Please join us for our Black History Month Event, February 24th 6pm- 730 pm PST.
The theme for 2022 focuses on the importance of Black Health and Wellness which is right up SNIWWOC’s alley, as a holistic health organization. There are economic and health barriers, disparities and discrimination that are found at mainstream institutions for Black people. This year SNIWWOC will talk about how the Black communities have fostered good health and wellness and what barriers they have faced to embark on Black health and wellness. COVID-19 has more than ever exposed these barriers, disparities and intersectionality for Black people and has highlighted the need for identification, representation and diversity for an inclusive society.
We are please to welcome Alison McLean, UBC Medical Researcher and Venecia Williams, Co-Founder of Power of Discourse Consulting as our guest panelists who will be discussing the issues of representation, identity and diversity as it relates to access to health and wellness for the Black community. They will share with us a presentation on Black women in history who have inspired changed and pioneered health reforms, and we will talk about navigating modern wellness as Black Women.
JERI Minister Ravi Kahlon will join us as a guest speaker to speak to our recent recognition of “Black Excellence” on the Province’s first Black Excellence Day, which was January 4th, 2022. He will speak about how the province plans to support Black-led organizations (like ours) moving forward. Exciting!
You don’t want to miss this event! Join the event on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/89518238835
Meeting ID: 895 1823 8835
To learn more and register, click here.
For media enquiries, please contact domi@sniwwoc.ca at least 48 hours prior to the event.
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We acknowledge that this event is hosted from the traditional territory of the Lekwungen people, currently and specifically the Esquimalt and Songhees Nation.
Meet our speakers!
Venecia Williams (she/her) is a post-secondary educator and curriculum developer. She is also the co-founder of Power of Discourse Consulting Inc., an EDI consulting company that merges lived experience with evidence-based data to support schools and organizations that are committed to creating safe, respectful, and inclusive spaces.
Originally from Jamaica, Venecia moved to Japan after completing her undergraduate studies. Her experience as a Black woman who visibly stood out in that culture influenced her decision to pursue graduate studies in comparative culture in the U.K.
Venecia immigrated to Canada in 2016 and has merged two of her passions, teaching, and advocacy. In addition to her work as an EDI consultant, she is passionate about making post-secondary education equitable, diverse, and inclusive by working with colleagues to examine different pedagogical frameworks which support EDI. She creates and delivers curriculum to foster intercultural awareness and sensitivity and deliberately creates space for critical discourse on EDI-related issues.
Alison Mclean is a Researcher on Health Systems as well as anti-Blackness and hate. She is also an educator, advocate and consultant on anti-racism, anti-oppression and the effects of colonialism through Sisonke Inc. Alison has extensive experience working with vulnerable populations and diverse groups of people. Her fluency and working knowledge in French, Ndebele, Zulu, Spanish and Portuguese have enabled her to connect with varying communities all around the world.
Her work addresses racism and equity issues using a human rights and social justice framework that takes intersectionality of identities into account. This work is done through employing the transformative concept of anti-racism whereby racism is consistently identified, described and then dismantled.
Alison also consults and facilitates culturally informed engagement and representation of Racialized and oppressed folks with large institutions and organizations.