UBC’s Applied Science's EDI.I Office presented a National Indigenous History Month event on June 20, 2022. This was a thought-provoking virtual panel on Indigenous resilience, strength, and self-determination in health care, resource extraction, mining, and the environment.
Speakers
Professor Colleen Varcoe, UBC School of Nursing - Colleen is of immigrant (English) and Indigenous (Cherokee) ancestry. She aims to decrease inequity and violence, including interpersonal and structural forms of violence such as racism and stigma related to poverty and substance use. Through action at the organizational and community level, her work promotes equity for women and Indigenous peoples in health care and criminal justice contexts.
Ken Edzerza, Vice President of the Tahltan Central Government - Ken holds a Master’s Degree in Leadership and is the Vice President of the Tahltan Central Government. For more than twenty-five years, Ken Edzerza of the Tahltan First Nation, has committed his career to the disciplines of self-governance and cultural governance. Over that time, he has not only worked with high-risk street youth, serious young offenders, and socially disadvantaged youth, he has also worked extensively to improve the systems and governance models that support them.
Joely Viveiros, UBC First Nations House of Learning - Joely is from the Gitxsan Nation with ties to the Xenaksiala people of the Haisla Nation. She is the Associate Director of FNHL which provides programming, advice, and support systems for UBC Indigenous students, faculty, staff and alumni. Prior to her role at UBC, she operated a private audiology practice in Terrace, B.C. for 25 years, where she also raised a family.