Words to Remember ...
Approachable, compassionate, wise, funny, thought-provoking, inspiring, supportive, encouraging.
That is what audience members say after hearing Sandi speak. They describe the inviting space her energy creates, a place where they instantly know they can ask any question and never be judged for not knowing.
#noshame #noguilt #nojudgement
Keynote Topics
Sandi has worked with hospitals, colleges and universities, municipalities and businesses of all sizes for almost 20 years. Topics in high demand include:
- How to Achieve and Maintain True Indigenous Inclusion
- The Three Types of Allies – Which Are You?
- Performative Allyship and How to Avoid It
- The Four Foundational Things Needed to Build True Relationships
- Key Reasons Your Mainstream Marketing Style Doesn’t Work
- Cultural Differences and How to Bridge the Divide
The Leaves That Changed My Life ...
Sandi’s latest keynote reminds us that sticks and stones may break my bones, but words … can heal us.
Like new leaves on a tree thought dead, join Sandi as she shares 7 examples of words that healed her, allowing participants not only to embrace the words that healed them but to begin considering words they could share to help others.
Includes an interactive activity.
*Live, Virtual, or Interactive Pre-recorded.
Ask for details.
What to Go on a Date?
Indigenous Engagement – the words strike FEAR into the hearts of many. These are not people who want to EXCLUDE Indigenous people! Quite the contrary! They just happened to be terrified they might cause more harm.
So, in yet another new and engaging keynote, Sandi recognizes that even the THOUGHT of Indigenous engagement makes many break out into a cold sweat.
Kinda like … a first date, perhaps?
In this cheeky, fun new look at Indigenous Engagement, Sandi hands you four concrete steps to follow to take you from pre-engagement (date?) jitters to relationship.
Reach out today!
*Live, Virtual, or Interactive Pre-recorded.
Ask for details.
Sandi uses conversational English, metaphors, and even cartoons to promote understanding.
A proud member of Seine River First Nation in Treaty #3 territory in northern Ontario, Sandi is internationally recognized as an engaging speaker, a traditional knowledge keeper, and a best-selling author. Her audiences include First Nation communities, corporations, small to medium size businesses, municipalities, hospitals, school boards, universities, colleges, and participants at countless conferences and seminars.
Her Keynotes and Training Sessions are memorable, informative, enjoyable AND most importantly, they make a difference!
Check out the testimonials from her thrilled audience members on the home page of this website.
Not Sure?
How it all began
Sandi began life in a small sawmill town in northern Ontario. The daughter of a beautiful Anishnaabekwe (Ojibwe woman) and a proud French Canadian man, Sandi grew up in a house of two cultures, watching as both simultaneously respected and loved differences while building on similarities.
But it wasn’t long before Sandi realized the world did not operate as her home did. As a young girl of 4 or 5, she registered how her father was treated differently than her mother by strangers than knew nothing about them. The separator – her Mother’s beautiful brown skin.
Sandi would go on to enjoy academic and career success but personally she struggled against the effects of colonialism. In her own words (taken from the cover of her first best-selling book “Honorary Indian”) …
“I am a strong Ojibwe woman who is living proof of the strength and survival power of the human spirit. I lost the man who meant everything to me, my Father, at the tender age of 17. At 20, I lost my newborn daughter to SIDS. I lost one of my best friends to a brain aneurysm and recently, I said goodbye to my mentor and guide, my Mother.”
“I have spent more nights that I care to count in a shelter for abused women and know what it’s like to close your eyes and HONESTLY believe you will never see your children again. I know poverty, the type of poverty that has you boiling water to bathe and eating once every 3 days because there simply is no other option. I have sold furniture for food and I have debated whether this life was truly worth continuing.”
“But I also know the beauty of a child’s love and the serenity that can be found in knowing with all your heart that you are going to be just fine. I know the strength that can be found in counting your blessings and forgiving yourself. I know the strength of my belief system and the healing power of laughter and I know how simply amazing and wonderful this life can be, right now, not in some distant future for I live it every day.”
Stay up to date with Sandi's upcoming engagements, seminars, and her powerful teachings!