Bridging Wisdom: Indigenous Advisory Councils in Academia
On May 15th from 1 - 2:30 PM, join the Office of Indigenous Initiatives for a virtual panel featuring distinguished academics and Chairs of Indigenous Advisory Councils. In light of our active initiative of forming 大发彩票平台鈥檚 first Indigenous Advisory Council, this is an opportunity to learn more about the successes and challenges of these units within large institutions. This event is听online, please register before听
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Meet the Panellists听
Candace Brunette-Debassige
Candace Brunette-Debassige is of the Mushkegowuk Cree Nation and member of Peetabeck (Albany) in Treaty 9 Territory with Cree and French settler lineage. Born and raised in small town northeastern Ontario, Candace now makes N鈥橲wakamok (Sudbury Ontario) her home where she works as an Assistant Professor in the School of Indigenous Relations at Laurentian University. Candace has worked in universities for over 25 years serving in various academic and administrative leadership roles including Acting Vice Provost Indigenous Initiatives, Special Advisor to the Provost, and Director of Indigenous Student Affairs at Western University. Candace鈥檚 scholarship centers on Indigenous leadership and policy changes in higher education. She is the author of Tricky Grounds a 2023 book focusing on Indigenous women鈥檚 leadership experiences in postsecondary institutions. Tricky Grounds was awarded the 2021 George L. Geis dissertation of the year award by the Canadian Society for Studies in Higher Education.
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Sheila Cote-Meek听听
Dr. Cote-Meek is Anishinaabe from the Teme-Augama Anishnabai. She is currently Director and Professor of Indigenous Educational Studies at Brock University. She was the inaugural Vice-President, Equity, People and Culture at York University where she led the development of the Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI) strategy and York鈥檚 Black Inclusion Strategy. She was the inaugural Associate-Vice-President, Indigenous and Academic Programs at Laurentian University where she developed the Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre, the Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute and the Master of Indigenous Relations. Dr. Cote-Meek is author of Colonized Classrooms 鈥� Racism, Trauma and Resistance in Post-Secondary Education (2014) and three co-edited books: Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education in Canada (2020), Critical Reflections and Politics on Advancing Women in the Academy (2020) and Perspectives on Indigenous Pedagogy in Education: Learning from One Another (2023).
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Brent Young
Dr. Brent Young is Anishinaabe and a member of Sandy Bay First Nation. His mother is a Sixties Scoop Survivor, and his grandmother was a survivor of Sandy Bay Indian Residential School. He was born and raised in Unama鈥檏i.
He is a family physician at Sipekne鈥檏atik Health Centre, founding clinical lead of Wije鈥檞inen Health Centre, academic director for Indigenous health at Dalhousie Medical School, and treasurer of the board of directors at the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada. He co-chaired Dalhousie University鈥檚 Task Force on Settler Misappropriation of Indigenous Identity. He has also contributed to several national efforts to advance Indigenous health, notably as co-chair of the Anti-Racism Work Group with the National Circle of Indigenous Medical Education and as a member of the Indigenous Health Committees with the Canadian College of Family Physicians and Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada.
Establishing and bolstering institutional structures for Indigenous-led decision-making has been a central component of his work to advance Indigenous health. 听
