Campfire Kinship

Campfire Kinship Story-based advisory, training and creative media to celebrate diversity and build inclusive cultures

06/17/2026

Just reached a major milestone in this seemingly never-ending book project.

I held the proof copy of The Fires We Lit for the first time.

I don’t think I am prepared for what it feels like to see this thing become a real object in the world - after the workshops, drafts, edits, illustrations, formatting decisions, page numbers I may now see in my sleep. 😳

What has made this process meaningful is doing it in community with my team and co-authors.

There is vulnerable stuff in this book. Brave stuff. Fantastical and beautiful stuff. Twenty-five women connected to STEM and innovation asking what becomes possible when women’s experiences are not only heard, but reimagined.

And now, a new challenge: releasing it into the world.

The Fires We Lit launches in Calgary on September 12. Event Registration and sponsorship links below.

Stay tuned for official publication and release. 🔥

Amy Abe Anshu Stephen, Charlotte Anyango Ong'ang'a, Ph.D., Dania El Chaar, Ph.D., CCIP, Elena Esina, Bukola Ojemakinde, Géraldine Lo Siou, Carrie McManus Humaira Waqar Jane Desrochers, Jasmine Kang, Kelly Kaur (Bedi), Laleh Behjat, Kinia Romanowska, Lina Bahlawan, Maryann Deutscher, CPHR, FCPHR, Monica Hernandez, Morgan Garnett, Najah Al-Atassi, Navshina Savory, Puja Suri, Zoong N., Stephanie vanVliet-Wells, Miriam Fabijan, Cynthia Cabrera, Josee Tremblay P.Eng. ICD.D, Lindy Pfeil, Calgary Arts Development

Being no longer treated as “a surprise in the room” - that is ultimately what belonging in engineering comes down to for...
06/03/2026

Being no longer treated as “a surprise in the room” - that is ultimately what belonging in engineering comes down to for many immigrant women.

Recorded as live panel at the recent Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology ( ) conference, the latest episode is packed with insights as I explore career stories with Claudia Gomez-Villeneuve and Sara Mighan, P.ENG.

We talk about:
- family expectations that shaped their path into engineering
- the unwritten “politics of engineering”
- maternity leave, pay gaps, and career redirection
- mentorship vs. sponsorship
- why immigrant women are central to the future of gender equity in STEM

Whether you’re navigating belonging in the workplace, or trying to make it more welcoming for others, this episode offers honest stories and practical reflections on what needs to shift.

🎧 Listen to the episode, share it with someone who needs it, and if it resonates, please rate and review Hearth 2 Heart to help more listeners find these conversations (link in bio): https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/hearth-2-heart-with-gayathri-shukla/id1579260488

It’s always a treat when you get to meet your team in person, after months of working together virtually. A highlight of...
05/28/2026

It’s always a treat when you get to meet your team in person, after months of working together virtually. A highlight of the 2026 conference was facilitating a focus group for the Canadian Academy of Engineering | L’Académie canadienne du génie project on advancing women engineers in leadership with Prairie Catalyst Consulting’s Dr. Jocelyn Peltier-Huntley, P. Eng., Courtnay Hughes, CPHR and with Erin St. Louis’s support.

Another highlight was moderating and recording a podcast panel with Claudia Gomez-Villeneuve, FEC FGC (Hon.) and Sara Mighan, P.ENG. on immigrant journeys in engineering- and what these stories reveal about the systems we’ve built, and need to rebuild. (To be aired in June Campfire Kinship podcast channel and CJSW airwaves!)

I especially enjoyed ’s keynote and her powerful reframing of authenticity and belonging from “fake it till you make it” to “face it till you make it.”

Serendipitously, I met .yeomans who created a beautiful embroidery for the conference, as we learned we are both PhD students for the same supervisor. And a nice bonus was running into who I am proud to call my coauthor at The Fires We Lit and friend!

Thank you Engineers Canada and Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT), The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), and Office to Advance Women Apprentices Alberta for hosting this much-needed conversation on leadership, belonging, and systems change.

