Arts

A new way to learn and lead: UFV launches the Social Innovation Certificate

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A new way to learn and lead: UFV launches the Social Innovation Certificate

How do we prepare students not only for today’s challenges, but for a world that’s changing faster than ever before? At the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), that question sparked the creation of a bold, interdisciplinary credential launching in Fall 2025: the Social Innovation Certificate.

This new certificate is designed for students, professionals, and community members who want to lead change in their workplaces, communities, and beyond. Through four core INNV (Innovation) courses and 15 interdisciplinary elective credits, participants will explore systems thinking and social innovation in real-world contexts. From scenario-based learning to community-engaged projects, this program empowers learners to not just understand complex problems, but actively work toward creative, sustainable solutions.

Two dedicated faculty members helped shape the certificate from the ground up: Dr. Linda Pardy and Dr. Anna Griffith. For today’s blog story, the College of Arts is interviewing them to learn more about the vision, values, and real-world impact of the Social Innovation Certificate.

But, first, a brief introduction:

Dr. Linda Pardy is an Associate Professor in Arts and Integrated Studies. After recently concluding her tenure as Associate Dean of Students in the College of Arts, she’s now focused on research and teaching that focus on social innovation, workplace learning, and career development. Having supported thousands of Liberal Arts students in navigating their transition from education to employment, Dr. Pardy’s impact has been recognized with the UFV Teaching Excellence Award.

Dr. Anna Griffith is an Associate Professor in the School of Creative Arts and UFV’s Changemaker Curriculum Developer. Known for designing high-impact, transformative learning experiences, Dr. Griffith works with faculty across disciplines to embed changemaking, sustainability, and social innovation into their pedagogy, turning classrooms into platforms for real-world action.

Now, let’s jump to the interview!

College of Arts: What inspired the creation of the Social Innovation Certificate?

Dr. Anna Griffith: We wanted to create a certificate that prepares students to enter the workforce with the skills they need to innovate and make a difference in their field. These skills include systems and design thinking, social entrepreneurship, adaptive leadership, and working with AI.

The four core INNV courses are designed to scaffold these capacities. By the 300- and 400-level courses, students are out in the community, working with employers and partner organizations, leading real innovation projects and gaining critical work experiences. Work-integrated learning is infused throughout the entire certificate because we didn’t want students to just learn about social innovation; we wanted them to actually do it.

This certificate responds to a world that urgently needs us to do things differently. It’s a certificate of possibility and action.

College of Arts: How does this program support students in building future-ready careers?

Dr. Linda Pardy: Every industry is being disrupted in some way. Employers are no longer just looking for just technical skills—they’re seeking creative problem solvers, critical thinkers, and ethical leaders. The Social Innovation Certificate is designed to build precisely these skills.

We’ve embedded essential employment literacies—like understanding the role of technology, data literacy, cultural agility—and linked them with systems thinking and creative leadership. These are the skills that won’t be replaced by AI or automation.

Whether students are preparing for their first job or navigating career change, this certificate prepares them to lead in times of uncertainty.

College of Arts: How is the certificate aligned with UFV’s House of Transformation and changemaking values?

Dr. Anna Griffith: UFV’s motto, Íyáqáwtxw, means “House of Transformation” in Halq’eméylem. The certificate reflects this spirit by cultivating not just skills, but mindsets that allow students to see themselves as agents of change in their communities and disciplines.

Students learn in dynamic, collaborative environments where experimentation and iteration are part of the process. They work on real challenges and develop the confidence to take risks and adapt when things don’t go as planned. These are key attributes of innovative thinkers and leaders in any field.

This kind of learning opens doors. Students leave with a strong portfolio of experience as well as a professional network. They will be equipped with the innovative mindsets and leadership skills needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

College of Arts: Who is this program for?

Dr. Linda Pardy: I hate to respond so generally, but honestly, this credential is designed to be meaningful for people at all stages of their academic or professional/career journey. Whether you’re starting your first job, seeking career growth, or leading change in your organization, the certificate gives you tools and experiences that are immediately applicable.

