About us
Commited to the inner work necessary for true change to flourish.
Our mission
To co-create a learning space that develops compassionate, reflective and responsive leadership in individuals and communities, supporting leaders to skillfully navigate emotions, conflict, power and difference grounded in a commitment to social justice, diversity and equity.
Our vision
A world where individual and collective leadership is based on justice and sustainability for all people, communities and the Earth; leadership that is self-aware, compassionate, collaborative, courageous, empowered and accountable.
History
The road we have taken
The Inner Activist emerged in 2006 as an effort to understand the pressing concerns and needs of social and environmental justice organizations, innovators, practitioners, organizers, and activists. Co-founders Ian Curtin, Brad Jarvis, and Frank Quinby interviewed 35 individuals in the social change sector across Turtle Island to conclude that a closer look at the connection between personal growth and one’s actions for change in the world is what is needed to transform our communities.
Since these initial findings, the Inner Activist has offered retreat style courses including Conscious Use of Power and Building Personal Mastery, with the mission to co-create a learning space that develops compassionate, reflective and responsive leadership in individuals and communities. We aim to support leaders to skillfully navigate emotions, conflict, power and difference grounded in a commitment to social justice, diversity and equity.
The Inner Activist is learning alongside the communities we work with. We continue our ongoing efforts to develop methods/approaches and building relationships that reflect intersectional, anti-oppressive, and decolonial values. We do our work in hopes of a world where individual and collective leadership is based on justice and sustainability for all people, communities and the Earth; leadership that is self-aware, compassionate, collaborative, courageous, empowered and accountable.
Our team
Who we are
We are supported by our staff, faculty, and steering committee who assist in the development of our courses and help us navigate our growth as an organization. Collectively our expertise is rooted in our work as facilitators, leadership trainers, counselors, educators, community organizers, intercultural and diversity consultants, public policy researchers, environmentalists, trade unionists and more. Central to our approach is the understanding and awareness that individuals and groups working for social change do so within the context of social inequity and power difference.
Faculty
Aslam Bulbulia
Aslam is a new settler on Coast Salish territories from South Africa. He has worked around the world as an educator, specialising in communication across cultures. He has a background in arts activism, dialogue, facilitation and planning. He currently works on community and youth engagement initiatives around Vancouver through numerous roles including Community Engagement Coordinator for SFU's Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies. He is constantly looking for ways to live the multiple perspectives on decoloniality he embodies.
Faculty
Camille Dumond
Camille has worked at the crossroads of healing and social justice for over 15 years. She currently supports refugee claimants as a group facilitator and trauma therapist with the Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture. Her passion and current training in Process Oriented Psychology and Conflict Facilitation – learning to unfold the deepest experiences that arise not only in our bodies, emotions and psychology, but also in our communities, earth and the world. She holds Masters Degrees in Adult Education and Counselling Psychology.
Faculty
Ian Curtin
Ian is a core faculty member at the Haven, a Canadian residential training centre on the leading edge of personal and professional development. He is also President of IC Possibilities Consulting Inc., a Victoria based company specializing in facilitating organizational dialogues. He offers the right combination of understanding and meeting organizational requirements, balancing the needs and priorities of multiple stakeholders, and deftly navigating the group dynamics that are an integral part of any human initiative. He loves people and brings his compassion for his own frailties and those of others to every situation.
Faculty
Jackie Larkin
Jackie has been a social justice activist for 40 years in the women's, labour and political action movements. In recent years she integrated a deep ecological perspective into her work. For nine years, Jackie has co-facilitated (with Maggie Zeigler) "Reconnecting to Life/The Work That Reconnects" Workshops which help us to explore our deepest feelings about our troubled world, to rediscover our capacity for joy and to re-create our human ecological relationship with all of life. In 2006, she left her 13-year job as Education Coordinator for the BC Nurses Union and continues to design and facilitate leadership development, strategic planning, facilitation skills and other courses. She works primarily with unions, community groups and in the health care sector.
Faculty
Jean-Pierre Guilhaume
Jean-Pierre was mentored under Learning as Leadership’s founder Claire Nuer for 25 years. As a founding member and pillar in the organization since its inception, he has been an executive coach with LaL since 1999, moving from Paris, France, to the United States, to help expand LAL's work. Jean-Pierre's clients have ranged from organizations like NASA, NAVAIR, Shell Oil, as well as individuals, families and couples. He has a passion for building sustainable environments, whether it’s in addressing people’s relationships or with our planet's sustainability issues. He received his diploma from Université René Descartes (1983) and his certification from the Ministry of National Education (1995). He taught Education Nationale in Paris from 1986 - 1999.
Faculty
Kris Archie
Kris a Secwepemc and Seme7 woman from the Ts’qescen First Nation. In her own words: “My lived experiences as a mixed blood woman, mother and community member informs my desire for inclusion, accessibility, and justice”. Archie is the Executive Director of The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, an open network to promote giving, sharing, and philanthropy in Aboriginal communities across the country. Kris works to transform philanthropy and contribute to positive change by creating spaces of learning, relationship-building and activation.
Faculty
Natasha Aruliah
Natasha has worked as a counselor and therapist in Canada, the UK and around the world primarily with clients who experienced oppression and marginalization. Her own lived experiences led to her work in social justice focusing not only on internal change, but also external and systemic change. She currently works as a consultant and facilitator in all areas of diversity, social justice, equity, and inclusion including UBC's Centre for Intercultural Communication, the Justice Institute of BC's Department of Counseling and Community Safety and Vancouver’s Aboriginal Healing Centre.
