Impact Report: 2021/22

Message by Outgoing Executive Director

As I write this note, I’m in the final weeks of teaching my last SFU Semester in Dialogue (SID) with Dr. Jacqueline Koerner and Kris Archie. It’s been an incredible experience as I’ve watched students forge deep personal relationships and take responsibility for their own learning. It’s no wonder that many alumni claim that “dialogue changed their life”.  It does! SID students leave the classroom feeling more confident, connected and capable.

Read More

This last year as Executive Director of the Centre has been incredible. I’ve come to appreciate the deep integration of our academic offerings with our public programming, the impactful policy work of our Fellows, the exciting new communities we embraced with our Jack P. Blaney Award Recipient – adrienne maree brown, the international impact we have had on climate engagement and the convening power that we have brought to Canadian cities. 

As we celebrated our first 20 years, I’ve been struck by the people who are gravitating to the Centre. They reflect different ways of knowing, convening and understanding the world. They are helping groups move beyond polarization, governments build democratic capacity, and communities heal from trauma. They are dreamers, facilitators, researchers and artists. They are writers, policy developers and scientists. And they are capacity builders, planners and storytellers. The Centre has become a global beacon for those who want to practice and advance dialogue – in all its manifestations.

Dialogue can’t help but alter the people who engage with it. Dialogue has touched me and my engagement with the Centre and its staff, students, faculty, alumni, community partners and donors have shaped me. When you review this report, I hope you will see the power of dialogue and engagement. My sincerest thanks to all of you and to SFU for supporting such a unique Centre in the world. 

Shauna Sylvester 
Executive Director to April 14, 2022 
Professor, Professional Practice

Message by Interim Executive Director

Throughout this past year, I’ve watched as the Centre for Dialogue embarked on its many accomplishments led by the talent, drive and expertise of its staff, faculty, fellows, associates and outgoing executive director, Shauna Sylvester. Now, as it enters a crucial point in its evolution, I am simultaneously humbled, grateful and excited about serving the Centre for Dialogue as interim executive director. 

Read More

Over the past few months, I've had a glimpse into the hard work that goes on at the Centre. I’ve attended team meetings, seen the Semester in Dialogue in action, reviewed our recent brand audit and attended community dialogues facilitated by our team. I'm learning more every day and it's abundantly evident that the Centre is making a remarkable contribution to addressing many of the critical challenges facing society today. The individual work that goes on is astounding, and the aggregate impact of that work is far greater than the sum of its parts. 

It's a privilege for me to be doing this work, and I am committed to ensuring that the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue continues to flourish through this liminal phase.

Laurie Anderson 
Interim Executive Director

The SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue respectfully acknowledges the unceded, traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, on which the SFU Vancouver campus and Wosk Centre building are located. 

Our staff and students are encouraged to learn, reflect and engage in activities on an ongoing basis that honour the experiences of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Learn more about our commitment to decolonization and reconciliation as well as the work of Centre Fellows to advance decolonization and reconciliation. To find out more about the land you are on and the First Nations communities around you, check out Native Land Digital, the First Peoples' Map of B.C. and many more resources through the Vancouver Heritage Foundation website

From climate change and racism to income inequity and democratic disengagement, finding solutions to our most pressing issues requires space for everyone to be heard. Dialogue helps create that space. Through dialogue, seasoned professionals and engaged young people in our community are shaping solutions to society’s complex issues. They are reimagining how we relate to each other and the issues at hand.

Inspiring young people through the Semester in Dialogue's experiential learning

To continue innovating Semester in Dialogue's experiential learning during a global pandemic, we adapted to ambiguity and successfully returned our Summer and Fall 2021 semesters to in-person learning.

