Horizons of Friendship

Megan Botha has been engaging in advocacy initiatives for Migrant Workers since 2020 through academic opportunities and as a migrant worker outreach coordinator in both Toronto and Cobourg. She holds a BA in International Development, emphasizing Rural and Agricultural development through the University of Guelph, and a Masters in Social Justice and Community Engagement from Laurier, with her research focusing on the responses of Ontario
Public Health Units among Migrant Agricultural Workers in Ontario. She currently works as Manager, Community Engagement and Partnership at Horizons of Friendship, and is also a research assistant at the University of Toronto supporting a project related to pandemic responses to the needs of migrant agricultural worker communities in Southwestern Ontario.

Bessie Hodder is with Horizons of Friendship as the Migrant Worker Outreach Program Coordinator. Bessie holds a Bachelor’s of Honours degree in Global Development from Queen’s University. Additionally, Bessie has completed her Master of Arts in Global Development from Queen’s University with the focus of her research on “Immigration issues and the negative effects of detention centres on the heath of Latin American women in the United States”. She has experience working in the non‐profit sector and has volunteered with refugee resettlement services in Kingston. Bessie was born in Cuba and is fluent in Spanish, she has worked alongside migrant workers in the agricultural sector and has helped to translate in the workplace. She has lived in Cobourg much of her life and currently resides in Port Hope. Through her role at Horizons, Bessie continues to advocate and support migrant workers from  Central America, the Caribbean and Mexico.