Valeria Cortés (she/her) is a scholar-practitioner passionate about leadership for social change in multicultural and community-based contexts. Val has facilitated leadership learning with diverse groups of learners across Mexico and Canada, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. Her work integrates arts-based methods, such as transformational theatre, to support systems thinking and relational learning. Valeria’s current research focuses on relational and decolonial approaches to leadership education, exploring how ancestral practices inform collective leadership development.
Experience
Valeria has been an Associate Faculty member at Royal Roads University since 2013 and is the founder of Tlatoa Consulting, where she offers leadership and intercultural training. Her career includes prior executive leadership positions in Ontario non-profits, coordinating the leadership development program at the University of Toronto, and serving as the director of student development at Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus León in Mexico. Her collaboration with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities inspired her to pursue her doctoral work, exploring ancestral everyday practices as the foundation of leadership development with intercultural universities in Mexico.
Education
On going
Doctor of Philosophy in Indigenous Education
University of Victoria
2022
Certificate in Advanced Facilitation
Royal Roads University
2013
Master of Arts in Leadership Studies
University of Victoria
2006
Master of Education
Tecnológico de Monterrey
2006
Enhancing the Student Experience Certificate
University of Toronto
2000
Bachelor of Science in Information Systems Engineering
Tecnológico de Monterrey
Awards
2024
Kelly Outstanding Team-Teaching Award
Kelly Outstanding Team-Teaching Award, Royal Roads University
Research
Research interest
Leadership development in community contexts
Ancestral everyday practices
Youth participatory action research
Publications
Cortés, V., Brigham, T., Loffler, K., & Schlattner, C. (2024). Transforming online teaching through relational ways of being. Papers on Post-secondary Learning and Teaching.
McDonald, M.A., Noble, M., Harris, B., Jeffrey, K. & Cortés,V. (2024). Fostering a Teaching and Learning Opportunity: Toward Equity in Student Feedback of Teaching. Papers on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.
Cortés, V., Brigham, T., & Loffler, K. (2023). Natoonikew Aansaamb: Searching together for learning and resurgence. Papers on Post-secondary Learning and Teaching, 6, 17-27.
Cortés, V. (2017). Leadership and social justice. In J. P. Dugan, N. Turman, A. Barnes, & M. Torrez (Eds.), Leadership theory: A facilitator’s guide for cultivating critical perspectives. Jossey-Bass
Cortés, V., & Sommer, R. (2016). Action-Research. In. R. Gifford (Ed.), Research Methods for Environmental Psychology. Wiley.
