The Uncovering Belonging Podcast

Guest: Deepak Kashyap (he/him)
Co-hosts: Erin Davis(she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)
Content note: Mention of sex trafficking.
Transcript

Bio: Deepak Kashyap is a counselling therapist and life-skills trainer with an extensive experience in corporate wellness, diversity, and inclusion initiatives. He provides emotional and mental health services in person as well as online for over 10 years. He holds a master’s degree in the Psychology of Education from the University of Bristol, UK.

Call to Action:

“Introspection is where we start. So I would like all of us to be as honestly introspective and honestly accepting of ourselves as we can be and of others. And don’t get too scared. You’re fine, you’ll be fine!” – Deepak Kashyup.

This episode is sponsored by Shaw Communications. At Shaw, we connect millions of Canadians every day to brighter technology solutions and we’re proud to celebrate the rainbow of identities on our teams that make that possible. The richness of diversity among our staff and communities is what makes us uniquely Shaw, and impacts everything we do. Shaw is a place where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and feel a sense of belonging. To learn more about Shaw visit shaw.ca.

Resources & Links: 

• Lotus Mindfulness Centre: https://lotusmindfulnesscentre.com/ 
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/deepakkashyapservices  
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrpsychologist/
• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

Bibliography from Co-Host Introduction:

• J. Navarro, T. Ferguson, C. Chih, A. Jibril, M. Khatoon, S. Inkingi, D. Beaulieu-Prévost, P. Thaker on behalf of the Trans PULSE Canada Team. Health and well-being among trans and non-binary immigrants & newcomers. 2021-03-23. Available from: https://transpulsecanada.ca/research-type/reports 
• Bragg B, & Wong LL. “Cancelled dreams”: Family reunification and shifting Canadian immigration policy. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies. 2016;14:(1):46-65. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/15562948.2015.1011364
• Rainbow Railroad 2020 Annual Report: Available from: Rainbow Railroad 2020 Annual Report by rainbow_railroad – Issuu

Guest: Sithara Fernando (she/her)
Co-hosts: Erin Davis (she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)
Content note: Mention of suicidal ideation, mental health (PTSD, anxiety, depression)
Transcript

Bio: Sithara Fernando is a teacher, enjoys working outside and loves to engage with indigenous communities. Sithara Fernando has been working for the past 10 years in Fort McMurray, and now lives in Edmonton with her amazing wife. Sithara Fernando enjoys traveling to new places, likes to take pictures, be outside and have fun with her dog. She is a passionate advocate for marginalized groups and volunteers extensively. She often blogs, enjoys writing, and one day hopes to write a book about all of her experiences. She is an avid reader, an engaged employee, and likes working as part of a team. She is a very kind and attentive individual who cares about all of the folks around her. She is a great addition to any team, is very reliable, honest, kind and enjoys solving any problems.

Call to Action:

“Don’t be afraid to be ridiculous. There’s far too much pressure to do things in a certain way. So just go out and do something ridiculous. Be ridiculous. Feel ridiculous!” – Sithara Fernando

This episode is sponsored by Shaw Communications. At Shaw, we connect millions of Canadians every day to brighter technology solutions and we’re proud to celebrate the rainbow of identities on our teams that make that possible. The richness of diversity among our staff and communities is what makes us uniquely Shaw, and impacts everything we do. Shaw is a place where everyone can bring their whole selves to work and feel a sense of belonging. To learn more about Shaw visit shaw.ca.

Resources & Links: 

• Small Town Queer – Out in Oil
• Fernandoland
• LinkedIn
• Instagram: @Hanki_doo
• Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
• Towards Braiding by Elwood Jimmy,  Vanessa Andreotti & Sharon Stein
• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
• Becoming by Michele Obama

Guest: David Lewis-Peart (he/him)
Co-hosts: Erin Davis (she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)
Content note: child welfare system (child apprehension, adoption, foster care)
Transcript

Bio: David has worked in a number of roles as an adjunct professor, community worker, consultant, corporate trainer, writer, and playwright. He completed graduate studies at York University in Toronto, where his area of research was on community interventions and Black, gay male youth.

