Dr. Pamela Farrell, EdD'23

Some people build community through quiet gestures. Others do it through policy, research and persistence. Dr. Pamela Farrell, EdD'23, does all of the above, blending scholarship and service with an unwavering commitment to the people and places she serves. A University of Calgary graduate and teaching professor at the Werklund School of Education, Farrell has spent years turning concern into action and values into lasting change. 

Her path didn’t start in a classroom. At just 16, she began a three-year apprenticeship at Ernst & Young’s Zurich office, graduating at 19 and moving through rotations in tax, finance and accounting. It was a demanding environment that shaped her work ethic, sharpened her organizational skills and taught her how to tackle problems head-on. After working in the Swiss banking system, she moved to Canada, joining Ernst & Young on Bay Street in a learning and diversity role. It was here that her understanding of equity began to take root. 

“It genuinely felt like a bridge to my future studies in education,” Farrell recalls. “The more I learned about the incredible difference teachers have on students’ lives, I wanted in. I wanted to contribute to the betterment of society.” 

She earned her Bachelor of Education at York University, where she founded a Social Justice Group and began inviting activist scholars into the classroom. As a practising teacher, she saw systemic inequities during her doctoral studies. She immersed herself in critical and anti-oppressive pedagogy, finding a theoretical road map for change.  

“It all came together,” Farrell says. “I wanted to look at the world through a critical lens and a social justice framework, and starting GROW was my way to directly tackle systemic inequalities.” 

In 2019, she founded GROW Community Food Literacy Centre in Niagara Falls, Ont., the first of its kind in Canada. What began as a local response to food insecurity has now served more than 35,000 people. GROW provides affordable markets and food-literacy programs that help people navigate a complex food system while ensuring their dignity is preserved. She not only founded GROW, she also purchased its building and donated the lease, freeing up hundreds of thousands of dollars for food and programming. 

In 2024, she launched GROW-on-the-GO, Canada’s first electric mobile market truck, in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada. The initiative brings affordable, fresh food to communities that traditional food systems often bypass, including seniors, Indigenous families and women-led households.  

“I’m especially excited about the evaluation portion of the project,” Farrell says. “We’re looking at the actual impact in low-income communities.” Recently, GROW-on-the-GO was showcased at the Canadian Association of Food Studies conference in Toronto. 

“Food justice is so much more than just having the right to access the foods we need and want,” she says. “It’s about challenging systemic barriers and the status quo. I pair food justice with literacy because literacy is the ultimate tool for empowerment and transformation. It equips people to critically understand our food system, spot injustices and advocate for change.” 

That belief in education as a force for change runs through everything she does. In 2024, she helped UCalgary open its first low-cost food hub, transforming a former Starbucks into a welcoming space for affordable, nutritious food. The hub emerged from years of advocacy and collaboration with student leaders and university leadership through committees like Nourish to Flourish and the Graduate Students’ Association’s Food Security/Housing Working Group. The goal, Farrell says, was to “create something student-centred, sustainable and grounded in dignity.” 

She now brings that same approach to a new leadership role. In 2025, Farrell became director of field experience for the on-campus Bachelor of Education program, overseeing practicum placements for more than 700 students and working closely with partner school districts.  

“My goal is to make sure our future educators are well-prepared to meet diverse learning needs and navigate the realities of today’s classrooms,” she says.  

Farrell continues to teach, including delivering an intensive summer course on Ethics and Law in Education to nearly 200 teacher-candidates. “When I’m working with Bachelor of Education students, my deepest hope is to instil in them a profound sense of both agency and responsibility,” she says. “It only takes one person to ignite change and one powerful idea to truly take root.” 

Farrell’s reach extends well beyond campus. In 2023, she became the first woman appointed Honorary Consul of Switzerland to Alberta. She supports bilateral partnerships in education, technology and culture, and has recently joined a transdisciplinary UCalgary team exploring the creation of a science diplomacy community of practice, a way to connect scientific expertise with diplomatic efforts to tackle global challenges.  

“It feels like a natural extension of my work with the Calgary Consular Corps,” Farrell says, referring to her position as governance officer. 

Across all of these roles, her motivation comes from impact.  

“My greatest motivation comes from knowing I’m making a tangible difference in families’ lives every single week,” Farrell says. “Working alongside passionate, caring individuals keeps me going.” 

It’s a commitment measured not just in years but in hours — more than 6,500 of them volunteered to GROW, alone. Her work has been recognized by public health officials, scholars and community partners, but recognition isn’t her goal. The measure of success, Farrell says, is in the families who feel supported, the students who feel seen, and the communities that gain strength through shared access and care. 

Through food, education and diplomacy, Farrell has shown that meaningful change doesn’t always come from the loudest voices. It comes from showing up, building trust and doing the work, week after week, year after year.  

And that, she says, is something anyone can do.