No Child Alone: an app designed to support children during the COVID pandemic

Alissa Antle, PhD, explains that a collaboration between Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Curatio, a digital health company that develops peer-to-peer private online support communities, is creating a digital application that will help children overcome social-emotional and mental health challenges related to the impact of COVID-19. “Are children in danger when they go outdoors?” asks…

Coast Mental Health’s Clean Team back up and running again

Mental health in the 21st century is still a topic that is surrounded by stigma. When talking about disorders like anxiety or depression, tones and voices in our community are still hushed. An organization that does not shy away from spreading awareness on mental health, and helping those in a position where they are unable…

Taking the road less travelled – Revolutionizing the world of STEM

  Innovations in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) drive a large portion of today’s job market. Yet while many women now choose to pursue studies in STEM following post-secondary, the STEM sector remains a male-dominated one. “It’s highlighted that women, even if they finish their degree in STEM, are less likely to enter the…

A sense of belonging

“We’re trying to do our part to support newcomer youth in their transition into a new home, a new country, a new community,” says Mike Lally, manager of youth programs at DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society (DCRS). DCRS aims to empower newcomers and other diverse communities so they can build the life they want in Canada.…

A seat in the tasting room for queer and BIPOC people

Diversity in Brewing is a new initiative aimed at diversifying the B.C. craft brewing landscape, awarding queer and BIPOC students a scholarship to aid their studies, and offering diversity and inclucity resources to breweries province-wide. Heather Keegan, coordinator of the Diversity in Brewing initiative, talks about the barriers to accessibility that the founders of the…

Taylor Hui and the BeaYOUtiful initiative

Taylor Hui, creator of The BeaYOUtiful Foundation, has been nominated for the Young Woman of Distinction Award 2020 by YWCA Metro Vancouver for encouraging self-esteem, self-love and empowerment. “I remember being 16-years-old and thinking, there needs to be a space for young girls to understand their self-love journey and have a safe dialogue about their…

CommuniCreate builds newcomer youths’ confidence and community connections

The 2018 statistics from the Surrey Local Immigration Partnership show that youth make up over 60% of the area’s newcomer population. However, unlike for adult newcomers, there are limited options for these youth to learn English. The lack of youth-accessible language learning opportunities led SFU students Saba Fatemi, Eunbee Baik and Rufaida Kheraj as well…

Exploring art in times of crisis: a mirror to the past

Jairo Salazar, art historian and instructor for Coquitlam College and Mobil Art School, will be delivering a digital seminar on Art in Times of Crisis in partnership with the Richmond Art Gallery on Aug. 25. The webinar will explore viruses, plagues, illnesses, and pandemics in art, and is the second in a series of talks…

Women of Vancouver – Yayoi Hirano and the Yayoi Theatre Movement Society

Yayoi Hirano was honoured at Vancouver Asian Heritage Month’s (VAHM) Virtual Recognition Awards Ceremony 2020. VAHM’s vision is to recognize and promote the inclusion and social integration of Pan-Asian Canadian communities in Canada. Born and raised in Japan, Hirano moved to Vancouver in 2002 after spending a number of years setting up her theatre company,…

BACI strives to sustain beacons of inclusion beyond the pandemic

Created in 1956, the Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion (BACI) offers a range of community services to support the inclusion and belonging of people with disabilities. Co-executive director Richard Faucher, a long-time advocate for human rights and social justice, has been with the non-profit for 30 years. “People with disabilities are still perceived as a…

Nicole Guzzo and her initiative across the globe

“When you educate a woman, you educate a whole generation of people,” is the message that motivated Nicole Guzzo as she volunteered and created an NGO across the globe. A fashion designer from Vancouver, Guzzo began Prakasa Co. (pronounced prakasha), a non-registered charitable organization in 2017, that plays different roles in the three different countries…

Exploring narratives that shape belonging

The Here and There: In-Between Worlds online lecture is part of SFU’s 2020 Conversation Series on Identity and Citizenship and will take place Saturday, June 20 from 1–2 p.m. SFU Scholar-in-Residence and Limited-Term Lecturer Amyn Sajoo started the conversation series in 2018 as a partnership between SFU and the Ismaili Centres Canada. “My onstage guests,…