Faculty and Staff

Dr. Geetanjali Gill has degrees in Development Studies and Development Policy and Planning from the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK), and the University of Sussex (UK). She has taught development studies courses at the University of Sussex (UK), Simon Fraser University (International Studies department), and Kwantlen Polytechnic University (Anthropology department).

Geetanjali has also worked for 18 years as an international development practitioner and researcher in the UK, Canada, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia, with research institutions, non-governmental organizations, international organizations, donors, and governments. She continues to collaborate with global development sector organizations as a scholar-practitioner. 

Ph.D./D.Phil. Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK.

“Poverty and Exclusion in an Ethnically-Plural Society – the case of Goodlands town, Mauritius”. Supervised by Dr. Ann Whitehead and Dr. Elizabeth Harrison.  Recipient of Overseas Research Scheme Award, and Edward Boyle/Alberta Research Scholarship.

M.Sc. Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries with Distinction, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK.

“Towards Sustainable Livelihoods for small dry-land farmers in India – the role of local knowledge”. Supervised by Dr. Jo Beall. Specialization in Gender and Development and Rural Development. Training in Participatory Rural Appraisal by Robert Chambers.

B.A. Honours Specialist in International Development Studies Co-op and Major in Human Geography with Distinction, University of Toronto, Canada. Recipient of Ali Tayeb Award for Excellence in Geography. Thesis supervised by Dr. Janice Boddy.

• BC Council for International Cooperation.
• Ontario Council for International Cooperation.
• Canadian Association for the Study of International Development.
• Development Studies Association (UK).
• Canadian Association of International Development Professionals.
• Society for Gender Professionals.
• Canadian Partnership for Women and Children's Health.
• United Nations Association of Canada (Lower Mainland BC branch). 

Dr. Geetanjali teaches foundational and specialized courses in global development studies at UFV.

Geetanjali teaches the following courses:

• GDS 100, A World of Development
• GDS 204, Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
• GDS 260, Gender and Global Development
• GDS 310, GDS 311, Canada and International Practicums
• GDS 320, Decolonizing Aid and Development
• GDS 330, Humanitarianism and Complex Emergencies
• GDS 332, Refugees, Displacement, and Development
• GDS 370, Fundamentals of Global Health and Development
• GDS 400, Global Development Seminar Capstone
• GDS 483, Directed Studies in Global Development

Dr. Geetanjali Gill is carrying out SSHRC-funded research on decolonizing development practices, intersectional gender inequalities, gender norms and gender-transformative change in the global South, gender-based violence in the global South, and the use of feminist, participatory and arts-based research methods. She has also contributed to research at the Institute of Development Studies (UK), the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Ecology (India), the Southern Africa Development Community (Botswana), the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa Gender Division (Ethiopia), and the Mauritius Research Council.  

• Faculty Lead, “Championing Gender Equality and Inclusive Education” in Sierra Leone, 2025-2028, $2.035 M, Development Impact Window grant, Global Affairs Canada.
• New Frontiers in Research Fund International Joint Initiative for Research in Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation, “Building resilience of coastal inhabitants in vulnerable regions of Bangladesh through a participatory, gender-transformative approach,” $1.179 M, 2024-2028.
• SSHRC Partnership Grant, Co-Applicant, McGill as lead institution, “TRANSFORM: engaging with young people for social change,” $2.5 M, 2024-2030.
• FIT Knowledge Sharing Grant, dissemination of "Leaving No One Behind’: Empowering Persons with Albinism, particularly Women and Adolescent Girls, in Rural Regions of Sierra Leone" project, $19,861, 2023.
• New Frontiers in Research Special Call, UN Road Map, Principal Investigator, "Participatory Action Research with female sex-trafficking survivors living with HIV/AIDS in Nepal: addressing intersectional gender oppression and advocating for well-being and inclusion", $377,954, 2022-26.
• New Frontiers in Research Fund Special Call, Innovative Approaches in the Pandemic Context, Principal Investigator, "Innovative community- and youth-led approaches to collect and analyze qualitative data and to support the empowerment of marginalized girls in the pandemic context in Mali and Senegal", $212,046, 2022-24.
• SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant, Principal Investigator, “Socio-cultural norms and gender responsive play-based education: a qualitative study of students, teachers, and families in Rwanda, Ghana, and Mozambique”, $24,947, 2021-22.
• Fund for Innovation and Transformation/Inter-Council Network/Government of Canada, Principal Investigator, “Leaving No One Behind: Empowering Persons with Albinism, particularly women and adolescent girls, in rural regions of Sierra Leone”, $237,010, 2021-2022.
• Global Women’s Institute, George Washington University (US), Building GBV Evidence in Conflict and Refugee Settings grant, Principal Investigator, “Developing and piloting play-based tools and approaches for collecting evidence on gender-based violence amongst adolescents in humanitarian settings in Uganda and Lebanon”, $283,123, 2021-23.
• UFV Faculty-Student Research and Scholarly Activity Fund, Principal Investigator, “A Qualitative Study of gender norm change amongst adolescents in Ghana, Mozambique, and Rwanda”, $4500, 2022-23.
• UFV Accelerate Research Fund, Principal Investigator, "Exploring the Refugee and Newcomer Landscape in the Fraser Valley: Voices, Actions, and Partnerships", $6000, 2021-22.
• UFV Strategic Initiatives Fund, Principal Investigator, "Capturing and Valuing the Lived Experiences of Refugees in the Fraser Valley through Digital Storytelling", $6500, 2021-22.

