Tara Sliwkanich
MA in Gender and Social Justice Studies (2019)
Capstone Project: Unsettling Ukrainian-Canadian Settler Legacies: Thinking through Ukrainian-Canadians' experiences of state violence and implications in settler-colonialism and for decolonization
Bio: Just a few months before I had even completed my Bachelor of Arts degree in Women and Gender Studies (WGS) in December 2013, I had already ensured full-time employment at a local non-profit organization that works exclusively with women and girls. After working in the non-profit sector for a year and a half, my experiences and skills helped me to obtain a position as a Policy Intern with the Government of Alberta. The following year, I was able to obtain a permanent position working in the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Education Division at Alberta Education. Following this, I worked as a Senior Advisor with the Alberta Status of Women ministry working in the Community Capacity and Outreach Unit before returning again to the First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Education Division at Alberta Education in the role of a Strategic Initiatives Advisor. Currently, I am Policy Analyst with the Policy Development and Coordination branch at Alberta Education. My role involves leading strategic policy development from issue development to final approval, developing and coordinating briefings, background papers, and strategies for senior officials, advising department colleagues on policy protocols, Develops and delivers policy capacity building workshops, resources, and leading the department’s implementation of Gender-Based Analysis Plus, including providing expert advice to department colleagues and integrating analysis into all policy development and decision-making processes. I am excited about further advancing my career in the Alberta Public Service because I am able to use my knowledge of intersectional feminist theories to center lived experiences and to think critically about how those experiences are impacted by larger systems and institutions and further, how we can find solutions to social issues through programs, policy, and legislation.
As a volunteer, I have nine years of coaching and sport instruction experience, specifically for girls. I recently completed 8 years as the Provincial Director for the Girl’s and Women’s Baseball Program where I promoted and advocated for the development of girl’s baseball throughout the province and work with the National Girl’s Baseball Committee to support the development of girl’s baseball at the national and international levels. I continue to coach and work directly with girls aged 7-18 coaching with Baseball Alberta and as a volunteer with Fast and Female, an organization that works to support and increase girls’ participation in sport and physical activity.