Rethinking Public Engagement Approaches Through a Decolonial, Anti-racist, & Feminist Lens

Jordan Smith is a Mi’kmaw Woman from Glooscap First Nation, who was born and raised in her traditional and ancestral territory of Mi’kma’ki. After graduating from Acadia University (Class of 2014), Jordan began working for the Mi’kmaw Physical Activity Leadership (MPAL) program, where she developed her passion for Indigenous Community Development. Using Two-Eyed Seeing as her guiding principle, her work is focused on engaging diverse cultures, and building strong relationships, and youth leadership to create thriving Indigenous communities. Jordan is currently working with the Atlantic Council for International Cooperation as a Program Officer for the ‘Our Communities, Our Voices’ program, which aims to amplify the voices of young Indigenous leaders in the Atlantic Region. She is also a Learning Facilitator for the Aboriginal Coaching Modules and plans to volunteer for the upcoming North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) 2023

Hailey is the Engagement and Evaluation Lead at Engage Nova Scotia, a small, independent non-profit driven by a vision for a more vibrant, inclusive, and resilient province. Hailey’s academic background includes a BA in Development Studies and Anthropology from St. Francis Xavier University (Antigonish, Canada) and an MSc in Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability from the Blekinge Institute of Technology (Karlskrona, Sweden). Her Master’s thesis considered how participatory community processes build a communities’ adaptive capacity in relation to the Climate Crisis. In particular, the research focussed on Collective Narrative Therapy, a method used to respond to individuals, groups, and communities who have experienced a collective trauma. Both her work and personal life are rooted in the importance of relationships and deep listening. At Engage, this guides Hailey’s approach to her role with the Nova Scotia Quality of Life Initiative, designing and facilitating public engagements and supporting a broad range of cross-sector collaborations. Outside of her work with Engage, Hailey can be found socializing (safely), pursuing her creative ventures, and trying to give her house plants a fighting chance.

About John: Master’s degree in Peace and Reconciliation, option: Natural Resources, Environment, Peace and Sustainable Development from the Catholic University of Bukavu (CUB), Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Université Officielle de Bukavu (UOB). University instructor and researcher here in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I’m also an activist for human rights and environmental issues and have contributed several articles on the subject. National Coordinator of the non-profit organization Front Commun pour la Protection de l’Environnement et des Espaces Protégés, or FCPEEP-RDC, which operates on several diverse issues, including environmental protections, gender equality, human rights, food sovereignty, sustainable agriculture, and the rights of women and girls, as well as those of other marginalized groups, such as Pygmy Indigenous peoples. Our website, www.fcpeep-rdc.org, includes some descriptions of our actions on the ground. National Focal Point of Civil Society Organizations in DRC accredited to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Focal point of the Kabare/Sud-Kivu/DRC area from the Société Civile Environmentale et Agro-Rurale du Congo.

“My name is Kimy/Leticia Rojas Miranda. I hold a doctorate in sociology and anthropology, and I have experience with trans/feminist and migration studies as well as gender and sexual identity studies. I am a researcher and a diaspora activist/artist in both Spain and Abya Yala. I have been part of the Ecuadorian feminist movement since 1999. Starting in 2008, I have divided my time between Madrid (Spain), Quito and Guayaquil (Ecuador). Alongside other activists in Spain, I have participated in the Migrantes Transgresorxs collective since 2009 and the Ayllu collective since 2017. My skills include research and activist/artistic creation, which I have practiced for 12 years. Recent projects include the research project “Mapeo de Feminismos Negros en Abya Yala” (“Mapping Black Feminisms in Abya Yala”); “Re-existencia transfronterizas ‘entre aquí y allá'” (“Transborder Re-existence ‘Between Here and There'”), Ecuador chapter, 2020; group exhibition, “Don’t blame us for what happened / No nos culpen de lo que pasó” (Migrantes Transgresorxs collective/Ayllu collective), Biennale of Sydney: NIRIN-2020, at Artspace. I also work with POPS (Programa Orientado a Prácticas Subalternas), a research and training project that began in 2018 at the Centro de Residencias Artísticas, Matadero-Madrid. The fourth edition of POPS, held in collaboration with GLEFAS (Grupo Latinoamericano de Estudio, Formación y Acción Feminista) is now coming to a close.”

Marie-Eve Marleau has worked for the past fifteen years within social movements against extractivism and for ecological justice. She is the Coordinator of the Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine (CDHAL), an international solidarity organization based in Montreal that works to defend and promote human rights in reciprocity with social movements and communities in Latin America in the fight for social, environmental, economic and cultural justice. CDHAL’s actions contribute to developing a critical analysis of oppressive structures in our society and in international solidarity work, as well as to building awareness and mobilization among Quebecers.

Sonia Audi is a Kenyan queer, nonbinary feminist, activist and creative. They channel their skills and passion for advocacy and storytelling towards advocating for an all-inclusive world where LGBTQ+ persons are free to exist as their most authentic selves. This is evident in their work as a program coordinator at Jinsiangu, an organization that works to enhance the lives and wellbeing of intersex, transgender and gender non-conforming (ITGNC) persons in Kenya; and as a community organizer at Queerhive Kenya, a youth-centered, creative and social support organization for lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) womxn and gender non-conforming persons. They have also been involved in a number of collaborative creative projects such as “Meanwhile” by the Qintu Collab, “Rainbow Childhoods” by GALCK, “New Rain” by Minority Womyn in Action, and “Emergence” by Holaafrica.