An innovative leader, educator, and researcher, Professor Shirley R. Steinberg was the founding director of The Werklund Foundation Centre for Youth Leadership Education and The Freire International Project for Critical Pedagogy. Currently, she is a Research Professor of Critical Youth Studies at the University of Calgary, Canada and an honorary Adjunct Professor at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.  She was recently presented the Whitworth Award (given every 3 years) from the Canadian Education Association’s EdCAN Network, for her “sustained and substantial contribution to education research.”

Having served honorary appointments as a Visiting Scholar, Professor, and Researcher internationally she is the author and editor of over 40 books and hundreds of articles, her work ties critical and transformative teacher education to local, national, and international engagement, she is particularly interested in connecting schools and community with reciprocal resources. Her community work includes activism with refugees, newcomers and youth, anti-Islamophobia and anti-racism, youth empowerment and leadership, and social justice education.