Read More

The program themes included Semester in New Times—taught by Dialogue Associates, Am Johal, Stuart Poyntz and Jackie Wong—and Semester by the Salish Sea—taught by Dialogue Fellows Ginger Gosnell-Myers and Dr. Janet Moore along with Sarah Hay, who teaches at Emily Carr University Art + Design and has her own design firm, Slow and Steady. Students from across the world built capacity in leadership, community and self care as well as dialogue and facilitation skills. 

Launching student-led Year of the Salish Sea

To strengthen existing efforts towards a healthier Salish Sea, six Semester in Dialogue students launched an initiative to declare Year of the Salish Sea (YOSS) during their Fall 2021 semester taught by Ginger Gosnell-Myers, Dr. Janet Moore and Sarah Hay.

Read More

This youth-led initiative brings together local First Nations, municipalities, organizations and individuals in the Salish Sea ecosystem region through public engagement and the spreading of stewardship and educational opportunities.⁠

YOSS was a finalist for the Future Ground Prize by the David Suzuki Foundation, an award that highlights youth-led initiatives in British Columbia and Ontario that make positive impacts on the environment and local communities.

Bridging connections for new SFU students

To provide opportunities for first and second year SFU students to connect with fellow peers, we held our 2nd annual CAMP, a four-day in-person retreat at Gambier Island. 

Read More

The concept for this program, which was sold out in 2022, was created in the latter half of 2020 through various planning meetings with Semester in Dialogue alumni and an SFU student survey to learn more about what they need for success. CAMPers built invaluable skills and perspectives to feel confident in their future at SFU, all while learning the art of dialogue and making friends.

Increasing accessibility in the virtual classroom

To support learners from both SFU and from the community who were interested in the topic of "Navigating Complexity", Dialogue Fellow Dr. Diane Finegood offered DIAL 461 in Spring 2022. 

Read More

To increase accessibility and respond to pandemic uncertainty in January, the course was offered online for three hours, once per week. Students engaged in deep dialogues on many topics including trust and power, food colonialism, positionality, childhood trauma, Indigenous world views, resilience and anti-fragility.

Building a dialogue community of practice

To support the art and practice of dialogue and dialogue-centred pedagogy, a community of 23 teachers and practitioners comes together regularly each term to share their experiences and lessons learned delivering cohort-based, community engaged, experiential learning. In 2021-22 this provided an important venue as we all adapted to online approaches.

Igniting youth leadership through EnviroLab

To create space for youth to tackle complex urban sustainability challenges and work alongside decision makers and community organizations, CityHive, led by Dialogue Associate Veronika Bylicki, convened two cohorts in their EnviroLab program. 

Read More

The first cohort learned about and critically explored their role in the circular economy and what systemic shifts are required to address zero waste. The second cohort asked youth to learn about climate adaptation and explore ways to prepare cities to better adapt to climate challenges and impacts.

"The Centre helped me make the transition out of my undergraduate degree and into a professional world that I am deeply passionate and excited about, and that continues to evolve in interesting ways all the time. This rich community of kind and knowledgeable people has continuously expanded my understanding of what's possible, both for myself and for the world around me."

Fergus Linley-Mota, Alum and Program Coordinator, Cities + COP26

Supporting development of a National Diabetes Framework

To support the federal government in the development of a National Diabetes Framework, the Centre led an engagement process that included 32 key informant interviews with 50 people, two virtual dialogues (one each in English and French) and nearly 1,000 survey participants. 

Read More

What we heard from a broad range of people connected to diabetes is supporting the Public Health Agency of Canada in the development of of a National Diabetes Framework as required by Act C-237. This information also supports commitments in Budget 2021 to provide $35 million of additional investments over five years.

Addressing military sexual violence through collaborative and generative dialogues

To formulate strategies and recommendations for addressing the current crisis of sexual violence within the Canadian Armed Forces, the Centre facilitated a dialogue with a diverse group of experts with in-depth knowledge about military sexual violence. 

Read More

Co-facilitated by Shauna Sylvester and Elodie Jacquet, participants at this virtual event conducted an informed and focused analysis of ongoing problematic patterns, limitations and obstacles to addressing military sexual violence.

