Our Founder
Dr. Darlene E. Clover
Professor of Leadership Studies, University of Victoria
Founder, Feminist Imaginary Research Network (FIRN)
Dr. Darlene Clover is an internationally recognized scholar in feminist adult education, arts-based research, and community cultural leadership. For more than three decades, her work has challenged conventional boundaries of learning by integrating creative, aesthetic, and activist approaches to social change.
Her research has explored:
- feminist arts and cultural practices
- museum and heritage studies
- adult and community education
- social justice leadership
- gender, equity, and cultural representation
Dr. Clover has published widely and has collaborated with educators, artists, activists, and cultural organizations across Canada and around the world. Her work foregrounds how creative, feminist approaches can unsettle taken-for-granted assumptions, foster critical reflection, and imagine new social futures.
Why She Founded FIRN
Dr. Clover envisioned FIRN as:
- a creative research hub where feminist ideas can grow
- a collaborative space for scholars, artists, and community partners
- a platform to amplify feminist research, stories, and aesthetics
- a network that centres imagination, creativity, and lived experience
- a resource for those working toward equitable and feminist futures
Her commitment to art, imagination, and feminist pedagogy shapes the heart of FIRN. The Network reflects her belief that feminist knowledge-making is most powerful when it is collective, creative, and connected to community.
Our Mission
To support innovative feminist research, creative projects, and community learning that challenge inequality and reimagine social and cultural futures.
Our Values
- Creativity — valuing aesthetic and artistic forms of knowledge
- Collaboration — working across disciplines and communities
- Equity & Justice — centring feminist principles in all we do
- Accessibility — producing knowledge that is open, inclusive, and engaging
- Imagination — embracing possibility, transformation, and alternative futures