Keynote Address: Cultivating Resilience Through Critical Hope

This training will be offered as part of our virtual AGM Training Event – Cultivating Resilience: Community Support & Families on September 26th, 2024. Register here!

How do we lovingly grapple with hope and nourish relationships, while also facing the many crises that unfold in our families and communities? Just as hope can be a vital foundation for the creation of possible futures, its absence can alienate those who justifiably struggle to find hope in difficult times. And yet, people and communities who serve the needs of others require connection and resiliency now more than ever. This talk introduces the idea of “critical hope” and presents seven principles of critical hope as a nourishing framework for those who aim to cultivate resilience in work and in life. Using real life examples and stories, we explore critical hope as a dynamic practice that emphasizes vibrancy, accountability in relationships, and active hospitality toward difficult emotions like anger and grief. 

About the facilitator:

Dr. Kari Grain is an esteemed educator and author, with extensive experience in critical pedagogy, adult education, and community engagement. She leads the Masters of Education program in Adult Learning and Global Change (ALGC) at the University of British Columbia and is a research associate at the Community Engaged Research Initiative at Simon Fraser University.