Kathryn Shaw

Meet more 49 Langarans.

• 

  Joseph Abercrombie

  Joseph Abercrombie

  Langara Alum | Sustainability Innovator

  Joe is the founder of Humane Solutions Inc., a sustainable, innovative wildlife management company. He has evolved from a student with a vision to a trailblazer in his industry in less than four years. Through his dedication and passion to make positive, sustainable impact, he has successfully grown his business from a part-time venture into a full-time cutting-edge business, offering a full suite of wildlife control solutions across Western Canada with a team of internationally qualified human-wildlife conflict specialists and wildlife technicians. His dedication to environmental sustainability and advocacy work on the discontinuation of poison as a method of pest control has earned Humane Solutions positive reviews in the Lower Mainland and in multiple publications, strategic partnerships with sustainable businesses and organizations across BC, and exploratory research collaborations involving various academic institutions and NGOs. Joe is a budding serial social entrepreneur. Using Humane Solutions as a catalyst, he intends to capitalize on his unique skills and privilege to drive as much social and environmental change as possible.

  Read more

• 

  Ruth Bancroft

  Ruth Bancroft

  Retired Employee | Childcare Advocate

  For 41 years Ruth was the Head Teacher of the Langara Child Development Centre. She led the Centre from 1978 to 2019, creating a high quality, play-based, inclusive childcare program that celebrates the uniqueness and diversity of its children and families and values the amazing contributions of its staff. Ruth and her staff have worked tirelessly with other community organizations to support the children attending daycare at Langara and help families navigate the, at times, complex system of child care funding and services. A long-time advocate for universal and affordable public childcare, Ruth was thrilled when the Langara Child Development Centre was selected as one of the prototype centres to pilot BC’s $10 per day childcare plan. A valued member of provincial and national advocacy organizations, Ruth was a member of the Vancouver Local Supported Child Development Advisory Committee; served as Board Member of SpecialLink, the National Centre for Child Care Inclusion; and continues to be active as a Board Member of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC and Child Care Now. Ruth recently received the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education in recognition of her contributions.

• 

  Haisla Collins

  Haisla Collins

  Langara Alum | Indigenous Arts Advocate

  Haisla is an artist, musician, teacher, and community leader. She is an Indigenous expressionist artist working out of Raven’s Eye Studio. She also serves as the Community Leader for Indigenous Women Artists, a collective that brings together female Indigenous artists for collaborative works, art shows, workshops, and community projects. This year, the collective won the Creative City Strategy Grant from the City of Vancouver to do a residency at the Roundhouse Community Centre and had shows at Gallery Gachet and Britannia Library Art Gallery. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, spent six years training with performance coach and renowned jazz singer Ron Small, and for the last 13 years has been the lead singer and harmonica player for the blues and roots band “Haisla with Nasty, Brutish and Short”. A champion of the community and the arts, Haisla has been a Project Manager at The Downtown Eastside Centre for the Arts, Coordinator of the Aboriginal Artisan Program at Carnegie Community Centre, and Director of Raven’s Eye Mentorship Program. She is best known for her work on mural Spirits of the Realms and Through the Eye of the Raven and this year she won the City of Vancouver Indigenous mural contest to produce Sisters, Daughters, Clan Mothers - Honouring Indigenous Women which will be displayed at the central Vancouver Public Library in fall 2019.

  Read more