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Email engage@cacuss.ca to register. *The Empower Speaker Series offers dedicated spaces for Black, Indigenous, and Racialized professionals, hosted through the Empower Mentorship Program. Storytelling is more than sharing experiences, it is a powerful tool for building connection, cultivating perceived safety, and fostering growth in mentorship relationships. This session will explore how mentors and mentees can use storytelling to strengthen trust, validate lived experiences, and promote culturally responsive spaces where learning and leadership can thrive. Participants will examine barriers and risks associated with narrative sharing, practice frameworks for ethical and inclusive storytelling, and leave with practical tools to integrate narrative into their mentoring and professional practice. By centering storytelling as a professional development strategy, this session equips practitioners to advance equity, nurture belonging, and transform how we support students and colleagues in higher education. Learning Objectives By the end of this session, participants will be able to: - Identify the role of storytelling in fostering trust and perceived safety within mentorship relationships.
- Analyze barriers and risks of narrative sharing, particularly for BIPOC or marginalized mentees, and evaluate approaches for ethical storytelling.
- Apply a storytelling framework (e.g., story arc, prompts, or agreements) to a mentorship context to support student development and belonging.
- Design a strategy for integrating storytelling practices into their own mentoring or student affairs work to promote inclusive and culturally responsive engagement.
CACUSS Competencies Addressed - Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Participants will recognize systemic barriers and practice using storytelling as a tool to create inclusive and socially conscious mentorship experiences.
- Emotional and Interpersonal Intelligence: Participants will practice empathetic listening and relational trust-building through story-based exercises.
- Student Learning and Development: Participants will connect storytelling to theories of meaning-making, reflection, and identity development, applying these to mentorship practice.
Meet our Guest Speaker, Jay Rojas!  Jay Rojas (he/him) is the Manager of Community Support at the University of British Columbia, where he leads a dynamic portfolio focused on community wellbeing, belonging, and crisis response. With over 8 years of experience in student affairs, he has worked across leadership education, transition and orientation, experiential learning, and community-based learning at post-secondary institutions across Canada. A long time contributor to CACUSS, its Communities of Practice, as well as the Empower Program, Jay is deeply committed to mentoring emerging professionals and creating inclusive, values-driven spaces for student and staff growth. His leadership approach is shaped by both his academic background and lived experiences. He is a PhD Candidate researching the professionalization of student affairs within a sociological framework, a veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, a husband, a pawrent, and an ex-offender. Known for his empathetic leadership, commitment to equity, and strategic mindset, Jay brings a relational and reflective lens to his work. He believes that mentorship is not just a professional responsibility, but a powerful act of community care. He’s excited to continue to connect through the Empower Program and support the next generation of student affairs leaders.
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