ro

averin

Welcome to UNLRN PRJCT!

I'm Ro (they/she), and I'm here to help you unl(ea)rn.

My approach to equity and social justice work is rooted in a confluence of mindful communication, radical accountability, and an understanding that the establishment of equitable practices that mean something requires unlearning.

We need to dismantle the systems of power and thought which prevent marginalized people from being seen, heard, and fully respected within work spaces, community groups, and in their everyday lives.

I take an intersectional, anti-oppressive, anti-racist approach to my work creating more equitable and socially just for-profit and non-profit businesses, educational institutions, collectives, and community spaces.

As a Black nonbinary woman in the workplace, I have less often needed someone to tell me I need to be able to show up fully at work, and more often needed someone to undo the systemic inequities that have resulted in me having to leave bits of myself at home. I have needed my voice to be amplified by those with more power and privilege, and my experiences with systemic oppression listened to and honoured through responsive institutional change.

Through UNLRN PRJCT I provide educational resources and consultation to a wide range of workplaces, community groups, and individuals to incorporate equitable and just praxis into policy and organizational/institutional methods, while supporting and amplifying the voices of racialized and marginalized folx within working environments.

In my experience, an unapologetically direct approach to change is the best way forward if you and your workplace community are truly interested in creating socially just environments. It's about tangible, lasting change, and a shift in culture that can be comprehensively felt, not just listed by numbers in the next annual report.

Experientially, I know that the onus must be placed on those with power to shift their knowledge, unlearn their ideas of what works best, and reorganize their priorities if they are truly concerned with creating inclusive and accountable work and living spaces. This is the hard ask, but the one that will shift things into a configuration different enough to matter, and stay put.

My academic background includes the hard and soft sciences, the humanities, the arts, and athletics, and my B.A. Hons and M.A. are in English Literature with a focus on Afro-diasporic literatures, critical race theory, intersectional feminisms, and social justice pedagogy and praxis. Writing is a longtime passion of mine, which I continue. I've worked within postsecondary education developing and delivering educational programmes pertaining to equity and social justice praxis within postsecondary environments, with non-profits dedicated to serving marginalized communities, as well as individuals and community groups interested in exploring intersectional, equitable methods to their community work, entrepreneurship, and practices.

With my roots in Canada/Turtle Island, I am now based in Norway/Sápmi.

When I'm not conducting this work, I can generally be found getting outside however I can, on my yoga mat teaching or practicing, utilizing sustainable and community-based travel options (often somewhere cold and windblown), reading a few books at a time, on my snowboard, writing in a variety of mediums, or continuing the humbling and exhilarating process of learning to surf as an adult.