History
In 1974, a group of professionals working in the intercultural field formed the Society for Intercultural Training, Education and Research (SIETAR). This interdisciplinary network became the largest of its kind, and now includes over 3,000 interculturalists and 15 national and regional groups world-wide.
SIETAR BC was founded in 1992 as a not-for-profit entity incorporated under the laws of British Columbia. As part of the international SIETAR network, SIETAR BC aims to promote cooperative interaction and to build a network to provide mutual support and exchange of information a the local, regional, national and international regions.
Our members are active in a variety of areas, including educational institutions, business, consulting and training, migration and development aid, government, NGOs, and health services to name a few. We welcome members from all areas. (See the membership page for more information about how to join.)
Our Mission
SIETAR BC's mission is to encourage the development and application of knowledge, values and skills in all individuals as a way to enable effective intercultural, inter-racial and inter-ethnic relations at the individual, group, organization and community levels.Objectives
Our main objective is to bring awareness and understanding of how culture affects education, policy-making, and business. We work to help people increase communicate across their differences and promote the exchange of ideas and experience in the intercultural field.
Additionally, SIETAR BC works to:
- promote the goals of the SIETAR global network in British Columbia, Canada;
- raise intercultural awareness at all levels of society;
- encourage and develop knowledge, skills and values to facilitate intercultural interactions in the community;
- raise awareness of the intercultural professions and support those who practice them; and
- promote cooperative interaction and build a network among members for mutual support and information exchange.
2012 Executive Committee
The following members were elected to the Executive Committee for the 2012 year:
Mafalda Arias, President
Mafalda Arias was born, raised and educated in Lima, Peru. Receiving an education in various countries and being able to communicate in three languages, coupled with her experience as an immigrant to Canada, has provoked her curiosity and assisted her in understanding and dealing successfully with intercultural situations. She is currently a graduate student working on a Master's Degree in Intercultural Relations at the University of the Pacific, California. She possesses a university degree in Business Administration from the Universidad de Lima, Peru and a postgraduate certificate in International Commerce from ESAN, Peru. She is a certified administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and a certified facilitator of Cultural Detective methodology. Mafalda is the founder of Mafalda Arias and Associates. She is the Chair of Women in Mining (Vancouver Chapter) and a director of Women in Mining Canada, a member of the Corporate Social Responsibility and Communications committees of AMEBC, and a co-chair of PDAC Aboriginal Session for 2012. Mafalda is a member of SIETAR USA, has presented at the SIETAR USA conference in April 2011, and has been member of SIETAR BC for the past seven consecutive years.
Terry Rogocki, Vice-President
Terry has attained a Certificate in Intercultural Studies (UBC), a B.A. in Anthropology (University of Alberta), and an M.A. in Leadership and Training (Royal Roads University). Over the past 20 years he has worked at the University of Alberta’s International Centre as a peer educator for both Canadian and international students, in Japan as an English teacher and researcher, in Vancouver as the International Student Advisor and then Director of a private school, and in Sri Lanka as a Livelihoods Advisor. Terry works as an instructor at UBC and BCIT and as a soft-skills trainer at SAP Software. He has been a member of SIETAR BC for two years, and also sits on the Regional Steering Committee for the Oxfam BC/Yukon region.
Eric Meyer, Treasurer/Membership Coordinator
Eric is in his first year in the MA in International and Intercultural Communication at Royal Roads University in Victoria, and has a Bachelor of Commerce with a Major in International Business and a Minor Economics from Carleton University in Ottawa. Besides having focused his education in the international arena, he has traveled in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. He volunteers with the BC Cancer Foundation, Victoria and Vancouver offices, for the past eight plus years where he has created, organized and managed his own fundraising event, helped out with many other fundraising events and spoke to groups as an ambassador for the Foundation. Previously, Eric worked for one of the largest business software firms globally within the North America unit in marketing/business development. His hobbies include playing hockey, skiing, golfing, being out on or around the water, and pretty much anything outdoors and travelling.
Sarah Mathias, Program Coordinator
Sarah Mathias was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. Although she calls Vancouver home, she has a love of everything international and has travelled extensively throughout South and Central America, the Middle East, and China. Sarah has over 10 years of experience working with diverse groups of students. She has worked with at-risk youth in Ecuador (where she learned to speak Spanish), taught international students of all ages and at all levels, and worked with immigrant and refugee youth teaching life-skills. Sarah has a Bachelors Degree in Sociology from Simon Fraser University and a Masters Degree in International/Intercultural Communications from Royal Roads University. In addition to volunteering for SIETAR BC, she volunteers as a communications coordinator for local non-profit, Sawa World. Sarah currently works as a Marketing Communications Specialist in Richmond.