Supporting care providers and family members of people with self-injurious behaviour

To support a group of care providers and family members of people with self-injurious behaviour due to neurodevelopmental disorders, Dialogue Fellow Dr. Diane Finegood along with Dr. Lee Johnston facilitated a series of working group meetings and a November 2021 virtual workshop. 

Read More

Working group members developed a graphic to depict the paradigm shift required to improve the quality of life of people affected by self-injurious behaviour and video stories of the experience of families to help stimulate discussion at the workshop.

Engaging SFU's internal community on proposed medical school

To support SFU’s internal community engagement process for the proposed SFU medical school, the Centre convened several dialogues to inform the university’s early planning. 

Read More

The proposed medical program is designed to be a catalyst for change in British Columbia and across Canada, accelerating health innovation in team-based, preventive and community-based care while emphasizing the health needs of underserved and marginalized populations. We captured views and ideas through these dialogue sessions as well as during an the Indigenous information session, a pair of targeted webinars and an online survey.

Strategizing for Canada and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Conference

To build a strategy for bringing Canada into supporting the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, The Simons Foundation Canada, and Canadians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention (CNWC) convened a conference on Canada and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Read More

The Ottawa Declaration, endorsed by Dialogue Fellow Paul Meyer, emerged from this conference, and a delegation, including Dialogue Fellow Dr. Jennifer Simons, was sent to present the recommendations to parliament.  

Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

Educating to prevent an arms race in outer space

To help prevent an arms race in outer space, Dialogue Fellow Paul Meyer organised a webinar on behalf of the Outer Space Institute (OSI) about a new diplomatic process, the UN Open-Ended Working Group on Reducing Space Threats. 

Read More

He also drafted OSI's submission to the first session of the working group. Paul was featured on an episode of Space Café Canada in which he described his engagement on space security issues and ideas for cooperative action in future.

"I started as a student with the Semester in Dialogue program which sparked my interest in the practice of dialogue. Today I have made lifelong friends and joined a community of wonderful people who are committed to practicing dialogue in our communities."

Prodpran Wangcherdchuwong, Alum and Former Assistant Manager, Engagement and Social Enterprise

Honouring adrienne maree brown with the Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue 

To recognize a leader who is championing anti-racism, we honoured adrienne maree brown with the 2021/22 Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue. 

Read More

adrienne is at the forefront of advancing new and more equitable practices for facilitation that focus on healing, trust and joy. We worked with various community members, including Dialogue Fellow Ginger Gosnell-Myers and Dialogue Associate Vanessa Richards, to provide a unique and meaningful series of events.

The inclusion of racialized voices to help determine the needs and purposes for each event ultimately contributed to the success of this project and the connections that were made during the programming.  

Building capacity for post-secondary transformational change

To build capacity and advance transformational change within post-secondary institutions, Dialogue Fellows Dr. Robert Daum and Lindsay Heller, along with Centre analysts and other colleagues, co-created dialogue and engagement initiatives and completed reports together with colleagues at various institutions. 

Read More

This work included SFU Lifelong Learning's Circles for Learning & Unlearning Initiative; Indigenization readiness assessments with Adler University and Vancouver Community College; establishing an advisory with SFU's Sustainability Office; facilitating the Congress 2021 session where the Congress EDI+D Commitee presented its landmark report to the Federation of the Humanities & Social Sciences; and developing a new equity survey with BCIT's Office of Respect, Diversity & Inclusion.

Building capacity for difficult conversations at SFU

To build capacity for difficult conversations at SFU, Dialogue Fellow Dr. Robert Daum collaborated with two departments. 

Read More

For the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, Dr. Robert Daum, Dialogue Fellow Lindsay Heller and Nav Purewall collaborated on our community responses to racism. For SFU's senior leadership team, Dr. Robert Daum and Elodie Jacquet delivered a workshop on how to hold space for difficult conversations. 