• “Understanding inequalities and advocating for rights: art, stories, drama, and photovoice with adolescents,” World Children’s Day event, University of the Fraser Valley, November 20, 2023.
• “Centring local voices and leadership to challenge intersectional gender inequalities: experiences from a collaborative project in Sierra Leone,” International Conference on Gender and Women’s Studies, Bangkok, Thailand, July 25, 2023.
• “Global Research on Forced Migration and Displacement”, Abbotsford Local Immigration Partnership meeting, April 4, 2023.
• "Capturing and Valuing the Lived Experiences of Refugees in the Fraser Valley through digital storytelling”, Strategic Initiatives Fund Showcase: Showcasing Initiatives supporting UFV’s House of Transformation, March 8, 2023. Co-presented with community partner Shanga Karim (Shoe Project, Vancouver).
• “Localizing the development of participatory tools to understand social norms related to gender-based violence amongst adolescents in refugee settings”, Canadian Conference on Global Health, November 21, 2022.
• “Using play-based tools to understand refugee and adolescents’ experiences with gender-based violence in Lebanon and Uganda”, Conference for the Canadian Association of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (CARFMS), November 2-4, 2022.
• “’Leaving no one behind’: Empowering persons with albinism, particularly women and girls in rural regions of Sierra Leone, 2021-22”, Global Affairs Canada Global Gossip, October 28, 2022.
• “Gender transformation, innovation, and partnership: ‘Leaving no one behind’ project, University of the Fraser Valley and Albinism Royal Foundation Sierra Leone”, Ontario Council of International Cooperation (OCIC) Symposium 2022, Sept. 22, 2022.
• “’Leaving No One Behind’: Empowering Persons with Albinism, particularly women and girls in rural regions of Sierra Leone”, Foundation for Innovation and Transformation (FIT) Community of Practice on Gender, July 13, 2022.
• “The Use of Participatory Research Methods to explore gender norm change amongst adolescents in Ghana, Rwanda, and Mozambique”, Conference for the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID), May 17, 2022.
• “Where do we Go Now? Biases and Barriers faced by Women and Girls in Education”, UFV President’s Leadership Lecture Series for International Women’s Day, March 8, 2022.
• “Applying a GBA+ Lens to the Foodgrains Bank’s ‘Scaling-Up Conservation Agriculture in East Africa’ (SUCA) Program, Cultivating Equality: Advancing Gender Research in Agriculture and Food Systems Conference, CGIAR, Oct. 12-15, 2021.
• “Small Steps, Big Results: small and medium organizations advancing gender equality,” SPUR Change, Inter-Council Network, and Government of Canada, Ottawa, Nov. 7, 2024.
• “Photovoice with youth in Mali and Senegal for research on youth agency and empowerment, evaluation, and advocacy,” Photovoice: Aiming for Impact 2024 virtual conference, Oct. 17, 2024.
• New Frontiers in Research Fund Midterm Forum, panel on “Impact, Knowledge Dissemination and Institutionalizing Change: Participatory Action Research with female sex-trafficking survivors living with HIV/AIDS in Nepal: Addressing intersectional gender oppression and advocating for well-being and inclusion,” Sept. 12-13, 2024.

