AthletesCAN, Western Law announce new incoming Program Managers to Sport Solution

Samuel Gan is a second-year JD/MBA student at Western. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from St. Francis Xavier University before working for two years in a technology start-up. During Gan’s first year of law school, he volunteered with Project Consent for Pro Bono Students Canada, where he provided consent education to local high school students.

Gan recently completed his U SPORTS varsity athletics career with the Western Mustangs track and field team after initially competing with the St. Francis Xavier X-Men varsity football and track teams. With extensive experience in team and individual sports, Gan values the diversity of approaches to high-performance athletics and understands the challenges of balancing the pursuit of greatness in sport with the stresses of everyday responsibilities.

Gan is excited to be joining the Sport Solution Clinic as a Program Manager and eager to contribute to the important work of supporting Canadian athletes. Through his work, Gan hopes to remove obstacles and issues faced by athletes so they can focus on being the best that they can be.

Safiya Nanji is a second-year law student at Western University. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University and a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University, where she specialized in human rights. Her thesis focused on the exploitation and abuse pertaining to restorative justice in international conflict zones. 

 Prior to law school, Nanji interned at Parliament and Physicians for Human Rights, where she gained valuable experience instituting change at both the grassroots and macro-policy levels. These transferable skills will be particularly beneficial in serving clients’ interests and communicating with large organizations.

During her first year of law school, Nanji worked with the Sport Solution Clinic as a caseworker and thoroughly enjoyed combining her passion for advocacy and sports. She has been particularly interested in the area of safe sport and ensuring that all athletes have a safe physical and mental training environment. Nanji is excited to be taking on the role of a Program Manager and is committed to upholding the Clinic’s high standard in serving and supporting Canadian athletes.

Laura Wade is a second-year law student at Western. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and criminology from St. Thomas University (STU). Prior to attending law school, she worked in the field of corporate law policy and operations to which she gained transferable skills in research and promoting client’s interests.

During her undergraduate degree, Wade was involved in the athletics community and administration which sparked a passion for advocating for athletes. She was further involved in the Senate Committee at STU, where she represented the student population and advocated for more regard for students’ mental health in academic affairs.

Wade is quite excited to be involved with the Sport Solution Clinic as a Program Manager. She is committed to upholding the Clinic’s standard of excellence while supporting and advocating on behalf of athletes. This opportunity to utilize her skills combined with her legal education and passion for sports will allow her to empower athletes, which she is very much looking forward to.