Panel Discussion: Funding Opportunities

Sunita Dhir was first elected as the MLA for Vancouver-Langara in 2024.

Sunita was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for International Credentials in November 2024.

Before being elected to the Legislative Assembly, Sunita worked as a language instructor at SUCCESS, a non-profit organization that supports newcomers on their settlement journey. She has helped hundreds of people learn English and connect with their new communities in British Columbia. She holds a Master of Science and a Bachelor of Education degrees from Panjab University, as well as a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certificate from Vancouver Community College. 

Sunita has two children with her husband, Navdeep, who works as a longshoreman, and together they live in Vancouver. 

Learn more here: https://www.leg.bc.ca/members/43rd-Parliament/Dhir-Sunita 

Adina Gray is an educator, speaker, and founder of PurpleOwl AI, a training and consulting firm that helps educators and business professionals harness the power of Generative AI. She also serves as AI Initiatives Lead at Thompson Rivers University, Bob Gaglardi School of Business and Economics, and Advisor for AI & Digital Strategy with the Central Interior Business Accelerator.

With over 15 years of experience in post-secondary education, Adina designs AI literacy programs and delivers hands-on workshops locally and internationally. She has presented and led sessions across Canada, the United States, Europe and Latin America. A 2025 Women in AI North America Awards Finalist and recipient of the 2025 AI Innovator Award at the AI Revolution in Education Show in San Diego, she is committed to making AI accessible and human centered.

Learn more about Adina, here: purpleowlai 

Stan Daniels (T’ult) is a Secwépemc educator, author, and governance practitioner whose work centers Indigenous storywork as a legal, pedagogical, and relational framework for change. An uncle, brother, son, nephew, and friend first, he grounds his work in kinship accountability, community responsibility, and obligation to future generations. He holds a Master of Education and is the author of Tscwinúcw-k: The Stars of the Secwépemc, a book that honours grief, ancestry, and guidance through Secwépemc teachings.

Stan has worked across governance, education, and Indigenous systems transformation as an elected councillor, policy and governance advisor, project manager, and post-secondary instructor. He has supported Indigenous Nations in law-making, jurisdictional implementation, program and service design, and cultural resurgence, with a particular interest in how story carries law, memory, and responsibility across generations and into institutions.

His work is guided by a central question: If stories carry law, memory, and obligation, what responsibilities do we assume when we carry them into institutional spaces?

Stan approaches storywork like a rez dog: grounded in place, loyal to the people, wary of imposed fences, and always reading the ground before moving forward.

Susan is dedicated to transforming how learning is recognized and validated, whether gained in classrooms, workplaces, communities, or through life experience. As a PLAR advocate and systems-builder, she is proud to serve on BC PLAN, the Canadian Association for Prior Learning Assessment (CAPLA), and the editorial board of Prior Learning Inside Out(PLAIO) a leading international journal in the field. She was honoured to co-chair the 5th VPL Biennale in Kilkenny, Ireland (2021–2024), advancing global collaboration around “People, Validation, and Power: democracy in action.”

Her academic journey includes a BA from Simon Fraser University and an MEd from Thompson Rivers University. She is currently completing a PhD with the University of Leicester, where her research focuses on the impact of PLAR on career development. She is an active researcher on PLAR persistence and learner success.

Susan is actively involved in decolonizing and Indigenizing recognition practices; micro-credential assessment; and the powerful role PLAR can play in career development and lifelong learning.

Noah Arney is a Certified Career Development Professional and is a consultant with Arney Research. He began his career as a high school teacher then changed course and has been worked in postsecondary since 2010 in staff, faculty and administration roles. His focus has been on student success, career development, work-integrated learning, and institutional policy.

He is a current PhD student at UBC where his research focuses on Educational Philosophy. He is passionate about helping people learn more about themselves and building on their past experiences to create their future.

Chi (Charissa) Cejalvo, MA, RD, is the deputy registrar and director of registration with Forest Professionals BC. In partnership with the senior leadership team, Chi oversees all admissions and registration systems. Chi has been regulating forest professionals since 2019 and has worked in professional regulation since 2014.

Chi has deep experience in applicant assessment and professional registration, focusing on fair, consistent, and evidence-based assessment decisions within regulatory environments.

Chi is a regulated health professional (registered dietitian), having completed a bachelor of science in dietetics at UBC, as well as a dietetic internship at Regina General Hospital in Saskatchewan. She also holds a master of arts in leadership from Royal Roads University.

Don Moore is the Associate Vice-President Academic at Portage College in Northeastern Alberta. As an award-winning educator and post-secondary leader, Don has led numerous projects supporting rural, Indigenous, and military communities focused on creating access and opportunity.

With an earlier career in inclusive education, Don has spent the last several years focused on skills development and recognition systems, including piloting new trade and trade-recognition systems within the province of Alberta.

His recent project, “Best Practices for Military Education and Training within the Ontario Postsecondary System" explored military education and training recognition pathways within Ontario's post-secondary system. Based in Cold Lake, Don continues to work with members, veterans, and their families at the local and national level. In his free time, Don enjoys hiking and camping with his wife and two young children.