UCalgary student's video illustrates benefits of mentorship for Indigenous employees

Elaine Jane Atay never thought a last-minute video would land her national recognition. 

But with little more than a script, an idea and experience in animation software, the University of Calgary PhD student became one of 20 finalists in the 2025 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Storytellers Challenge; a national competition that celebrates students who bring research to life through storytelling.

Atay, a doctoral student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology in the Faculty of Arts, earned her spot among the finalists with a three-minute video explaining her research on culturally responsive mentorship practices for Indigenous employees in Canadian organizations. 

She was one of two UCalgary students recognized this year, alongside undergraduate student Sarah Abouali from the Werklund School of Education.

The annual challenge invites postsecondary students across Canada to explain how their research helps create a better future for Canadians. 

For Atay, the chance to reach people outside of academia drew her in.

Creative instincts and communication growth

Atay debated entering the competition up until the day before the deadline. But encouragement from fellow graduate student and 2024 SSHRC finalist Madeline Springle gave her the nudge she needed. With limited time, she leaned into her strengths, particularly her familiarity with Doodly animation software, which she had previously used in academic contexts.

“One of my good friends in my program, Madeline Springle, won the competition last year,” she says. “Hearing about her experience and getting encouragement from her inspired me to enter.”

Though she has a background in presentations and digital media, the SSHRC competition provided an opportunity to sharpen those skills in a new context and under pressure. Producing a three-minute entry on a short timeline required clarity, focus and creative adaptability.

“It felt like good practice–brushing up skills I haven’t actively practiced for a few years,” Atay notes. The process also reaffirmed the value of making academic research accessible and understandable to broader audiences.

Although she wasn’t able to move on to the live showcase due to a scheduling conflict, the process reinforced her confidence in translating academic research into accessible, engaging content. 

Her creative leap earned her a finalist spot, proving that you don’t have to be an expert in every tool or medium to share an important message.

Research with community impact

Mentorship can play a powerful role in helping employees thrive but only when it’s designed with cultural responsiveness and inclusion in mind. Atay’s graduate research explores how mentorship programs in Canadian workplaces can better support Indigenous employees by drawing from Indigenous knowledge systems and practices.

Her dissertation involves developing, piloting and evaluating a training program on Indigenous mentorship practices, co-created with Indigenous mentors and organizations. 

These modules emphasize relational approaches rooted in trust, reciprocity and respect for cultural identity, offering a practical alternative to one-size-fits-all corporate models.

“Unlike most areas of research, which can be more theoretical or purely for satisfying intellectual curiosity, work related to Indigenous peoples has very pressing implications that need to be applied in tangible settings,” she says.

Pilot program development is already underway through partnerships with three UCalgary-affiliated organizations. These collaborations help ensure the training is responsive to lived contexts, not just academic theory. Each partner helps shape the content and delivery of the modules based on their own community needs and experiences.

As a non-Indigenous scholar of Turkish and Filipina descent, Atay sees her role as that of an ally, someone committed to amplifying community-led solutions and reflecting critically on her own position. Through this work, she hopes to support more inclusive leadership development and help organizations challenge practices that marginalize Indigenous voices.

Looking ahead and offering advice

As she enters the final phase of her PhD, Atay is focusing on completing her dissertation while continuing her work with organizational and community partners. Her long-term goal is to support organizations in making lasting changes to how mentorship and leadership programs are developed and delivered.

She also hopes to keep using storytelling, whether through video, writing or public engagement, to make her research more accessible and impactful.

Her advice for future SSHRC Storytellers participants is simple: take the leap. 

“My decision to enter the competition was last-minute, which I wouldn’t recommend; however, because I knew I had the skills and technical experience to create a solid entry, I went for it,” she says. 

“The acknowledgement and prize money for making it into the top 20 finalists were worth the effort and time I invested, so there’s nothing much to lose.”

Atay’s story highlights the impact of thoughtful, collaborative research and how powerful it can be when communicated with clarity, creativity and purpose.