
Dr. Yabome Gilpin-Jackson
KEYNOTE
Dr. Yabome Gilpin-Jackson (she/her/hers) is a global citizen born in Germany, raised in Sierra Leone, and educated in Canada and the U.S. and is a multi-award-winning scholar-practitioner in human & organization development.
Her awards have included International African Woman of the Year by UK-based Women4AFrica, Organization Development Practitioner Award from US-based Organization development Network and the prestigious Harry Jerome Professional Excellence Award given in recognition of Black-Canadian achievements.
She is a 2024 YWCA Woman of Distinction nominee and a 100 Black Women to Watch + 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Woman honoree. In addition to being Founder and Principal at SLD consulting, she has served in Executive Leadership roles within the British Columbia Public Sector as chief people officer of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Executive Director of Organizational Development for Fraser Health and Regional Lead of Organization Development for Vancouver Coastal Health and is Simon Fraser University’s first Vice-President, People, Equity and Inclusion. Dr Gilpin-Jackson is an associate faculty member and a two-time Beedie School of Business graduate with a Bachelor in Management/Organization Studies and an MBA in Leadership and Organization Change. She also holds a Master of Arts in Human Development and a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University where she is a post-doctoral Institute for Social Innovation Fellow.
The author of several books, book chapters and journal articles, Gilpin-Jackson is a well-known presenter on equity, organization development and systems change, leadership and Black identity. Her publications include, Transformation After Trauma, The Power of Resonance, co-editor for the 2022 Palgrave Handbook of Learning for Transformation, the We Will Lead Africa book series and short story collections about global African experiences: Identities, Ancestries, Destinies. She is the past Chair of the Organization Development Network. When asked about her work in the world, Yabome describes it as “developing our human capacity to be, think and do things differently and better.”
If you ask what she is best known for, she will tell you, her wicked laugh!