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Get to know the steering committee: Three things about Jorge Cárdenas
Photo of Jorge Cárdenas, courtesy of Jorge.
Jorge Cárdenas is the newest member of the MRAi Steering Committee, joining in 2025. The steering committee is comprised of nine information specialists and community engagement practitioners from UBC, SFU, and the Vancouver Public Library who are connected with Downtown Eastside communities.
Get to know Jorge below and learn more about the project and committee here.
1. Who are you?
“Jorge Cárdenas, Head of the SFU Belzberg Library at the SFU Vancouver campus.”
2. What do you do?
“I need to make sure that library services in the SFU Vancouver Campus serve the needs of students, researchers, and community members. In addition to good spaces to study and relax, we have a solid collection of art books, and collaborate with students and community members to host exhibitions, readings and workshops that connect academia with the community around us.”
3. Why did you join the MRAi Steering Committee?
“SFU Library has been a member of the committee for a long time, and I was asked by a colleague to take over. I’m interested in the connection between the library and the Downtown Eastside communities, in removing barriers to access information and knowledge, in knowledge mobilization and respectful collaborations both ways, in shifting power dynamics, and in finding creative ways to make sure that library services are connected to the realities of the communities in and around the university. At its best, the MRAi Steering Committee is the place to create, promote and support projects that stress the public side of our institutions.”
Background: The Making Research Accessible initiative (MRAi) is a cross-organizational effort to improve access to academic research and community-generated materials related to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. It is led by the UBC Learning Exchange and UBC Library’s Irving K. Barber Learning Centre in collaboration with SFU CERi, SFU Library, UBC iSchool, and Vancouver Public Library. Learn more about the project and see Steering Committee members here.
