Robert Seymour Wright is a queer, African Nova Scotian Social Worker and Sociologist whose 36 year career has spanned the fields of education, child welfare, forensic mental health, trauma, sexual violence, and cultural competence. He served as the founding Executive Director of both the Peoples’ Counselling Clinic (Nov. 2017 - March 2024) and the African Nova Scotian Justice Institute (Fall 2021 - March 2024, March 2025 - August 2025) and continues at the Peoples’ Counselling Clinic as Director Emeritus, Consultant and Therapist. Robert was appointed in July of 2025 as a full-time, tenure track assistant professor at Saint Mary's University Department of Criminology. Robert’s identity and work are grounded in his integrated and activist spirituality.
Robert was an early practitioner of what has come to be known as Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work and developed a model for understanding and practicing Cultural Competence that continues to be a useful framework for the many practitioners and organizations that have used it. He also pioneered the introduction of Impact of Race and Culture Assessments (IRCAs): A specialized, forensic, clinical presentence report for people of African descent. This latter work has received national attention. In August of 2021 the Government of Canada funded him to expand the implementation of IRCAs nationally.
Robert's research interests and activities centre on the intersection of race and justice. His work explores how systemic racism, historical oppression (particularly the enslavement of Africans, the genocide of First Nations and the project of colonialism), and structural marginalization create and perpetuate disparities and promote differential treatment across various aspects of the justice system and society at large. Robert is clinically interested in the assessment and treatment of racial trauma and how it aggravates or mitigates the capacity of individuals, families, institutions and communities to be healthy and thrive.
Bachelor's Degree in Social Work, Atlantic Union College, 1990
Master's Degree in Social Work, Walla Walla University, 1997