About Us
What We Do
We organize events, promote opportunities in Internet governance to youth, and coordinate youth engagement in the fields of Internet governance, telecommunications and Internet policy, and broader domestic digital policy.

Our History
Youth IGF Canada was initially conceived in the Fall of 2018 by a group of University of Toronto undergraduate students. Youth IGF Canada was originally started following youth being contacted by a cybersecurity youth consortium organized by Global Youth IGF. It was originally envisioned as a student club opposed to national network. Youth IGF Canada ran throughout 2019 and provided a research project presentation at Canadian IGF in 2019 (funded by the Internet Society). Youth IGF Canada dissolved in early 2020, before the pandemic, following the graduation of the University of Toronto students.
It was resurrected by Dana Cramer in June 2023 where she began building its capacity and relations with the broader multistakeholder domestic and international Internet communities. From August 2023, Executive Council members began to propagate Youth IGF Canada. In February 2024, an expansion of the Executive Council led to the 18 members which now organize and coordinate Youth IGF Canada’s goals along our mission and vision.
Our Future
We organize our work around Audacious Goals. For 2025, we have the following Audacious Goals:
- Have Youth IGF Canada publicly operating in both of Canada’s official languages (English and French)
- Host the 2025 Canada Youth IGF in Montréal, Québec.
- Send a delegation of Canadian youth to the Global IGF.
- Achieve recognition status as an organization at various international multistakeholder fora.
- Complete an initiative on digital/media literacy for combatting mis/disinformation for youth.
- Letter writing campaign to K-12 schools in Canada to fulfill section 11(d) of the Global Digital Compact.
- Promote virtual Girls and Women in ICT days.
- Enter into a joint-venture partnership to host regular webinars on Internet governance.
- Teach Canadian youth how to submit interventions to regulators on the future of Canadian digital policies/regulations.
- Develop a Grassroots Community Infrastructure (i.e., handbook, listserv, learning platform, etc.) to have a 2026 provincial chapters of Youth IGF Canada (e.g., Youth IGF Canada – British Columbia Chapter).
- Undergo a documentation procedure for records retention and project management across all Youth IGF Canada files to ensure sustainability and resiliency for the organization for years to come.
As we progress through our goals, we work to add additional pieces for their accomplishment.
Our Team
We are spread over five Canadian provinces. We believe in diversity, inclusivity, and openness. We are a ‘big tent’ organization.

Dana Cramer
President, CEO, Coordinator
Dana Cramer leads Youth IGF Canada. She is Canada’s leading young Internet leader. Dana is a PhD Candidate studying Internet governance and telecommunications policy in the Toronto Metropolitan University and York University joint-graduate program in Communication and Culture. She is a CIGI Digital Policy Hub fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). Dana is a 2024 Global Youth Ambassador with the Internet Society, becoming one of a handful of Canadians to hold this achievement. She has also held an ARIN52 Fellowship with the American Registry for Internet Numbers and was a NextGen@ICANN79 participant and a current ICANN81 Fellow with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
In her academic life, Dana was a Top 10 finalist of the 2023 International Institute of Communications Future Leaders Network Competition for her essay on systems mapping ways privacy policies can enhance cybersecurity frameworks. In 2020, Dana won the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Prize for Excellence in Policy Research for an essay on publicly owned fibre-optic infrastructure for reducing digital divides in the transport services broadband market. When she won the CRTC Prize, she was the youngest winner in its history. She has published in areas of Canadian telecommunications policy (Journal of Digital Media and Policy) and white papers for policy leaders on the algorithmic platformization effects on Canadian communications and cultural policies. She also has a long track-record in peer mentorship, Board governance, and leadership initiatives.
She is a lover of cooking, spin classes, and Saint Bernards – especially her Saint Bernard puppy, named Maple, who grounds her while she’s off trying to make a better Internet for people in Canada.

Mira Gillis
COO
London, England (Windsor, Ontario)

Julianna Kowlessar
Director of Engagement and Programming
Toronto, Ontario

James Caldwell
Director of Advocacy
Glen Levit, New Brunswick

Skylar Johnson
Treasurer
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Luzalen Marcos
Web Master, Librarian, Records Keeper
Toronto, Ontario

Hammad Khan
Accessibility, Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity, and Decolonization/Development (AIDED) Coordinator
Edmonton, Alberta

Shannon Thom
Growth Coordinator
Toronto, Ontario

Laine McCroy
Grassroots Community Coordinator
Toronto, Ontario

Wyatt Jerome
Grants Writer
Edmonton Alberta

Emanuel Lukawiecki
Sitting Member, International Organizations
Ottawa, ON

Bianca Salamis
Executive Member
Vancouver, British Columbia

Jared McGill
Executive Member
Surrey, British Columbia