Coming up! National Broadcast of the 18th Annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards - Saturday, April 9
Celebrate the accomplishments of 14 'remarkable Canadians,' including Dr. Margo Greenwood, Academic Leader of the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health at the University of Northern B.C. Their stories will be featured on Canwest Global TV and Aboriginal Peoples Television Network as part of the broadcast celebrating the contributions of Aboriginal Canadians to the national social, cultural and political fabric.
March, 2011 - Dr. Margo Greenwood was honored March 11 with a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, one of 14 'remarkable Canadians' who will be celebrated for their outstanding achievements in a range of careers. The awards are recognized nationally and internationally as one of the highest honours the community can bestow upon its own.
Dr. Greenwood and her fellow recipients will be celebrated at a gala to be broadcast live on national television Saturday, April 9 from Edmonton, Alberta on Canwest Global Television and on Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Recipients include the first Aboriginal person to play in the NHL and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic gold medal designer.
Dr. Greenwood, Associate Professor at University of Northern British Columbia and Academic Leader of the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (NCCAH), is being recognized for her outstanding career achievements in education and has been called a "national treasure" for her dedication and commitment to the health and well-being of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children in Canada.
For more than two decades, Dr. Greenwood has focused her work on early childhood education. She has served as an expert advisor to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child; UNICEF's international committee for the development of the Children's Rights Digest, the Government of Canada's Senate Subcommittee on Population Health, and the Office of the Children's Advocate of BC. She led the development of, and was a contributing author to UNICEF Canada's report, Aboriginal children's health: Leaving no child behind. She has served on more than 50 provincial, national and international advisory committees and working groups. In 2002, she was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal in recognition of her lifetime work.
As well as her extensive career achievements, Dr. Greenwood is celebrated for her intelligence, motivation, sense of humour, passionate advocacy, and exceedingly high standards in all she undertakes.
Dr. Malcolm King, Scientific Director of the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, said Dr. Greenwood's career and contributions are distinguished for crossing over the fields of education and health. "These are inseparable aspects of our very existence when it comes to Aboriginal well-being. Margo sees these realities, and her many contributions attest to this. Research and education are, at base, extensions of how she lives her life."
Outstanding Role Models
The National Aboriginal Achievement Awards were established in 1993 to encourage and celebrate excellence in the Aboriginal community. Each year 14 recipients in diverse occupations from law and political science to culture and the arts are celebrated for their achievements.
Recipients were presented to the Prime Minister of Canada and the House of Commons in November as outstanding models of inspiration to the next generation of Aboriginal youth. The 18th Annual National Aboriginal Achievement Awards are a highlight event, and will be hosted by Evan Adams and Adam Beach.
"We are delighted for Margo and celebrate the national leadership role she plays at our university. Her inspirational work links policy, research and practice to address the profound inequities in health and well-being in the Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The impact of the work she does with her team and network is truly remarkable," said Dr. George Iwama, president of the University of Northern B.C., which hosts the NCCAH.
Roberta Jamieson, President and CEO of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, congratulated Dr. Greenwood, noting her "extraordinary life is more than worthy of such recognition."
Educator Honours Her Teachers
Dr. Greenwood, a Cree scholar and mother of three sons, was born in Westaskiwin, Alberta, to a Cree father and English mother. She was taken under the wing of Elders early in her life, particularly her Cree grandfather Oliver Greenwood who was born in the 1800s in a Hudson's Bay tent on the banks of the Battle River. Her learning continued through her lifelong relationships with Swecpmec Elder Mary Thomas and Cree Elder Louis Opekokew, who especially advised her that with knowledge comes responsibility.
"I am grateful every day for my teachers. In my work and in all that I do, I hope that I honour them. They taught me to use knowledge in a good way. I choose to use that knowledge as I think about our children, our families and communities, and how it is that we are going to realize optimal health and well-being of all people," Dr. Greenwood said.
She said she was honoured by the recognition and support for work that is so deeply rooted in her early learnings.
Embracing Inclusivity
Dr. Greenwood has embraced inclusivity in her life's work on behalf of all children and, as leader of the NCCAH, is working across a wide variety of government, research, health and civil society sectors to support a renewed public health system in Canada that is inclusive and respectful of diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Greenwood often uses a model of a spiderweb to explain the complexities of the many strands of history, policy and socio-economic factors that intersect in the life of Indigenous children. Addressing such health disparities, she says, is a "huge challenge and requires a collective Canadian effort to tackle them."
Dr. Jeff Reading, a leading national researcher in Aboriginal health, said Greenwood interacts on a daily basis with diverse individuals from complex, sensitive and different backgrounds, including key leaders in First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities at home and abroad, academic and non-governmental organization representatives, mainstream politicians and government officials, and investigators, researchers, and administrators.
"She has earned the respect of leaders in both the academy and Indigenous communities," said Dr. Reading. "Margo is a powerful rolel model for her peers, community and especially young native women."
Service in Education
Dr. Greenwood's service in education began at the University of Alberta and in the early childhood development program at Red Deer College in the late 1980s. For the next decade she served in various capacities with communities, public education systems, universities and First Nations organizations. Since 1997, she has taught at the University of Northern B.C. in social work, education and First Nations Studies, completing her PhD in education in May 2009. She is an Adjunct Professor with Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops and the UBC Northern Medical Program.
Dr. Greenwood was appointed Academic Leader of the National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health in 2004 and has served as site director for the UNBC Task Group, Centre of Excellence for Children and Adolescents with Special Needs, as well as for NEARBC, a provincial network of excellence in Aboriginal research, and Aboriginal ActNow BC, a health promotion initiative for Aboriginal peoples. She was named Academic of the Year for 2010 by the Confederation of University Faculty Associations (CUFA) of BC and appointed as an International Fellow of Te Mata o Te Tau at the Academy for Maori Research and Scholarship, Massey University.
In the course of her career, Greenwood has authored more than 25 peer reviewed publications and produced nearly two dozen refereed research reports and policy documents. She has presented at 160 conferences and academic events and served on four dozen international, national and provincial advisory committees and working groups. In September 2010, she was appointed Chair of the Board of the Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health by the governing council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
"It would be hard to match Margo's passion, or heart, or capacity for bringing out the best in others," said Dr. Michael Chandler, Distinguished Investigator with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. "She is a force of nature."
