“Facilitating leadership development is not only about focusing on the people that have already had those opportunities but finding out how can we create points of access for everybody.”
Troost ILead is excited to introduce the newest member of our team, Leadership Education Specialist Vivian Trumblay. In this brief Q&A Vivian shares her leadership philosophy, the experience she brings to the ILead team and her thoughts on the future engineering leaders that the world needs.
What are the responsibilities of your role at Troost ILead?
My role involves developing and delivering co-curricular programming to support the leadership development of highly engaged students in the Club Space. I want to provide clubs with the resources they most want access to, to help them develop into the leaders they want to be.
What initiative are you most looking forward to participating in?
I’m looking forward to getting to know student leaders, and making connections where ILead can add value to their experiences. Every student I’ve met so far has demonstrated a desire to use engineering to do good in the world, and I love that it seems to be something that’s expanding.
What experience do you bring to Troost ILead?
I worked in the non-profit sector for several years in the areas of youth engagement and education. Often, my work involved supporting young people with their leadership development, and working with youth to help them address issues that were important to them. Most recently, I worked with the BGC Canada National Youth Council. BGC is a federated organization that serves children and youth to promote their engagement, and help them overcome barriers to build positive relationships, and develop confidence and skills.
I bring an understanding of the role that relationships and communities can play in instigating action among young people. I’m interested in building those spaces so that students can take action and run with it.
What does creating access to leadership mean to you?
Facilitating leadership development is not only about focusing on the people that have already had those opportunities but finding out how can we create points of access for everybody. Leadership exists on a continuum. It’s not just a set of skills that you have or don’t have.
I’ve seen leadership journeys look many different ways. Leadership potential and leadership growth often have a lot to do with the moments and opportunities that young people have access to, and what can happen when barriers are removed.
I do think leadership starts with being able to conceive of it in yourself, and this can be hard to do in certain systemic environments. It can become more difficult for those who might occupy marginalized identities. And access points are not always easy to identify.
What are the types of leaders that the world needs?
We need leaders who have an identity-focused understanding of the world. Sometimes that means you step back as a leader, and that’s hard. It can be difficult to take stock of how and why you ended up where you are based on what you have access to. Stepping back and bringing humility to leadership are hard for anyone, because traditionally leadership and ego are very tied together.
But, I think there’s a shift in how we view a leaders’ function, from seeing leadership as positional to understanding that it is deeply tied to the relationships you’re trying to build.