By Cole Kennedy
Deborah Green (Gopher) is a proud Nehiyaw Iskwew (Cree woman) from the Kawacatoose and Piapot’s First Nations in Saskatchewan. If you’ve attended Forward Summit | WEST, then you likely know the name Deborah Green (Gopher). Deborah, the Senior Specialist Advisor and Indigenous Workforce Development with Suncor Energy, was a guest speaker at the event held in Calgary, AB in May of this year.
Deborah, along with other guest speakers like Robert Doane, Jeremy Thompson and Patrick Twinn, led the “Nothing About us Without us: Drawing Strength from Diversity” panel discussion, and we were honoured to have her join us at the event. Deborah deserves every bit of praise and recognition she receives for her work and contributions (and more). And we at Forward aren’t the only ones who think so.
With over 20 years’ experience in Diversity and Indigenous HR solutions, keynote and panel engagements, Indigenous and cultural awareness training, and substantial community advocacy, Deborah has skills and knowledge that make her an integral part of Indigenous culture in Canada. Additionally, she has accumulated quite the list of achievements and rewards.
Deborah won the 2023 City of Calgary Chief David Crowchild Award, presented each year to honour the work and efforts of a person, group or organization, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, who lead, support engagement and unison, build strong, lasting relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in the province of Calgary and much more.
In 2023, Deborah also received the IAAW Esquao Award for her work in justice and human rights. The award highlights the important roles Indigenous women hold in their homes, as well as the work of developing and strengthening their communities in Alberta. Deborah has also received a USAY Changemaker Award––unique in that the recipients of these awards are nominated by their communities. Who better to select those worthy of these recognitions than the communities most effected by the work and efforts of those nominated?
These awards were well deserved; they are proof of the power of Deborah’s voice, the importance of her words, the reach they have, and their impact on others. Deborah is a voice worth listening to and one that can cause growth and change. We at Forward have been honoured to call upon her wealth of knowledge and lived experiences––as Deborah has both attended our Forward Summit events and contributed articles to the Forward magazine.
In the magazine feature article, titled “Relationships, Partnerships and Prosperity: The Quest for True Inclusion,” Deborah sat down with Bryan Hansen, a writer for The Davis Media Company, to explain the importance of having Indigenous people in Indigenous relations and human resources roles. “They bring the lived experience and genetic blood memory in their DNA to the roles that directly impact Indigenous Peoples,” Green said. “To show that the work matters, the relationships matter, and there is a dedicated focus on the partnerships by having Indigenous people in IR and HR roles.”
You can read the full article here!
We look forward to hearing from her again and watching and sharing in her journey.
“When the time comes for me to go on my spiritual journey, I want to go knowing my People have freedom, safety, liberation, justice and self-determination.”