Bana Tesfagiorgis is a mother, photographer and Toronto District School Board educator . As a York University graduate, she’s earned her BA and BE.d certification to teach at the Primary, Junior and Intermediate division. She was President of the Eritrean Association at York University and worked as an Executive Director at the Eritrean Youth Collective immediately after graduating. This experience allowed her to witness many of the challenges faced by newcomer youth and youth living in high priority neighbourhoods.

In addition to working with youth in Toronto, she has also worked as a Public Health Educator in Halton Region delivering public health workshops to young people from grades 1-12 on issues relating to healthy relationships, consent, cyber safety as well as intimate partner violence and family violence. She has also delivered workshops to community organizations and small businesses on Elder Abuse, Domestic Violence/Intimate Partner Violence and the employer’s roles in supporting victims of domestic violence. After her time in Halton, she returned back to Toronto to work in the Toronto District School Board where she served the Jane and Chalkfarm community as an educator for 9 years.

As a mother of boys, delivering social-emotional learning and healthy relationships workshops is extremely important to her because it also equips young men who’ve otherwise been left out of this conversation with the tools they need to navigate their emotions, build healthy relationships, and resolve conflicts respectfully. By fostering these skills early, she can help her sons and other boys understand the importance of empathy, communication, and mutual respect, setting a foundation for positive interactions and emotional well-being throughout their lives. These workshops not only support personal growth but also contribute to creating a more compassionate and respectful society.

The Bloss’Em Project is a public health program that emerged due to the dire needs of Toronto youth, administrators, educators and parents to foster safer schools and communities. She has already delivered over 100 presentations to public and Catholic  elementary and high schools, community organizations as well as small businesses using a variety of teaching methods to drive home these important messages and learning points.

Bana is an Ontario Certified Teacher and has received training on best practices through PREVnet (a national network led through Queens University and York University) and received the following certifications:

• Neighbours, Friends and Families (DV in the Workplace) ~ Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women & Children

• Make it Our Business (DV in the Workplace) ~ Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women & Children

• It’s Not Right (ElderAbuse) ~ Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women & Children

• Commit to Kids ~ Canadian Centre for Child Protection

• Kids in the Know ~ Canadian Centre for Child Protection

• Fourth R Prevention Educator ~ Canadian Red Cross