2024 Year in Review - Part Two

Hello, you absolutely amazing person, you. As I said in yesterday's video, 2024 was some kind of year for me. It was phenomenal. It was busy and now I'm kind of exhausted. But that's okay. It's exhaustive for all the right reasons. And I know, I hope some of you had an amazing year and hoping some of you had a good year or a great year. And I know some of you had an incredibly challenging year and I hope you found the support you need. Yesterday I took you on a memory lane trip from January to June highlighting the entities I got to work with and the type of events we got to do, because I don't think a lot of people realize how multifaceted my career is and how many different ways I can go in. And so if you're interested in doing reconciliation work, especially if you're Indigenous, I hope this is encourages you and you can see what the opportunities are. And if I've worked with an entity that is something like yours, especially if you're non indigenous, well, reach out. Maybe we can make 2025 the year I support you and your entity as promised. Today I'm going to finish my memory lane trip through 2024 by looking at the months July to December. So let's talk about it. Hi, everybody. My name is Sandy Bouget. I'm Red Thunderbolt, woman of the Loon clan, a proud member of Seine River First Nation in Treaty 3 Territory in Northern Ontario. And we are continuing our memory lane trip today. We are starting in July. Now, yesterday I mentioned Nan Nishnaabi, Aski Nation. So that's the political entity that the spokespeople, the reps for the 49 most remote First Nation communities in Ontario. NAN territory, Treaty 9 territory. So in July, I got to speak as the keynote at a women's gathering that Nan was doing, which any chance to support Indigenous women, I am there. Just. Just give me a call. Next, I got to work with Elevate nwo, which is an entity they were at one point aids, Thunder Bay, this agency, and Heather who runs it. Holly. Holly. Where'd Heather come from? Holly Govan, Powerhouse Heart five times the size of her body. The support she offers to the people that others wish would disappear is so inspirational. She works with the houseless, she works with the indicted, she works with the infected. She is so innovative and creative and finds so many ways to support the people she works with. And in July, I got to do a session with them on the impact of trauma and what that looks like for the Indigenous peoples they're either working with or trying to support. Phenomenal, and I'll mention elevate again in a bit. Then in July, thanks to the amazing work of Tara, the salesperson I had brought on, I got the chance to work with Toronto Metropolitan University. They have the most amazing department or program within TMU that offers support to other department heads so they can support the indigenous staff improving their indigenous retention. So tmu, that indigenous support department, brought me in to do training for managers from the other areas, and it was five different sessions over the year. Phenomenal. And then just to make things fun, in July, Nan again, Nishnabi Asking Nation got to do a vision board exercise with them as part of one of their events, one of their conferences. And that was fun because I'm a huge fan of vision boards and, and manifesting and all of that stuff. Because if you're oppressed and marginalized, you have to change your mindset. That is the key out of the poverty and those things. Vision boards, affirmations, they're easy to dismiss. They're powerful if you start using them in changing and unpacking that negative mindset. Now we're going to go into August. Oh, so again, another phenomenal opportunity. I got to work with GNU Gaming, First Nation, which I hadn't worked with in years. And the woman that hired me way back when is now the chief, Chief Taylor, Sherry Taylor. And she. I didn't get to see Sherry, but she is phenomenal. And I got to meet Crystal, who is phenomenal. They have the opportunity. A lot of their community members work at a nearby mine and they have the opportunity once a month to go into the mine and do a presentation on the history of the First Nation community, just letting the other miners know who they are and maybe dispel some stereotypes. So they brought me in to train the trainers to help, because of my years of facilitation, to help these facilitators be able to present in a way that the people at the mine were going to hear them. So that was exciting. Also exciting, the amazing Julia Gibson. And this is probably. Well, it's an amazing example of reconciliation and. And working together, even though we're from two entirely different backgrounds. Long story short, here, Julia wrote a book quite a while ago. She received negative backlash from the Indigenous community because of things that were in the book. So years ago, she approached me. She knew of my work. She knows I'm not into attacking or shaming or guilt. I'm into education. So she reached out to me and asked me to read her book and give her genuine feedback. I could understand why the backlash. And we discussed that. And then through our amazing conversations, she actually asked me if I would help her to rewrite the book. And what a journey it's been as an author. I thought that was absolutely amazing. I absolutely love her book. So many rewrites, many conversations. It's amazing. Every time I read the book, I cry. It's. It's in a good way. It's just phenomenal. And fingers crossed, if all works out in 2025, Julia and I are going to do a book tour together. So we're going to have her book there. Obviously we're going to be promoting it and I'll have copies of my books there as well. So just, just. Who would have thought, like that's what you get when you answer an email or answer the phone. You have no idea the opportunities creators trying to send you. And meeting Julia, pure joy. And guess what? In August, I went back to London Health Sciences Center. Absolutely amazing. Love, love, love the team. Then the fall came. So September. These are not in date order by the way. This is just everything I did in that month. So thanks to Tara's amazing work, I did a lunch and learn with the city of Barrie, the municipal employees, which was absolutely amazing. Then I got to work with nadf. So Nishna B ASCI Development Fund. It's an agency that offers funding and support to indigenous entrepreneurs. And again, I got to do a vision board exercise as part of one of their events. Then now Remember, it's September. September 30th is in September. So people like me tend to get a little more popular. And I got to work with G3 Canada. These are the guys at the docks loading big boats like, I mean, so totally out of my realm. But I went in and did a live lunch and learn session with them just on helping them to understand indigenous challenges. So that was phenomenal. Then I did a lunch and learn with the city of Windsor, which I actually lived in Windsor for a while. So that was phenomenal. Great questions. And on. Actually on September 30th, I did a virtual event with the Rural Development Network out in Edmonton, which was. They reached out to me and I was thrilled to be part of their