Best practices for effective allyship

Text reads 'Equity and Inclusion in Action: JEDII STEM Series.' Three people are talking.

Overview

Do you hold any dominant identities (ex. male cis-gendered, able-bodied, heterosexual, white)? Have you considered how you can show up as an ally for historically, persistently, or systemically marginalized (HPSM) groups in a respectful way?

Engaging in allyship is an important pathway to taking tangible action to empower and support different equity-deserving groups. Join a conversation with a diverse team of facilitators to explore best practices (and common pitfalls) for engaging in thoughtful and intentional allyship with HPSM groups. We will also provide opportunities to dig into realistic and tricky scenarios, and practice allyship in small groups.

We hope that by the end of this session you will feel more confident and more “comfortable with discomfort” in these scenarios.

*The JEDII STEM Series offers regular, informal educational sessions on topics ranging from considering JEDII within your research program to setting up inclusive search processes for faculty and staff. Learn more about the series.

Facilitators

  • Ajay Puri, Equity & Inclusion Strategist, Equity & Inclusion Office
  • Alexandria Dupont, Workplace Accessibility Specialist, Centre for Workplace Accessibility
  • Michael Antunes, Workplace Accessibility Specialist, Centre for Workplace Accessibility
  • Ashley Welsh, Interim Associate Director, Skylight (Science Centre for Learning and Teaching), Faculty of Science
  • Derek Thompson – Thlaapkiituup, Indigenous Initiatives Advisor, Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Faculty of Medicine
  • Maï Yasué, Associate Director, Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Faculty of Medicine

Accessibility

We are committed to providing a welcoming, accessible experience. If you require an accessibility-related measure, please indicate in the registration form or contact Vanessa Kim (vanessa.kim@ubc.ca).

The following accessibility-measures will be available.

  • Closed captioning
  • Transcripts
  • Presentation materials will be shared in advance

What to expect

The key questions that we will address are:

  • What are some key practices to be an effective ally?
    • How do you show up for others in a way to center them and not yourself?
    • How can you work towards making fewer mistakes and recovering more gracefully after mistakes?
  • What can we be doing to ensure that we are continuing to learn about the experiences of people from different HPSM groups?

Who can join

The JEDII STEM Series is open to faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students engaged in integrating Justice, Equity, Decolonization, Indigenization and Inclusion in their units.

While this series originated as a collaboration between the Faculty of Science, Applied Science and the Equity & Inclusion Office, people from different academic and non-academic units are welcome. Many of the guests and participants are from non-STEM fields as the topics covered are relevant to units across the university.

Program lead(s)

Maï Yasué (mai.yasue@ubc.ca)
Associate Director
Office of Respectful Environments, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Faculty of Medicine

Ajay Puri (ajay.puri@ubc.ca)
Equity & Inclusion Strategist
Equity & Inclusion Office