September 9, 2022
Dr. Verna Billy-Minnabarriet of the St’uxwtews (Bonaparte Indian Band) and raised in the Secwepemc and Nlaka’pamux territories has assumed the role of Senior Advisor to the Dean on Indigenous Education commencing September 1, 2022 and continuing until June 30, 2023.
Dr. Billy-Minnabarriet is the former Vice President at the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology. She chairs the Indigenous Adult and Higher Learning Association, a consortium of 40 Aboriginal post-secondary institutes in British Columbia.
For more than 40 years, she has been a passionate advocate for change through policy, structure and creating space for Indigenous education. She continues to sit on various provincial, national and international boards to influence change from policy development to Ministry-appointed positions.
As Senior Advisor to the Dean on Indigenous Education, Dr. Billy-Minnabarriet advises the Dean on matters related to Indigenous Education programs and initiatives in the Faculty of Education. She provides oversight of Indigenous Education programs and initiatives, the NITEP Indigenous Teacher Education Program, and the new Master of Education in Indigenous Education program. She supports the recruitment and retention of Indigenous students and represents Indigenous education at Faculty- and University-level committees.
Thank you to Dr. Margaret Kovach (sākohtēw pīsim iskwēw) of Nêhiyaw and Saulteaux ancestry from Treaty Four, Saskatchewan and a member of Pasqua First Nation for her leadership during the past year as the Associate Dean, Indigenous Education.
