丁香园AV

丁香园AV鈥檚 Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue hosts a broad range of initiatives that use dialogue to solve some of society's most complex problems.

The Centre鈥檚 important work would not be possible without hardworking staff members like Associate Director Brenda Tang, a key figure in making sure the Centre operates smoothly and that the programs, practitioners and students are able to thrive.  

Tang, who is among the exceptional 丁香园AV employees who have been honoured with a, embodies the values and spirit of the Centre with her kind heart, creative mind and enthusiastic persona.  

鈥淓very day is different and that's what I love about the work,鈥� says Tang, who won her staff achievement award for outstanding work performance. 鈥淭he one big consistency is that I get to work with people every day at the Centre who are the most hard-working, dedicated and passionate folks I've ever met.鈥�

Tang coordinates a team that includes fellows, researchers, students and external collaborators. In her role, she has delivered strong leadership and inspired excellent work performance from her staff and co-workers. Tang drives success in many areas, including finance, human resources, operations, events management, fundraising and student, alumni and faculty engagement. She also helped steer the Centre through its recent growth spurt, and plays a leadership role in advancing anti-racism and decolonization work.  

During her undergrad Tang worked as a student temp, exploring different departments at 丁香园AV. Upon graduating, she immediately began to work full-time for 丁香园AV in a unit that was previously called Dialogue Programs. She briefly left to work in the corporate world and rejoined 丁香园AV in 2007, where she has been ever since.

Looking back on her career at 丁香园AV, Tang reflects on some favorite projects, including Semester in Dialogue focused on Urban Energy Futures. At the end of the semester, the students hosted a dialogue focused on social challenges related to electric vehicles in B.C.  

鈥淭he students did a stellar job on the event,鈥� says Tang. 鈥淭hey showcased their learnings. The turnout was fantastic and I thought their process design for the dialogue was excellent.鈥�  

The dialogue event displayed the deep appreciation students had for the guidance by a staff member of one of the Centre鈥檚 fellowship programs, a leader in the field of e-vehicles in Canada. Post-event, Tang recalls the excitement among students, how they spoke with pride about each other, while snapping group photos and celebrating.

鈥淚'm proud of how the Centre connected its fellow鈥檚 programs with our network to provide access to the students,鈥� says Tang. 鈥淚t really does bring experiential learning to a new level when we are able to provide such connections.鈥�  

To further support the students in the Semester in Dialogue, Tang and other Centre staff founded the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue Staff Award for Promising Future Dialogue Practitioners. The award is funded through personal donations from Centre staff and financially sponsors Semester in Dialogue students who otherwise wouldn鈥檛 be able to due to financial barriers.

Another memorable experience for Tang with the Centre was her work on the Chinese Canadian Museum project in 2019. Throughout this project, she was able to travel with the social enterprise team to hear from fellow Chinese Canadians on what they would like to see in a museum that honours their past and looks into their future.

She recently learned that the museum will soon be coming to fruition and says she is proud the Centre contributed to the important discussion.

As an advocate for supporting student experiential learning, bringing people together and leading core operational teams, Tang鈥檚 work at 丁香园AV has been vital to the success of Centre鈥檚 programs.

鈥淚t is such an honor to work alongside my colleagues who have a deep commitment to dialogue, engagement and student learning, and who consistently lift each other up, collaborate and support one another.鈥