Our instructors

Ashleen Shadeo

Pengchao Shao

Weaver Shaw

Weaver Shaw, MA is a lecturer at UBC Vantage College with over 20 years of experience in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and international student language acquisition. Her work bridges applied linguistics, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and the ethical integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in higher education.

As a UDL Faculty Fellow and UBC Sustainability Coordinator, Weaver leads initiatives that expand equitable participation through inclusive course design and AI-assisted learning tools. She has co-developed accessibility frameworks that inform curriculum redesign and promotes human-centred approaches to technology-mediated instruction.

Weaver’s teaching philosophy emphasizes inclusive pedagogy, learner agency and ethical engagement with AI in language education. She is recognized for her leadership in professional development on accessible instruction and ethical AI use in higher education.

Kelly Shiohira

Kelly Shiohira, BA, MA, MSc, is the Director of Impact and Community at App Inventor and a prominent strategist recognized for her work in areas of literacy, connecting education to the world of work, and the use of AI and Technology in Education.

Kelly has worked on large-scale projects and works across the value chain of planning, implementation and monitoring, and evaluation to design, deliver and evaluate educational interventions. She particularly works in the areas of literacy, connecting education to the world of work and the use of AI and Technology in Education. Her past projects include several blended learning programs for teachers and learners, including the Bridges to the Future South Africa 2 initiative, a literacy through technology program in four African languages that won the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy.

Kelly is one of the authors of the UNESCO AI Competency Framework for Students and leads an international working group focusing on its implementation. Her publications include Understanding the Implications of AI on Skills Development, K-12 AI Curricula: A mapping of government-endorsed AI curricula and Proceed with Caution: The Pitfalls and Potential of AI and Education.

Neha Shivhare

Deborah Shukyn-Plageman

Deborah Shukyn-Plageman is an advocate for and member of the LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent communities. As a late-identified AudHD/2E practitioner, Deborah brings both lived experience and professional expertise to her work in coaching, coach education, mentor coaching and coaching supervision. She is the founder of PersonaGrata Consulting and the developer of Coaching Neurodiversity at Work at UBC Extended Learning.

As a 20-year veteran of professional coaching, Deborah is a credentialed coach, mentor coach and coaching supervisor, holding ICF-PCC, EMCC-EIA, EMCC-ESIA and CCDP designations. She has coached a diverse range of clients with intersectional neurodivergent identities, including senior and emerging leaders, people at all levels of organizations, people of diverse cultural backgrounds, people with physical and developmental disabilities, cancer survivors, and people experiencing short-term, episodic and lifelong mental health, addictions and employment-related barriers.

Deborah is a practitioner-researcher whose work focuses on equity, neurodiversity, coaching supervision and access to meaningful participation in work and community life. Her graduate and doctoral-level studies have focused on the use of coaching to support people who experience barriers and marginalization. She also develops programs for universities and community organizations serving people with complex, intersectional identities.

Mahtab Sirdani

Ellen Siu

Dan Small

Dan Small, PhD, is a research associate in the Department of Anthropology at UBC. He has a PhD in medical anthropology (University of British Columbia), an MPhil in circumpolar studies (University of Cambridge), and undergraduate degrees in sociology and anthropology, and psychology (Simon Fraser University).

Nick Smith

Nick, BASc, JD, is a Principal Lawyer at Miller Titerle Law Corporation, specializing in Indigenous business. He is of Plains Cree and European descent, and his family is from the Ermineskin Cree Nation – a Treaty 6 Nation.

Nick provides economic development and governance support for First Nations and First Nations-owned organizations, including initiatives and negotiations relating to natural resource development, First Nation child and family services laws, Indigenous housing, government-to-government agreements, and the ongoing implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in BC and Canada.

Nick is the first vice-chair of the Langara College Board of Governors and as a mentor to law students through the Canadian Bar Association (BC Branch) mentorship program and the Indigenous Bar Association

Ambre Soszynski

Julie Stockton

Julie Stockton has consulted to multiple organizations across Canada for over 25 years, working primarily in the public service sector supporting positive organizational change. She spent several years in health care before joining the University of British Columbia as the Director of Human Resources (ODL). In partnership with Maura Da Cruz, Julie opened the Canadian Centre for Positive Change in 2016 to support the transformation of people, teams, and organizations through a different kind of conversation. She holds a Positive Psychology Coaching certificate (CPPC), and is certified as a Conversational Intelligence for Coaches Enhanced Skill Practitioner, a Narrative Coach Enhanced Practitioner, and a Systemic Team Coaching Advanced Practitioner.

Rhea Storlund

Dr. Rhea Storlund. Curriculum designer and instructor for Communicating Ocean Science, Dr. Storlund is a postdoctoral research and teaching fellow at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries. With a background in marine mammal diving physiology, she specializes in making complex scientific concepts easy to understand through clear examples and analogies. Her teaching emphasizes active participation, real-world examples, and reflection to help learners develop practical science communication skills.”

Nasreen Sultana

Zorana Svedic

Dr. Zorana Svedic, PhD, is a lecturer in the Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources division of the UBC Sauder School of Business. Her research focuses on cross-cultural issues in the global mobile apps market. She has been teaching undergraduate and graduate business courses since 2005, and has hosted numerous workshops and coached student teams for local and international business plan and case competitions. In 2001, Zorana founded Big Z Productions Ltd., a company that develops courseware training material and supports online courses.

Andrea Szilagyi

Brian Taguchi

Brian Taguchi leads and manages the UBC Certificate in Organizational Coaching program at UBC Extended Learning, as well as the delivery of coach training modules customized to internal clients at UBC. He hires, trains and coordinates a team of UBC Mentor Coaches, onsite facilitators and online moderators who support organizational coaching programs. In partnership with UBC Coaching Services, Brian designs and iterates program material and content to meet emerging needs in the coach training marketplace, and explores new initiatives within UBC and for industry.

Masahide Takahashi

Naïma Teir

Jessica Tengco