On December 6, 2025, the Society held its annual Empowerment! conference. Empowerment! is an opportunity for the Society’s Equity Committees to showcase their important work, as well as highlight important themes and issues related to each committee’s purview.
This year’s theme was Leadership Interventions. Members in attendance we treated to fascinating talks by some tremendous speakers, including:
Grounding Leadership in Indigenous Knowledge
Speaker: Dawn Maracle, Dawn T Maracle Consulting
Presented by the Indigenous Relations Circle
Be Bold: Principled Leadership in Precarious Times
Speaker: Michael Bow, D&D Inclusion Consulting
Presented by the Black and Racialized Professionals Committee
World Leaders in the Wild Workshop
Presented by the Young Professionals Network Steering Committee
Workplace Intervention: Tools for Building 2SLGBTQIA+ Inclusive Spaces
Speaker: Victor Zhang, the 519
Presented by the Pride & Solidarity Committee
Leading as a Bystander
Speaker: Ali Brokaw, Right to Be
Presented by the Professionals with Disabilities Committee
Creating Safe (Brave) Spaces by Leaders
Speaker: Attasha Jordan, Nsoromma Design & Culture Group
Presented by United Sisters
The Committees also took the opportunity to recognize some of the Society’s leaders who have been instrumental in the work of the Society’s equity committees. Tracy Miller, Rebekah Wilson, Naghmeh Attaran, Laurie Reid, Daniel Lam, Leon Simeon, and Anthony Pin all received special awards of recognition for their important contributions to creating, building, and supporting the Society’s equity work.
The event was widely regarded as having been the best Empowerment! yet. Attendees were treated to a packed agenda and lively entertainment, and it was the best attended Empowerment! to date.
The Society would like to thank all the guests and speakers who made the event so memorable. A big thank you to the staff team who helped put together this fantastic event.
The annual event is open to all members, and interested members should watch their emails in the fall for an invitation.
Members looking to become more involved in our equity committees should visit the Society’s website.