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OPAL Ambassadors

Mission

OPAL Ambassadors aim to increase awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to create change and engage in productive conversations about diversity, inclusion, and mutual respect. OPAL Ambassadors are diverse student leaders who contribute to the goal of an inclusive campus community by educating on issues of diversity and inclusion among their peers and by helping to create a living, learning, and working environment that is welcoming for members of all identities.

OPAL Ambassadors commit to helping students gain insights, value diversity, and take actions by:

  • Working with OPAL to plan and facilitate workshops and educational opportunities that address a wide range of social justice, diversity, and inclusion issues and topics.
  • Providing opportunities to develop effective leadership and cross-cultural communication skills that can be applied to interpersonal, academic and professional settings.
  • Seeking out opportunities for collaboration with student organizations and campus partners.

Become an OPAL Ambassador

 

OPAL Ambassadors are peer educators who facilitate workshops and spaces connected to social identity, power and oppression. Ambassadors primarily engage in the following:

  • Developing agendas and designing curriculum for workshops and discussions.
  • Facilitating request-based workshops, discussion series and events on topics such as identity, power/ oppression and community. Prior examples include: mental health, immigration, gender violence, body image, and social media.

Thinking of Becoming an Ambassador?

The Ambassador role focuses on facilitation for social justice. As an ambassador you will often be planning and leading important discussions. The first training term, you will be asked to make a 2 hour time commitment per week. In any terms following, you have more flexibility to determine your time commitment to this program.

If you are interested in joining the OPAL Education community but are less inclined towards facilitation or cannot make the time commitment for the Ambassador training term, we recommend you consider applying to become an Education Fellow. You may always re-apply to become an OPAL Ambassador.

Time Commitment

The OPAL Education Retreat is scheduled for the second weekend of every term.

  • Mandatory for all new OPAL Education students
  • A portion of the retreat will be mandatory for all returning OPAL Education students

New Ambassadors are expected to: 

  • Attend weekly 2-hr training sessions for their first term
  • Attend weekly hourly OPAL Education meetings when required (additional 1 hour per week in addition to 2-hr training, max 4x per term)

Returning Ambassadors are expected to:

  • Attend ALL weekly hourly meetings each term that they are active
  • Attend two training sessions with New Ambassadors to review materials and facilitation
  • Facilitate a minimum of 2 workshops per term after training term

Application

The application period generally extends from the last few weeks of the previous term to the first 1-2 weeks of the current term. Subsequent applications will be considered on a rolling basis. 

Interested students can find the OPAL Education application on Engage.