ABOUT US
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Dr. Amie McLean is a white settler living on the unceded territories of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc within Secwépemc'ulucw. She is a sociologist, ethnographer, and educator whose work focuses on social justice issues in Canadian post-secondary education and labour markets. She has published on post-secondary funding policies for Indigenous students, neoliberalisation and trucking industry regulation, and the racialised politics of mobility among long haul truckers. She previously served as Co-Chair of the Learning at Intercultural Intersections: Towards Equity, Inclusion, and Reconciliation international conference and co-edited a resulting special issue in the Journal of Intercultural Studies. She serves on the CEWIL EDI Committee, the ACE-WIL EDI Committee, and the Advisory Circle for the SFU R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Project. As Project Manager for Justice, Equity, and Inclusion (JEI) for Work Integrated Learning at Simon Fraser University, she supports the work of a team of WIL JEI practitioners on a broad range of projects and initiatives. In doing so, she applies intersectional, decolonizing, and anti-oppressive approaches to WIL practices, processes, and curriculum.
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Kaitlyn is a Queer Canadian woman of White settler ancestry currently residing on the unceded ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish Peoples. As a certified individual placement and support (IPS) practitioner, Kaitlyn specializes in vocational coaching for folks with mental health and disability related barriers to employment. Informed by the principles of intersectionality and universal design for learning, Kaitlyn strives to support the unique needs of each individual learner. Kaitlyn holds a BAH in Human Rights & Sociology, a graduate certificate in Change Management, and a Leadership certificate from Simon Fraser University. As a life-long learner, Kaitlyn’s approach to justice, equity, and inclusion is grounded in the recognition that this work is an iterative and ongoing process of learning and un-learning, in which all are welcome to participate.
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Yasmin is an immigrant settler woman from Mexico who resides on the unceded, ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples. She is an undergraduate student majoring in International Studies at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Her experiences prior and during her time in Canada have shaped her knowledge on many of the challenges faced by marginalized communities, and have created a deep interest in contributing to an environment of better intercultural communication, equity, justice, inclusion, and accessibility. Yasmin values communication, honesty, respect, and tolerance, which she hopes to bring to every area of her life. She likes hiking, drawing, reading books and webcomics, coffee, and thrillers.
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Leah is a queer and disabled white settler living on unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories. She believes in making change through meaningful learning experiences that draw from decolonizing approaches, universal design in learning, and critical digital pedagogy. Her Ph.D research focuses on the intersections of race, disability, and public health in Canada, and she has taught courses in Canadian history, public health history, and the histories of race and disability. She is grateful to have participated in professional development opportunities on decolonizing and anti-racist pedagogies through SFU’s Centre for Educational Excellence. As an equity practitioner, Leah seeks to use education as a tool to dismantle systems of oppression, drawing from her lived experience of disability and ableism. Outside of work, Leah enjoys choral music, befriending cats, crafting, and going to farmer’s markets.
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Shari is a woman of colour born to refugee and immigrant parents living as a settler on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples. Drawing from personal and professional lived experiences, Shari approaches her work with a passion for intercultural integrity and building capacity at all levels in support of equitable, accessible and inclusive work and learning environments.
Shari’s work to-date has focused on sustainable educational development and professional learning for diverse learner audiences. She has held a variety of roles including as intercultural/EDI facilitator, program manager, learning coordinator, team lead, instructional designer, and occupation-specific language instructor in Canada, the UK, Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Working in the contexts of post-secondary institutions, international humanitarian organizations, intergovernmental education organizations, multilateral development banks, and community and settlement sectors exposed her to social injustices that urged her to advocate for a culture of lifelong learning, unlearning, and global citizenship education.
Shari is skilled at coaching and coordinating projects and teams, designing and facilitating applied learning opportunities, and innovating with impact. She holds an M.Ed in Educational Technology and BA in Sociology from UBC, and a post-graduate diploma in applied international management (apmcp) from Capilano University. She is also among the inaugural class of the First Nations’ themed Arts One Program at UBC, ‘The Spirit in the Land’ and remains passionate about engaging groups in self-reflection and dialogue toward a just, inclusive and thriving society.
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Rain is an immigrant settler and a Turkish woman who resides on the unceded ancestral territories of the Coast Salish Peoples. She is an undergraduate student majoring in Interactive Arts and Technology and minoring in Publishing at Simon Fraser University (SFU). Her diversified cultural background as an international student has helped her better understand the ideals and necessity of justice, equity and inclusion systems. As a Graphic Designer for WIL JEI team, she aims to create designs that can speak to as many people as possible and are functional yet emotionally rich. Her work is guided by a strong belief in design as a way of building relationships between ideas and reality, and as an opportunity for improving the connections between people. Rain, loves watching movies, reading books and playing cozy games especially on rainy afternoons.
WHAT IS WORK INTEGRATED LEARNING (WIL)?
WIL provides students with the opportunity to explore career options and gain experience through various programs, most prominently Co-op. Click here to learn more about the different types of WIL opportunities at SFU.
Why JUSTICE, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION (JEI)?
When it comes to equity and inclusion work, there are a lot of acronyms out there. At SFU and beyond, EDI (equity, diversity, and inclusion) is widely used. So, why has our team decided to go with JEI (justice, equity, and inclusion)?
We use the term ‘justice’ to refer to our collective commitment to anti-oppressive transformational change. This commitment involves actively working alongside the communities we seek to serve to dismantle systemic barriers and oppressive power dynamics. Our goal is to nurture more equitable, inclusive, and empowering experiences within WIL, our institution, and our communities.
Our team is also committed to doing equity work. Distinct from equality, an equity perspective recognizes that because of systemic barriers, prejudice, and discrimination based on aspects of one’s identity, some people do not have the same opportunities as others. Engaging in equity work involves taking intentional actions to remove barriers for people who have been historically excluded, are underrepresented, and/or experience marginalization (UBC, n.d.).
Finally, our team works toward creating meaningful inclusion, where everyone can have a sense of safety and belonging and where all peoples’ contributions are recognized, acknowledged, and valued (O’Mara, 2015). Justice, equity, and inclusion form the core of our team name not as abstract concepts but as commitments to action. Diversity is the reality of the communities we are a part of and seek to serve; our team does the work through our active commitment to justice, equity, and inclusion.
References
O’Mara, J. (2015). Diversity and inclusion, definitions of. In J. Bennett (Ed.), The SAGE encyclopedia of intercultural competence (pp. 268-269). Thousand Oaks,, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781483346267.n93
UBC. n.d. “Equity & Inclusion Glossary of Terms.” UBC Equity &Inclusion Office. Available: https://equity.ubc.ca/resources/equity-inclusion-glossary-of-terms/