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Navigating the Big Divides

MARCH 26, 2025, Burnaby B.C.

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ABOUT THIS EVENT

Feeling the strain of division in your team, organization, or community? Finding it challenging to engage in dialogue with those who hold diverging views? You’re not alone.

Join us for a 2-hour session to dip your toes in finding new strategies to deal with conflict – without losing sight of what matters most to you. We will apply the Polarity Management Framework* to explore the challenge of holding steadfast convictions and staying open to other perspectives.
Through this session, you can expect to:

  • Feel less isolated by connecting with others who are grappling with divisiveness.
  • Apply a framework to gain greater self-awareness and fresh insights.
  • Identify new actions to be more intentional when dealing with differences.

This session is ideal for individuals seeking to strengthen their leadership and relational skills. It supports participants to engage more effectively with conflicts and differences.

*a model and set of principles developed by Barry Johnson to help look at complex situations in a new way.

What guidelines will be in place? Conversations about division can be challenging and may bring up strong emotions. You will be expected and supported to:

  • Engage respectfully and contribute to a positive group dynamic and learning environment.
  • Practice self-reflection by focusing on your own actions rather than trying to change others.
  • Embrace discomfort as part of learning, trusting it can lead to valuable insights.
  • Take care of yourself and consider seeking support outside the group if needed.

Session Hosts

NikNaz Kahnamoui, MA, PMP, CLCC (she/her). With over two decades of experience in strategic and operational planning and implementation, I partner with established and emerging mission-driven organizations to identify and create pathways to organizational clarity, development, and sustainable impact. I approach my work from a social justice lens, meeting organizations where they are and supporting them in their transformation efforts in line with their mandates.

I am a first-generation queer immigrant from Iran and settler on the unceded lands of the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations.

Lynda Gerty, MA, CEC, PCC (she, her). Over the past decade, I have served as a leadership coach and organizational consultant to dozens of executive directors and senior leaders who are navigating change, seeking to increase their impact, and working to enhance their team’s health and effectiveness. My consulting approach is informed by my long-standing commitment to anti-oppression and social justice, and deep expertise in the fields of adult learning, group dynamics, and systems change.

I am a fifth-generation settler of Irish, Scottish, and French descent, and member of the LGBTQIA+ community, residing on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ people.

Register Now!

This in-person session is open to all members of the BCIT employee, student, and internal partner (e.g. student association, alumni association, unions) community.

Register below and a calendar invitation will be sent to you. Please let us know if have any additional needs to participate fully in this event.

Expectations for Behaviour

Diversity Circles, as part of the BCIT Respect, Diversity, and Inclusion (RDI) Office, has outlined the Expectations for Behaviour for our events and initiatives.

Diversity Circles has always benefitted from the empathy, sincerity, and respectful curiosity of our community, and this has helped create events and initiatives where we hold productive and authentic discussions, advancing our knowledge and utilization of equity, diversity, and inclusion principles.

As our events and initiatives continue to reach out to diverse audiences which include BCIT employees, students, and partners (BCIT Student Association, BCIT Alumni Association, and industry guests), and as we have moved towards presenting events both in person and via teleconferencing platforms, we realize that having a set of expectations for behaviour will help maintain the accountable, respectful spaces our community has come to expect from Diversity Circles events and initiatives.

Please take the time to review our Expectations for Behaviour prior to your upcoming participation

RSVP

Please do a unique registration for each person

47 out of 48 available DC-2025-03 Navigating the Big Divides
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LOCATION

BCIT Burnaby Campus
SE2-214 (Town Square D)
Burnaby B.C. V5G 3H2

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DATE/TIME

Wed. Mar. 26, 2025 2:30PM to 4:30PM

2025-03-26 14:30:00 2025-03-26 16:30:00 America/Vancouver Navigating the Big Divides BCIT Burnaby Campus BCIT kepstein@bcit.ca

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