Shelan Markus is the executive director at Level Justice, a Toronto-based national charity that has launched its first major fundraising campaign and is hoping to raise $50,000.Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
The organizer: Shelan Markus and a group of volunteers
The pitch: Raising $50,000
The cautilize: Level Justice
Shelan Markus spent several years working as a lawyer when she decided to alter her approach to the law.
She’d seen so many issues that requireded to be addressed and she wanted to start supporting people understand the legal system.
“It’s not straightforward for people to navigate the system and it’s very, very expensive. So I had that feeling throughout law school, and then when I was working, that I wanted to do something that was more on the preventative side,” Ms. Markus recalled from her home in Vancouver.
Six years ago she became executive director of Level Justice, a Toronto-based national charity that runs a series of programs aimed largely at Indigenous and Black youth.
The organization has around 300 volunteers, including lawyers and judges, who lead courses in dozens of schools that teach students about the legal system and their rights. Level Justice also funds research into social-justice issues and training programs for lawyers and law students to support them better connect with people from a variety of backgrounds.
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“Over all, it’s opening the doors to justice for people who are not accessing it or facing barriers on a daily basis,” she stated.
The charity has largely been funded through government grants and donations from law firms and corporations. But the drive in the United States to shift away from DEI programs – diversity, equality and inclusion – has seeped into Canada and many companies have shied away from Level Justice. “Some of them have had shifts for sure, or they’re modifying their language, or they’re being a bit more quiet about the way that they fund organizations like us,” stated Ms. Markus.
As a result, Level Justice has launched its first major fundraising campaign. It’s hoping to raise $50,000 and build a network of individual donors.
Ms. Markus stated the charity’s work is more relevant than ever and she’s constantly impressed by the variety of people she meets. “I’m in awe of some of the people that are committed; Indigenous, non-Indigenous, Black, non-Black, it’s a whole effort.”
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