He holds a diploma in Human Services Counselling – mental health and addictions, post-graduate training in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation, has certification in Life Skills Coaching, and additional training in Facilitating Restorative Circles, and Family Group Conferencing. He has previously been a member of faculty in both Child and Youth Care and Social Service Work programs in Toronto, Brampton, and Oakville. David has been a founding lead on a number of community service and arts-based initiatives supporting Black and other groups including work with Sunset Service Toronto, an award-winning intercultural and interfaith program, and We Other Sons, a queer men of color theater arts collective through Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. David was the former coordinator for and lead researcher of, the Canadian iteration of Many Men, Many Voices (3MV) a community health intervention for gay Black men, and was the founding lead and Community Engagement Consultant on the African, Caribbean, Black (ACB) Family Group Conferencing (FGC) project, a Law Foundation of Ontario funded initiative through the University of Toronto, responsible for the design and delivery of a culturally appropriate, restorative justice intervention for African-Canadian families involved with the child welfare system. More recently David speaks on and delivers training around working across difference and restorative practice, and has regularly contributed to publications such as CBC Arts, Huffington Post Canada, ByBlacks, and Global News writing and producing on topics of race, identity, masculinity, and wellbeing. He is presently undergoing graduate study with a focus on Indigenous trauma and resiliency at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Social Work.

Call to Action:

“Have a conversation with someone that you would never have a conversation with. Read a magazine or a newspaper from across the fence. Go to a part of the city that you would normally not go to. Put yourself into situations where you have to extend yourself.” – David Lewis-Peart

This episode is sponsored by Erin Davis Co.

Resources & Links: 

LinkedIn

METRAC: https://www.metrac.org/about/?doing_wp_cron=1650387314.3501861095428466796875

Douglas Stewart of Competence Consultants: About Competence Consultants and Associates – Toronto

Kai Cheng Thom’s article: Why are queer people so mean to each other? | Xtra Magazine

Sylvia Delgado Collective – The Asabiyyah Concept: https://theasabiyyahconcept.com/our-collective

The Problem with Wokeness | Ayishat Akanbi: https://youtu.be/_-WimRb2jXs

James Baley – Juno winning music creator and multi-disciplinary artist: https://jamesbaley.com/

Guest: Jake Stika (he/him)
Co-hosts: Erin Davis (she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)
Content note: mention of homophobia, suicide, substance use, violence.
Transcript

Bio: As Next Gen Men’s Executive Director, Jake is a passionate speaker and facilitator focused on gender-based issues related to the social and emotional development of young men, the health and well-being of men in communities, and gender equity in workplaces.

Jake was named one of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40, as well as having earned recognition from Ashoka, the British Council, and the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion. He has spoken at the United Nations as part of the Canadian Delegation, and participated in the UN Women Safe Cities Initiative Global Forum. He is also a proud advisor to the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association, Canadian Women & Sport, as well as the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter.

Call to Action:

“Talk to a boy or a man in your life and ask them what masculinity means to them, where they picked that up, what they like about it, and what they wish was different.” – Jake Stika

This episode is sponsored by Pride at Work Canada: LGBTQ2+ Workplace Inclusion – Pride At Work Canada

Resources & Links: 

Next Gen Men: https://www.nextgenmen.ca/about

Please note a discount code is available for all Uncovering Belonging listeners. Use the discount code UNCOVERINGBELONGING for 15% off those two products:

• Raising Next Gen Men Online Course
• B.O.O.K. Club

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by Bell Hooks

A 10th Graders Response to Andrew Tate

Guest: Melissa Horne (she/her)
Co-hosts: Erin Davis (she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)
Transcript

Bio: Dr. Melissa Horne, PhD​​, is a DEI Advocate, a historian and the Director of Growth and Business Development at Dialectic. Melissa helps DEI champions apply science-backed methods to activate inclusive practices within organizations. She holds a PhD in Modern U.S. and African American History from Rutgers, and has designed targeted social justice education for organizations both big and small. She is also the host of the Just One Q podcast, which spotlights DEI practitioners with cutting-edge ideas for driving real cultural and behavioural change.