work. So yeah, September was a great month. October now not Moduin is another one of those. There's a history. Not Mand is the Indigenous Women's Domestic Violence Committee. And way back when I was there, admin, I helped do their. I helped do their very first strategic planning for this Committee and they asked me back to help MC their most recent strategic planning. I think they do it every five years or so. So that was phenomenal. It's just great to see, like I know the history. So for the new people, I can share that. I can hear their new idea. It's just. I love it. Love, love, love. Then I. Excuse me, I haven't yawned in a video in so long. Ah, 2024, huh? I finally put that behind me. Well, except for today, I guess. I guess I should eat something. There would be an idea. In October, I got to work with the Law foundation of Ontario. Now this was interesting. Anyone who's done any kind of air travel, 2024, reliable would not be the word I would use. You kind of build in extra time because your flight might be late or whatever. In this case, my flight was out now cancelled. So what was supposed to be this amazing fly in, fly out live event turned out to be a virtual event. But we pulled it off. We did it. I think it was awesome. It's October now, so the second event for Nuja Ma Wing Sokotay Gang, the Ontario Health team, the fourth event. So that was amazing. Love, love, love. Just the collaboration. It was awesome. And again Ashke Windjack and Nishnaabi Ascii Nation teaming up to do their on call worker training. I was thrilled to emcee that. And then I had the chance to work with Fort William First Nation that is actually Thunder Bay. The city of Thunder Bay is right on the edge of Fort William First Nation. I got to do a session on the path away from Lateral violence. It's one of my seminars, full day seminars. So that was important work and phenomenal. It was great. Really good team. It was awesome. In November, I got to do an event, a virtual event on for the Circle Community Land Trust. So just again helping them to understand modern day Indigenous how us as a people or our communities got where we are, that Canadian influence and what it's done to us. And then I got to go into Shkode Abinojuk, which is the Indigenous head start. It's for the little munchkins. Well, actually I guess they also have programs now to work with like kids in high school, the Indigenous, supporting the Indigenous students. I was there to talk about lateral violence because if you're an Indigenous community or entity, it's happening. Denying it doesn't help. Identifying it and working to overcome it works. And I was thrilled when they called and asked for my help. Which brings us to December. We're almost at the End I got the chance to work with Nordstream and do a lunch and learn with them. So this is a company that if you need women's training, first aid training, all of those kind of training that you have to take to do anything in the natural resources industry or pretty much any industry, they're the people you call to get that testing done. Awesome. Donna Nordstrom, the owner, I believe she's the owner. She runs it, so I think she's the owner. I met her years ago. She's phenomenal. It was so great to be able to support her team. So that was fantastic. And then, so now I think this one's the third time I've done it. Nan Nishnaabi ASCII Nation Their two slgbtqiap plus event. Everyone should attend that event. The amount of information you learn, the, the personal sharing of what two slgbtqia p people endure on a regular basis. We're talking about high school students and the insanity that they deal with and just the, the educators that are trying to learn and support them. It's just an amazing event. Very, very good work. Way to go Nan, for putting that on every year. And then I also got to facilitate a meeting for Nan Shobie, Asky Nation and their gender based violence work. So bringing together the youth council and the women's council and the elders and, and just asking them some feedback on some very important questions. That was my 2024. I don't know about you, but I'm proud of the work I did this year, the opportunities I had to do work that really makes a difference or supports people that are making a difference every single day in the lives of people that so often need support. And kudos to any every non indigenous Canadian entity that reached out to me because that means they genuinely want to learn and I'm. You're my fuel. You're the reason I keep going. And just as a little bonus here, 2025 is going to be flipping amazing. I just know it because this is just some of the things that are happening in January. By the way, my public event is happening in January. I rarely do open to the public event. So if you're a single person that's interested or you have a small team, you can sign up. The price is poo per person. I'll put the link in the video information in the notes. Sign up now because it's on sale. You don't want to pay full price. Why would you want to pay full price? And you get a recording of the events. It's four afternoons. But if you can't attend, that's okay. You're still going to get the information and. And you get to use it over and over for as long as you want. Why would you not sign up? So remember that's in the show notes. What am I doing in January? I'm going back to elevate. Nwo. Thrilled and exciting. Helping them do a fun engagement event. Helping to bring the team together, which is phenomenal. I'm going back to Con College to do another Missing Pieces training session, which is phenomenal. London Health Sciences Center. I'm not going to London this time. I'm doing a virtual lunch and learn with them on land. Acknowledgments, which I think is exciting. And then the one that totally blew me away. Well, they all did. I. My career blows me away. What am I talking about here? The woman's shelter in Kenora. The Sakate House. Sakate House. I'm gonna facilitate. Oh, there's Blue joining us. She matches my sweater or I match her. That's probably more accurate. Facilitating an event between the discussion between the shelter and the children's aid organization. An important, important dialogue and my public event. So thank you. Thank you for going on this crazy ride with me. Thank you for watching my videos. Thank you for liking and sharing them because that did definitely helps support my work. Thank you to all of the people that invited me to join you on your journey because you're the people I want to support. I decided a long time ago that I couldn't do frontline work. But I can definitely make sure to support the people that do. And that will continue in 2025. But for now, the videos end because it's break time and my team needs a break and so do I. So the next video you will see is on January 6th. I believe that's the first Monday after the New Year. I look forward to continuing this journey with you. I hope you choose to continue this journey with me. If you miss me during the Christmas break, there are a whole bunch of videos on here you can watch and share. You take care of you and I'll see you in 2025. I love you. Take care. Bye bye. And for those that celebrate, Merry Christmas. Bye bye.