We are grateful to announce as our first event sponsor for The Fires We Lit book launch celebration!Her Next Chapter YY...
05/22/2026

We are grateful to announce as our first event sponsor for The Fires We Lit book launch celebration!

Her Next Chapter YYC is led by Dr. Dania El Chaar, , and supports women navigating career pivots, personal reinvention, leadership growth, workforce re-entry, entrepreneurship, and evolving identities through intentional coaching, expert-led experiences, and meaningful community connection.

Get your early bird tickets (link in bio) here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/campfire-kinship-book-launch-celebration-tickets-1984385011989?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

Interested in becoming an event sponsor? Contact us at [email protected] for more info!

05/20/2026

This weekend, I participated in a transdisciplinary Idea Lab in the Rockies, where our team explored rejection culture in universities.

The topic itself was important. But what stayed with me just as much was the process.

As our team moved from broad conversation to a final pitch, familiar tensions surfaced:

Who gets to frame the problem?
Whose expertise becomes most visible?
How do groups balance inclusion with efficiency?
What happens when collaboration is placed inside a competitive structure?

These questions matter beyond universities.

In workplaces, innovation spaces, and community partnerships, inclusion and collaboration is often treated as an obvious good. But collaboration is not just about bringing people together. It depends on the conditions that shape whose knowledge is heard, how disagreement is held, and how pressure changes participation.

This connects closely to my doctoral work in transdisciplinary research, where I am examining how lived experience, reflection, and sensemaking can help shift the way people understand and act within complex systems.

The question I am carrying forward:

What does collaboration actually require when the stakes rise?

A huge thank you to for organizing, all my fellow students who I had the pleasure to learn from, and professors Barry Wyland, Dr. Teri Balser, Dr. Tonya Callaghan, Felicia Glatz, and Dr. Jenny Godley. A special shout out to Di Su and Mansi Singhal for the calligraphy workshop, for the watercolour workshop, coffee, making workshop by Jonathan Tanone and adventure hikes led by James Colter and Natalie Sobrian.

05/13/2026

I’m not against AI. In fact, ethical AI innovation is a thread emerging both in my research and practice at Campfire Kinship.

But I raise this core tension in my TEDx talk because I don’t think the question is just about what can AI do faster, but faster toward what?

If we innovate without asking what happens to trust, dignity, and , what is the price we pay?

And what must we be willing to not compromise?

Would love to hear thoughts. Full video link in comments.

05/08/2026

This week’s reflection: creative expression doesn’t dilute serious conversations. Sometimes that’s what makes them possible in the first place.

We had the honor of facilitating another story-to-comic workshop on anti-racism with Ladies in the Family Foundation and welcomed Sudanese Black youth this week. We shared expertise for all levels on how to pick a storytelling genre, play with characters, dialogue, and story prompts to then create visual comic panels.

As our participant Daniella’s thoughtful comic panel shows, expression of serious topics needs room for laughter, imagination, and choice. That is where and begin.

04/30/2026

To belong, you have to allow yourself to be seen.

Yes, that feels vulnerable. Possibly even terrifying.

Because when you show up as yourself, you quickly find out not everyone will like it. There will be rejection. Moments that make you question it all.

But you may also find your people - and perhaps that is the point.

This TEDx talk is one of those vulnerable moments. I share a deeply personal experience that shaped my journey toward authenticity.

But this talk is not just about my story.

It is about the price we pay when we we tuck away parts of ourselves to perform, fit in, and keep up. And it is about reclaiming those parts, piece by piece, to feel seen and to see each other more fully - especially in the age of AI where the chase for efficiency and productivity is eroding the very human quality of our relationships.

So this talk is me walking the talk (pun intended), and I am still learning.

Full video here: https://youtu.be/8XP-7v2ytpg?si=ZkUHu1PVnt3fTJ7N

I hope you enjoy the talk - if it resonates, please leave a comment on YouTube to spark a broader dialog, and share it with someone who may need the reminder too.

A huge thanks to the team for the opportunity. I’ve done a lot of public speaking, but this one was next level - I am ever grateful for my family and friends for cheering me on. ❤️

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