Welcome Deanna! The CoDev team is so happy that you have joined us as the new Executive Director. We’d love for the members to learn a bit more about you.

Q. When you saw the posting for CoDev Ed, what first sparked your interest?

I was not actively looking for another job at the time, and it was actually a friend of mine who sent me the link to the CoDev job posting. I had first heard of CoDev when I was pursuing my undergraduate degree at SFU, but I did not know at that time that CoDev was not - and is not - a conventional “development” NGO. International solidarity is its mission, not charity. This is powerful and transformative stuff. When I read the job posting, it hit me hard, the sense that this organization unifies my passion and affinity for Latin America, Labour, and women-led organizing for social and economic justice. As soon as I saw the posting, I thought, “That’s me!”

Q. Tell us a bit more about your experience with the labour movement here in BC.

My first experience with the formal labour movement took place while I was a teaching assistant at my university in the late 2000s. The university was reportedly laying off several dozen workers, all unionized with CUPE, and my union responded with a public action that impressed upon me a profound appreciation for solidarity and labour organizing. Years later, I started working for a new student society at another university and reached out to the United Steelworkers to unionize our site. The Steelworkers responded swiftly and with unreserved support. This was a formative period. I became a Shop Steward and Unit President and helped bargain two solid collective agreements. Through the Steelworkers, I got involved with the BC Federation of Labour and became a facilitator for the Alive After Five (Occupational Health & Safety) and Labour Education programs. Later, I became a BCGEU member once I started working in public service for a Member of the Legislative Assembly of B.C. During this time, I served as a Steward, Local Executive Member (Equity), and Bargaining Committee member. I am now a proud member of CUPE 1004 and am, on the daily, given the opportunity to engage with dedicated solidarity activists from various unions across Canada and strengthen solidarity-based partnerships between these unions and their Latin American counterparts, many of which, themselves, are made up of labour activists. I learned early on that workers who have unity and show unity are a force to be reckoned with.

Q. What challenges are you most excited about tackling at CoDev?

CoDev has 36 years of history on which to reflect and from which to draw inspiration. I’m impressed by how deep our relationships go and by how committed our leadership, staff, and members have been to the Latin American organizations at the forefront of progressive social change in the region. The need for this solidarity has not diminished since 1985. Many of our Latin American partners are confronting climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, repressive regimes, and Neoliberal economics head on. One challenge involves engaging new Canadian partners into this international solidarity-building project and nourishing these ties through the exchange of knowledge, skills, and experiences. I want to reconnect a number of past Canadian partners with our Latin American partners and welcome new Canadian partners so that the transformative work being carried out in Latin America is further uplifted.

I am a big believer in intergenerational movement-building and sharing institutional memory. I want to ensure that the organizational knowledge of CoDev’s long-time champions – board directors, partners, members, and staff – is shared with newer arrivals to the fold. This is a challenge that will require both an organization-wide approach and community reach.

Q. We know it’s early days, but where do you see CoDev in the next 3-5 years?

I like to plan and not predict. COVID-19 has hit our Latin American partners hard. It’s placed a heavy toll on their personal lives and impacted their capacity to carry out their critical work in the ways that they had originally planned. But our Latin American partners are resilient, creative, and resolute, and their socially transformative projects will forge ahead. Solidarity will continue to be paramount, and CoDev will still have a key role to play here. This past year and a half has also challenged CoDev to adapt our activities. Our events and main means of public engagement have gone virtual, and all project monitoring and delegation visits to Latin America and visits to Canada by our Latin American partners are not currently possible due to COVID-19. If the pandemic subsides across the region in the next 3-5 years, I would love to see these exchanges resume, as such interactions have really helped foster long-lasting relationships and facilitated the learning process.

Q. What are you most interested in learning during your tenure at CoDev?

I want most to learn lessons and best practices from CoDev’s partners, my colleagues, our leadership, and our members. Our Latin American partners have founded, elaborated, and refined best practices for movement-building and community and labour organizing over the span of successive generations. These are the experts on the conditions in which they work. Our Canadian partners link the struggles and advancements here to the struggles and advancements in Latin America – these connections excite me in all their potential and proven successes.  My co-workers bring their own experiences, expertise, and expansive skillsets to CoDev. CoDev’s board directors have each chosen to bring their leadership to CoDev, and each has their own reasons for answering the call and contributions to bring to the table. The CoDev membership and community has seen the organization grow and adapt, pivot and advance.

Q. What would you like the members to know about you and your plans as Executive Director?

My plans are informed by both my values and my understanding. As I learn, my plans will alter, but they will always be developed in reference to the organization’s mission, with the collective in mind, and in partnership with our leadership and my peers. Current plans involve our efforts to deepen our existing relationships with our Canadian partners and find new counterparts for our Latin American partners

Q. Next September, when we meet again for a year-in-review interview, what would you most like to have accomplished?

By next year, I hope to have introduced new Canadian partners to the really exciting work being done in Latin America. Facilitating these solidarity bridges is up there on my to-do list.