You’ve started shaping or strengthening your institution’s policy or protocol to respond to sexual harassment in experiential learning—now what?
In this second part of our policy-focused series, we’ll turn our attention to implementation. How do you build buy-in across departments, programs, and partners? How do you communicate your policy and protocol in ways that are clear, accessible, and empowering for students, staff, and employers?
Together, we’ll explore strategies to bridge the gap between policy and practice, so that your policies and protocols don’t just exist on paper, but actually support safer, more accountable experiential learning environments.
Learning Outcomes:
1) Explore narrative approaches to constructively communicating policy change initiatives.
2) Identify strategies for building support and pursuing adoption or implementation of your policy or protocol intervention.
Webinars are offered at no charge. Attendees are provided with closed captioning and simultaneous French or English translation. If you have any additional accessibility requests to support your participation, please email us at communications@couragetoact.ca.
Instructors: Kirsten Mercer & Kirsty Pazek
Kirsten Mercer is the founder and principal of Mercer Advocates. Kirsten brings over two decades of experience advancing justice through legal, political, and community-based channels. Her work combines legal advocacy with policy expertise and deep knowledge of systems and institutions, particularly where power, trauma, and inequality intersect. She previously held senior leadership roles in government, including as Chief of Staff to the federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and as Senior Advisor to the Premier of Ontario, where she led major justice policy reforms, including Ontario’s landmark Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan. She continues to serve as a member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Her work has shaped legislation, guided public institutions, and supported survivors and communities advocating for systemic change. She is fluently bilingual, deeply committed to intersectional feminist advocacy, and brings a trauma-informed, client-centred approach to every matter she takes on.
Kirsty Pazek is an impact-driven strategist with 15 years of experience supporting values-based organizations in post-secondary education, workforce planning and financial services. A first-generation graduate, she spent a decade delivering communications counsel to university executive leadership teams in academic administration, institutional reporting, student affairs and community engagement. Her core values are authenticity, trust and connection, and she embraces a ‘listening-to-learn’ approach to guide all of her work. Kirsty earned an Honours Bachelor of Arts in International Development and Economics from the University of Guelph and a post-graduate certificate in Public Relations from Humber College.
Thank you to our learning partners
