Speaker at Okanagan College to Give Powerful Talk on Aboriginal Youth

A nationally recognized speaker will be at Okanagan College this week to discuss how the next generation of Aboriginal youth will impact change.

Gabrielle Scrimshaw, a member of the Hatchet Lake First Nations, will be sharing a public lecture at both the Kelowna and Vernon campuses. Her lecture will discuss how Aboriginal people are growing in both numbers and educational rates in Canada, looking at what this means for the Canadian economy.

Centre for Learning at OC's Kelowna campus. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow)

British Columbia alone has 64,100 Aboriginal youth from 10 to 24 years old.

“We have more than 1,500 Aboriginal students registered in our diverse programs, which is triple what it was 10 years ago,” says Anthony Isaac, Aboriginal Access and Services Coordinator at Okanagan College. “We’re excited to have such an influential speaker, someone many students can relate to, come to our campuses to inspire and engage our community in the broader conversation about diversity and our growing economy.”

The Aboriginal population in Canada increased by 20.1 per cent from 2006 to 2011, compared to a 5.2 per cent growth rate of non-Aboriginals. The college says that Aboriginal youth are becoming more inspired than ever in pursuing education and training, and it’s believed by some Aboriginal groups that this “eight generation” will be the one to impact change.

Gabrielle Scrimshaw. (Photo Credit: Contributed)

Scrimshaw was raised in Saskatchewan, and she’s known for increasing awareness about the growth, success, and leadership of Aboriginal youth. She’s also an advocate for the equality of Aboriginal people in the economy while upholding their rich cultural heritage.

Scrimshaw co-founded the Aboriginal Professional Association of Canada and received the prestigious 2013 Indspire First Nations Youth award. She’s spoken at the G8/G20 MY SUMMITS programs and was a Voices of the Future delegate at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and CEO Summits in Japan, where she spoke about foreign policy to world leaders.

Those wanting to hear Scrimshaw’s inspiring talk can go to the Kelowna campus’s Atrium in the Centre for Learning at 10 a.m. on Thursday. She’ll be speaking at the Lecture Theatre at the Vernon campus at 1 p.m.