Tomee Elizabeth Sojourner-Campbell, B.A. (Hons), M.A., has over 26 years of professional experience in consulting, advising, organizational development, training, and professional development. Tomee is a senior 
advisor and consultant to law firms, businesses, not-for-profits, unions, healthcare organizations, hospitality groups, sports and entertainment professionals, and the motion picture and television industry.
Tomee integrates an intersectional lens into her client work that includes anti-racism, anti-oppression, equity, diversity, inclusion, trauma-informed, and belonging approaches.
In her work with law firms and legal professionals, Tomee draws on her expertise to support law schools, legal clinics, law students, lawyers and professional associations. She provides advisory, communications, policy development, review, resource and professional development services, including:
- Reviewing mentorship programs focused on law students and associates
- Developing policy and practice guides
- Designing and developing diversity, equity, and inclusion research guides and surveys
- Developing tools and resources
- Developing in-house professional development courses
Tomee has delivered in-person and virtual courses on lawyering using an anti-racism and anti-oppression lens and on anti-Black racism awareness. Tomee has also been a guest presenter at the Ontario Bar Association’s Foundations in Administrative Tribunal Competencies: Certificate Program Series and the OBA’s Annual Class Actions Colloquium.
On her professional journey, Tomee has held several change-making positions, including Visiting Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, for the 2020-21 academic year. During her time at Osgoode, Tomee designed and delivered a 2-hour module, Understanding Anti-Black Racism: An Introduction for 1L JD students. The module was a mandatory part of the Ethical Lawyering in a Global Community course. She taught Tools for Addressing Racism in the Legal Profession to upper-year students. She also provided a professional development session, Addressing Anti-Black Racism in Teaching, for faculty and graduate students.
Tomee has held the position of Program Director for Lawyering Using an Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Lens in Osgoode Hall Law School’s Learning and Leading Series (Winter terms, 2019-2020).
Tomee holds a Hotel and Restaurant Management Dip., a B.A. Honours in Directed Interdisciplinary Studies (Carleton University), an M.A. in Social Justice and Equity Studies (Brock University), and she completed LLM (Research) program coursework at Osgoode Hall Law School (York University).
Tomee also has a certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution from the University of Windsor Law School obtained after completing the Stitt Feld Handy Group’s ADR course. She completed mediation training through the Legal Studies department at Carleton University and workplace investigation training provided by a Toronto-based firm.
Tomee draws on her interdisciplinary expertise to work with a wide range of clients, including the Ontario Nurses’ Association, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, Minden Gross LLP, Goldblatt Partners LLP, University of Windsor-Faculty of Law, Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes, National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), University of Ottawa Faculty of Law-Common Law Section, City of Kitchener, IATSE Local 891 (the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees), Pacific Screenwriting Program and Canadian Stage (CanStage).
Professional Affiliations:
- WIF-Women in Film (Los Angeles)
As part of her work on anti-Black racism, Tomee has developed the following definition:
Tomee Elizabeth Sojourner-Campbell defines intersectional forms of anti-Black racism as “the multiple and simultaneous ways different forms of oppression (e.g. racism, sexism, ableism, classism, transphobia) intersect with the lived experiences of a Black/African descent person.” Sojourner-Campbell uses this term to draw attention to the heterogeneous and deeply complex ways members of Black/African descent communities experience anti-Black racism in their everyday lives, and in their work environments. For example, a Black, gender non-binary production crew member working in the motion picture and television industry may experience anti-Black racism that is compounded by discrimination based on their gender expression, their appearance, and their perceived sexual orientation. For Sojourner-Campbell, it is not enough for us to address anti-Black racism from a single axis approach that creates the illusion of sameness in the ways members of Black/African descent communities experience this form of racism. She believes and works from a place that explicitly names intersectional forms of anti-Black racism. Using this term is a helpful starting place to address anti-Black racism intentionally, and it informs the different ways resources can be mobilized and allocated.
Sojourner-Campbell’s definition of intersectional forms of anti-Black racism is informed by Dr. Patricia Hill-Collin’s scholarship on Black feminist thought and the interlocking systems of oppression. It is also informed by Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw’s work on intersectionality.
Tomee is a globally recognized thought leader in equity, diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, consumer racial profiling, anti-Black racism, safety and accessibility, corporate learning, and organizational development. She has been recognized by the Ontario Human Rights Commission as a thought leader and expert on consumer racial profiling. In September 2018, Tomee’s chapter “Damaged Goods: A Critical Perspective on Consumer Racial Profiling in Ontario’s Retail Environments” was published in a ground-breaking book, Racial Profiling and Human Rights in Canada: The New Legal Landscape by Irwin Law, Canada’s leading academic legal publisher. Tomee’s expertise in consumer racial profiling is informed by her extensive knowledge of the security profession based on her previous experiences working as a security professional in entertainment, nightclubs, events, construction, hospitality, banking, retail, and private business environments.
Tomee contributes her expertise as a media commentator to Canadian and International media. Her thought leadership is featured in the Canadian Press, the Canadian HR Reporter, Global Television, BB Bloomberg (Business), Financial Post, National Post, CTV, CBC Calgary, APTN, and CBC Toronto.
Tomee has been a guest lecturer at the following institutions: the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the University of Windsor Faculty of Law, the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law, the Ontario Human Rights Commission Racial Policy Dialogue, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Brock University, and Windsor Law School’s Black Law Students’ Association. In 2017, she presented to an upper-year legal ethics seminar course at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and a third-year class examining the potential for technology to enhance access to justice at Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law.
In recognition of her academic success, Tomee has received numerous awards and scholarships, including a York University Graduate Entrance Scholarship for academic excellence, a Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Canadian Graduate Scholarship-Master’s level, Brock University Graduate Fellowship, and an H.M. Tory Award, Carleton University.
Lastly, Tomee’s professional journey has been shaped by living and learning in global communities, from Zaire, Africa; England; Penang, Malaysia; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; the Maldive Islands; Kinloch Rannoch, Scotland; to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Along the way, she has been a junior shotput champion representing her Scottish boarding school, a powerlifter, an amateur boxer, and a semi-professional women’s tackle football player.
LinkedIn:https://ca.linkedin.com/in/tomeesojourner
Tomee presented to our firm on Intentional Allyship in the Context of Anti-Racism and her presentation was excellent. She took the time to understand the needs of our firm and to tailor the session accordingly and offered practical tips and strategies that can be implemented into day-to-day life and practice. The session was incredibly well-received, and we would certainly bring Tomee in again should the opportunity arise.
Zoë Paliare, Assistant Director of Professional Resources – Learning & Development
Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP