Virtual Event: Building Relationships and Partnerships Between Indigenous Communities and Health Organizations: Sharing the Journey of the Promoting Life Together Collaborative

Métis, PLT Guidance Group member
PLT Coach/ Mentor

Denise McCuaig is an accomplished Métis woman with an excellent knowledge in Aboriginal health and mental health and addictions.

Denise has been an Indigenous Advisor through a number of boards and committees, including but not limited to, the Mental Health Commission of Canada, San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training program, Healthcare Excellence Canada and was the Director, Aboriginal health for the Interior Health Authority.

Denise has been a sought-after speaker on topics of Cultural Safety, healing through cultural renewal, suicide prevention and living with mental illness. Denise speaks from lived experience in a manner that many audiences have been able to relate too.

In 2006, The Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH) awarded Denise with a Champion Mental Health Award. In 2003, closer to home in Kamloops, BC, the YMCA, awarded Denise with a Woman of Distinction Award.

Vice-President, Strategic Initiatives and Engagement
Healthcare Excellence Canada

Maria Judd leads Healthcare Excellence Canada to accelerate change, working closely with colleagues and partners to shape the organization's long-term strategy and identify and deliver new initiatives. Her portfolio includes cross-cutting priority areas such as patient partnerships and Indigenous health.

A physiotherapist and epidemiologist by background, and NHS Quality and Safety Fellow, Maria brings a passion for healthcare improvement, and a patient-first perspective, that has evolved from her diverse roles within the health system as a community health centre board member, clinician, program manager, and researcher. She was previously CFHI's Vice-President, Programs. In this capacity, Maria played a key role in CFHI's evolution, including strategic planning, partnership development, and the creation and implementation of new programs. 

Executive Director, Thunderbird Partnership Foundation
PLT Collaborative Guidance Group member

Carol Hopkins is the Chief Executive Officer of the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation (a division of the National Native Addictions Partnership Foundation) and is of the Lenape Nation at Moraviantown, ON.  Carol was appointed as an Officer in the Order of Canada, 2018.  In 2019, she was recognized with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Western University.

Carol Hopkins has spent more than 25 years in the field of First Nations substance use and mental health.  She holds both a Master of Social Work Degree from the University of Toronto and a degree in sacred Indigenous Knowledge, equivalent to a PhD in western based education systems.

Carol has co-chaired national initiatives known for best practice in national policy review and development, resulting in the: First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework (FNMWC), the Honouring Our Strengths: A Renewed Framework to Address Substance Use Issues Among First Nations in Canada, the Indigenous Wellness Framework, and the Native Wellness Assessment.  Her leadership has been engaged within Health and Mental Health for First Nations, Provincial, Territorial, and Federal governments.

Psychologist, Anishinabek from Dokis First Nation
CEO, First Peoples Wellness Circle
PLT Collaborative Guidance Group member
PLT Coach/Mentor

Dr. Brenda M Restoule (Waub Zhe Kwens) is from Dokis First Nation (Ojibwa) and from the Eagle Clan. She is a registered clinical psychologist. Dr. Restoule is the Chief Executive Officer of the First Peoples Wellness Circle which is an Indigenous led national organization dedicated to raising the profile of Indigenous mental wellness using Indigenous knowledge and evidence. Primary work of FPWC is implementation of the First Nation Mental Wellness Continuum Framework to which she is a co-chair of the Implementation Team and developing a network of supports for Mental Wellness Teams across the country. Her work spans from providing clinical and consulting services to First Nations communities in Anishinabek territory to consultation with provincial and federal governments on Indigenous mental wellness to an invited trainer and speaker to authoring book chapters and training manuals. Some of Dr. Restoule’s past work experience includes the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and working with federally incarcerated Indigenous women, children’s mental health and, urban and First Nation mental wellness programs. She has particular interest in cultural safety, First Nation community development and capacity building, and reducing suicide rates in First Nation communities using First Nation knowledge and practices.

Executive Director, Thunderbird Partnership Foundation
PLT Collaborative Guidance Group member

Jill Larkin is a Métis citizen, originally from Winnipeg. She has been living in Churchill, Manitoba since 2008. Prior to living in Churchill, she lived in the Inuit community of Coral Harbour. She is currently on leave from her job at Parks Canada and managing the Warrior Caregiver Program, which is a land-based education program for men with a focus on mental health, based out of the Churchill Health Centre with funding from Movember. Jill and her partner Scott are raising 2 teenagers. For fun, Jill loves to paddle board with the beluga whales, snow goose hunt and scuba dive.

Executive Director, Churchill Health Centre
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Churchill
PLT Collaborative team member

Jason has a degree in Nursing from the University of Manitoba, as well as a Masters degree in Public Administration with a career that has spanned almost 20 years. His clinical experience comes as a nurse at the Selkirk Mental Health Centre from 2003-2016 where he worked in Forensics and Psychosocial Rehabilitation before moving into a leadership role as the Coordinator of Patient Services for the Acquired Brain Injury program.

Jason left the Selkirk Mental Health Centre in 2016 as the Director of Operations to become the Regional Director of Quality and Patient Safety with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. In 2018, he became the Executive Director of Health Services at the Churchill Health Centre in Churchill, Manitoba. Jason continues to advocate and champion mental health services and innovation in his current role in northern Manitoba.

Spiritual Advisor
PLT Collaborative Guidance Group member

Albert Dumont, “South Wind”, is a Poet, Storyteller, Speaker, an Algonquin Traditional Teacher and Ottawa's Poet Laureate. He was born and raised in traditional Algonquin territory (Kitigan Zibi). He began his sobriety in 1988. He has published six books of poetry and short stories and two children’s books, written in three languages. Several organizations, both native and non-native, are currently featuring his poetry in their promotions, among them are the Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health and the Native Veterans Association.