Creating the Indigenous House of Dialogue

To create a space for Indigenous peoples to engage in dialogue with other Indigenous peoples on issues that matter to Indigenous peoples, Indigenous Fellows at the Centre—Ginger Gosnell-Myers, Dr. Karine Duhamel, Lindsay Heller and Kris Archie—are creating The Indigenous House of Dialogue. This contrasts with current dialogues that normally centre on exploring Indigenous worldviews so that Canadians can learn from and begin to understand how to best support solutions voiced by Indigenous people. 

Building collaborative working groups with Autism Alliance of Canada

To support the Autism Alliance of Canada in their efforts to build collaborative working groups that advances the collection, availability and use of data, the Centre facilitated a workshop and helped to convene four working groups on different challenges identified during the workshop.

Generating community for racialized individuals in philanthropy

Dialogue Fellow Djaka Blais-Amare is beginning consultations on developing a community for racialized individuals working in philanthropy. The group will be focused on healing, community and leadership. 

Renovating the public hearing

To explore potential improvements to the British Columbia land-use public hearing requirements, the Centre's Strengthening Canadian Democracy team launched Renovate the Public Hearing

Read More

The initiative is a collaborative means to enhance social justice, build community and strengthen democratic culture. Last year, the team researched the history and critiques of public hearings, global examples of alternative public engagement practices and best practices for evaluating public participation. Stay tuned this year for updates on the dialogues and next steps of the project.  

Evaluating democratic engagement impacts

To create a framework for evaluating democratic engagement impacts, the Centre's Strengthening Canadian Democracy team launched the “Where to Start” workbook

Read More

Instead of only asking questions about the big topic of democracy, there are questions that apply to five core principles of democratic engagement: build capacity to participate, foster commitment to democratic values, deepen relationships and social connections, be equitable and caring, and establish accountability.  

Engaging high school students in democracy

To engage high school students in democracy, the Centre’s Strengthening Canadian Democracy team partnered with SFU Philosophy to host “Democracy in our Backyard: Ethical Issues in Local Governance." 

Read More

This was a collaborative and competitive event where teams of high school students analyze and discuss ethical dilemmas. Twelve teams from high schools around the Lower Mainland came together in the Jack P. Blaney Asia Pacific Hall to collaborate and engage in democratic practices.

Learning from young leaders during the federal election

To learn from young leaders’ perspectives of the 2021 federal election, the Centre partnered with Democratic Engagement Exchange at X University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and Stanfield Conversations at Dalhousie University to host a youth leaders forum. 

Read More

This forum was a national, democratic dialogue that included youth leaders from four major parties in Canada. These youth leaders came together to discuss their unique perspectives of issues that consisted of climate change, reconciliation, mental health and more.

Exploring mobilty pricing through Moving in a Livable Region infosite and dialogues

To build civic literacy and engage the residents of Metro Vancouver in dialogue around mobility pricing, Moving in a Livable Region (MLR) launched an infosite as part of a broader educational campaign that has reached residents in all corners of the region. 

Read More

The infosite provides definitions, goals and the in-depth background information to inform citizens about the facts of mobility pricing in Metro Vancouver.

To explore different concepts associated with mobility pricing, MLR hosted six local virtual dialogues and one in-person dialogue at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue building. Residents across the region shared their lived experiences and learned from each other. At the two-day in-person dialogue, MLR took participants through deeper literacy building around key issues facing the region, exploring concepts of mobility pricing, highlighting their own criteria for success in pricing, and developing broader proposals addressing the region’s mobility and pricing challenges.

Influencing grantmakers to bolster greater democratic stability

To build capacity for grantmakers to support initiatives that create pathways towards greater democratic stability, Dialogue Fellow Djaka Blais-Amare moderated a panel at the Environment Funders Canada conference. 

