Fort McMurray Branch | Intercultural Competency with an Ethnographic Lens
Engineering and geoscience projects often involve multicultural teams, global stakeholders, and fieldwork in diverse cultural and geographic contexts. Whether collaborating with international partners, working with Indigenous communities, or managing diverse project teams, engineering and geoscience professionals require awareness and skills to navigate a wide range of cultural perspectives, communication styles, and societal values. This session explores cultural competency and how applying an ethnographic lens takes it further into a more practical realm.
Session overview:
Participants will gain awareness of intercultural competency traits and communication styles, and learn how to navigate differences and conflicts with intention and sensitivity to improve multicultural team dynamics and projects. We'll move beyond a surface-level understanding of diversity and generic cultural assumptions to engage more deeply with the communities and team members you work with.
We will also show how to apply an ethnographic lens focused on engagement with others and their cultural norms that moves beyond simply using a checklist of intercultural competency traits.
Learning objectives:
As a result of attending this session, participants will be able to:
- understand different models of intercultural competence
- identify where their own cultural identity fits compared to others
- understand where cultural conflicts can arise
- understand the importance of moving beyond cultural competence and employing an ethnographic lens
This event, including a dinner, is brought to you by the Fort McMurray Branch.
For any questions about this event, please contact [email protected].
About the presenter
Tymmarah (Tymm) Mackie, MA (She/Her) is a dynamic leader and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) strategist with experience in intercultural competence, gender equity, and employee and community engagement. With a master of arts in intercultural and international communication from Royal Roads University, she has designed and delivered impactful EDI training programs for municipalities, businesses, and non-profits across Canada. She is also a certified KAIROS Blanket Exercise facilitator, human rights facilitator, and #IAmRemarkable facilitator.
Tymm has developed and facilitated EDI workshops on unconscious bias, inclusive language, anti-racism, accessibility, and human rights. She has created and led internal employee resource groups, Lean In Circles, provincial conferences, and community networks that promote inclusive workplaces and foster belonging. Tymm is a member of StopHateAB, a non-profit organization comprised of government, law enforcement and community partners who work together to raise awareness and education related to hate crimes and incidents in Alberta. Her leadership in municipal EDI programs—including roles with the cities of Kamloops, Lethbridge, and Red Deer—has resulted in meaningful policy changes, strategic action plans, and safer, more welcoming communities.