Commission Members

Commission members are appointed by and accountable to the Legislative Assembly of Yukon. They meet regularly for business meetings, to make decisions about whether complaints should be dismissed or continue through the complaints process, and other special meetings of the Commission.

Michael Dougherty – Chair

Michael Dougherty was appointed in December 2018. He served six terms on the Yukon Human Rights Panel of Adjudicators. Michael has been a member of the Judicial Council of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council since 2004. Graduate studies at McGill University in Political Sciences and Urban Planning provided academic support for his work with global/local solidarity movements from participating as a human rights observer in Chiapas, Mexico to serving as the President of the National Council of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace. His refugee support work dates from 1975 to the present. A founding co-chair of the Yukon Anti-Poverty Coalition, his continued social justice involvement linked his rights-based approach to the Social Work and Political Sciences courses he taught at Yukon College for over 20 years.

Aja Mason – Commission Member

Aja Mason is serving her second term as a Commission Member with the Yukon Human Rights Commission. Born and raised in the Yukon, she brings both a deeply northern perspective and a broad interdisciplinary background to the role.

Aja has worked extensively across governance, research, and community advocacy, with a focus on equity, justice, and systemic change. She has served as Executive Director of the Yukon Status of Women Council, led major reviews of Yukon’s justice system responses to sexualized violence, and founded Boreal Logic, a consultancy that bridges policy, data, and innovation for northern, rural, and Indigenous communities.

Her academic background spans neuroscience, philosophy of science, and northern studies, and her career path has taken her from neuroscience labs studying attention and spinal cord injury, to policy work addressing gender-based violence and northern infrastructure challenges. This blend of lived experience, scientific research, and policy leadership informs her commitment to fairness, dignity, and accessible human rights protections for all Yukoners.

Helena Tlen – Commission Member

Nathan Cross – Commission Member

Leonard Wall – Commission Member

 

 

For up-to-date information about the Commission Members, visit: https://yukon.ca/en/your-government/boards-and-committees/human-rights-commission-yukon#nav-current-members