I am a minority in a whole bunch of ways, and I'm also looking to get into Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives within the Human Resources program. I really want to be able to help people who've been in the situations that I've been in. I find that being part of Champions of Diversity and Equity (CODE) sessions is a really interesting way of examining those problems, both from an outside and inside perspective.

I'm there as an attendee, and the sessions are structured differently each time based on the presenter. Some of them are more participation-based, and some of them are just for listening.

We’ve had presenters from MacEwan, but also from all over, including Michelle McKenzie, a registered psychologist from NorQuest who does anti-racism presentations all around the city. 

The best one so far for me has been the anti-racism session. I'm not a person of colour, so a lot of information that I don't necessarily think about was given in a way that was accessible for people who aren't within that community. It challenged me to think about how we move through the world, and how other people don't have the ability to do that in the same way that I do. 

I’m a mature student, and I am still deciding where I want to go with my career after MacEwan. I may go into the private sector and help create policies to protect people in EDI situations, or I might go into the public sector and help move people through those spaces outside of a direct workplace.

– Cole Henry (they/them), Human Resources student