Call to Action:

“I think that we all have the power to be advocates…Being an advocate is something that you can do. It is something that doesn’t take any kind of expertise per se, but it just takes the will…Being an advocate doesn’t mean you have to know everything, it just means you have to pay attention and look for those opportunities to act!” – Melissa Horne.

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/melissa-horne-phd-2b8b3a9a  
• Dialectic: https://dialectic.solutions/
• Just One Q: Educational Podcast focusing on DEI topics – Dialectic  
• Shadows At Dawn: https://karljacoby.com/books/shadows-at-dawn/ 
• A National Crime: A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School S (goodminds.com)
• How the World is Passed: How the Word Is Passed — Clint Smith (clintsmithiii.com)
• Ashland Johnson, Esq., Founder, Inclusion Playbook (she/her) About | The Inclusion Playbook

Guest: Jefferson Darrell (he/him)

Co-hosts: Erin Davis (she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)

Content note: Suicidal Ideation & Anti-Black Racism and Racial Battle Fatigue.

Transcript

Bio: Jefferson Darrell, Breakfast Culture Founder & CEO, is among Canada’s earliest outliers in the DEI arena, successfully driving positive change management for organizations for the past five years resulting in more diverse & inclusive teams & increased revenue or new business opportunities. Jefferson is an accomplished marketing communications & public relations professional with more than 15 years of brand strategy expertise, generating earned & owned media using traditional & digital channels.

Call to Action:

“When you have those bias thoughts, those discriminatory thoughts, those racist thoughts, those homophobic thoughts, those transphobic thoughts…we all have them. Like you’re lying to yourself if you don’t. I want you to stop. Pause and question where is that coming from, what’s happening, why am I thinking that – what has caused me to have this thought.”

Resources & Links:

• LinkedIn: Jefferson Darrell | LinkedIn

• Racial Battle Fatigue: Will Smith

• Breakfast Culture

• French 75 Recipe

• What If By Steve L. Robbins PhD

• You’re a Superstar by Love Inc.

• Randall Pearce | LinkedIn

Guest: Gwenna Kadima (she/her)

Co-hosts: Erin Davis (she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)

Transcript

Bio: Gwenna Kadima (she/her) is an award-winning, Toronto-based BIPOC Career Activator and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Consultant empowering marginalized individuals to achieve their highest professional potential through targeted macro and micro-interventions. 

Gwenna catalyzes equality at the individual level as a BIPOC Career Activator offering seminars, workshops, coaching, and other culturally relevant career development services to BIPOC students and professionals. 

Simultaneously, Gwenna addresses systemic workplace barriers as a DEI Consultant developing and executing intentional DEI strategies and programming. Her areas of expertise are sustainable Employee Resource Group (ERG) enablement and inclusive employee program design.

As of February 2025, Gwenna has rebranded her DEI consultancy as Center Desk Consulting, bringing DEI from side of desk to center focus.

Call to Action: “So for the folks that are leading the charge in creating more inclusive, equitable spaces, rest. REST is resistance. I am so obsessed with Tricia Hersey and everything she does through The Nap Ministry. Just a reminder, need to rest. You have the right to rest!”

Resources & Links: 

• Home | Center Desk Consulting
• Gwenna on Linkedin
• Why the Business Case for DEI Is Broken
• Red Rising Saga — PIERCE BROWN
• Encanto – What Else Can I Do? Song Clip 
• Shout out: Denise Pinto
• Tricia Hersey
• The Nap Ministry

Co-hosts and guests: Erin Davis (she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)

Transcript

Description: In a captivating twist, Erin Davis (she/her) and Jade Pichette (they/them) turn the tables on themselves and ask each other the thought-provoking questions they usually reserve for their esteemed guests. In this episode, they open up about their serendipitous meeting, the spark that ignited their shared passion for exploring belonging, and the compelling reasons that led them to embark on this podcast. Unlock an exclusive and intimate glimpse into the lives of the show’s co-hosts as they share their personal journeys and profound insights that shaped their journey towards creating Uncovering Belonging.