It’s also easy to integrate into most UFV degrees—many of the electives are courses students are already taking. It’s flexible and student-centred.

College of Arts: How does the program engage with real-world challenges?

Dr. Anna Griffith: Our INNV courses equip students to work in complex environments and workplaces. In INNV 100, for example, students are immersed in a scenario-based game that simulates the interconnected and unpredictable world and the very complex, systemic challenges we face. Instead of working on case studies, this experience challenges students to think on their feet, navigate uncertainty, and respond to unfolding crises. They design responses and innovative solutions in real time. It’s a space to practice adaptability, systems thinking, and ethical leadership.

This kind of learning prepares students to tackle big challenges, apply creative problem-solving, and develop the skills needed to deliver solutions. It’s social innovation within education itself.

College of Arts:  What kinds of career paths could this certificate support?

Dr. Linda Pardy: The Social Innovation Certificate prepares students to thrive in diverse industry sectors—business, health, education, science, government, arts and culture, sustainability, and more.

It equips students with a changemaking lens they can apply wherever they go. Whether you want to work in areas such as tech ethics, policy, community engagement, health administration, manufacturing, design, or environmental protection, this certificate helps you stand out and lead change.

College of Arts: What do you hope students will take away from the experience?

Dr. Anna Griffith: I hope students leave confident in their ability to meaningfully contribute to any industry sector or community organization.  This certificate offers not just skill-building, but also an opportunity to develop their leadership abilities and a sense of agency.

Students will leave with an advanced way of thinking, relating, problem-solving, and acting.  By the end of the certificate, they will be equipped to lead and help build a sustainable future.

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Are you ready to become a changemaker? You might already be closer than you think to earning this certificate. Check your MyGrad Plan or connect with an Academic Advisor to map out how the Social Innovation Certificate can fit into your degree.

The Social Innovation Certificate launches in Fall 2025 at UFV. Open to students across all disciplines, working professionals, and lifelong learners, this flexible credential is your pathway to leading meaningful change.

Start with INNV 100 and learn more at ufv.ca/arts/programs/social-innovation.

Working together to build peace

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On October 29, students, staff, faculty and community members came together to discuss peacebuilding efforts locally and globally with area directors Cesar Flores and Lizzette Miranda from the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

“It’s very important to see faculty, students and people from the community interested in this big topic because there are realities that the world is facing,” said Flores.

Read moreWorking together to build peace

Eyém Sqwà:l – UFV’s Literary Café at the Harrison Festival of the Arts

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Eyém Sqwà:l = Strong Words @ the Harrison Festival of the Arts

Date: Monday, July 9 at 8:30pm 2018
Location: Memorial Hall

Tickets: Adult $28.00 ($25 til June 22nd)      Student/Senior $25.00 ( $23 til June 22nd)

UFV’s Literary Café at the Harrison Festival of the Arts offers an intimate opportunity to get up close and personal with some of the West Coast’s brightest writers and poets.

This year’s theme Eyém Sqwà:l : Strong Words, celebrates the voices of two powerful Stó:lō multi-media artists and their oral, performance-based style, along with world-renowned spoken word artist, Shane Koyczan who has been called the “poet of our generation.”

KELIYA

Keliya is a poet, screenwriter, filmmaker and hip hop artist from the Stó:lō Nation. She is also a graduate from the UBC Film Studies Bachelor of Arts program and aims to tell stories about her people that are not only modern and traditional, but also from an Aboriginal perspective.

Keliya has travelled across Canada and the US performing for communities and youth. These are the people for whom she makes her art and she is passionate about spreading messages of empowerment and love in this way.

