Sharing stories, claiming spaces
Graduate students Pen穩na Sara-Lynn Harding and Annie Pumphrey collected stories from current and emerging leaders across northern British Columbia as part of the Claiming Spaces project. The stories are meant to inspire a diverse group of future leaders.
Everyone has a story. It could be a story of perseverance. A story of resiliency. A story of finding your voice.
A new project led by two University of Northern British Columbia graduate students gives leaders in northern British Columbia space to share their stories while inspiring others to create their own stories of leadership in action.
The Claiming Spaces project is a partnership between 蹤獲扞⑹s , the and the . 蹤獲扞⑹ graduate students Pen穩na Sara-Lynn Harding and Annie Pumphrey spent the summer collecting the stories of leaders across northern B.C. and designed a website to share them.
From elected officials to community advocates to fellow students, the 11 contributors to came from diverse backgrounds. They all shared how they claimed their space in leadership and encouraged others to get involved.
Every person you see on the website, in the interviews were very excited and enthusiastic to be part of this, Pen穩na says. They were excited to contribute. The response we had was very positive.
Initially designed as a series of workshops, the Claiming Spaces project needed a new vision when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. By transitioning to a video format, Pen穩na and Pumphrey were able to seek out a diverse group of contributors and make the project accessible to more people.
We were all brainstorming what would work best and we came to the conclusion that small digestible videos would be a great solution, Pumphrey said. Everyone is online so much these days. We didnt want to have something too intense or not accessible.
Pen穩na, who recently completed her term as the first Indigenous women president of the Northern British Columbia Graduate Student Society, helped to recruit some of the interview subjects.
I was brought in to bring an Indigenous perspective to the project and also to access the network that Ive developed, she says.
Claiming Spaces is part of the initiative, a program created with the goal of involving more women in local politics through pilot projects among municipalities throughout Canada. IWAU and the FCM jointly funded Pen穩na and Pumphreys positions.
The website went live earlier this fall and a will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 24, as part of
Pen穩na hopes the project will continue with more videos added over time.
In the future, we can keep adding interviews to the website. Its not meant to be a snapshot in time, its meant to grow and expand as needs change, Pen穩na says.
The project was both a summer job opportunity for Pen穩na and Pumphrey as well as a chance to be inspired themselves. IWAU co-founders and 蹤獲扞⑹ faculty members Dr. Zo禱 Meletis and Dr. Annie Booth met regularly with Pen穩na and Pumphrey to offer support and community.
Having this project and being able to talk to other women who are in leadership and members of other communities and hear from them and learn from them was a highlight of my summer, Pen穩na says.
Pumphrey echoed those sentiments and said she also gained valuable skills while editing the videos and building out the website.
It was wonderful to have a job where I was learning to create content in a COVID world, she says. I think we both gained so many useful communication skills.