Courageous Conversations
Not just allyship, but ACTION: Insights on how to implement the changes needed to address EDI
February 6, 2023
Dr. Wanda Costen will share with the University of Calgary community her insights on what solidarity means across equity-deserving groups. Dr. Costen’s extensive experience as an educator, researcher, and leader across various sectors, from the postsecondary to the private and public sectors, and active engagement with the community will be invaluable in learning about change through a collaborative spirit. In her talk, she will highlight how to be leaders in bringing change through EDI and anti-racist lenses and build solidarity across the various issues for social change.
The talk will allow us to reflect and think through intersectional perspectives about how to take action toward equity, diversity and inclusion and be good allies and supporters. Through narratives and stories, Dr. Costen will give us ways of thinking through courage, safe spaces, solidarity in action, and anti-racism and EDI work on campus and beyond. To build on the conversations that have been occurring on campus on how to lead and support initiatives and calls for change to make the campus more diverse, inclusive and equitable, Dr. Costen will offer suggestions and ideas to advance change for everyone in their different roles and responsibilities towards EDI and anti-racism.
Dr. Malinda Smith is the inaugural Vice Provost and Associate Vice President Research (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) and a full professor of political science at the University of Calgary. Prior to joining the UCalgary she was a full professor of political science at the University of Alberta, where she held various roles including Provost Fellow (EDI Policy) in the Office of the Provost, and Associate Chair (Graduate Studies) in the Department of Political Science.
Dr. Smith has served on numerous higher education governance committees, including as Vice President (Equity Issues) for the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, and as Chair of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion External Review Committee for the Canada Research Chairs. Currently, she serves on SSHRC Governing Council and Executive; as Vice Chair of the Inter-Institutional Advisory Committee for the Scarborough Charter, on Statistics Canada’s Immigration and Ethnocultural Statistics Advisory Committee; and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada’s External EDI Advisory Board.
Dr. Smith is the coauthor, editor, or coeditor of 7 books, numerous articles, book chapters and reports and has given dozens of invited keynotes and public lectures in the areas of equity, diversity, human rights, and decolonization in higher education, African political economy, and international relations. Dr. Smith is the coauthor of The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities (2017); coeditor of Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics (OUP 2023); the Nuances of Blackness in the Canadian Academy (UofT Press, 2022); States of Race: Critical Race Feminism for the 21st Century (BTL 2010). and three books on Africa, including Securing Africa: Post-9/11 Discourses on Terrorism (2010).
Dr. Smith is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including Calgary Black Chambers’ Lifetime Achievement Award (2023), an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Simon Fraser University (2021), Compelling Calgarians (2021), the International Studies Association’s Women’s Caucus’s Susan S. Northcutt Award (2020), 100 Accomplished Black Women Honouree (2020), the ISA-Canada Distinguished Scholar Award (2018-19), P.E. Trudeau Foundation Fellow (2018), the HSBC Community Contributor of the Year Award (2016); and the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ Equity Award (2015).
Dr. Wanda Costen, Dean of Smith School of Business, joined the Queen’s University community in July 2021. Dr. Costen is known for being a champion of inclusiveness in business, and her collaborative approach to leadership brings a unique combination of experience in academic leadership, research and teaching, as well as senior management roles in the private and public sector.
Dr. Costen engages and collaborates with community and business leaders, and university faculty, staff, students, and alumni as part of her ongoing commitment to ensuring Smith School of Business research and teaching prepares its graduates to meet society’s changing expectations of business.
Dr. Costen earned a Ph.D. in sociology at Washington State University, an EMBA from Pepperdine University, and Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy, and has undertaken research in areas such as managing diversity, racial and gender inequality in organizations, women and leadership, and strategic human resources. Dr. Costen’s passionate belief that businesses can drive positive social impact has made her a catalyst for partnerships between academia, business and public organizations on diversity initiatives and training programs throughout her career.
Dr. Costen is on the boards of the Kingston Economic Development Corporation, as well as the Business Schools Association of Canada (BSAC).
Oki Niistowoak Siipiyanatohkomiaaki.
Kitohkanaiksimmatsimmohpowawa.
Elder Colleen Sitting Eagle has worked with young people all their working years in many different but similar aspects. From being a Youth Camp Coordinator,Youth Prevention Juvenile Counsellor, Crime prevention with Gleichen R.C.M.P. and Blackfoot Tribal Police, Researcher for Siksika Culture and Heritage to being a Language Teacher/Liaison for Siksika Schools. Colleen learned her Siksika history from her late parents and the honour of working with knowledgeable elders. She was one of the first groups from Siksika to be integrated to start her schooling in Strathmore, AB. She previously attended and continues to take courses from the University of Calgary.
She is gifted with two beautiful children with loosing her son last year (2022). She has six grandchildren ranging from 7-21 years old.