Elena Blackwood
ELENA BLACKWOOD is a registered nurse and an inter-professional education specialist in the Learning Institute at The Hospital for Sick Children. She is one of the co-directors for the EDI Champion Program and co-leads organizational EDI education. She is a core team member for the hospital’s health equity data initiative aimed at collecting sociodemographic information from patients and families.
Elena’s focus is also on ensuring representation within the nursing workforce and her efforts extend to supporting the Black and Indigenous Nursing Student Awards and created the Inclusive Mentorship Program. In 2020, she was the recipient of a SickKids President’s Award and in 2022,
Elena won a SickKids Nursing Excellence Award for nursing leadership. Prior to this, she worked for many years on the inpatient cardiology unit. Elena is also an adjunct lecturer in the Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto. Through her work, she is keen to advance efforts related to strengthening equitable health care.
"Abiona Centre not only gave me the ability to care for my child, but the motivation to get what I wanted for my life - to have my daughter with me and to live independently."
Abiona Centre is a client-centred infant and early childhood mental health organization which supports pregnant and parenting adolescents, aged 13 – 29.