Archana Medhekar is a Certified Family Law specialist, accredited Family Mediator-Arbitrator and Researcher. She is a legal panel member at the Office of the Children’s lawyer (OCL) and an instructor at the York University SCS.  

Archana received the master’s degree, LL.M. in Dispute Resolution, from Osgoode Hall Law School, where she focussed on dispute system design (DSD) and inclusive process design for efficient justice delivery and conflict resolution.

Archana is the President of Ontario Association for Family Mediators (OAFM) and member of the Board of Directors for Association for Family Conciliation Courts (AFCC-O).  

Archana chairs the international NGO delegation at the Commission on Status of Women (CSW68) at the United Nations (UN). As a a member of the Rapid Response Group, she will support the Government of Canada’s negotiation team to review the draft Agreed Conclusions at the CSW68.

Archana is also a researcher, and her research interests include the interdisciplinary study of issues involving family violence and power imbalances. She is currently involved in a SSHRC funded research project, “Responding to Challenging Times: An Inflection Point for Family Justice in Ontario?”.

Archana is a widely published author, public speaker and involved in public legal education. She has, co-authored three (3) research books, two (2) research papers published by the Department of Justice Canada (DOJ), and has authored numerous journal articles.  

Her notable awards include the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award, 2023 and “Volunteer Service Award” by the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.