As a non-Indigenous, racialized settler woman, my journey has been shaped by migration, displacement, political instability, and systemic inequities. These experiences have deepened my understanding that health extends beyond biomedicine and is shaped by power, structural inequities, and social determinants of health.
I completed my PhD in Nursing at the University of Ottawa in 2022, using digital storytelling to promote epistemic justice for people living with psychotic disorders, and later joined the CIHR BC Indigenous Health Nursing Research (IHNR) Chair, where my work expanded to Indigenous health nursing and accountable allyship in support of Indigenous leadership, governance, and self-determination.
One of my proudest accomplishments is working with the BC IHNR research team (https://www.ihnr.ca/) and co-authoring of Beyond Equity: Taking Action to Address Indigenous-Specific Racism in Nursing, developed through a partnership between CFNU and the six CIHR-IHNR Chairs, under the leadership of Dr. Lisa Bourque Bearskin. The report called for concrete action against Indigenous-specific racism across nursing and contributed to CFNU’s 2025 national apology and action plan.