Read More

The panel spoke on strategic preparedness for environmental wins in a polarized world and how to work toward long-term consensus-building with people outside the traditional ‘envirosphere’ so that polarization and politics don’t derail environmental progress.

"Co-creating the cities we deserve through Indigenous knowledge" by Ginger Gosnell-Myers

To explore intersectional discussions on social justice, inclusivity, participatory design, healthy communities and future cities, a new book, Sacred Civics, was published in May. The book brings together renowned and rising voices and features a chapter by Dialogue Fellow Ginger Gosnell-Myers, titled "Co-Creating the Cities We Deserve through Indigenous Knowledge.

Facilitating parent forums with the BC Ministry of Education

To strengthen parent participation in a BC Ministry of Education initiative, Dialogue Fellow Dr. Robert Daum and the Centre's Salam Tsegaye facilitated and completed a What We Heard Report on five parent forums with various K12 education sector associations. 

Read More

The forum gathered feedback from parents regarding the Ministry's new model for online learning, changes to the legislation under Bill 8 and the resulting changes to enrolment of K-12 online learning delivery. 

Tracking democratic toxicity online with Samara Areto Monitorbot (SAMbot)

To deepen understanding about online toxicity in Canada’s democratic discourse, the Samara Centre, led by Dialogue Fellow Sabreena Delhon, and Areto Labs launched the Samara Areto Monitorbot (SAMbot), a bilingual machine learning bot that detects and tracks toxic sentiment on Twitter. 

Read More

SAMbot was deployed for the 2021 Canadian federal election period and collected data and insights about the online abuse directed at party leaders and incumbent candidates who ran for re-election across the country. The use of SAMbot to track toxic sentiment in other Canadian elections is being explored.

Developing custom workshops for Active Resilient Communities

To ignite conversation in multi-unit housing, Hey Neighbour Collective (HNC), led by Dialogue Associate Michelle Hoar, worked with HNC partners Building Resilient Communities and SFU’s Dr. Meg Holden to develop custom workshops for Co-Operative Housing Federation’s Active Resilient Communities pilot and spring conference. 

Read More

At these custom sessions with co-op residents, HNC activated resources developed in 2020/2021 in collaboration with Happy Cities such as the Together, Apart Toolkit for building social connections in multi-unit housing during the pandemic.

It's been a great learning experience for me. In times like this when the world is so polarised, we need the Centre for Dialogue even more than ever.

Winnie Cheung, Steering Committee

Bridging connections for climate engagement at COP26

To bridge global connections in climate action, delegates from our International Climate Engagement Network and Moving in a Livable Region teams attended the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, UK where the Centre launched the International Climate Engagement Network (ICEN) and continued the Cities on the Road to Glasgow programming.

Mobilizing Canadian multilevel climate action

To further Canadian multilevel climxate action, the Cities + COP26 Initiative (now renamed Cities + Climate) brought together federal, municipal, and NGO leaders during the timely setting of the COP26 conference in Glasgow, UK, and the renewal of Canada’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) as part of the terms of the Paris Accord. 

Read More

Through multiple, comprehensive dialogues, this initiative strengthened a pan-Canadian network of multilevel climate actors whose work would continue leading up to and during the conference in Glasgow. As part of the efforts of an international team, this initiative saw appropriate emphasis placed on multilevel climate action in the COP26 Presidency texts, and in Canada’s own efforts subsequently. Moving forward the Centre for Dialogue keeps this national network of multilevel climate actors alive as part of the Cities + Climate Initiative leading into COP27 (Egypt) and beyond.

Launching the International Climate Engagement Network at COP26

To promote innovation and help governments co-create movements for climate action, Elodie Jacquet, Robin Prest and Michael Small formally launched the International Climate Engagement Network (ICEN) at COP26. 

