Our research at the heart of a thriving community

Disheartened by a high number of domestic abuse cases, a Calgary defence lawyer asked herself how she might spark change.

Rather than seek to somehow make a dent in “the system,” the lawyer decided that innovative, lasting transformation would only come via a grassroots shift in how we teach our children to be in the world. She partnered with the University of Calgary to explore through research how teachers can upend accepted gender stereotypes in the classroom that contribute to marginalization and future bullying.

She chose UCalgary because she was convinced that this institution was set up to respond, nimbly and strategically, to a problem that matters to the community, writes President Ed McCauley in a Calgary Herald op-ed. She was right.