Creators of The Playbook for Progress

Natasha Arsenijevich (B.E.S, M.E.S) is a sustainability leader and business strategist with expertise in sustainable built environments, business and strategy development, agriculture and food studies, women’s studies, and professional writing. She has developed an award-winning sustainability program and has worked on a number of innovative market leading projects. Natasha is currently the Executive Director of The Transformation Initiative, a Canadian not-for-profit agency and also serves on the Board of Directors for Pollution Probe, one of Canada’s first charitable environmental organizations.

What does progress mean to you?
Progress means improvement, betterment, growth, evolution, change; it is the journey to achieving shared values. In the context of society, progress to me means identifying systemic biases and acknowledging inequitable power dynamics that have negatively impacted the vast majority of us and taking meaningful steps to rectify these institutional norms while rebuilding trust and transparency towards an equitable, representative, and resilient society.

Siobhan Mullally has a B.E.S. from the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability (SERS) at the University of Waterloo and a minor in English. As a budding ecologist, researcher, and writer, she is passionate about exploring the intersections between environment and communication to take climate action. In her free time, she enjoys connecting with nature and getting lost in her favourite novels.

What does progress mean to you?
To me, making progress means being brave. It takes a lot of courage to make progress because it’s about taking steps – small or large – towards your vision, always working to move forward. Those steps are not always easy and oftentimes put you completely out of your comfort zone. It’s an act of courage and commitment to creating a better world. Progress can be challenging, but the growth, resilience, and victories along the way are so worth it.

Greta Vaivadaite is a Journalist, Online Editorial and Social Media Coordinator at Alternatives Media (in 2021). Greta has completed her undergraduate studies at York University in Environmental Management, and completed her Masters of Environment and Sustainability at Western University in 2020. Her professional interests lay in advocating for environmental education, sustainable fashion, and a greener travel industry.

What does progress mean to you?
Progress to me is understanding the bigger picture to what you value and how you can apply it for the greater good by adding actions to align with these values you hold. I believe that little steps add up to a big change and the idea of perfection of itself is flawed and unattainable – progress is beautiful. Progress allows you to feel uncomfortable, and that ultimately leads to personal growth and that lifts others when it is projected, creating a collective movement for progress.

Sophia Sanniti is completing the fourth year of her PhD at the University of Waterloo (in 2021). As an emerging Ecological Economics scholar, Sophia examines the socio-political dimensions of the low-carbon transition to better understand the distribution of risk and responsibility for the transition among genders. In the face of climate instability, her thesis uses the COVID-19 lockdown as a case study for exploring the impacts and outcomes of unintentional economic disruptions on everyday households to inform policy proposals for larger socio-economic transformations.

What does progress mean to you?
To me, progress is constant and continued self-reflection over time. It is the ability to adapt and respond to new information or situations without compromising on objectives, but also being willing to acknowledge if and when set objectives need to change. Lastly, progress takes place when communities are built. As much as academia may try to sway you away from this, there is no sense in trying to achieve your personal or professional objectives all alone. Without a community of peers to engage you, challenge you and support you, it is not possible to progress to the successful person you hope to be.