Hi friend! My name is Jessica Sánchez. My friends and colleagues sometimes call me Jess and my pronouns are she/her. You hear how to pronounce my name here.  

I'm a first-generation immigrant settler from the beautiful, tropical, and small country of El Salvador, which is often hard to find on a map. I was born under the waxing gibbous phase of the moon on October 31, which you can probably guess means I love all spooky things. 

My roots

My ancestors were different groups of Maya, which include Pipil, Lenca and Maya Chorti, and Spanish colonialists among other groups who landed on the beaches of my birth country. My parents were born and raised in El Salvador and immigrated to Canada when I was 1.5 years old. It was quite a shock for us to go from 30 degrees celsius to a cool 17 degrees. Surprisingly, I have come to enjoy cooler temperatures more than tropical ones. I speak Spanish, English and a bit of French. I had attempted to learn a bit of Irish and Italian on Duolingo, but I’m sure the little owl is probably not too pleased I stopped.  

For the first years of my life, I lived on lands that are cared for by Pipil people and for the later part of more than 20 years, I have lived on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional land of the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group. For a few years, I live in Montreal which is on the unceded and ancestral lands of the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) and Haudenosaunee people. 

In society

In terms of my social positioning, I am a cis-gender woman of colour in her 30s. I am able-bodied and mostly neurotypical. My skin colour and immigration status often remind me of how embedded institutional racism truly is and how it affects me in my professional and personal life. My gender has been the factor that awakened that sense of exclusion from an early age. It became the topic of my thesis when I completed my Master of Arts. However, it has also been a learning opportunity to understand my privilege as a cis-gendered person. Learning never truly stops and I’m thankful for those pockets of opportunity.  

My work 

Currently, I’m a Communications Advisor in the Strategic Communications and Marketing department at the College. I work closely with the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and help develop communication strategies, plans and more. I’m always open for conversation, strategies or for a cup of tea (sorry coffee drinkers.... I don’t drink coffee!).