Bavan Pushpalingam

Bavan Pushpalingam currently serves as the Director of Public Policy at the University of Toronto Scarborough Political Science Students' Association (PSSA). He is a second-year student pursuing a major in Public Policy and a double minor in Food Studies and French. Bavan joined the PSSA to work alongside students and the department to re-innovate the Public Policy program to provide students in this unique program with greater academic, practical and networking opportunities. He is passionate about student advocacy and leadership as he serves as an elected representative on the University of Toronto Scarborough's Academic Affairs Committee and wants to ensure the success of all students. Apart from his studies and involvement in PSSA, Bavan is a Laidlaw Leadership and Research Scholar at the University of Toronto conducting independent research on Urban Food Insecurity and Scarborough's Racialized Youth. In addition, Bavan is a UofMosaic Fellow who actively works towards dismantling prejudice in his community while raising awareness through policy, research and dialogue about the most pressing issues impacting young Canadians. In the past, he worked as a Bilingual (English and French) Policy and Programs intern at the French-Language Teaching, Learning and Achievement Branch of the Ministry of Education and as a Research, Policy, and Community Outreach Youth Organizer at the Urban Alliance on Race Relations. His passion for public policy stemmed from his time working as a Legislative Page where he witnessed the power of policies in governing and leading people's lives and the role they played in civic society. Bavan's policy interests lie in social and urban policy, education policy, and socio-economic policy. Bavan hopes to make this year memorable for all students in the Department of Political Science! Please reach out to me if you have any questions about my work or if you would like to collaborate with me for PSSA!