Faculty
Parker Johnson
Parkerhas more than 20 years of experience as a facilitator, trainer, and researcher in organizational change, diversity in the workplace, and intercultural communication. Parker also works with higher education institutions, profit and non-profit organizations focusing on facilitating leadership development, organizational change, engaging diversity, and creating inclusive and just communities. As a community activist, Parker has collaborated with community organizations to address concerns of youth and immigrant communities. His passion lies in working with people to live as a more compassionate, just, inclusive and responsible society.
Faculty
Staff
Jorge Salazar
Director
Jorge currently serves as Project Director for the Inner Activist. He came to Canada as a refugee from Colombia in late 2000, and has used his own immigration journey, life experiences, training and education to bridge communities and facilitate positive change within government, organizations and grassroots groups for more than 15 years. Jorge has worked to support connections between diverse communities, particularly between indigenous, immigrants and refugees among others, in BC, Canada and the Americas. He has worked with Immigrant Services Society of BC, MOSAIC, the International Institute for Child Rights and Development - University of Victoria, City of Vancouver, the Ecumenical Task Force for Justice in the Americas, PeerNet BC and most recently as a Manager for the Fresh Voices Initiative with the Vancouver Foundation.
Staff
Faye Wardrop
Accounting and Finance
Faye Wardrop is Principal of Seawest Consulting, a consulting practice providing financial oversight to business, not-for-profits and NGO’s for the past fifteen years. In her early career she was the operations manager for a real estate and property management firm before moving into a similar position with a national import, manufacturing, and wholesale company. Upon relocating to the West Coast, Faye assumed a management role in a non-profit organization delivering government programs related to employment, education and skills upgrading, and entrepreneurship. She has also served as a director on the boards of several NPO & NGO’s working in the areas of employment issues and work-force training for youth as well as the mature workforce.
Staff
Steering Committee
Kassandra Cordero
Kassandra Cordero is a settler born to a family of Chilean refugees on unceded Kwakiutl territory in Port Hardy BC. Living and working on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish First Nations, known as East Vancouver, Kassandra is passionate about issues of race and class and Indigenous rights. As the Director of Equity and Human Rights at the BC Federation of Labour, her areas of responsibility include women’s rights, human rights, international solidarity and Indigenous relations. Before working for the BC Federation of Labour, Kassandra got her start in the labour movement helping to organize her workplace into UFCW 1518. Kassandra worked as an organizer and servicing representative with the union before working as a facilitator with the BC Federation of Labour and eventually accepting a Director position at the BCFED.
Steering Committee
Nada Elmasry
Nada is a Libyan-born Palestinian. Prior to coming to Canada as a landed immigrant, Nada and her family were among the millions who were forced outside of their country and were deemed stateless. Due to her life experiences and education, Nada has fostered a deep passion for social justice and has shaped her life goals around values rooted in that field. Nada has been working with and engaging newcomers for several years. She currently oversees the refugee and new Canadian support programs at SFU. Her portfolio includes supporting refugee students, in addition to advancing diversity, inclusion, and equity work on campus. Nada is also currently involved in other programs and initiatives such as Beyond Borders: Refugee Livelihood Lab at RADIUS, Muslim Community Fellowship, and Fresh Voices Initiative of the Vancouver Foundation, which offers a way for racialized people to engage in dialogue and action to identify and remove barriers to their success. Nada is currently pursuing Master’s in Equity Studies in Education at SFU.
Steering Committee
Brad Jarvis
Brad is one of the co-founders of the Inner Activist along with having held many other roles, including Faculty member. He has a BA and MA in philosophy; most of his work was in the moral, social and political branches of that field. Brad used to work in Ottawa for a charity that researched and advocated public transportation. Brad acknowledges his privilege as a white, cis-hetero, man and his responsibility to be an ally. He has learned to use inner work processes to understand and heal from the inter-generational legacy of the holocaust which has transformed the work he does in the world.
Steering Committee
Ajay Puri
Ajay is a movement builder and social artist. He has 15 years experience in empowering communities and creating social change in the non-profit, academic, government and social innovation sectors. Mr. Puri has spoken to over 150 audiences nationally and internationally on topics dealing with social movements, social innovation, leadership, digital engagement, and healthcare transformation. He has co-founded many movements including: LeadNow, #EastVanLove, BeeVancity, RangiChangi Roots and most recently Changemakers Vancouver. He has also worked in the healthcare system for 15 years. in the fields of addictions, elder care, other marginalized communities and change management; most recently, he led the digital media and engagement team for the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council. He teaches social movement thinking at SFU RADIUS Ventures, Groundswell Social Ventures, Pearson and Bodwell Colleges. Ajay holds his Masters of Health Administration from UBC and has published five peer-reviewed articles on health research. He started his PhD but decided to put it on hold while he sits with larger systemic issues.
Steering Committee
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our practices
Holistic & heart-based
Body Mapping and Somatics
Anti-Oppression
Spirituality and Ritual
Popular Education
Spirituality and Ritual
Consent
Song, Dance, and Art
Non-violent Communication
The Inner Activist is a project of Tides Canada Foundation.
