Event Postponed
Our upcoming CEN session on December 4 has been postponed. There has been strong interest in this event and we will let you know when it has been rescheduled.
Wishing you a wonderful December and holiday season! And we look forward to reconnecting with you in the new year.
Community Engagement
The annual Intergenerational March to Commemorate Orange Shirt Day at UBC is a profound and powerful event, bringing thousands of people together from across the Lower Mainland to honor and listen to the voices of Indian Residential School survivors. It’s more than just one of the largest gatherings on UBC’s calendar—it represents a critical opportunity for reflection, education, and, most importantly, for amplifying Indigenous voices.
In this Community Engagement Network session, we take you behind the scenes of this year’s Intergenerational March to explore the careful thought process behind its programming. We’ll also dive into the challenges and successes of organizing an event of this magnitude, rooted in principles of reciprocity, respect, and Indigenous leadership.
Join us as we hear from the event’s co-founders, Dana-Lyn Mackenzie, Senior Manager of EDI and Indigeneity for UBC’s Faculties of Applied Science, Forestry, and Land and Food Systems, and Danilo Caron, PhD student in Civil Engineering and Indigenous Student Engagement Coordinator at UBC Engineering. We’re also joined by two of the event’s student organizers, Jenneil Lai, studying Psychology & Interpersonal Development, and Emma He, studying Sociology and Political Science, both Co-op students working with Dana-Lyn.
This conversation will offer valuable insights for anyone working in community engagement, event planning, or within higher education—and will be of particular value to those interested in organizing Indigenous-led events on this scale.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this session, participants will have gained insights into:
- The principles of reciprocity and respect in planning Indigenous-led events, with a focus on UBC’s Intergenerational March.
- Best practices for creating trauma-informed spaces during events that involve sharing difficult histories.
- Approaches for fostering respectful relationships with Indigenous Elders, speakers, and performers when organizing community events.
- The logistics and collaboration required for large-scale events, including timelines, volunteer coordination, and multi-stakeholder engagement.
- Strategies for engaging university leadership and external stakeholders in initiatives focused on truth, reconciliation, and community connection.
Panelists
Dana-Lyn Mackenzie, Senior Manager of EDI and Indigeneity, Faculties of Applied Science, Forestry, and Land and Food Systems, UBC.
Dana-Lyn Mackenzie, a member of the Hwlitsum First Nation and lawyer, is an elected councilor of her Coast Salish nation. She co-created UBC’s Weaving Relations course and IDEAL program, and has led the Orange Shirt Day March since 2021. Dana-Lyn has worked in Indigenous programming and student affairs since 2012 and was recognized in 2016 and 2024 with UBC President’s Staff Awards. She is also the BC Green Party MLA candidate for Vancouver Yaletown. A proud mother of two young adults, Dana-Lyn dedicates her spare time to her family.
Danilo Caron, PhD Student in Civil Engineering, Indigenous Student Engagement Coordinator, UBC Engineering.
Danilo Caron is of mixed Italian and Ojibwe ancestry, with family ties to Castel Franco, Italy, and the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation in Ontario. He is one of the main organizers of UBC’s Intergenerational March to Commemorate Orange Shirt Day and serves as the Indigenous Student Engagement Coordinator for UBC Engineering while pursuing his PhD in civil engineering at UBC. Danilo holds an Indigenous and Black Engineering and Technology (IBET) Momentum Fellowship for his postgraduate research on incorporating Indigenous worldviews into engineering design and project delivery.
Emma He, IDEAL Coordinator Co-op Student, studying Sociology and Political Science.
Emma He was born and raised by her Chinese and Japanese immigrant parents in Vancouver, BC. She is a first-generation student in her fourth year at UBC, and is passionate about the interdisciplinary perspectives of political sociology. This year’s Intergenerational March was her first opportunity to organize an event of this scale – an impactful experience in her Co-op position as an IDEAL Coordinator. In addition to her studies, Emma is involved in the Arts Undergraduate Society and the Sociology Students’ Association, where she assists with communications and outreach to foster student engagement and community among fellow Arts students.
Jenneil Lai, EDI & Indigeneity Co-op, studying Psychology & Interpersonal Development.
Jenneil Lai was born and raised in Taichung, Taiwan, and moved to Vancouver in 2021 to pursue her degree at UBC. She is passionate about community engagement and recognizes our collective responsibility for a better future. Jenneil promotes a strong sense of community within UBC student residences and advocates for their rights through her involvement in the UBC Residence Hall Association. As the EDI & Indigeneity Co-op, Jenneil co-organized the Intergenerational March, which has helped her build a meaningful relationship with the land where she now lives, learns, and works.
About the Event Organizers
The Community Engagement Network (CEN) is designed for staff and librarians at UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan who do community engagement work. Our purpose is to: (1) create and sustain a sense of community among staff at UBC who lead and support community-university engagement and (2) increase our collective capacity and provide tools for reciprocal, community-led engagement.