Read More

ICEN and partners were selected by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to host an official side event titled “Citizen Engagement for Climate Action”. Additional ICEN events at COP 26 included the “Live from Glasgow: Climate Engagement for Systems Change” web event to connect with participants around the world and an invitational lunch with leading organizations seeking to advance the field of climate engagement.

Highlighting emerging and international best practices in climate engagement

To highlight emerging and international best practices in climate engagement, ICEN released the report, "Can Public Participation Accelerate the Transition to Net-Zero?

Read More

This work was further featured at the Westminster Foundation for Democracy’s inaugural environmental democracy conference and through a partner session at the 2021 Open Government Partnership Global Summit.

Advancing systems-based approaches in public health

To advance systems-based approaches in public health, Dialogue Fellow Dr. Diane Finegood is progressing dialogue within health care systems. This includes co-chairing an expert panel formed by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the UK Academy of Medical Sciences as well as conducting a two-part workshop on systems thinking through the Association of Directors of Public Health.

Mobilizing action towards electric vehicles

To accelerate action towards electric vehicles (EV), Clean Energy Canada, led by Dialogue Fellow Mark Zacharias, convened key industry players in the EV battery space, resulting in a detailed roadmap for key federal Ministers and their staff. 

Read More

This was the origins of a formalized Canadian Battery Task Force, comprised of 19 key industry stakeholders, which is recognized by provincial and federal governments as a leading industry voice on building Canada’s battery industry. The Task Force’s advice and recommendations to-date have helped to inspire 2021 federal election platforms, ministerial mandate letters and budget allocations. Since the group was convened in spring 2021, Canada’s battery supply chain has risen to the top of federal and provincial government agendas, catalyzing billions of dollars in investment into the industry just in the last year.

Convening the Buy Clean Industry Aliance and industry leaders to decarbonize construction in Canada

To help decarbonize construction in Canada, Clean Energy Canada, led by Dialogue Fellow Mark Zacharias, convened the Buy Clean Industry Alliance with industry leaders from steel, cement, aluminum, forestry, and union groups. 

Read More

Alongside these stakeholders, Clean Energy Canada continues to encourage the federal government to "Buy Clean" with its massive infrastructure budget, simultaneously creating market demand for low-carbon construction products (e.g., steel, cement) and driving innovation. Over the last year, Clean Energy Canada and the Buy Clean Industry Alliance have conducted joint dialogue, building on information created for federal policymakers such as this roadmap and this report on lessons learned for Canada from similar policies in the US.

Photo credit: KK Law, naturallywood.com

Engaging with municipalities and building sector stakeholders for local solutions to mass timber barriers

To advance high performance, prefabricated, low embodied carbon construction materials, Renewable Cities, engaged with municipalities and building sector stakeholders on land use policy and permitting solutions. 

Read More

Prefab construction has the potential to create diverse, secure jobs in forest-based communities to meet domestic and international market demand for sustainable, net zero, low-embodied carbon buildings.

Addressing regional and local nature-based solutions and challenges  

To better understand and optimize the use of nature-positive solutions and approaches, SFU launched its Natural Solutions Initiative. Led by ACT’s Executive Director and Dialogue Fellow, Dr. Alison Shaw, this initiative will aim to support regions and communities as they grapple with responses to four crucial, often competing challenges: climate change, biodiversity, equity and reconciliation, and sustainable service delivery. 

Read More

ACT has convened a team of leading researchers and practitioners from across North America to develop a framework for nature-based solutions that multi-task. These solutions will be tailored and operationalized with key stakeholders at watershed, community, neighbourhood and building scales. Natural areas and ecosystem services are even more precious under a changing climate.

Announcing new Dialogue Fellows and Associates

To expand global knowledge and practice in dialogue, the Centre is pleased to have appointed six Dialogue Fellows in three new areas of practice: Teaching and Learning, Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Redefining Philanthropy. The Centre also appointed two new Fellows to our Climate Solutions stream. 

