After launching the 2019 Fellowship applications, we decided to catch up with a few recent Fellowship alumni to see where they’re at with their lives and work.
If you’re interested in applying to the 2019 Fellowship, read on to hear advice and reflections from our most recent cohort. Then visit our Fellowship page to Apply Now!
Robbie Hsieh
What keeps you busy in your life these days?
I am currently working as the Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator at the Canucks Autism Network. In my role, I am responsible for the organization’s inclusive hiring efforts. I work alongside staff and volunteers living with autism or other identified barriers to employment, and create accessible recruitment processes, supportive employment opportunities, as well as developing youth and young adult programming focused on leadership and development.
In what ways did your participation in the Fellowship help you grow or succeed as a changemaker/social innovator?
Participating in the Fellowship has exposed me to different topics that has expanded my thinking and has helped me tremendously in my work. In particular, Power and Privilege, Conflict Transformation, and Deep Democracy were powerful workshops that have helped me navigate my relationships in working with the vulnerable population, and has pushed me even more to actively involve them in the decision making process at my work.
What is a favourite memory or moment from the Fellowship?
A favourite memory of mine from the Fellowship was having the opportunity to collaborate with other Fellows to design and host a workshop around self-care. This workshop somehow turned into a sweet dance party where I got to show off my not-so-sweet dance moves.
What advice would you give to a person considering to apply to the RADIUS Fellowship?
If you’re already thinking about applying, just do it! The RADIUS Fellowship has helped me grow tremendously as a professional, and along the way, I got to meet some rad humans that have become lifelong friends :)
Julia Hulbert
What keeps you busy in your life these days?
Since completing the Fellowship, I launched head first into a networking and job search whirlwind that landed me with the City of Vancouver Park Board as their new Arts and Culture Planner. I have officially retired as a *professional volunteer*, stepping down from 3 different heritage organizations and groups I volunteered with to focus on my full-time work with the City. I still serve as the Chair of the Kitsilano Thingery, a co-op community library of things. As the Arts and Culture Planner, I oversee all public art, monuments and memorials and cultural policy development for the Vancouver Park Board. It’s my dream job in many ways and I am grateful to have found an workplace that is committed to decolonization.
In what ways did your participation in the Fellowship help you grow or succeed as a changemaker/social innovator?
The Fellowship is all about community. Through the program you connect with a group of people doing incredible work and have the privilege to learn from them. From the guest speakers, RADIUS instructors and Fellows, the community I built through the program has enriched my life and supported me in my career. Win!
What is a favourite memory or moment from the Fellowship?
Break time dance party. There is nothing better than busting moves with your favourite people.
What advice would you give to a person considering to apply to the RADIUS Fellowship?
What are your values in life? Consider how your work aligns with those values and how the Fellowship can help those values flourish.
Alan Chen
What keeps you busy in your life these days?
Currently, I’m working as an assistant planner at the City of Vancouver with the Chinatown Transformation Team. Following the City’s apology for historical discrimination against Chinese people, this staff team is responsible for further work with the community that will look at how best to proceed with holding space for the legacy of Chinatown in Vancouver. If all goes well, we’ll do our part in leveraging government processes in the interest of the broader community.
In what ways did your participation in the Fellowship help you grow or succeed as a changemaker/social innovator?
The opportunity to join the Fellowship after returning to a city I both grew up around, then grew away from, was a really good way to come back feeling grounded in regular dialogue and community. From the outset, the stated intent of the Fellowship was capacity building through community building. By the end of the program, I had built a solid network of new friends and interesting colleagues that I now feel well-supported by.
What is a favourite memory or moment from the Fellowship?
Lying on the floor with three other groupmates, being coached through a strange new way of feeling through my body and emotions (call us esoteric) and coming back to a group debrief all having experienced a wildly different and provocative way of being.
What advice would you give to a person considering to apply to the RADIUS Fellowship?
Shape your intentions when applying but also keep an open mind for things that may surprise you! I found that the Fellowship revolved around the people I met and the relationships I decided to build upon, but I took away so much content than I had expected to learn too.