The ACEC-BC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee invites you to join us on March 8, 2021 for virtual event on EDI in Design and Construction. Guest speakers from City of Vancouver, TransLink, and Canadian Equality Consulting will be discussing their experience with EDI in practice of Design and Construction, strategies they’ve used, and the results and outcomes.

Who will you hear from?

City of Vancouver

Topics: Public Space Planning, Strategies for Advancing Projects

• Belinda Chan, Public Space Planning Analyst, City of Vancouver
• Kathleen Corey, Public Space Design Engineer, City of Vancouver

Translink

Topics: EDI and the Transport 2050 Vision, Accessible Bus Stops

• Sarah Ross, Director of System Planning, TransLink

Canadian Equality Consulting

Topics: Sustainability, Inclusive Design Principles, and Frameworks for EDI

• Shefaly Gunjal, Associate Consultant, Canadian Equality Consulting

Following the presentations, attendees will have the opportunity to join virtual networking rooms for live Q&A and group discussions.

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About the speakers:

Belinda Chan, City of Vancouver

Belinda is an interdisciplinary designer and planner with experience in the fields of public space planning, landscape architecture, and design. She explores opportunities where design, equity and public space converge. She is passionate about developing creative and equitable approaches to planning and engagement as a way to foster inclusive and sustainable communities. Through her work at the City of Vancouver, Belinda supports community placekeeping and the creation of public spaces in Vancouver.

Belinda is grateful to live, work and play on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. As a settler and Canadian-born Chinese, she strives to understand her role in reconciliation and to be an accomplice to those who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial.

Kathleen Corey, City of Vancouver

Kathleen is an urban designer and transportation engineer who designs streets for people, shaping the experience on foot, by bike, and in transit by carving out pathways for gathering, movement, and growth.

Kathleen’s work at the City of Vancouver includes managing the parklet, pavement-to-plaza, and pilot curbside patio programs and, more recently in response to COVID-19, leading design for over a dozen quick-build projects within the roadway to increase space for physical distancing.

Crossing disciplinary boundaries with degrees in landscape architecture and civil engineering, Kathleen is inspired by tactical urbanism and transformative design efforts to address Vision Zero and the climate emergency.

Sarah Ross, TransLink

Sarah Ross brings a wealth of experience to her role as Director of System Planning at TransLink, the regional transportation authority that moves nearly 500,000 people on transit across Metro Vancouver every day. Sarah’s passion for city’s where all people have sustainable access to live full lives has driven her work as a planner. With degrees in Sociology and Planning from McGill University, University of Toronto, and University of British Columbia, she joined TransLink in 2004. She became the organization’s Director of System Planning in 2016. As a leader, Sarah oversees a wide range of issues and areas, including transit network and bus priority planning, planning for accessibility, planning for regional cycling, walking, and road programs, as well as advancing integrated land use and transportation through collaborations with municipalities.

Shefaly Gunjal, Canadian Equality Consulting

Shefaly is a passionate and detail-oriented diversity, equity and inclusion and social impact consultant and researcher. Her work focuses primarily on examining, understanding and addressing the barriers and challenges faced by Black, Indigenous and Women of Colour in the workplace. With a strong academic background in sustainability business management and diversity, equity and inclusion, Shefaly has developed a keen eye for solving deeply rooted issues when it comes to promoting and implementing diversity, equity and inclusion within organizations.

While conducting research in the diversity, equity and inclusion space and working as an associate consultant at Canadian Equality, Shefaly is well versed in social impact reporting, particularly in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals. She has extensive experience working with various UN organizations, most recently including the UN Global Compact Network Canada where she worked on their Gender Equality Leadership in the Canadian Private Sector project.

Shefaly holds an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Management and will complete a Master of Science in Sustainability Management at the University of Toronto this March.