Our Team

Portrait of Kat Cureton

Kat Cureton

Advisor
kat.cureton@ubc.ca


I joined the CE team in 2016. I am an advisor on community-university partnerships. My role is to help community partners navigate UBC and find helpful people, programs, and resources. I also co-lead the Community Engagement Network. Before joining the CE office, I was a sessional instructor in the School of Kinesiology where I taught a community-engaged learning course for three years. I spent a number of years working in non-profit organizations in Vancouver, like AMSSA, Red Fox Healthy Living Society, and Collingwood Neighbourhood House, which is where I built my knowledge of community engagement. I have a M.A. from UBC and a B.A. from Western University, both in kinesiology.


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Ryan Brown

Advisor
ryan.brown@ubc.ca

I have been with the UBC Community Engagement team since 2017, supporting the advancement of innovative and progressive community-university engagement programming, practices, and policies at the university. I collaborate with colleagues and partners across UBC and in the community to co-create infrastructure, programs, tools and other resources with the goal of building an environment where mutually beneficial and reciprocal community-university collaborations are able to take shape and to thrive.

Prior to joining Community Engagement I was with the Ministry of Children and Youth Services in Ontario helping to co-develop an Indigenous Children and Youth Strategy by working closely with Indigenous communities and organizations. I hold an MA in Sociology and Anthropology and a Post-Baccalaureate in Social Policy Analysis, from Simon Fraser University, and a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Carleton University.

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Shayla Walker

CUES Fund Program Manager
shayla.walker@ubc.ca

I joined the Community Engagement Office in August 2022. I am the Program Manager of the Community University Engagement Support (CUES) Fund and the Partnership Recognition and Exploration (PRE) Fund.

Before coming to UBC, I worked at Watershed Watch Salmon Society as their Operations Director, managing day-to-day operations as well fundraising and budgeting for the organization. Prior to that, I worked at MakeWay Foundation as a Senior Program Associate as part of their Strategic Programs team. In this role, I focused on grant-making that supported Indigenous, environmental and social equity issues.

I received my Bachelor of Arts majoring in Sociology with a minor in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia.

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Holly Kim

Operations and Program Manager
holly.kim@ubc.ca

I joined the Community Engagement team in 2017, and my role is to manage the day-to-day functioning of the unit and the administration of the funding programs (CUES and PRF). I support other areas of the operations including finance and budgeting, project management and human resources. When I am not in the Community Engagement office, I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor with my private practice. Before joining UBC, I worked for a large bank and managed branches.

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from UBC and a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology from Adler University.

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  • Payments related to our funding programs
  • Office operations

Oliver Mann

Senior Communications Strategist
oliver.mann@ubc.ca

I joined the Office of Community Engagement in February 2022, where I oversee the development and implementation of communications strategies to support our programs and events. I also produce stories that highlight the value of reciprocal community-university partnerships at UBC.

I have over a decade of experience working in communications at UBC and recently completed an MA in Professional Communication at Royal Roads University. My thesis research explored how Canadian universities communicate about their Indigenous engagement efforts, emphasizing the importance of Indigenous-led storytelling and decolonizing communication practices. It also provides actionable recommendations for university communicators.

As a settler with Costa Rican, West African, Spanish, Scottish, and English heritage, I am committed to advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in my role, supporting and creating space for all voices to share their stories.

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