About Me, in My Words
Who would you be hiring if you hired me? This page wholistically illustrates who I am and what I do.
I grew up in a trailer park in rural Alberta (Watervalley) where boiling the water clean, trips to the food banks, stuffing our faces with wild raspberries before dinner, and spending entire days making intricate play structures in the bush were, in my young mind, normal things to do. The best things to do, actually.
Perhaps in spite of being in a chronic, destitute financial state, my single mother of three daughters shaped our understanding of wealth and a ‘good life’ as being one that centres our relationship and access to nature.
As a child of mixed Métis ancestry from Penetanguishene and Afro-Caribbean ancestry from Jamaica, I regularly experienced racism as a young student in Southern Alberta. I had two lives, where my reality at school was explicitly separate from the weekends and holidays spent with our Native family and friends - primarily from Kainai Blood Tribe - on the land.
Land-based learning and survival skill development (much of which was learned from my veteran special forces and Blackfoot Code-Talker uncle) became a central part of my identity and well-being.
This relationship to Earth became especially important as my journey navigating sexual assault began in grade 6.
At the age of 13, I began working with school, district, and provincial councils to address racism in the education system and to celebrate the achievement, knowledge, and existence of Black and Indigenous students.
I learned about globalization and colonialism in grade 10, and with the shocking evidence of extreme poverty and colonial harm experienced around the globe, I was inspired to take action.
At age 16, I initiated a fundraiser to collect books and school supplies for Let Us Shine Academy in Kpandai District, Ghana and for the Kainai Blood Reserve public library in Alberta, Canada. With the support of my school teachers I traveled to Ghana and my school later adopted Let Us Shine Academy as a sister school.
After graduating high school with a 4.0 GPA, I enrolled at York University in a Double Honours Major Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies and Communication Studies.
In my second year I completed a full-year exchange to Turkey where I studied International Law and provided humanitarian support to refugees during the 2015 Ebola and refugee crises. Throughout my degree I traveled throughout Europe, Asia, North America, and South America for work, studies, and volunteering.
I had Zyra at 21, in my third of five years of my degree.
I brought my learnings home and led several university-wide anti-racism and Indigenization initiatives at York University.
I graduated Summa Cum Laude (4.0 GPA) in 2018 with the most acclaimed leadership award at the university and a toddler on my hip.
Immediately entered the workforce as an Indigenous Policy Advisor with the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Northern Development, and Mines; as an Advisor at the Anti-Racism Directorate, Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General; as a community mediator and restorative circle keeper; and more. (See my CV for more my work, fellowships, and volunteering.)
I became disabled at 23 years old. I exist with chronic pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, adenomyosis, pelvic floor dysfunction, ovarian cysts, and more. My baseline chronic pain level is a 5/10, with pain flares reaching 10/10 pain.
I also have acquired brain damage from a severe brain bleed in 2020. I lost much of my speech, vision, memory, and other cognitive abilities.
In 2021 I was the subject of a Netflix and CBC produced short documentary, I Am Able, which explored my journey to entrepreneurship while being disabled.
In 2019 I reached a point where racism, ableism, and ageism in my workplaces were having serious impacts on my well-being and self-value.
I quit my last job and gave herself 4 months to start Future Ancestors Services. I wanted to do this for 6 years, but waited until I had acquired the necessary skills, network, understanding of the sector, and personal savings to do it right.
Future Ancestors Services is now my primary channel for changemaking. We are an Indigenous and Black-owned, youth-led professional services social enterprise that advances climate justice and systemic barrier removal with lenses of anti-racism and ancestral accountability.
Through an intergenerational, disabled, and queer team of professionals and advisors, we provide speaking, training, research and consulting services, and influencer and interview services to +400 diverse clients.
We do this while centering decolonized and Indigenized practices, and are constantly reimagining how we can learn, relate, and work together in healthy ways.
Through therapy sessions and Elder hours I have come to understand that sharing land-based fitness activities is a significant determinant to my mental and physical health.
I honour this need by regularly rock climbing, bouldering, functional strength training, long-distance runs, walks, and hikes in the prairies and mountains, and in showing my gratitude through ceremony and meditation.
