The Conversations We Need to Have was created to move beyond surface-level awareness and create space for deeper reflection. It is about slowing down long enough to ask better questions about power, belonging, communication, harm, healing, and institutional responsibility.
Equity work often begins with awareness. This series goes further by examining how systems, norms, and histories shape everyday experiences within the university.
Meet your host
Monique Chambers (she/her), Senior Training Specialist, brings on guests who go beyond surface-level conversations on topics that impact us all. Each guest shares expertise and lived experience, offering diverse perspectives that deepen the discussion. With a thoughtful and engaging facilitation style, Monique helps unpack ideas and create space for meaningful reflection.
If you’re ready to think deeper and explore new perspectives, she’s the host to join you there.
Episode 1: We’ve Done the Training… So Why Hasn’t Anything Changed?
Equity work is everywhere on campus, from mandatory trainings to public commitments but has it led to real change?
In this opening episode, Dr. Christopher Stuart Taylor, AVP, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Racism, takes a bold and honest look at the limits of traditional equity and anti-racism efforts. Together, we ask the tough questions: What’s truly shifting? Who is accountable? And how do we move beyond box-checking to meaningful cultural and systemic transformation?
Grounded in the University of Waterloo experience, this conversation sets the tone for the season, naming the discomfort, fatigue, and skepticism around equity work while creating space for real dialogue, learning, and impact.
