From cold cases to the classroom: Alum brings advocacy to UCalgary Law

Sasha Reid has never followed a single path. With a career that spans law, policy, psychology, and Indigenous rights, she has found one common thread that blends her passions: a love for teaching.   

This fall, Dr. Reid, JD’24, will return to UCalgary Law to teach a new course and bring her passion for solving crimes and helping marginalized communities to the next generation of lawyers. The course, Law 660: MMIWG, will immerse law students in the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQ+ people (MMIWG2S+). Students will explore the case of a fictional character based entirely on facts drawn from real cases in Canada.   

Reid’s course will start from the position that “for too long, the legal systems in Canada have been complicit in the erasure and neglect of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.” She hopes that “teaching future lawyers about this [will] offer the perspective and context necessary to help them understand the ethical responsibility we have to confront these patterns of injustice.”   

After completing her Juris Doctor in 2024 at UCalgary, she articled at Legal Aid Alberta, a choice that reflected her longstanding focus on advocacy work. Her decision to go to law school was inspired by the work she had completed over the past decade establishing Canada’s largest database of unsolved missing and murdered cases. Reid, who is Métis and a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario, currently holds the position of director at The National Cold Case Initiative, which seeks to overturn wrongful convictions and resolve cold cases. Her work is featured in the 2024 Disney+ documentary series Sasha Reid and the Midnight Order. 

With a background in teaching and studying psychology and sociology, Reid’s experience has shown her that individuals engaging with the legal system are often dealing with traumatic and stressful experiences.   

“I think we need to be able to approach people with perspective on what trauma means, what it looks like, and how it is embodied in an individual,” she said, “In my courses I want to be able to transfer the idea of trauma-informed engagement with individuals.” 

As a recent graduate, Reid is looking forward to bringing an approachable and understanding energy to the classroom. “I want a practice that allows me to engage in the practice of law, but that also allows me to transfer knowledge,” she said.   

Dr. Laura Spitz, JSD, dean of the Faculty of Law, is looking forward to Reid returning to instruct this first-of-its-kind course at UCalgary. “We are grateful to Sasha for her willingness to share her experiences and expertise with our students. And for her contribution to the law faculty’s reconciliation efforts.” 

Starting in fall 2025, second and third-year students will have the chance to take Reid’s course, which counts as an elective and can be applied toward the Concentration in Aboriginal and Indigenous Law.