About Elevation

Elevation – Equality, Inclusivity, Empowerment Inc.

Elevation seeks to raise up sports organizations to their full potential.  We provide tools for athlete support and development beyond the technical aspects of sport. We develop policies and educational tools designed to establish and bolster cultures of equality, inclusivity and empowerment.

Elevation is fuelled by a combination of legal expertise and high-performance sport knowledge.  We have an understanding of, and passion for these two intersecting fields.

One aspect of our work is creating concrete abuse prevention initiatives, crucial to safe sport environments, that are tailored to each organization’s specific needs. We aspire to help organizations create healthy environments for athletes and coaches.

Our Vision is a world of sport free from discrimination, harassment and abuse, that empowers each athlete to move forward to be the best versions of themselves.

Our Mission is to raise the bar in sport to ensure athletes experience equality, inclusivity and empowerment through educational programs and policy enhancements.

Our Values include innovation, courage and fairness while never losing sight of the best interests of athletes.

 

Who We Are

This vision is informed and inspired by our collective experiences and expertise.

Karen Bellehumeur is a lawyer with twenty-three years of experience as a Crown prosecutor specializing in cases involving vulnerable witnesses.  She now exclusively represents survivors of sexual violence in human rights claims while undertaking her PhD in law.

bellehumeurlaw.com

Julia Bellehumeur is a former University of Toronto Varsity Blues women’s volleyball athlete (2010-2014) having played club volleyball prior to that from a young age. As a student at McGill Law School, she conducted legal research for the development and improvement of McGill University’s sexual violence policies, and represented students facing university policy violations in her role at the Student Advocacy Office. She also headed the student branch of Advocats Sans Frontieres. Julia was involved in promoting the empowerment of women and girls in Malawi, Africa by organizing a community based capacity-building conference for the Equality Effect and by assisting in the preparation of a constitutional claim regarding sexual violence cases. Additionally, in summer 2017, Julia worked in criminal prosecution for the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

Angie Bellehumeur was a club athlete from a young age and went on to play varsity volleyball for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues. Angie is a two-time Ontario University Athletics champion and a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (now USport) national champion. She held an assistant coaching position with 16U Girls Team Ontario in 2016 and now continues to coach with the London Volleyball Club (18U Girls) and Timbits Volleyball (athletes ages 4-10) while attending law school at Western University. Angie developed “Athlete Ally” at U of T, which promoted education, awareness and policies fostering LGBTQ+ inclusivity in varsity sport. She also conducted research regarding gender parity policies and law in Geneva during the summer of 2017. Additionally, she is the current President of the Gender and the Law Association and the former Co-President of OUTLaws at Western University.