The Speakers

Dave has 20+ years of experience in customer service. He is passionate about the environment and reclaiming his culture through learning and sharing with you on one of our experiences.

Dave has a unique point of view on Indigenous culture as a result of growing up outside the First Nations community due to the “60’s scoop”.  This “two-eyed seeing” approach allows him to see both sides of the relationship between Canada and his people and he has a passion to learn as much as he can to help facilitate better relationships between the two Nations as well as reclaiming his own culture.  A self motivator, he feels at home in nature and spends a lot of his time researching and learning about regenerative ecology.  He believes he is a steward of nature and is always looking for technologies and ideologies that further this.

This unique position affords him a point of view that allows him to share his culture and its history from an understanding that is uncommon.  Dave is passionate about reclaiming his culture and sharing it with you.

Discover the local Wabanaki history from a unique Indigenous point of view.

Kathy (she/her) is the Team Lead for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Schools at the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in New Brunswick, a proud member of TESL New Brunswick’s Board of Directors, and a PhD student at the University of New Brunswick. Kathy has many years of experience working with new Canadians, including teaching in the settlement sector, in diverse public schools, and at a private school for adult learners of English. In practice and in research, Kathy is interested in the identity affirmation of both teachers and learners, and also seeks to understand how joy manifests in teaching and learning environments.

Mathieu Gingras is presently acting as spokesperson for a national bilingual non-profit organization French for the future. True defender of the wealth of cultures, Mathieu knows how to communicate his passion and his experiences with others through his inspiring words. He stresses the importance of teachers in community and will make you feel valued like never before. Mathieu obtained a bachelor’s degree in education as well as a master’s degree in public administration from l’Université de Moncton. In 2004, as an expert in education sector, and Director of recruitment, Mathieu had the mandate to internationalize the recruitment practices at UMoncton and establish strategies with postsecondary colleagues across the province.