ABOUT
ME

AND - I also grew up knowing that I was indigenous, but very assimilated into middle class settler society in many ways. I grew up in an upper middle-class, white-collar neighbourhood as the daughter of commercial fishers.  I suffered many of the traumas most indigenous people experience, but with economic privilege.  I developed high levels of resilience and completed four university degrees, despite the fact that the educational systems were alienating and I experienced significant culture shock and racism.  My grandparents went to residential school and indian day schools.  My mother went to indian day school and is a 60's Scoop survivor.  I am impacted by intergenerational trauma, and I have inherited so much resilience and strength from our people's will to survive. 

​

This last part is key for me: We can't continue to focus solely on the trauma of the past.  There is so much brilliance and strength in indigenous culture - not everything was destroyed.  I look forward to sharing with you on your journey to a brighter shared future.

​

I have currently paused my consulting practice with the exception of 1-2 small projects until summer 2025. I am serving a 3-year term as Moderator of The United Church of Canada.

​

I hold a PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies from the Graduate Theological Union at UC Berkeley - my doctoral work focused on the general differences between indigenous and euro-Western worldviews. I am a member of the Haíɫzaqv nation on the central coast of BC. I live and work as a visitor on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the  xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.