Language & Diversity

Shannon Kelly (Co-Creator of Diversity Circles): Shannon joined BCIT in 2002 as teaching faculty in the Communication department, where she has been looking at diversity through numerous research projects. Shannon co-founded Diversity Circles with Zaa Joseph in 2015 and they achieved SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada) funding to help the BCIT community address the increasing diversity on campus using a grassroots, strengths-based approach which draws on an Indigenous framework. Diversity Circles has most recently received Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) federal funding through the Canada Research Chairs Program. Diversity Circles strives to build relationships with many people in the BCIT community and wider communities to do this work in safe, respectful, equitable ways.

Zaa Derik Gammel Joseph is a member of the Tl’azt’en Nation. He holds a BA from Capilano University and completed his Master of Arts in Professional Communication at Royal Roads University in 2013.

Zaa has been an Advisor in the BCIT Indigenous Services department since 2008. He is also a committee member of BCIT’s Indigenous Advisory Council responsible for the first Aboriginal Strategic Plan (2010-2013), was a Director-at-Large for BCIT’s Faculty and Staff Association (2013-2019) and sits on the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Equity Committee and Aboriginal Post-Secondary Education Working Group (2018-present). Zaa was recently seconded to participate with Indigenous Initiatives and Partnerships for the building of the BCIT Indigenous Vision (2018-2019).

Zaa is the co-founder of Diversity Circles at BCIT and organizes, facilitates workshops and continues to build internal and external relationships. Zaa is very proud to work with Shannon, Kyla, Splash, Andrew, BCIT RDI and the Diversity Circles Steering Committee to create and lead organizational and human-centred culture shifts that support the growth of equity seeking-groups.

Kyla (she/her) joined the BCIT Faculty & Staff Association in 2013 in the newly created position of Member Engagement Officer and joined the Diversity Circles team when it was founded. In 2022, Kyla moved into a new role at BCIT as the Manager, Stakeholder Relations and continues as a co-founder of the Diversity Circles initiative. Building on her degree in Political Science and International Development Kyla has worked for social justice in both Canada and Guatemala. With almost two decades of experience in non-profit administration, governance, fundraising, engagement and communications, Kyla is an active volunteer having served on many boards and most recently was a Director with the BC Library Trustees Association (BCLTA), and the Chair of Vancouver Public Library. Kyla currently serves on the board of the Vancouver Writers Festival, the board of the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation (NCDD), and – in 2017 – Kyla was selected to attend the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference. Kyla is currently completing an MA (Interdisciplinary Studies).

Kyla is a White person of Jewish descent living on the unceded lands xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.