Akim Adé Larcher

Bio

Akim is currently the Equity & Diversity Coordinator at Egale Canada, an organization that advances equality and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-identified (LGBT) people and their families. Akim strives to maintain Egale Canada’s commitment to an intersectional approach by recognizing the linkages between different forms of oppression: for example, based on race, sex, class, religion, (dis)ability, age, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.

In 2007, Akim founded Stop Murder Music (Canada), a coalition of over twenty-five human rights organizations that advocates against violent music targeting LGBT communities. His efforts with regard to inclusion and diversity have also led him to create the Queer African and Caribbean Advisory Group (QACAG), a working group of individuals sharing information and undertaking joint activities aimed at addressing LGBT issues within African and Caribbean communities locally, nationally, and internationally.

Since 2007, Akim has been a board member of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention, a volunteer-driven, non-profit, community-based organization working to reduce the spread of HIV infection within Toronto's black communities and to enhance the quality of life of black people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

Born and raised in Saint Lucia, Akim has an Associate in Arts degree in International Business from Miami-Dade Community College (1995) and a Bachelor of Law with first class honours from the University of Wolverhampton (2006).

Issue of Investigation

As a 2008 recipient of the Gordon Global Fellowship, Akim will explore the various ways Canada can advance lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified and intersexed rights within an international human rights context through both the work of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the development aid that Canada provides to donor countries in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).