Biography
Gladys Osien is a bilingual lawyer, published researcher, and mentor. Osien strives to make the legal profession an accurate reflection of the population it serves by championing diversity. She is currently an Associate in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office, practising in the Business Law Group.
Osien has been instrumental in the Faculty’s EDI journey. In September 2021, she assumed the role of Black Mentor in Residence. In this role she provides direct support to our Black law students and our Black Law Students’ Association (BLSA). In September 2022, she added to her portfolio the duties of a special advisor to the Dean on EDI. In this role Osien provides strategic advice and guidance to the Dean of the Common Law Section, to advance the work being done to ensure a more inclusive university community that embraces equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Osien regularly mentors students and supports initiatives from equity-driven associations. She has worked with the uOttawa’s BLSA to formalize a mentorship program. She also leads the education subcommittee for Gowling WLG’s Anti-Racism Action Committee (ARAC), an internal local committee instituted to combat anti-Indigenous and anti-Black racism and to promote equality through project-based advocacy. She is a member of ARAC’s Recruitment, Retention and Mentorship subcommittee and a member of the Gowling WLG Ottawa office’s Diversity & Inclusion committee. Osien also volunteers for Dress for Success Ottawa and the Pro Bono Ontario legal advice hotline - organizations that support economic empowerment for women and access to justice respectively.
An alumna of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law (JD ’19) herself, Osien also holds a Master’s of Science in Experimental Medicine (Pharmacoepidemiology) from McGill University and a Bachelor of Science in Biology & Pharmacology from McMaster University.
During her formative years, Osien lived in numerous countries and worked in various professional settings including international organizations, not-for-profits, and academia. This exposure alongside her lived experience makes her extremely attuned to the importance of equity, diversity, and representation.
Osien has published on socio-ethical and legal issues in genomics and personalized medicine. During her time at uOttawa, she conducted research on implicit bias in the legal profession as a part of a directed research project with Professor Bouclin and wrote a paper entitled, “The Good Fight against Implicit Bias: Reducing Prejudice in the Legal Profession Using Parasocial Contact,” in which she explored how media can be used as a tool to reshape ideologies and address implicit bias in the legal profession.