Congratulations to Sarah on Her New DE&I Specialist Role!

Congratulations to Sarah Kulaga on her new role as People and Culture Specialist – Diversity Equity & Inclusion and Benefits Administration!

Throughout her time at Tundra, Sarah has actively been involved in DE&I initiatives and has always been the first to present new ideas. Her passion for the subject is a clear indicator on why she is deserving of her new title.

Check out her interview dialogue below!

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How did you get your start at Tundra?

I got my start at Tundra by applying on our website as a recruiter, but the hope was always to carve out a path towards this role. I was coming from the arts sector where DE&I topics are at the forefront of most conversations, and I wanted to find a space where I can continue these conversations and hopefully drive positive change throughout an organization and maybe even make a meaningful impact along the way.

Why were you drawn to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion?

You know, I’m drawn to DE&I because I am lucky enough to exist in a community where DE&I topics such as anti-racism, decolonization, accessibility and ableism to name a very few are commonplace, and I have so many people in my live who are doing incredible advocacy work in the community and I am so inspired by the dedication to this work and their own practice that I want to pass along everything I’ve learned and continue to learn in my own practice. I am also a very privileged queer person and would love to use my platform whatever that looks like, in this case this role, to plant seeds and further educate others for their own journeys towards greater inclusion.

How do you plan to lead DE&I initiatives at Tundra?

I plan to collaborate as organically as possible with our current DE&I council. I want to make sure that their perspectives and ideas are coming to the forefront of our conversations. I also plan to make cases for bringing in experienced professionals and educators who have the life experience as well as the background that I lack, and really make space for that and invest in that. I’d love to give back to the community that shaped me by collaborating with relevant advocacy organizations and seeing where a partnership like that could lead.

What do you think is the biggest challenge you will face in this new position? How do you plan to overcome it?

I think one of the biggest challenges faced, probably by most DE&I initiatives, comes down to engagement, so making sure people are excited about participating and learning, and it's understandable because folks have a lot going on in their lives at work and it can sometimes feel like an impossible burden to take on or even feel unimportant at times.

To overcome this, my hope would be to help them reimagine what DE&I can feel like, so rather than this burden, I'd love to model how it can feel like an aspiration to improve ourselves and to educate ourselves in order to educate others, and to realize that caring about these conversations is cool and it makes you a cool person. That's not just my opinion and I really hope that I've shown anyone who's spoken to me or seen me present that I do take this work very seriously, but I'm also very passionate and excited about it, and while we do have to contend with very difficult topics that are very hard to digest and process, it really is all in honor of this awesome journey that inevitably will only benefit everyone.