Josephine Baran
This presentation will explore the concept that “the outdoors” is a construct that has been designed, much like city spaces, by those who hold power and have a voice. Traditionally, access has been “granted” on a specific group of conditions (access to knowledge, transportation, SES etc). But Josephine Baran wants us to see the opportunity we have to shift that, to intentionally define spaces and craft the narrative that explicitly invites all people into the outdoors. Ask yourself to imagine if we approached our outdoor programs with the concept of placemaking in mind? The keynote presentation will be reminding us that we are all, fundamentally, biological creatures with a very real evolutionary basis in the natural world and that there is something very essential to our survival and happiness that requires us to “be” in nature. Nature is where we are the best version of ourselves.
Josephine Baran immigrated to Canada in her teens and has been passionately engaged within the outdoor space for 30 years, both professionally and personally. It is a place that she has called home and has been welcomed into by many people and groups. And yet, there have been times where she has felt that she has been looking in from the outside and felt a deep sense of disconnect due to a lack of representation.
Josephine Baran is the Program Director of the Outward Bound Training Academy program. For more about her experience, check out the following articles and podcasts:
- Let’s Take This Outside: https://www.letstakethisoutside.ca/josephine-baran/
- BIPoC Outside: https://podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast/s3-e7-josephine-baran-building-tomorrows-leaders/id1590961812?i=1000605673723&l=en
- And a recent article in Explore magazine
Jossy Johnston
Jossy Johnston is an Anishnaabe Kwe, from Neyaashiinigmiing, Ontario and is a mother of 3. She has navigated the journey of walking in two worlds, by first leaving her home reserve to pursue post secondary education and then leaving her traditional territory to make Vancouver, BC her second home.
She took the opportunity to explore several sectors; first in healthcare as a trained nurse, moving to a role of Referral and Intake worker for an Urban Indigenous Youth D&A treatment centre in Vancouver that focused on strengthening culture as treatment. When she returned home to Nawash she worked in education as an adult learning coordinator and held an elected position as Nawash Councillor.
Recovering from her time as a public servant for her community, Jossy worked with the Independent First Nation as a Jordan’s Principle Navigator where she serviced 12 Ontario based First Nations and acted as a liaison between the communities collectively and the newly formed sector of Indigenous Services Canada- Jordan’s Principle.
She is now working in the legal sphere in a not for profit legal clinic as a Community Legal Worker for the Grey Bruce Community Legal Clinic. This has allowed her to deepen her understanding of the intersectionality in fighting for social justice and continuing her calling in Indigenous Activism.
Jossy continues to reclaim her space as an Anishinaabe Kwe, revitalizing her culture though decolonizing her connection to identity and allowing that to influence how she walks in the modern world as an Indigenous person and Indigenous mother. She is currently utilizing this perspective and learning in advisory support capacities for projects and initiatives to several educators and community partners. She is working hard alongside partners, colleagues and friends towards a deeper dialogue around better understanding the components of reconcili-action in the realm of education.
For this presentation, Jossy will draw on her lived experiences of walking the journey of having one foot in each path. She will share insights to working with and for Indigenous youth and communities in this time of self-proclaimed reconciliation. First unpacking the not so historical and current harm that education continues to place on Indigenous peoples, while addressing the internalized romanticization of Indigenous people. Her positive energy and insightful reflections will help us recognize that we all play a role in reconciliation through active learning and unlearning to build a future that is open to everyone.
