Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at PLLC
The Peter Lougheed Leadership College is empowering our diverse audiences, students and staff to become leaders in the community. Through utilizing interdisciplinary approaches, PLLC endeavors to remove barriers faced by historically marginalized and racialized communities by developing leaders who understand wide-ranging approaches, take risks, and act on values firmly anchored in ethical and social responsibility. By incorporating the voices and perspectives of a spectrum of genders, ages, sexual orientations, abilities, cultures, and ethnicities into all our practices, PLLC works towards creating an inclusive, representative, responsible and innovative future. At PLLC diversity is our strength.
This page provides information on the diversity initiatives taken by the Peter Lougheed Leadership College and highlights the diversity-focused work of our scholars and staff.
Our Founding Values
Peter Lougheed Leadership College is centered on inclusive values. PLLC is guided by principles of interdisciplinarity, inclusiveness, and collaboration. These principles are reflected in our Mission, Vision and Values.
Why Does Diversity Matter?
"Leadership is the work of getting things done in collaboration with others. When multiple perspectives and experiences are part of the conversation, we see in new ways. We are empowered to develop solutions, collectively, that are responsive, transparent and equitable.
The excellence of PLLC programming relies on the rich contributions of people with distinct backgrounds, identities and social locations, enabling the College to provide cutting-edge leadership development to current and future leaders."
- Lois Harder, PhD Principal of the Peter Lougheed Leadership College
“Leadership means working joyfully across perceived differences--of discipline, of identity, of background--to reach the most creative and effective solutions to the pressing problems we collectively face. Without the benefit of listening to, and learning from, those different than us, we compromise innovation and problem-solving.”
- Cristina Stasia, PhD, Director of Instruction at the Peter Lougheed Leadership College
"Diversity matters because it's important to move from simply tolerating and accepting differences to embracing them. That transition can only happen when diverse lived experiences are widely shared and respected"
- Kelly Hobson, Mentorship Coordinator
"Our world is facing today one of the most complex challenges of the century. We need to come up with innovative solutions and I am convinced that diversity is key for that objective. The inclusion of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and disciplines in the decision-making process ensures the consideration of different perspectives about the problem and potential solutions and facilitates the design of effective context-sensitive solutions."
- Maria Ortiz, Teaching Fellow, 2019-2021
Diversity Initiatives
College-wide initiatives ensure that students, staff and the community understand the importance of championing diversity and inclusion.- The Lougheed College Lectures offer all U of A students and members of the public the opportunity to hear from some of today's most inspirational, influential, and innovative leadership scholars and practitioners. Speakers are selected to address a variety of topics and bring diverse perspectives from Alberta and beyond. This series exposes audiences to cutting edge thinking and offers opportunities for questions and discussion at each event.
- The Leadership and Diversity Speaker Series offered monthly, lunchtime talks, jointly sponsored by the Peter Lougheed Leadership College and the Intersections of Gender Signature Area. The speaker series broadened our thinking about who leads and what leadership looks like.
Lougheed Adjunct Professors teach in collaboration with Teaching Fellows (TF), graduate or law students who serve as TAs for PLLC courses and receive intensive teacher training. The TF Team is carefully assembled by Dr. Cristina Stasia, PLLC's Director of Instruction, who hires talented applicants who represent a spectrum of genders, ages, sexual orientations, cultures, and ethnicities. As leaders in their own fields, TFs are also role models to scholars, who especially appreciate seeing how a diverse team maximizes creativity and success.
Our Scholars
Incorporating and understanding diverse perspectives is an important feature of adaptive and interdisciplinary leadership. We are proud of our undergraduate and graduate students who offer and share a range of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives to classrooms, allowing emerging leaders to understand the importance of intersectional communication first-hand.
Stretch Experience
Scholars at the Peter Lougheed Leadership College practice intercultural communication and inclusive leadership first-hand through an intensive 200 hour leadership activity called a Stretch Experience. Our scholars have supported diversity and inclusion locally, nationally, and abroad.
- Idara Effiom Cared for Children with Disabilities in Ho Chi Minh City
- Sheldon Cannon Founded A Queer-Straight Alliance in Rural Saskatchewan
- Azan Esmail Promoted Inclusivity at the University of Alberta High School Model United Nations
- Nicole Sanchez Lobbied for Menstrual Health Accessibility
- Phoebe Marinakis Looked Through Different Lenses with the City of Edmonton
Keep up to date with the latest experiences on the PLLC Stretch Blog.
Diversity in Leadership in the News
Read stories of our scholars, staff, and faculty who champion and represent diversity and inclusion in leadership:
- Dr. Stasia and PLLC Representatives offer Leadership Training in Macau (pictured)
- Award Spotlight: Julia-Don Edwards Wins Tavender Award for work with Nairobi Arts Organization
- How learning leadership skills is helping a student bring renewable energy north
- Connecting to her roots allowed Grade 6 dropout to flourish
- Trip to Finland fuels student's passion for empowering Indigenous communities
- Kabir Nadkarni: The Environmentally-Friendly Engineer
- Education grad interested in intergenerational leadership earns Rhodes Scholarship