An employee resource group is looking to share its expertise in building a more inclusive campus.

Young Women at Queen's (YWQ) aims to engage and empower self-identifying women staff at Queen’s. Their mandate is to build a professional community for women at Queen’s, interact and share knowledge about women and work, and advocate for women.

YWQ has organized a panel discussion titled “Valuing Diverse Identities on Campus” to further the discussion on how staff can help to create a more inclusive Queen’s campus. The panel will include Alana Butler, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education; Asha Gordon, President, Queen’s Black Academic Society; Nilani Loganathan, Career Coach in the Career Advancement Centre, Smith School of Business; and Vanessa Yzaguirre (MA’16), Diversity and Inclusivity Coordinator with Student Affairs. It will be moderated by Stephanie Simpson, Director of the Human Rights Office.

The event will be hosted on Thursday, November 30 from 5 to 6:30 pm in Macdonald Hall Room 3.

“I decided to participate because I strongly believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion should be important to any university,” says Dr. Butler. “As an underrepresented minority female, it's very easy to feel alienated and alone. I have had so many minority students say that seeing me here as a faculty member makes them feel more included. I feel very positive that Queen's University will attract more diverse students, faculty, and staff in the future.”

The YWQ group meets twice a month, and develops special programs and events such as the YWQ mentorship program that connects Queen’s women at early or mid-career stages with women leaders at the university. YWQ has an Instagram profile @youngwomenqueens.