Eugénie Depatie-Pelletier, Executive director 

As executive director, Eugénie oversees the activities of the organization and takes an active role especially in the orientation and implementation of the constitutional challenge project. She works with the board members to ensure that RHFW’s long-term strategic planning is always up to date to advance the organisation’s mission. 

Eugénie holds a Master’s Degree in Demography (2006) and a Ph.D. in law (2019) from the University of Montreal. She is an adjunct professor at the Department of Geography of Laval University and co-researcher on Access to rights within the PARTEMP partnership coordinated by the Chaire de recherche du Canada sur les dynamiques migratoires mondiales. Eugénie coordinates and contributes to various academic research projects on the impact of migration policies on household and farm workers’ fundamental rights, and produced articles, book chapters, and research reports on the subject. She has worked as an expert for non-government organizations, worker unions, Canadian federal and provincial departments and public agencies, the government of the Shanxi province, China, and different branches of the UN.

Eugénie is a mother of two wonderful boys and of an adorable even if extraordinarily independent Shiba Inu. To recharge her batteries, she loves to walk in the woods, hit a dance floor and read fantasy/sci-fi novels.

Carlos Rojas-Salazar, Director Operations & International Affairs

Carlos is in charge of optimizing organizational processes, managing resources and facilitating the work of our various committees. He participates in the development and implementation of strategic plans and organizational objectives, oversees the RHFW’s operating budget and helps implement our financing strategy. Carlos also supervises DTMF’s participation within transnational coalitions, as well as its education activities targeting foreign governments and/or international agencies.

A “full-time migrant,” Carlos has been an advocate for the rights of migrants for over two decades. Originally from Mexico, Carlos is multi-cultural and trilingual, a former diplomat, academic and activist who has lived and worked around the world. He is also the president of Conseil Migrant, a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and empowerment of migrants in Canada. 

Carlos has extensive experience that makes him an expert in migration issues. Among many things, he has facilitated access to health services for individuals with precarious status in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, directed intervention units for the migrant caravans in Mexico, and has participated in academic studies on the Haitian diaspora in Tijuana and, more generally, on refugees and migrants communities in Mexico, Canada, the United States and Colombia. 

An avid outdoor enthusiast, Carlos loves sailing, camping and, since moving to Montreal, winter cycling. 

Hannah Deegan, Director of advocacy

Hannah is responsible for developing the RHFW’s advocacy-education program. This role notably involves conducting research, preparing submissions to legislative bodies and government departments, supervising law students during internships with us, and coordinating the RHFW’s involvement in coalitions and committees with other migrant justice and workers’ rights organizations. Most importantly, she provides internal legal opinions, in particular, to ensure the success of RHFW’s strategic litigation project.

Hannah was called to the Quebec Bar in 2017 and holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from McGill University, with a double minor in Economics and Women’s Studies. She became convinced that Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs were incompatible with the fundamental rights of migrant workers when she completed in 2013 a legal clinic internship with PINAY-Filipino women’s organization in Quebec. Since then, Hannah has continued to volunteer with PINAY’s legal clinic, in particular through the production of legal rights education materials and the hosting of workshops for its members.

Hannah believes the key to a good life is everything in moderation, including moderation. Her hobbies include spending too much money at second-hand bookstores and trying to master the art of the 20-minute nap (so far unsuccessful).