• 2024, “Centring intersectionality and decolonisation in an online undergraduate gender and development course in Canada,” Development in Practice, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2024.2332261
• 2025, “Chapter 5: Pivoting to Participatory Data Analysis in Transnational, Collaborative, NGO-Academic Research,” in Collaborative Methods: Participatory Data Analysis in Feminist Research, Edited by Kaylan C. Schwarz, Claudia Mitchell, and Rebekah Hutten, University of Alberta Press.
• 2023, 'Right to Play Manual: Play-based tools and approaches for collecting evidence amongst adolescents in humanitarian settings in Uganda and Lebanon'.
• 2021, ‘Scaling-up Conservation Agriculture in East Africa’ Program: Gender Assessment of Impacts and Opportunities, Foodgrains Bank, Winnipeg, July.
• 2021, ‘Scaling-up Conservation Agriculture in East Africa (SUCA)’: End-line Evaluation Report [co-author], Foodgrains Bank, January.
• 2019, Gender and Ageing Policy Briefs: Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Regional Gender and Ageing Policy Brief: Southern and Eastern Africa, HelpAge International, November.
• 2019, Best Practices in Gender-Responsive and Decentralized Education Policy and Planning: Case Studies from East Africa, Sri Lanka, and India, British Council Nepal, October.
• 2018, Community/School-based Participatory Gender Analysis Toolkit, Right to Play International, Toronto, Canada.
• 2017, Gender Assessment: Strengthening Education Systems in East Africa (SESEA), Aga Khan Foundation Canada, Ottawa.
• 2013, [Co-author], Mapping Study of Civil Society Organisations in the Republic of Mauritius Final Report, European Union Decentralised Cooperation Programme II, March.
• 2010, National Empowerment Foundation Field Staff Toolkit Manual, Ministry of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment, Mauritius, November.
• 2008, Manual for Collecting Time Use Data and Time Use Questionnaire for Djibouti (in English and French, co-author), African Centre for Gender and Social Development, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Ethiopia.
• 2008, Poverty and Exclusion in an Ethnically-Plural Society – the case of Goodlands town, Mauritius, Doctoral Thesis, University of Sussex, UK.
• 2007, Report on the Status of the Implementation of NEPAD: A Gender Perspective, African Centre for Gender and Social Development, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Ethiopia.
• 2002, IDS Insights Special Issue on Urban Poverty: Mind the Gap–Peri-Urban Poverty, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK, May.
• 2001, The Participation of Women and Men in Politics and Decision-making in Mauritius, Gender Unit of the SADC Secretariat, Botswana, June.
• 2000, ‘Towards Gender Equality in Political Participation and Leadership Positions: A Global Overview’, in Woman: Political Empowerment of Women, No. 4, Government of Mauritius.
• 2000, UN Mauritius Gender Briefing Kit, United Nations Development Programme Mauritius/Seychelles.

Board Member, BC Council for International Cooperation

Principal Trainer at workshop for Canadian NGOs for BC Council for International Cooperation, "Applying Gender-Based Analysis + 2-part Workshop”, November 2020.

Dr. Geetanjali Gill engages with community-based organizations to organize annual events for International Development Week, International Women's Day, and World Refugee Day.

Scholar-Practitioner Experiences

• Midterm Evaluation Lead, ‘Reinforcing the Capacity of Girls in Sports and Play’ project, Right to Play Senegal
• Gender Evaluation Consultant, Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Canada, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, ‘Scaling-up Conservation Agriculture Program in East Africa’
• Gender Equality and Inclusion Trainer, British Columbia Council for International Co-operation (BCCIC)
• International Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Expert, British Council Nepal Office, ‘Provincial Support to Strengthened Girls’ Education Response Nepal’
• International Gender Consultant, HelpAge International, Africa Regional Office, ‘Gender and Ageing in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Ethiopia’
• Gender Consultant, Right to Play International, Toronto, Canada, ‘Gender-Responsive Education and Transformation’ project and other projects concerning gender, education, and sexual and reproductive health and rights
• Gender Consultant, Aga Khan Foundation Canada, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, ‘Strengthening Education Systems in East Africa’
• Expert Consultant, European Union, Decentralised Cooperation Programme, Mauritius, ‘Mapping study of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Republic of Mauritius’
• Consultant, Government of Mauritius, National Empowerment Foundation, Ministry of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment
• International Gender Consultant, Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Amsterdam, ‘Central African Republic (CAR) Gender Mainstreaming Initiative Phase II’ for UNICEF
• International Gender Consultant, United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (UNECA) and African Centre for Gender and Social Development, Ethiopia
• Gender Advisor, Government of Mauritius, Ministry of Women’s Rights, Child Development, and Family Welfare
• Junior Professional Consultant, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mauritius and Seychelles