Research Operations & Admin Teams

Esther Ibu (she/her)

Project Coordinator

Esther Ibu (she/her) is a Project Coordinator at the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity. She immigrated from Nigeria to Canada in 2018 to pursue a Master’s Degree in Gender Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia. Her thesis focused on assessing the impacts of conflicting gender ideologies on domestic violence with a focus on Nigerian-immigrant women in Canada. This work highlighted the importance of using an intersectional approach to understand the experiences of marginalized groups. She brings teaching and administrative experience from her previous roles. She is passionate about women’s rights and keen to work with like-minded people to improve the rights of all women everywhere. Esther loves watching movies, listening to music, and spending time with close friends.

Desire K. King (she/her)

Front Desk Assistant

Desire K. King was born and raised in Uganda. She received a degree in Health Nursing from Nsambya School of Nursing in 1998, where her passion for working with marginalized communities began. Uganda’s strict criminalization of LGBTQ communities sparked Desire’s motivation for advocacy and activism as part of the “Rainbow Refugee Community”. This advocacy work ultimately led to Desire fleeing Uganda and immigrating to Canada where her career in supporting marginalized communities continued. Since 2013 Desire has been an active volunteer at Afro-Canadian Positive Network Society, where she supports community members through outreach, and advocacy on matters surrounding HIV and Criminalization, Immigration, and Housing.

Desire’s career working with marginalized communities has expanded with her work at CGSHE in 2017, supporting the operations team in running our frontline research activities. Further complimenting this work Desire’s background supporting folks living with HIV, made her a natural fit for the Community Engagement Associate role with the SHAWNA Team. To further round out Desire’s immense skillset and experience, she recently received her Immigration Consulting Diploma, pulling together her lived and work experience with immigration. In her spare time Desire enjoys singing gospel songs and attending her sons’ games. She loves cooking and hosting friends, building community.

Shivangi Sikri (she/her)

KT/Communications Specialist

Shivangi Sikri (she/her) is a Knowledge Translation & Communications Specialist at the Centre for Gender & Sexual Health Equity. She holds a BA in English Literature from the University of British Columbia. She is passionate about social justice advocacy, and while at university, her research focus was the representation of marginalised communities in media and literature. In her career, Shivangi seeks to amplify the voices of the systemically oppressed by spotlighting their stories. She has worked in the field of communications for three years, including positions at Capulet Communications, Greystone Books and UBC.

Esther Ibu (she/her)

Project Coordinator

Desire K. King (she/her)

Front Desk Assistant

Shivangi Sikri (she/her)

KT/Communications Specialist

Peter Vann (he/him)

Research Grants Manager

Peter Vann (he/him), Research Grants Manager, provides high-level guidance, support, and direction to faculty and project administrative teams on research grants and ethics facilitation. Prior to CGSHE, Peter was with the Gender & Sexual Health Initiative at the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS since 2010. In his spare time, Peter is keen on spending time with his family, being outdoors, and playing music with family and friends.