Queer Leadership Symposium

The Queer Leadership Symposium brings together 2SLGBTQIA+ leaders, researchers, educators, students, policymakers, and community organizations committed to creating more equitable and inclusive institutions.

We believe queer leadership has the power to transform organizational cultures, challenge policies and practices that privilege cisgender and heterosexual norms, and create meaningful change in the lives of the people institutions serve.

Across Canada, 2SLGBTQIA+ leaders are doing this work in schools, universities, public institutions, non-profit organizations, and communities. Yet the knowledge, strategies, and experiences developed through this work are not always easy to find, share, or sustain. Experienced leaders carry important contextual and historical knowledge, while emerging leaders often navigate complex institutional environments without access to the networks and mentorship that can support them.

Our network creates spaces where this knowledge can circulate.

We connect people across sectors, generations, identities, and geographic contexts to learn from one another, share research and practice, develop partnerships, and imagine new possibilities for queer leadership. We are particularly interested in the intersections of leadership with gender, sexuality, race, Indigeneity, disability, geography, and other dimensions of lived experience.

The network grew from the Queer Leadership Symposium and continues its commitment to action-oriented dialogue, knowledge mobilization, mentorship, and relationship-building. Through gatherings, research, resources, workshops, and collaborative initiatives, we aim to make good practices in queer leadership more accessible and to support leaders in putting those practices into action.

We are not simply building a collection of resources. We are building a community of people who can learn from one another, challenge one another, and work together toward more equitable futures.