Meet the recipients of FNIGC’s 2017 National Student Bursary

The First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC) is pleased to announce the recipients of its 5th annual National Student Bursary, which is awarded by the non-profit organization to two deserving First Nations college or university students.

Chosen by a selection committee comprised of members of FNIGC’s Board of Directors, the recipients of the 2017 bursary will each receive a cash prize and free registration to FNIGC’s Fundamentals of OCAP® online course.

The recipients of the 2017 FNIGC National Student Bursary are Karlee Johnson of Eskasoni First Nation in Nova Scotia and Stephanie McConkey, a member of Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in Ontario.

Ms. Johnson, a Medical Sciences student at Dalhousie University, is currently working on a research project at the Aboriginal Children’s Hurt & Healing Initiative that involves the creation of a mobile app to facilitate culturally appropriate and evidence-based communication between health care professionals and Indigenous children.

Growing up in in her home community, Ms. Johnson was enrolled in a Mi’kmaq immersion program, which she credits with teaching her to speak, read, and write in Mi’kmaq. She hopes that this, combined with her commitment to the two-eyed seeing approach (which embraces Indigenous and Western knowledge), will inform her future career as a Mi’kmaq-fluent physician in Eskasoni.

Karlee Johnson and Stephanie McConkey

Ms. McConkey (Oneida Nation) is a Masters of Science candidate in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics program at Western University, where she is studying the social determinants of health as predictors for unmet health needs and diabetes diagnosis among urban Indigenous people living in the city of Toronto. She also works part-time as a Research Specialist with the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, a national organization that advocates for culturally based addictions services for First Nations and Inuit.

As the 2017 recipients of the National Student Bursary, Ms. Johnson and Ms. McConkey will each receive $2,500 to help support their studies, in addition to free registration in The Fundamentals of OCAP®, the only online course dedicated to the First Nations principles of OCAP®.

Established in 2013, the FNIGC National Student Bursary is awarded annually to qualifying First Nation college or university students pursuing degrees in the field of epidemiology, population health, biostatistics, or information and data management technology. The application process for the 6th annual bursary will begin in fall 2018.

FNIGC is a First Nations non-profit operating with a mandate from the Assembly of First Nations. As the premier source of information about First Nations people living on reserve and in northern communities, FNIGC is committed to improving the health and well-being of people living in our 634 First Nations communities across the country.

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