Black History Month: A panel conversation on the Black experience in the Faculty of Applied Science

This event has passed.

Watch the Recording

This panel event was intended to be an informal conversation on the Black Experience in the Faculty of Applied Science. Students, staff, and faculty are coming together to share their experiences of being Black in a faculty that is – unfortunately – under-representative of the Black population in Canada. The event has passed but we welcome participants from all backgrounds to watch the live recording so they can learn and take the knowledge they gain to create more inclusive spaces for Black students, staff and faculty in UBC Applied Science.  

Meet the Panelists

Ashley Kairu

Ashley Kairu is in her final year of chemical engineering, with a passion for clean energy and sustainability. Originally from Kenya, she’s lived in Uganda and South Africa prior to her moving to Vancouver. Since moving here she’s been working hard to create strong community ties for Black and African students at UBC. She was president of the UBC Africa Awareness Initiative that strives to improve discourse surrounding and including Africa while creating a community for Africans at UBC. She is currently working with the faculty as an Equity Ambassador and is the founder and president of the UBC chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Natalie Chambers, RN, MSN

Natalie has been a Registered Nurse for over 15 years, alumna from the UBC MSN program in 2019, and now serves as manager of the School of Nursing’s Clinical Practice Placement Unit (CPPU). Natalie & her team interacts with clinical sites across the lower mainland to ensure both undergraduate and graduate nursing students have access to relevant clinical practice experiences during their degree program. Her team ensures that each nursing student receives the quality clinical practice experience required to complete their education.

In her role as CPPU manager, she also serves as co-chair of the School’s Anti-Racism Committee (ARC). Natalie co-led the development of the ARC's comprehensive workplan to foster an equity-oriented, culturally safe, and decolonizing environment. This work includes embedding an anti-racist orientation in policies and practices, and building the leadership capacity of students, faculty and staff to be agents of structural change within the university, the nursing profession and health care system.

Natalie is a leader in building respectful and inclusive environments that reflect the diversity of students and nurses within the academic setting. She has also been instrumental in including students in anti-racism work and supported the development of a Nursing Student Anti-Racism Caucus. Natalie was also selected as one of the 2022 recipients of the UBC President’s Staff Awards for Antiracism and Inclusive Excellence.

LINKS:

School of Nursing profile

President’s Staff Award for Advancing Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence

Linked In profile

Bashir Mohamed

Bashir Mohamed is the former EDI.I Coordinator in the Faculty of Applied Science. In his free time, he is a researcher and writer focused on Black Canadian history in Western Canada. His primary interest is researching the legacy of Black Civil Rights movement in Western Canada in the early to mid 1900s. He has written for the Canadian Encyclopedia, CBC, and The Globe and Mail.

You can check out some of Bashir's work by visiting the virtual APSC Black History Month museum.