My Story
I was raised in the town of Port Hardy, on the northern tip of Vancouver Island. As a child we lived in town, and I attended the on-reserve Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw School. As a teenager, we lived on the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw reserve and I attended high school in town. This bridging between communities has been part of my life, and work, ever since, as a woman who not only has european and 'Nakwaxda'xw lineage, but also Ligwitlda'xw and Metis.
After finishing a degree in linguistics and Indigenous studies at the University of Victoria in 2008, I saw a job posting for "Comprehensive Community Planning Coordinator" at home and decided to apply. When I got the job, I had no experience in community planning, facilitation, or project management whatsoever. I returned home confident that my education and research abilities would see me through - until one of the first community meetings when an elder that was attending said "You need to get rid of those fancy words. You need to think with your heart, not your head!" and I thought "oh crap, I paid a lot of money for those fancy words..."
Once I realized that I didn't really know what I was doing, I was able to call on people to help me. I was able to be vulnerable in my work, with the community, and ask for everyone's help and participation. I was able to make mistakes, and admit them, and learn from them. Even though I have gained a lot of experience in the intervening years, I still approach every project with that same curiosity, vulnerability and desire to collaborate.
In the end, we had a fantastic community plan, and I had learned a valuable lesson: good planning is about the questions, not the answers. It's about letting everyone speak, not pretending to know everything. And it really, truly is about thinking with your heart, connecting as a community, and visioning the best, brightest possible future.
This attitude helped me when I first ran for the District of Port Hardy's council, in 2011. I ran on a platform of good communication, environmental sustainability, and fostering strong relationships between the town and the local First Nations. I was elected, the youngest woman ever and the first person from a local First Nation, and then re-elected in 2014. I went on to be elected by my local government peers, as a director at large for the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) for two consecutive years, where I introduced interactive sessions to the annual conference agenda, helped improve our consideration and inclusion of First Nations peoples and issues, and helped bring the first youth council delegation to the annual conference. I also served as a director for the Local Government Leadership Academy for one year.
As my business has grown, I've sought to keep my skills sharp. So, in 2016 I started graduate school at Vancouver Island University, in the Master of Community Planning program. My thesis research was on pre-contact Indigenous community design principles, and how those might be used to do better design for modern Indigenous communities and reserves. I was awarded the Governor General's Gold Medal upon graduation, and also received the Canadian Institute of Planner's President's Award for Young Planners that year - it was very exciting!
In 2016 I also incorporated an Indigenous planning company, Alderhill Planning Inc., with two people I admire and respect so much - Elaine Alec and Chris Derickson. I also began teaching Indigenous planning at Vancouver Island University and in the Indigenous Community Planning Practicum at the University of British Columbia. In 2019 my family grew and my husband Jamaine and I had a daughter, Ida. Now, you can find all three of us together 24/7 as we parent and work in a family-first way.
I have been told many times over that in my work I bring warmth, an ability to communicate in many different styles depending on the audience, professionalism, and overall a genuine commitment to building resilient, happy, healthy communities. If that sounds like a good fit for you, please send me an email and let's talk.
- J
After finishing a degree in linguistics and Indigenous studies at the University of Victoria in 2008, I saw a job posting for "Comprehensive Community Planning Coordinator" at home and decided to apply. When I got the job, I had no experience in community planning, facilitation, or project management whatsoever. I returned home confident that my education and research abilities would see me through - until one of the first community meetings when an elder that was attending said "You need to get rid of those fancy words. You need to think with your heart, not your head!" and I thought "oh crap, I paid a lot of money for those fancy words..."
Once I realized that I didn't really know what I was doing, I was able to call on people to help me. I was able to be vulnerable in my work, with the community, and ask for everyone's help and participation. I was able to make mistakes, and admit them, and learn from them. Even though I have gained a lot of experience in the intervening years, I still approach every project with that same curiosity, vulnerability and desire to collaborate.
In the end, we had a fantastic community plan, and I had learned a valuable lesson: good planning is about the questions, not the answers. It's about letting everyone speak, not pretending to know everything. And it really, truly is about thinking with your heart, connecting as a community, and visioning the best, brightest possible future.
This attitude helped me when I first ran for the District of Port Hardy's council, in 2011. I ran on a platform of good communication, environmental sustainability, and fostering strong relationships between the town and the local First Nations. I was elected, the youngest woman ever and the first person from a local First Nation, and then re-elected in 2014. I went on to be elected by my local government peers, as a director at large for the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) for two consecutive years, where I introduced interactive sessions to the annual conference agenda, helped improve our consideration and inclusion of First Nations peoples and issues, and helped bring the first youth council delegation to the annual conference. I also served as a director for the Local Government Leadership Academy for one year.
As my business has grown, I've sought to keep my skills sharp. So, in 2016 I started graduate school at Vancouver Island University, in the Master of Community Planning program. My thesis research was on pre-contact Indigenous community design principles, and how those might be used to do better design for modern Indigenous communities and reserves. I was awarded the Governor General's Gold Medal upon graduation, and also received the Canadian Institute of Planner's President's Award for Young Planners that year - it was very exciting!
In 2016 I also incorporated an Indigenous planning company, Alderhill Planning Inc., with two people I admire and respect so much - Elaine Alec and Chris Derickson. I also began teaching Indigenous planning at Vancouver Island University and in the Indigenous Community Planning Practicum at the University of British Columbia. In 2019 my family grew and my husband Jamaine and I had a daughter, Ida. Now, you can find all three of us together 24/7 as we parent and work in a family-first way.
I have been told many times over that in my work I bring warmth, an ability to communicate in many different styles depending on the audience, professionalism, and overall a genuine commitment to building resilient, happy, healthy communities. If that sounds like a good fit for you, please send me an email and let's talk.
- J