Sasha Hanson Pastran was born in Nicaragua to a Canadian mother and Nicaraguan father but has spent most of her life in Saskatoon. Sasha is a student at the University of Saskatchewan and is in her last year of an honors degree in International Studies – Latin American Studies Stream. She is passionate about social justice issues, community development, peace and sustainability. At 21 years of age Sasha is already an experienced leader and activist in her community. Her volunteer activities both at home and abroad with the Global Youth Assembly, Rights Action, 350.org, Oxfam Canada, Canada World Youth, the Sierra Youth Coalition, the Saskatchewan Intercultural Association, the Saskatoon Peace Coalition, and the Saskatchewan Council for International Cooperation (to name a only a few) show Sasha’s commitment to community building and social change.
Sasha is a passionate supporter of the co-operative model for equitable and sustainable development locally and globally. This past summer Sasha participated in the Canadian Cooperative Association’s You-LEAD program in Ghana. Sasha would like to take what she learned from her experience in Ghana and apply it in a Canadian context. For example, she would like to implement the model of Youth Savings Clubs in Saskatoon schools.
Although Sasha is a busy leader in her community, she still finds time to share her Latin American culture. At the 2011 Saskatoon Folk Fest, as a member of the band Sabor a Salsa, she played piano and synthesizer for a large audience. She has also found time to tutor Spanish language students at the University of Saskatchewan.