About this event

Get ready to discover what a Sustainability Career Night with Embark Sustainability is all about. This October we’re inviting you to an electrifying evening filled with inspiring stories from professionals who have harnessed the power of their careers to create systems that safeguard our environment and build up our communities. 

Prepare to connect with careers and potential future endeavours within the capacity-building universe, and learn how to wield your skills to forge communities that are more sustainable and equitable. Together we’ll unravel the intricate web of diverse career paths, all converging to support our social and physical infrastructure in the face of clime challenges.

What’s in store for this evening? This event will consist of short presentations by three sustainability leaders who work in this adaptation realm. Each speaker will discuss their journey to reach their current role, along with barriers they overcame along the way. They will speak about how their work serves to nurture systems change towards equity, sustainability, and well-being for all. Speakers will also provide recommendations for participants who are looking to start their careers in sustainability. 

After the presentations, each speaker will be in a Q&A breakout room where participants will have the opportunity to engage with them and ask questions. Students will have the opportunity to visit two facilitated breakout rooms during the evening. Finally, the speakers will engage in a panel discussion to finish up the evening. 

Career and Volunteer Services will provide tools for the next steps in your sustainability career journeys. Don’t miss that registration is required!

Sustainability Career Night is an opportunity for students from SFU to learn from professionals championing sustainability in various fields.

About the Speakers

Amelia Bowden; Community Planner

Amelia Bowden is a Registered Professional Planner with over a decade of experience working in suburban municipalities in the Lower Mainland. Currently a Community Planner with the City of Surrey, she holds a Masters of Urban Studies and a Bachelor of Arts Degree (Geography Major) from Simon Fraser University.

Tj Conwi; Restaurant Owner & Consultant

Ono Vancouver is run by TJ Conwi, whose culinary curiosity began with his roots in the Philippines, and led him to restaurants, private clubs and hotels earlier in his career. Most recently as the Executive Chef of Marriott Delta Vancouver Suites. 

Applying his passion for West Coast and Asian cuisine to innovative, local and sustainably sourced ingredients, TJ supports small- to medium-size business food programs with clients ranging from breweries and local chain restaurants, to startups and non-profits. At the onset of the pandemic, Ono Vancouver quickly pivoted to support food security. The team began rescuing surplus food to cook thousands of meals for people in need every week—and they never stopped. The community initiative has evolved into ReRoot, the city’s first chef-run surplus food hub and social enterprise.

Chef TJ is also the executive chef and food educator for LunchLAB an innovative school meal program involving school kids learning and helping feed 200 of their peers every week.

Ione Smith; Agrologist 

­Ione is passionate about working to find solutions to challenging food system problems. She is a Professional Agrologist with an academic background in land resource science and community engagement. In 2010, Ione formed Upland Agricultural Consulting, which has since grown into an award-winning consulting company with projects in British Columbia, Alberta, and the Yukon. Ione’s day-to-day work allows her to engage with farmers, all levels of government, and First Nations communities to improve the resiliency and sustainability of our agriculture and food systems. In addition to her consulting work, Ione is an instructor at SFU, teaching Community Economic Development and Food Systems (CED 230), and serves as Vice Chair of the Provincial Agricultural Land Commission.

Land Acknowledgement

This event is being put together and coordinated by organizations that work on the occupied, traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, Skwxwú7mesh, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Matsqui, Katzie, Semiahmoo, Qayqayt, and Tsawwassen nations. We greatly encourage community members to reflect on the lands they are tuning in from at this virtual event; learn whose lands you occupy through native-land.ca.

Event Accessibility

This free event is taking place over Zoom with breakout room discussion for a considerable duration of time. We will have closed-captioning available, and attendees are free to opt in and out of the session as needed via muting mics and turning off cameras. If we can take further action to make this event accessible to you, please email Embark Sustainability’s Programs Manager, Zaena Tesfa, at programs@embarksustainability.org.

Community Agreement

This event is hosted with the intention to provide an environment for students to learn about various career possibilities within the broad sustainability industry. By registering for this event, you are agreeing to be respectful towards each other, to using appropriate language, and being mindful of the space you are taking up amongst your peers.

The event organizers do not tolerate violence or aggression against others on the basis of race, ethnicity, place of origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious affiliation, or ability. Please also refer to people using the usernames they provide and do not assume pronouns/gender/knowledge based on someone’s name or video image.

If these agreements are broken by someone, we will have to ensure the safety and comfort of our guests by removing them from the event. Ultimately, we want you all to have fun and meet like minded peers who are interested in communication, justice and change!

Questions

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Zaena Tesfa, Embark Sustainability’s Programs Manager at programs@embarksustainability.org.