA stars Grant Hill and Dwyane Wade, the Winklevoss Twins, and Olympian Mary Mazzio). Arshay grew up on the West Side of Chicago in a community surrounded by gangs and drugs. In 1997 he joined (and later became captain of) the country’s first All-Black high school rowing team at Manley High School, an experience that changed his life. He then dedicated two years of his life to AmeriCorps, focusing on DEI, and soon after that attended Le Cordon Bleu, becoming a personal chef for World Wrestling Entertainment, Warner Brothers film sets, and professional athletes. After years as an entrepreneur in the food service industry, Arshay returned to his true passion: working with young people. He founded the NY East Side Rowing Club and worked as the national youth program guidance counselor for Victory Outreach International. Arshay also helped start several rowing programs for low-income youth across the country, anywhere a puddle of water exists, so that other young people can experience the profound change that can happen on the water. Arshay is the founder of the National Award-Winning Non-Profit, The A Most Beautiful Thing Inclusion Fund, which introduces thousands of under-resourced youth to the sport of rowing. Arshay’s mission has sparked the MLK Day of Service “DAY ON” for collegiate and high school sports teams across the country and community rowing events between local police and community members. Arshay’s message has spread all across the world, speaking for the members of Congress, the NBA and WNBA, the NAACP, the Obama Foundation, the Congressional Black Caucus, and professional sports teams (including the Oakland A’s, the Atlanta Hawks, the Miami Dolphins, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Chicago Bulls). The British, New Zealand, Australian, German, Dutch, Italian, French, Egyptian, Turkish, Canadian, and other Olympic teams are supporting Arshay and the film profoundly, including creating new charitable organizations and initiatives with underserved communities. Universities and athletic directors across the United States (from Morehouse and other HBCU institutions to the University of Washington to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton) are all hosting events with Arshay. Arshay has spoken at UPS, Bank of America, Target, JP Morgan, Delta Airlines, Starbucks, Microsoft, and many other companies hosting conversations around the film, digging into access and opportunity, and the importance of bringing people together.
The book was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and won the 2020 Nautilus Award. The film has won the 2021 Gracie Award, was nominated by the NAACP for an Image Award, was nominated by the Critics’ Choice Association for Best Sports Documentary, was nominated by the International Press Academy for Best Documentary, and was named one of the best films of 2020 by Esquire. A MOST BEAUTIFUL THING (executive produced by Academy-Award and Grammy winner, Common, NBA stars Grant Hill and Dwyane Wade; and directed by Olympian Mary Mazzio) chronicles the first African American high school rowing team in the country, made up of young men, many of whom were in rival gangs from the West Side of Chicago, all coming together to row in the same boat. It is an amazing story based on the memoir by Arshay Cooper. The film is currently streaming on Peacock and Amazon Prime, and a scripted series is now being developed with Amazon Studios. Arshay and his work have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, Today Show, NBC Nightly News, BBC, Men’s Health, Sports Illustrated, Hollywood Reporter, Chicago Tribune, BET, NPR, and many others.
Sabrina Razack is the Project Manager for Canada for the project “Promoting Children’s Rights at the 2026 FIFA World Cup”. This role involves working with host cities to develop and provide children with active citizenship opportunities. The aim of the project is to build capacity and bring about change by raising awareness of children’s rights and protection in sports. She is also an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto. She has worked with Women in Sport Canada and the Toronto 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. Her doctoral thesis focused on a case study of the Black Girl Hockey Club and examined the links between physical activity, sport, social movements, media, race, gender, class and culture. Sabrina is an award-winning school curriculum writer and has developed Beyond a Boundary, a web platform to engage educators, parents and organizations seeking school programs designed to offer diverse perspectives and understandings of the world.