Siv Buchmuller, Communications Coordinator
Siv is currently pursuing her MA in Intercultural and International Communication from Royal Roads University and has a BA in Psychology from UBC. She grew up in Switzerland, the US and Canada and has travelled extensively in Europe, Central America and East Africa. These experiences have contributed to her passion for intercultural studies. One of the most rewarding experiences has been her involvement as a volunteer with the Immigrant Services Society of BC for the past 3 years. Siv currently works at the UBC Center for Intercultural Communication helping to coordinate the intercultural studies, international development and Aboriginal health programs. In her spare time, she enjoys running, traveling and pursuing any and all outdoor activities.
Denyse Johnson, Web Coordinator
Born in Winnipeg, Denyse has lived and worked in more than 10 countries. She has a background as an international journalist, and also has extensive experience in communications and media relations planning. One of her main passions is covering international sporting events from both a cultural and athletic angle. A career highlight was her assignment as the main writer covering the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay as it travelled 45,000 km across Canada. A member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Denyse is currently a communications consultant with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC). There, she leads communications for the corporation’s internal Diversity & Inclusion Strategy. She is also completing her Master of Arts Degree in Intercultural and International Communications at Royal Roads University in BC.
Natasha Aruliah, Member at Large/Outreach
Trained as a Counselling Psychologist, Natasha specialized in couples, family, and intercultural counselling and has worked with international students, marginalized youth, immigrants, refugees, aboriginal people and interracial/intercultural couples and families, both in Canada and the UK. Since 1999, she has been an independent consultant, educator and facilitator in all areas of equity, diversity, social justice and intercultural competence. Her work includes designing and delivering programs for staff, consulting on policy and implementation and organizational change for a variety of sectors, including Corrections Canada, the Vancouver School Board and the Hospital Employees Union. Natasha is also a facilitator for the University of BC’s Centre for Intercultural Communication, and is a faculty member at the Justice Institute of British Columbia, teaching a variety of intercultural and diversity courses. She is a consultant with the Hastings Institute, a founding faculty for the Inner Activist program and continues her counselling work at an Aboriginal Healing centre. She is sits on various boards such as the Canadian Women Voters Congress and the Adler School of Professional Psychology. She has been involved with SIETAR BC for over 10 years and presented several session for SIETAR BC, at several SIETAR USA conferences, and a SIETAR France conference. Born in London, UK, raise in the UK and Canada, of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage, a woman of colour and immigrant with multi-racial children, her passion for all things intercultural is both personal and professional.
Sharon Davidson, Member at Large
Sharon was born in Jamaica and immigrated to Canada when she was 9. She then spent a lot of time trying to understand why things were so different here. It was her first significant encounter with intercultural communication. Since that time she has lived, studied, and worked in diverse cultural environments including the Estonian Ministry of Culture and Education, McClelland & Stewart “the Canadian Publishers” and Shandong Normal University in Jinan, China. Sharon holds a BA in English from the University of Toronto and she is a certified project manager. Her work as a communication consultant in cultural industries fueled her interest in the Master of International and Intercultural Communication at Royal Roads University, where she is completing her final research project.
Ahnes Hong, Member at Large
Ahnes has worked with students in a post-secondary context for the past 14 years. She spent five of those years in Korea teaching English as a Foreign Language at a private university. Ahnes has been with UBC's International Student Initiative for the past six years, where she is currently an International Student Recruiter-Advisor. She primarily works with prospective students from Asia, Europe and Africa. In this last year, she traveled to all three continents in her portfolio, visiting nine different countries. She holds a Masters degree in Drama (University of Guelph), an Arts Specialist Bachelor's degree (University of Toronto) and a Certificate of Intercultural Studies (UBC). This is her first year on the SIETAR executive and is excited to be a part of this dynamic group.
Heather Tobe, Member at Large
It is a pleasure for Heather to return to SIETAR BC’s executive, having once been the program coordinator, and president (1998-2003) and a member since 1992. Heather holds an MA in Intercultural Relations from Antioch University and the Intercultural Communication Institute in Portland, Oregon, a BGS from SFU, along with a BC Teachers Certificate, an Associate Certificate in Workplace Conflict from the Justice Institute of BC, and is a qualified administrator of the idi. She has acquired over 25 years teaching international and intercultural education, ESL, and curriculum development at the elementary, college and university levels along with workshops and conference presentations here in the lower mainland and abroad. Presently, she is on faculty at Douglas College, teaching courses in intercultural communication and coordinating associate of arts programs. Her research focus is on intercultural communication in the classroom. She has lived in Canada, Israel, Japan and Mexico and travels extensively and enjoys the complexities of intercultural work.