About us
We are a workers co-op focused on fostering justice and belonging through safer, inclusive, and more diverse work environments. We walk the journey of change alongside organizations to create an environment where differences are valued through a culture of care.
Our name is a play on the common phrase that “many hands make light work”. Many organizations have some of their most talented people’s hands tied up by creating cultures where those on the margins cannot show up with their full selves and make the work lighter.
Towards the end of 2020, following the murder of George Floyd, we noticed the desire for organizations to examine how systemic racism and other forms of discrimination show up in their workplaces. Having lived experience, theoretical understanding and a deep desire to see this change happen we got to work and created LightWork.
Our name also plays with the idea that creating a more inclusive organization can be very difficult, heavy work. We aim to make this work lighter by recognizing that at a deep level we all want to create a world where everyone belongs. Our work is to uncover and remove what blocks us from tapping into that sense of care.
Our team brings together a wide variety of skills, expertise, experiences and interests that contribute to our ability to hold space for people wherever they are in their journeys of learning and unlearning. By working within a workers cooperative we also aim to live by the values we seek to bring into the world and ensure that our processes match our purpose.
We look forward to making your work lighter by creating an atmosphere where all hands are free to work.
Values
Many Hands Make Work Lighter
We seek to unlock the potential of every team member to contribute to their fullest, understanding that this lightens everyone’s load.
Difference Matters
We recognize that long-term success comes when we listen to ideas from those who are often not heard, as this is where creativity and innovation are fostered. We also recognize that working with difference can lead to conflict and many of us are conditioned to turn away from this rather than tapping into its wisdom.
Meeting People Where They Are
The journey of learning and unlearning is a lifelong one without a clearly defined endpoint. We are humble in our own knowledge and seek to walk alongside people in their journeys, meeting them where they are at.
A Culture of Care
We believe that each of us has the potential to tap into our deep care for others. Care is a powerful motivator to act against self-interest and short-term gains to create an inclusive atmosphere where people can show up with their full selves.
Stories Are Sacred
We can’t change what we don’t know. We use multiple research approaches and valuing lived experience to guide us in our journey.
Consensual Emotional Labour
Those on the margins are often asked to do a disproportionate amount of work to create change. Valuing their work and respecting their right to participate to the extent they feel capable is core to how we work.
Our Team
Mohammed Zaqout (he/him)
Mohammed has been advocating for refugee claimants' right to work and helping them find belonging through his work with different organizations. This has included an internship position with the Multi-Agency Partnership (MAP BC) and with his current position at Kinbrace as a Housing and Employment Support Worker. He was a 2020 Simon Fraser University RADIUS fellow and is currently a research assistant on a Leadership and Effectiveness GLOBE project with SFU.
Steve Tornes (he/they)
Steve Tornes has an inexhaustible passion for all things related to urban planning, data, politics, and literature. With a Master of Urban Studies degree from Simon Fraser University and a thesis on the Vancouver Bike Share Program, they look at the region through an environmental and equitable transportation perspective. Besides being a founding member of LightWork, Steve is also a Data Specialist at a tech company.
A North Vancouverite on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, Steve currently sits on the City’s Advisory Planning Commission after having served as Chair of the Social Planning Advisory Committee. He can usually be found at their local library reading or getting immersed in some new subject, such as R Programming or wildlife photography.
Jellicah Blea Zamora (she/hers)
Jellicah Blea Zamora is an immigrant who moved from the Philippines to Canada at a young age, and is currently living in the unceded territories of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt and Tsawwassen First Nations peoples. Jellicah is a student at Simon Fraser University; she is working towards a Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies major, as well as a minor in Political Science.
A passion for working with her community has led her to a variety of volunteer opportunities including, but not limited to, her current opportunity with LightWork, her previous work with Racing Readers, and Community Connect, as well as her previous work as a co-coordinator for the Rise Up program with community schools partnerships. She wants to continue towards helping create opportunities and make positive changes for diverse groups of people within her community while growing as a student, volunteer, and as a person.
Advisors
Ahalya Satkunaratnam (she/her)
Ahalya Satkunaratnam is a dancer and dance scholar who teaches courses in women’s and gender studies and cultural studies. She is versed in liberatory education pedagogy that dynamically centers social change, transformation, and consciousness-raising and has, throughout her 20+ year career in education, designed courses and workshops that introduce human rights, anti-racism, anti-oppression, and decolonial practices through academic study and arts-making. She holds a Ph.D. in Critical Dance Studies from the University of California Riverside. She is a settler in Canada and currently lives on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Ahalya’s book, Moving Bodies Navigating Conflict: Practicing Bharata Natyam in Colombo, Sri Lanka (2020, Wesleyan University Press), explores how dance practices make and undo local and state nationalisms, the intersections of gender and ethnicity with cultural practices, and the personal experiences of Sri Lanka’s 26-year civil war. Other written works can be found in the new edition of Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies, Dance Research Journal, SAMAR: South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection, Options Magazine, Conversations Across the Field of Dance Studies, and in Women’s Studies Quarterly.
Aslam (he/him)
Aslam Bulbulia (he/him) is a new settler on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ / sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) land from South Africa, with Indian heritage. He has a background in Political Science and Philosophy and during postgraduate studies explored city planning, Islamic law and spirituality, user-centred design and decoloniality.
He has worked on a wide variety of projects that range from teaching and arts organizing to various positions within local and provincial government in South Africa and Canada. He has a Certificate in Dialogue and Civic Engagement from SFU where he serves as an advisor, teaches Deep Democracy CoResolve courses, and serves on the faculty of Inner Activist.
Our Partners
Solid State was established in 2016 in Surrey, BC, to address the endemic economic immobilities of racialized young migrants, and the paucity of jobs, skills training and support readily available. With support from mentors, advisors, and community partners, young people obtain training and skills leading to stable, long-term economic growth, in particular through the formation of new co-operatives. Young people are introduced to different business models and encouraged to consider co-operatives as an effective and durable way to provide stable employment. Solid State is the current home for LightWork, where we gather, share meals and work on our projects.
Learn more about Solid State Industries
The Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies (CCMS) fosters academic and public discussion and understanding of Muslim societies and cultures. It shifts the analysis from the notion of a single religious landscape defined by the religion of Islam to that of Muslims of different experiences and interpretations as agents in the construction of their societies and cultures. CCMS supports LightWork in its vision for a pluralistic and diverse society.
Learn more about CCMS