2018 was an exciting year for Indigenous Engineering Inclusion! We are excited to announce the launch of our online presence and the development of our beautiful website thanks to the work of our team member Manashri Shejwalkar and our web developers, Conscious Commerce. We are excited for our monthly newsletter and hope you will sign up to receive news and updates on the work in Indigenous inclusion in STEM, energy, engineering and innovation. If you have a story to share in this space - please let us know!
Throughout the year our president, Deanna Burgart, worked on curriculum development for SAIT’s Indigenous Pipeline Monitoring program and taught 60 Indigenous students in the classroom. Many of the students have continued on in their studies in the next phase online, and Deanna and Nikita Desjarlais are diligently working on Indigenization of the remaining courses. Deanna also had the opportunity to support the National Energy Board with facilitation for the Indigenous Advisory Monitoring Committees.
In October, Deanna received the Blazing Flame award from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society at their annual National Conference in Oklahoma City. In front of a record breaking number of attendees; industry, Indigenous STEM professionals and students, sponsors and educators, Deanna was honoured to be recognized by such a long standing organization committed to advancing Indigenous peoples in science, technology, engineering and math.
http://woc.aises.org/content/deanna-burgart-2018-blazing-flame-awardee-fond-du-lac-first-nation
In November, 2018, Deanna was welcomed to the University of Calgary as the new Indigenous Engineer in Residence, where she will work to further initiatives with the Schulich School of Engineering to support greater representation of Indigenous peoples and perspectives in the engineering profession. She is excited to be working with students, faculty and staff through workshops, advising and guest lecturing in 2019.
Deanna is supported by Nikita Desjarlais and Manashri Shejwalkar and her team is looking forward to supporting our clients and workshops in the new year as well. We would love to discuss how we can work with you to enhance your organization’s innovation and inclusion culture.
Deanna delivered many enthusiastically received workshops and keynote addresses across Canada and the United States and is looking forward to sharing her vision and message in 2019. Indigenous wisdom has deep value for the world of science, technology, engineering and math. Indigenous ways of knowing can help solve our greatest challenges in sustainability, energy and development. We can increase representation and empower Indigenous voices in industry and academia if we look to address inequities and barriers that exist today. Inclusion is everybody’s business.
