Students on Seven Alumni Speaker Panel, A Stellar Success!
On Thursday, February 29th, the Students on Seven (SOS) hosted their first major event – Careers in Adult Education Alumni Panel: Make a Bold Lead Forward This Year - at OISE since being resurrected in September 2023. The SOS is a grass-roots student driven organization that was founded by a group of students in the Adult Education and Community Development (AECD) program. The group is dedicated to organizing community initiatives to support the social and academic needs of students specifically in the AECD program.
The panel featured four alumni who returned to OISE to share their diverse perspectives from their experiences in AECD and what it has led them to in their future careers. The panelists were: Berivan Sarikaya, Project Coordinator, Community Education Gender-Based Violence Projects at OCASI & OISE Lecturer; Emily Stillwell, Director, Supply Chain, Martin-Bower of Canada Co.; Grace-Camille Munroe, Interim Director, Black Scholarship Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University; and Joe Henry, Dean of Students, King’s University College at Western University.
The evening began with a welcome and recitation of the Thanksgiving Address, inspired by the recent article published by Dr. Jennifer Wemigwans and Lana McKay, both from OISE. Every panelist shared something different about how they have used the knowledge from their OISE experience to help them in their career journey – from the importance of critical thinking to how to listen to and build community. A Q&A portion, moderated by Emily Dobrich, followed where students were able to both listen to and ask questions from panelists. The evening concluded with additional networking.
This event would not have been possible without the collaborative effort of the SOS Steering Committee members: Anshika Saxena, Emily Dobrich, Jenna Maingot, Maple Xiang, Matthew Plaskett, Manisha Maharajh, Zhanina Bregu.
The SOS is also deeply appreciative of the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education and the University of Toronto’s Student Initiative Fund.
Follow SOS on Instagram to connect with us and learn more about our upcoming events and initiatives @aecdstudentsonseven
