Bridges Of Belonging is a speaker series that invites leaders to share their stories of belonging through their lived experiences. This episode features Dr. Jennifer Walinga and Guylaine Demers, who each bring a refreshing perspective to inclusion and gender equity in sport.
Jennifer Walinga and Guylaine Demers
An educator for 30 years, and former member of Canada’s Commonwealth, World and Olympic gold medal rowing teams (1983 to 1992), Dr. Jennifer Walinga draws on her personal, professional, and educational experiences when facilitating problem-solving and leadership processes in organizations. Walinga blends organizational, educational, and sport theories in designing communication, change and performance interventions in organizations. She is an award-winning researcher focusing all of her projects on the central theme of optimal human performance. Her research interests include organizational communication, team dynamics, creative insight, social innovation, workplace health, sport education and high performance. Walinga is currently working on culture-building projects in the spheres of sport, women in leadership, and workplace health. She is a mother of three and an active member of the athletic and educational communities in Victoria.
A full professor at Laval University, Guylaine Demers has promoted gender equality in sport for most of her life. Over the years, she has become the go-to leader, researcher and advocate on issues of women’s education and gender equity in Quebec and Canadian sport. Dr. Demers is a recipient of the IOC women and sport award for the Americas that acknowledge her tremendous contribution to the advancement of women in sport. She continues to facilitate pan-Canadian solutions for building a more inclusive sport culture. Her most recent achievement was being awarded the first Gender+ Equity in Sport in Canada Research Hub following a national competition. She is now one of the Hub’s co-directors.