Community Leadership Certificate (Staff) Cohort - Spring 2025

Thursday, June 5, 2025 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00) Tuesday, June 17, 2025 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00) Thursday, June 19, 2025 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)
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Overview 

The Community Leadership Certificate (CLC) is a four-chapter, community-centered leadership program designed to empower staff with the skills and knowledge to foster trusting relationships, enhance collaboration, and embody curiosity-driven, community-centered leadership. Rooted in anti-oppressive practices, the CLC is relevant to all staff members, regardless of their current leadership roles, offering practical tools to embody inclusive and collaborative leadership.  

Dates & topics for spring cohort:

  • June 3 – 1:00-3:00pm – Foundations of Collaborative Leadership 

  • June 5 – 1:00-3:00pm – Leading with Curiosity 

  • June 17 – 1:00-3:00pm – Collaborative Team Building 

  • June 19 – 1:00-3:30pm – Harm Reductive Communication and Conflict Resolution 

Intended Audience

For spring 2025, staff members who have direct student-facing roles on any of the University of Waterloo’s campuses. Not sure if this is you? Reach out by contacting one of the facilitators below!

Format

In-person workshop 

Facilitator(s)

Laura Maple, OHD, Learning and Development Specialist - Employee Development

Samantha Germann – Student Leadership Development Specialist – Student Success Office 

Quick links:

CLC program overview

Cohort Program Highlights

  • Focus on anti-oppressive, community-centered leadership principles.  

  • Designed for all staff, whether in formal leadership positions or not.  

  • Join in community with other staff members in similar student-facing roles to develop skills in fostering collaboration, curiosity and trust. 

  • Learn from a program built by students, reflecting their needs and aspirations.  

The CLC was originally designed by the Student Success Office (SSO) and heavily influenced by student input that shaped the program’s structure, workshops, and principles.  

Now adapted for staff in partnership with Organizational and Human Development (OHD), this version bridges the gap students identified between their leadership learning and interactions with campus staff. By building staff leadership capacity, the program aims to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for both staff and students.  

The Spring 2025 Cohort is being offered specifically to staff members who have direct student-facing roles on any of the University of Waterloo’s campuses. Each of the four chapters (or workshops) build on each other and are completed in the specific sequence as the program was designed. By signing up for the cohort, staff members are committing to completing all four chapters offered on the dates and times below. 

Preparation/Pre-requisites

  • Manager approval/awareness to attend all four chapters is strongly recommended. 

  • There are no educational pre-requisites for the cohort, we’re looking forward to building context and understanding collectively. That said, this certificate does not focus much time on definitions central to equity anti-oppression work. Participants who would feel more confident with that knowledge prior to beginning the cohort may find value in completing the Anti-Racism Education Road Map (ARAO) training on Learn first. 

  • Pre-workshop reflection questions will be shared with participants ahead of each chapter. We encourage folks to spend a few minutes thinking about their response to get a sense of the focus of our conversation for the workshop. 

Learning outcomes for CLC Chapters

 Learning Outcomes for Foundations of Collaborative Leadership 

  • Recognize at least one perspective and approach to leadership that's different from your own.​ 

  • Describe qualities of a community-focused leader relating to role expectations, communication skills, campus resources, and making referrals. ​ 

  • Begin unlearning social hierarchies that hold individuals back from genuine connection and investigate what reciprocal learning might look like in your specific role.     

Learning Outcomes for Foundations of Collaborative Leadership

  • Build an increased sense of self-awareness and self-compassion.​ 

  • Discover how to use curiosity as a tool to build an anti-oppressive leadership practice. ​ 

  • Understand the concepts of Intersectionality and Positionality.     

Learning Outcomes for Collaborative Team Building  

  • Build an understanding of anti-oppression from a strengths-based framework.  

  • Describe the concept of tokenization and how it can impact authentic collaboration.  

  • Discover how to action anti-oppressive collaboration in your leadership practice.    

Learning Outcomes for Harm Reductive Communication & Conflict Resolution 

  • Learn about Intra and Interpersonal conflict and common responses to conflict.  

  • Understand the principles of Harm Reduction and Restorative Justice.  

  • Leave with tools to embody anti-oppressive conflict resolution and communication practices. 

Apply Now

Take the first step on this transformative leadership journey. Applications are open until May 20th, 2025. Cohort attendance will be confirmed on or around May 26, 2025. 

NOTE: The Spring 2025 Cohort is being offered in-person and specifically to staff members who have direct student-facing roles on any of the University of Waterloo’s campuses. This allows us to bridge the gap that students identified between their leadership learning and interactions with campus staff.