On October 26, the Health Unit held our first public two-hour virtual Generation 4 Equality (G4E) webinar.  The webinar was hosted by Hollie Sabourin (she/her), a Senior Project Officer with NWAC, with help from Senior Researcher Elgin Pecjak (he/him). The webinar discussed the importance of intergenerational connections and addressed the importance of discussing gender inequality across all generations.

The webinar featured one of our G4E Youth Leaders/Gender Decolonizers Keyhew Gopher (he/him/they), a proud Nehiyaw Cree from Saulteaux First Nation, and NWAC Knowledge Keeper Elaine Kicknosway (Qwe/she), a member of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in Northern Saskatchewan, and of Wolf Clan.

The webinar touched on the importance of thinking about barriers that can cause separation between generations, such as COVID-19, intergenerational trauma, and the ongoing influence of Western norms.

Hollie’s presentation informed Indigenous youth about ways they can reconnect with older generations and the importance of providing education and understanding whenever possible. She spoke about the important work being done through the G4E project, including through NWACs social media platforms, the G4E website reboot, and the four-day Indigenous Youth Leadership Summit in August, which was attended by our six Youth Leader/Gender Decolonizers. Hollie provided a safe and generous space for individuals of all generations to talk about how to rebuild relationships during hard times while also understanding the difficulties that families and communities continue to experience.

The webinar was a huge success and provided youth with tools for rekindling communities fand intergenerational connection.