Edmonton

Cheryl Whiskeyjack

Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society (Executive Director)

As executive director of Bent Arrow Traditional Healing Society, Cheryl Whiskeyjack’s job is to help urban aboriginal peoples live in two worlds at once: the City of Edmonton, with its particular laws and norms, and the aboriginal world of ceremonies and beliefs that has existed on this land for millennia. Those two worlds can live in harmony, but it isn’t always easy. “We have a community of people who are thousands of years from this land that we’re on right now,” Cheryl says. “And they don’t feel connected to it. They feel displaced, even though they live here. So public engagement is a way to re-engage the folks that we serve.”

Cheryl has been with Bent Arrow just about since its inception a quarter-century ago. Now she oversees a suite of 18 different programs and services. The organization’s programming connects indigenous clients to the city around them, and helps them build skills and resilience that they can use in other parts of their lives. “People are sitting straighter in their chairs by the time they’re done their program,” she says.

Cheryl proudly serves as a board member of the Canadian Accreditation Council of Human Services and the Align Association of Community Services. She has contributed to the work of EndPovertyEdmonton since its inception and currently acts as co-chair of the Stewardship Round Table. She acts as a mentor for the Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations Executive Director Mentorship program and represents Bent Arrow through C5, a collaborative partnership of five non-profits using innovative engagement in vulnerable neighbourhoods. Cheryl is proud of the strong partnerships she has maintained across sectors and believes that ending poverty requires a diversity of voices to ensure better systems and communities for all of us.

Sarah Woodgate

Calgary Housing Company (President) & Calgary Housing (Director)

Ms. Woodgate holds the dual role as the President of Calgary Housing Company and Director of Calgary Housing for the City of Calgary since 2015. Governed by a Board of Directors, Calgary Housing Company provides homes to 25,000 people every day including 10,000 children. As the Director of Calgary Housing, Ms. Woodgate is also responsible for overseeing the delivery of affordable housing related development, programs and services provided by the City of Calgary.

Ms. Woodgate has over 20 years’ experience in community development, affordable housing, urban planning, real estate, governance and land development. Ms. Woodgate holds a Masters Certificate in Municipal Leadership from York Schulich University, is a Chartered Institute of Housing Chartered Member, a Professional Accredited Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners, and currently serves on the Boards of Housing Partnership Canada and the Housing Investment Corporation.

Objective

The overall outcome of Café Pracademique workshops like these is to unite public policy practitioners, academics, industry professionals, and citizens to mobilize knowledge and drive positive, lasting, ongoing policy research innovation. Participants will build new personal and professional networks in order to sustain a continuous cross-pollination of ideas across the policy community. In the process, this initiative will help bridge the gap between academia and policy makers by uniting thought leaders from both communities to build on the knowledge and expertise of all involved. Ultimately, public sector strategies will be informed by research, while academic research would be informed by practice-based results.

The workshop has four principal objectives:

  1. To develop consensus on substantive definitions of 'resilience' and 'sustainability' as they apply to community housing.
  2. To identify ways for providers to improve their resilience and sustainability, and measure their impacts of their initiatives.
  3. To conceptualize how the National Housing Strategy will shape the sector.
  4. To decide on research priorities for community housing over the next five years.

Workshop Format

In broad terms, we have sought to ensure that our Café themes cover different aspects of sustainability that are regionally relevant. In Edmonton, our focus is on community housing sustainability in the context of reconciliation.

Each Café will begin in the online community, a month before the in-person event, with thought leaders contributing short posts to our blog. Providing participants with important research and information in advance of the live event and stimulating advance discussion, these blog posts will highlight the existing research being mobilized during the Cafés.

On the day, events will begin with short talks from leaders in the field, reviewing key knowledge and context in an accessible manner. The Café will begin with a moderated, forty-five (45) minute discussion among thought leaders, in a “fireside chat” format. Acting as a discussant/talk-show host, the moderator will pose questions to the thought leaders before opening the floor to questions from the audience. After this brief introduction, facilitators will lead small group discussions and activities surrounding the Café topic at hand.

Through facilitated work in small groups, each Café will culminate in the production of a concrete deliverable: a roadmap for pracademic collaboration on the topic of the Café, including the assembling of research teams to address particular components of the broader programme.

Following closing remarks from the thought leaders, each Café will conclude with individual reflection and small group planning, challenging participants to outline how they could bring the roadmap to life in their own communities. Led by the Co-Chairs, research assistants will produce summary reports of each Café, highlighting the research employed and the knowledge co-created. These reports will be compiled for dissemination to participants within one week of the workshop.

Edmonton is located on Treaty 6 territory, a traditional gathering place for diverse Indigenous peoples including the Cree, Blackfoot, Metis, Nakota Sioux, Iroquois, Dene, Ojibway/ Saulteaux/Anishinaabe, Inuit, and many others whose histories, languages, and cultures continue to influence our vibrant community.