Shantini Klaassen uses her arts education to imagine a future without fossil fuels. As people and culture manager at the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, Shantini, who earned a BA from UFV in 2007, supports global experts and activists working to create a roadmap for a just transition away from coal, oil, and gas.  

“We have an infrastructure that completely relies on fossil fuels, and what we need to do is invest in the future by slowly replacing things, building the infrastructure we need to live in a fossil fuel-free world,” Shantini explains. 

Coal, oil, and gas are responsible for more than 85 per cent of carbon emissions, driving increases in temperature and natural disasters (like flooding experienced here in the Fraser Valley). And fossil fuels won’t last forever — by phasing them out in favour of renewable energy sources like hydro, solar, wind and geothermal power, we can create jobs, sustainable economic growth, and ensure the future of the planet.  

That’s where the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative comes in: a coalition of people and organizations from 18 countries (with more to come), including activists, scientists, trade unions, faith leaders, governments, health institutions, and Indigenous groups working together to end the expansion of fossil fuels.  

Shantini manages people and policy, supporting a team of 40 remote employees across multiple time zones. Her work includes hiring, resolving conflicts, performance reviews, planning communication strategies, and organizational structuring. She found that her degree prepared her for non-profit work in powerful and unexpected ways.  

“My work in English and theatre really helped develop my critical thinking skills. Those are things you cannot outsource, and they can’t be given to AI. It’s something that you learn through years of evaluating media, evaluating literature, trying to understand different perspectives, trying to understand bias. And that’s where I think my education has really served me well and can serve people well across so many different careers,” she says.  

“I find that the further I go in my career, the more those skills help me stand out and get into the places that I want to be: the communication skills, the critical thinking, the ability to communicate complex thoughts in ways that people in different circumstances can understand, the ability to meet people where they’re at. Those skills brought me to a rewarding position that I’m really happy in now.” 

At a time when critical thinking skills are more valuable than ever, Shantini is grateful for what she learned in class at UFV. As a justice-oriented person, it was important to her to use her skills to make an impact; while her organization works to address global challenges, she’s serving the individuals that make change possible.  

“Things fall apart when you don’t have somebody supporting the activists and ensuring that they have what they need. Operations roles are just as important as the person who’s standing onstage meeting with the prime ministers, because you lose people when they burn out, when they’re not able to get the support they need. And so it’s all a big ecosystem that we work in to make this crucial, world–changing work happen.” 

While her studies strengthened her critical thinking, they also shaped how she approaches people. Theatre and literature taught her to sit with different perspectives — something that now informs how she supports teams doing complex, emotionally demanding work.    

“As soon as you do that, I don’t know how you can’t be justice oriented.”