Calls to Action: 

• “For me, I really wanna encourage people to consider self-accommodation” – Jade
• “To everyone listening keep learning. and in that process, identify what is that one small action? What is that one key piece of learning? When you listen to that podcast, when you read that book, when you watch that show that has an intersectional lens that you can share with someone else, keep the conversation going.” – Erin

Resources & Links: 

• Care Work | Arsenal Pulp Press by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

• From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle

• Unbound by Steph Jogger

• Lizzo – About Damn Time

• Tina Turner – Simply the Best

• About – Chanelle Gallant

Guest: Kim Wheatley (she/her)

Co-hosts: Erin Davis (she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)

Transcript

Content note: Mention of colonization and related violence such as the Indian Act, assimilation and Indian Residential Schools, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people.

Bio: Traditional Anishinaabe Grandmother Kim Wheatley is Ojibway, Potawatomi, and Caribbean in ancestry. She is a band member of Shawanaga First Nation located on the shores of Georgian Bay on Robinson Huron Treaty Territories and is Turtle Clan. She carries the Spirit name “Head or Leader of the Fireflower” and has worked for 3 decades with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities across Canada. As a multi-award-winning speaker for over 3 decades, Kim has appeared locally, nationally and internationally in books, magazines, television, radio and numerous news articles. She is a published author, hand drummer, singer, water walker, artist, ceremonial practitioner and ancestral knowledge keeper. Kim is committed to forging good relationships based aligned with reconciliation that honour the past, connect the present and contribute to the future.

Resources & Links: 

• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – NCTR
• Truth and Reconciliation Archives – APTN News
• 2SLGBTQQIA-Report-Final.pdf (mmiwg2splus-nationalactionplan.ca)
• Final Report | MMIWG (mmiwg-ffada.ca)
• Missing Children of Indian Residential Schools (arcgis.com)
• Jully Black explains why she changed the anthem 
• The Pretendians | The Passionate Eye (cbc.ca)
• Indian Act | Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC)
• Abolishing the Indian Act means eliminating First Nations’ rights – Macleans.ca
• As an Afro-Indigenous woman being Canadian means living in a nation built on my ancestors’ stolen lands by my ancestors’ slave labour (thestar.com)
• Indigenous Canada | Coursera

Guest: Kim Wheatley (she/her)

Co-hosts: Erin Davis (she/her) & Jade Pichette (they/them)

Transcript

Content note: Mention of colonization and related violence such as the Indian Act, assimilation and Indian Residential Schools, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people.

Bio: Traditional Anishinaabe Grandmother Kim Wheatley is Ojibway, Potawatomi and Caribbean in ancestry. She is a band member of Shawanaga First Nation located on the shores of Georgian Bay on Robinson Huron Treaty Territories and is Turtle Clan. She carries the Spirit name “Head or Leader of the Fireflower” and has worked for 3 decades with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities across Canada. As a multi award winning speaker for over 3 decades Kim has appeared locally, nationally and internationally in books, magazines, television, radio and numerous news articles. She is a published author, hand drummer, singer, water walker, artist, ceremonial practitioner and ancestral knowledge keeper. Kim is committed to forging good relationships based aligned with reconciliation that honour the past, connect the present and contribute to the future.

Resources & Links: 

• We Are All Treaty People – Indigenous Education (utoronto.ca)
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada – NCTR
• Truth and Reconciliation Archives – APTN News
• 2SLGBTQQIA-Report-Final.pdf (mmiwg2splus-nationalactionplan.ca)
• Final Report | MMIWG (mmiwg-ffada.ca)
• Missing Children of Indian Residential Schools (arcgis.com)
• Jully Black explains why she changed the anthem 
• The Pretendians | The Passionate Eye (cbc.ca)
• Indian Act | Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC)
• Abolishing the Indian Act means eliminating First Nations’ rights – Macleans.ca
• As an Afro-Indigenous woman being Canadian means living in a nation built on my ancestors’ stolen lands by my ancestors’ slave labour (thestar.com)
• Indigenous Canada | Coursera