Read More

Our newest Fellows include: Kris Archie, Djaka Blais-Amare, Lindsay Heller, Dr. Jacqueline Koerner, Dr. Janet Moore, Anil Patel, Dr. Alison Shaw and Mark Zacharias.

In November 2021, the Centre was also pleased to announce the addition of 21 new Dialogue Associates to our esteemed community of over 90 people who are leaders in the practice of dialogue and engagement in our region. 

Advancing exceptional writing within SFU

To build capacity for exceptional writing within the SFU community, Founder of the Semester in Dialogue and Senior Fellow, Mark Winston, served as SFU Library’s inaugural writer in residence. 

Read More

In that capacity, Mark put on eight workshops for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and staff focused on communicating their academic work to public audiences. He also consulted on a number of publications for public audiences from SFU researchers, including Alice Fleerackers, Dr. Jennifer Wolowic and Shauna Sylvester. 

Growing a community of practice for social connectedness

To continue building community, social connectedness and resilience in multi-unit housing communities, Hey Neighbour Collective, led by Dialogue Associate Michelle Hoar, added a sixth organization to their community of practice, which now includes three rental housing operators and three non-profits. 

Celebrating Dialogue Fellows and their achievements 

To honour their dedication to dialogue, we are pleased to share updates from our Dialogue Fellows.

Read More

In June 2021, Dialogue Fellow, Sabreena Delhon, joined the Samara Centre for Democracy as their new Executive Director. 

In September 2021, and after her 16-year career in climate resilience as executive director of ACT, Deborah Harford embarked on a new adventure and handed ACT’s reins to Dr. Alison Shaw. Deborah moved on to be Head of Philanthropy and CEO of the Legible Foundation. 

In November 2021, Senior Dialogue Fellow, Dr. Jennifer Allen Simons, was presented the Canadians for a Nuclear Weapons Convention (CNWC) 2021 Distinguished Achievement Award for her longstanding commitment to nuclear disarmament.

In January 2022, Dialogue Fellow, Dr. Robert Daum, completed five years as Chair of The Laurier Institution. He was also invited to become an inaugural member of a new Canadian Network of Law & Humanities (CNLH).

Launching a 20-year commemorative book

To celebrate the Centre's 20th anniversary, we created a commemorative book that tells the story of our inauguration and all the people who helped build the Centre to what it is today. To request a physical copy, please email dialogue@sfu.ca

Upgrading the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue building

The Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue building has been reopened for the first time since the pandemic in September 2021 and room rentals are now available for booking. 

Read More

Recent completed renovations include lobby upgrades, Mary Filer glass sculpture installation, room amalgamation to create a programming space for a 100-person roundtable dialogue, technology and audio-visual upgrades and chair upgrades. 

We’d like to thank our generous funders for making our impact possible:

  • BC Hydro
  • BC Non-Profit Housing Association
  • BioTalent Canada 
  • Bruce and Lis Welch Community Endowment
  • Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
  • Catherine Donnelly Foundation
  • Centre for Dialogue Endowment
  • City of Burnaby 
  • City of New Westminster
  • City of North Vancouver
  • City of Vancouver
  • Forestry Innovation and Investment
  • Houssian Foundation 
  • Ivey Foundation
  • Jack P. Blaney Endowment Fund
  • LandlordBC
  • Lawson Foundation
  • M.H. Brigham Foundation
  • McConnell Foundation
  • Metro Vancouver
  • Mitacs
  • North Family Foundation
  • Province of British Columbia
  • RBC Foundation
  • Real Estate Foundation of BC
  • SFU Community Scholars Initiative
  • SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue Staff Award for Promising Future Dialogue Practitioners
  • SFU Work-Study Program
  • Sitka Foundation
  • Sylvester Family Award at the Centre for Dialogue
  • Tamarack Institute
  • The Simons Foundation
  • Trottier Family Foundation
  • Vancity
  • Vancouver Foundation
  • Yosef Wosk Family Endowment