This session will be provided in both English and French, simultaneously. Participants will be able to pose questions in the language they are most comfortable.

Anti-oppression, as defined in Pulling Together is a “a framework for understanding the world and your own place in it, questioning and challenging your practices, and creating new approaches that counter oppression and lead toward reconciliation and decolonization. 

In this session, we’ll dive deeper into anti-oppression frameworks, identifying ways in which you can apply this lens to your work to ensure it is accessible and equitable for all – with an emphasis on the importance of anti-oppression in times of uncertainty. Over the course of the session, session hosts and guests will share some tools and practices that you can return to when you need them specifically around confronting anti-Blackness, anti-racism and anti-LGBTQ2S+ occurrences.

Update: To address the extreme injustice and anti-Black racism of this moment, we have added an optional extra 30 minutes to the session; to make room for a space to honour collective reflection, grief and conversation.

Guests for this session include:

Victoria Rodney – Community organizer and Equity Commissioner at University of Waterloo

Kassondra Schwab – Quesnel Pride Society president and youth project lead on Project LGBTQ+ Community Support, an RBC Future Launch Community Challenge project. 

Hannah McGechie – Executive Director of the Ten Oaks Project, an Ottawa-based organization that delivers summer camp and year-round programs for children, youth and families from LGBTQ+ communities.