OSTWELVE

Ronnie Dean Harris aka Ostwelve is a Stó:lō /St’át’imc/Nlaka’pamux multimedia artist based in Vancouver, BC. He has worked as an actor and composer on the APTN/Showcase TV series, Moccasin Flats, toured internationally as a hip-hop performer, been a director, programmer and producer for the Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival and is now the Program Director for “Reframing Relations.” This Community Arts Council of Vancouver initiative allows Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to interface with students and youth in schools and communities around the concept of reconciliation. Check out his website @ www.ronniedeanharris.com

SHANE KOYCZAN

Shane Koyczan is an extraordinary talent who has blown the dust off the traditional designation “poet.” He is a writer and multi-media spoken word artist whose work has appeared in print, viral videos, opera and his own furiously-honest, award-winning performances. His first published collection, Visiting Hours, was the only work of poetry selected by both the Guardian and the Globe and Mail for their Best Books of the Year lists in 2005. Koyczan followed up on that success with Stickboy, a novel in verse that chronicled the dark journey of a bullied child. From these words of helpless rage, he was asked to produce the libretto for a full operatic produced by Vancouver Opera in 2014.

Our Deathbeds Will be Thirsty was released in 2012. The book features the piece, “To This Day,” a poem about bullying that went viral on Youtube, receiving over a million views in a matter of days. Most recently Koyczan embarked on a journey to discover his own origin story. One result is the documentary, Shut Up and Say Something, in which he meets his father for the first time. For more information check out: shanekoyczan.com

Helping high school students navigate racial identity

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Helping high school students navigate racial identity

 

Anecia Gill, Sociology BA 2017

By creating an anti-racism mentorship workshop that she intends to deliver at Abbotsford high schools this fall, Anecia Gill was able to combine her passions for social theory and her hometown.

Gill’s family has lived in Abbotsford for over 100 years and she feels a strong connection to this place. She is also drawn to sociology thanks to her mother, who took a degree in the same field and had all of her old textbooks on the family bookshelf. Gill completed her own Bachelor of Arts in Sociology at UFV this spring and in her final year she created the workshop in a directed study with Dr. Katherine Watson.

Inspired by critical race theory (DuBois, Fanon), which outlines the complexities of non-white racial identity, she wanted to help young people in Abbotsford navigate this complicated terrain.

“The root of this is the racism they face,” she says. “I’m hoping that I can help explain . . . and legitimize their experiences so that they can better understand themselves and how they fit within society.” Gill notes that when people have theoretical knowledge and vocabulary, they can better articulate their experiences and advocate for themselves within their communities.

Schools, she says, have had a long history acting as gatekeepers for legitimate knowledge, so offering an after-school workshop that attempts to critique power structures seemed like the ideal place. Her intention is for the program to help decolonize and validate non-white identity by legitimizing and supporting the lived realities of non-white students, in particular, Indo-Canadian youth, whom the program targets.

She admits that she can’t teach high school students the ins and outs of critical race theory in five days, but she wants to spark their interest. And in doing so, she hopes to give youth some helpful tools to understand and negotiate their racial identity.

For a taste of what students will learn, check out Gill’s course outline:

Day one: Cultural hegemony and power knowledge – Gramsci and Foucault

Day two: Critical Race Theory – Du Bois and Fanon

Day three: Brown experiences of racism – Said

Day four: Intersectionality of race and gender: a critique of imperialist feminism

Day five: Wrap-up discussion

Scholarship Available to ONLY UFV Arts Students!

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There is a new scholarship available to UFV College of Arts students kindly donated by arts enthusiast Eero Sorila to commemorate his parents Henrik and Alice Sorila.

DEADLINE: May 10, 2018
AVAILABLE TO: Students enrolled in any program in the College of Arts (*Preference will be given to Chilliwack students)
AMOUNT: Varies
HOW-TO APPLY: Apply on-line at MyUFV (Log into MyUFV, click on Student Information, click on Student Services, then the tab for Financial Aid.

To learn more, visit: https://goo.gl/GgHS5A
Find inspiration through Eero’s journey in the UFV blog https://goo.gl/7BH8ix.