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Dr. Dawn Martin-Hill holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology and is one of the original founders of the Indigenous Studies
Program at McMaster University. She is the inaugural Paul
R. McPherson Indigenous Studies Chair. Dr. Martin-Hill’s research is grounded in the principle that solution-based research in the area of Indigenous health must occur alongside building capacity for community collaborations. She has embodied this principle through her numerous community commitments: including serving as Chair of the Indigenous Elders and Youth Council to promote the protection and preservation of Indigenous Knowledge systems; serving as an expert witness on traditional medicines; and supporting reconciliation efforts to improve
health services delivery to First Nations through the “Harmonization of Traditional Medicine” in partnership with Six Nations Health Services. While working with communities, Dr. Martin Hill has led numerous grants funded by both the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to conduct Indigenous knowledge research focused on Indigenous youth, women, language,
ceremonies, traditional medicine and well-being. Dr. Martin Hill has served on review committees for CIHR and the SSHRC. She is currently a member of the Editorial Board of Sociology and Anthropology and a reviewer for The
International Indigenous Policy Journal. In addition, Dr. Martin-Hill has led important groundwork for Indigenous peer review capacity in her role as the inaugural chair of the
Aboriginal Health Research Networks (AHRNetS) Secretariat. Much of this work included identifying and removing epistemological barriers to Indigenous Knowledge health research. She also worked to develop a cohort of
potential Indigenous Knowledge peer reviewers for CIHR-
ІАРН. She resides on the Grand River, Six Nations. She is a single mother of four with two teenagers at home and a grandmother of eight, her healthy family is considered her
greatest achievement to date.
Mike Balkwill is Small Change Fund’s VP, Campaigns and Engagement. He develops effective campaign and advocacy strategies to impact public policy and shift decision-makers towards policies that help people, communities and the
environment. Mike’s approach to campaigning inspires hope. In his 40 years of campaign and community organizing experience, he has helped numerous communities oppose development projects that seemed to be “done deals” and win victories with broad public benefits. Mike tells communities that, while a campaign to mobilize broad public engagement will not guarantee a community can win, failure is guaranteed if they
don’t fight back. Mike agrees with Herve Kempf, author of ‘How the Rich Are Destroying the Earth’ when he says, ” …the future success of everything depends [on environmentalists] thinking about social arrangements and power relationships; [and for] those who think about social arrangements to take the true measure of the ecological crisis and how it relates to justice.” Mike is the co-author of the Campaign Planning Handbook, publisher of CommonAct Press, and has lectured at colleges and universities on community organizing, social change and
social movements.