Seth Canada

Seth Canada (he/they), a Policy Fellow with the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN), conducts research and drafts letters on policy matters at the intersection of disability, health, poverty, and gender. Building off of his past experiences as a student journalist and workers’ rights activist, he brings to light complex issues in plain language understood by a wide range of readers, speaks truth to power, and calls on decision-makers to act.

A 2022 magna cum laude graduate of the School of Continuing Studies at Georgetown University, Seth earned the 2022 Tropaia Outstanding Student Award recognizing his academic aptitude, leadership, and “commitment to justice.” In 2021, they interned with FreeState Justice (FSJ), an LGBTQ+ legal advocacy organization and developed skills transferable to the law profession they aspire to enter, undeterred by the profession’s minimal inclusion of gender-diverse folks and people with disabilities. Following the internship, he was part of the two-person finalist team that competed in a moot court during the Student Press Law Center’s 2021 Summer Institute. He has also fought personal legal battles, notably in immigration and housing.

Seth is determined to not let gatekeeping in any form impede their access to legal education. He was accepted into the 2022-23 cohort of Sidley Prelaw Scholars who come from diverse backgrounds underrepresented in the profession. They also were thrilled about being included as a 2023 class of Coelho Law Fellow, along with 25 other future disability legal advocates. In 2023, he joined Fighting for Fairness, his third pre-law/ law pathway program, as one of the five fellows selected for the inaugural year.

Seth persevered in his studies and life, enriching course discussions with his lived experience expertise and intersectional identities. Their writing reflects insight gained from these experiences. His blog posts published on FSJ’s website highlight an increasing need for trans-affirming practices in the legal profession. Pointing out earlier COVID-19 guideline fallacies that ignored vulnerability of people with certain disabilities, they assert in another writing, published in Vol. 16 of Audeamus, that COVID is a teachable moment for ADHD destigmatization.

Growing up as a neurodivergent person without access to proper diagnosis and care, cycling and adventures were their “drugs” for coping. He can talk his head off about his cross-country cycling tour (4262+ miles in 90 days) in 2016.