Brenda J. St. Germaine
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- School: Red Deer College
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- Department: Social Work
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Red Deer, AB - Dates at Red Deer College: -
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Biography
Red Deer College - Social Work
Indigenous Concurrent Liaison/ Mental Health Therapist at Alberta Health Services
Mental Health Care
Brenda
St. Germain
Alberta, Canada
Brenda St. Germain is a Métis Cree woman from central Alberta. She completed her Masters degree in Social Work with an Indigenous Specialization at the University of Victoria. Brenda has a unique and diverse background that is a combination of trades, administration and social work.
Her work began with entry levels in retail, electrical and trades then shifted into pursuit of formal education starting with office administration. Brenda’s commitment to high work standards often result in leadership roles. Her administration work evolved into secondment for senior buyer responsibilities at a global chemical manufacturing plant. Her purchasing career ended during the economic downturn in the 1990s but opened another window into social work that ultimately brought her focus towards community involvement.
Brenda's passion for community has led her academic and career to focus on community development or research projects promoting change to improve the quality of life for marginalized groups, particularly the Indigenous population in Canada.. She is an advocate for individual agency and applies the principles of anti-oppressive approaches into her social work and community development practices.
Her academic qualifications compliment her expertise in community development and administration within an Indigenous framework. Brenda's advocacy for improvements in housing, education and employment, along with involvement in poverty projects, has evolved into her keen ability to comprehend complex environments with an insightful perspective that can link social policies, procedures and legislation between mainstream systems and Indigenous terrains.
Brenda is the owner of Mellow Star Consulting and offers services ranging from environmental scans to organizing and facilitation of community events.
Experience
Alberta Health Services
Indigenous Concurrent Liaison/ Mental Health Therapist
Provides addiction and mental health assessment, triage and referrals to adults and youth, including Indigenous population in Ponoka area.
Yellowhead Tribal College
Sessional Instructor - Indigenous Social Work Diploma
Brenda worked at Yellowhead Tribal College as a Sessional Instructor - Indigenous Social Work Diploma
self employed
Contracted Services
1. Shining Mountains Community Living Services: Compiled Environmental Scan & Needs Assessment on Aging Metis Population and HIV/AIDS in Alberta; Discussion Paper on Migratory Workers and Impacts to communities.
2. McCauley United Crime Council - Community Mapping Project (2013 -2014) Community Researcher: gather, analyze and report on dynamics of inner-city neighborhood in Edmonton with a focus on crime and safety, trends.
3. Nechi Training Research & Health Promotions Institute (2011-12) Instructor to provide accredited curriculum in Indigenous Addictions Services Certificate courses to First Nation students across Canada. Courses taught - assessments, treatment planning, case management, networking, strategic planning, health, counselling and intervention
4. Varied services provided to Creating Hope Society in Edmonton, Alberta (2012-2013) included supervision of two Aboriginal Mother's Advocacy Program staff; brochure and manual development on "Understanding Child Welfare" and "Advocacy Manual" for Aboriginal parents involved in child welfare; parenting workshop, group facilitation, proposal writing.
5. Sessional Faculty Instructor for Distance Education BSW students in Alberta (2008). Facilitate students to synthesize information between social work practice, theories and frameworks during the practicum placements.
6. Research Co-Investigator with David Thompson Health Region in Wetaskiwin, AB (2008) - Develop research project within mandate study on Aboriginal health issues in Central Alberta: included organizing forums and interviews for data collection and analysis.
7. Primary Investigator with Native Counselling Services of Alberta in Red Deer, AB to design framework and perform a community assessment on the Red Deer Aboriginal population (1999); organized public forums, interviews to collect and analyse data for submission of final report.Red Deer College
Instructor, Social Work
Instructor in Social Work Diploma program
Mellow Star Consulting
Community Engagement Specialist
Provide professional development training/ education: staff training on reconciliation - how to develop and incorporation reconciliation into work; cross-culture/ diversity, Indigenous Assessments, Reconciliation Training
Research within Indigenous framework, methodology and approaches
Community Engagement: Environmental scans, community mapping, event planning.
Capacity Building: strategic plans, board development, program development.
Facilitation: Workshops, Meetings, Strategic planning
Professional development training for Indigenous employees - team building, professional development training, cultural diversity training, cross-cultural approaches
Program development: addiction, homelessness, youth, child welfare, domestic violence, education. Workshops - youth, seniors, staff, leadership.
Proposal Writing/ Planning: research, budget, proposals, community engagement, Indigenous community planning strategies
Education
University of Victoria
BSW
Social Work - Indigenous Specialization
University of Victoria
Master of Social Work (MSW)
Aboriginal (Indigenous) Specialization, Research
Red Deer College
Social Work Diploma
Community Development
Red Deer College
Instructor, Social Work
Instructor in Social Work Diploma program
Publications
Behind the colonial wall: the chains that bind resistance
Thesis, University of Victoria
The “colonial wall” is the analogy drawn between a visible, physical barrier designed to confine, control, and contain a nation and a psychological barrier designed to control, confine, and contain a nation by internalized colonialist subjugation or colonizer domination. This thesis answers the question, “How are colonial policies and ideologies internalized by Indigenous and Settler populations to maintain the relationship of domination and oppression in modern society?” The secondary questions explore how colonialism is perpetuated by both colonizer and colonized and ask if there are situations occurring in society today to indicate a correlation to the Indigenous Seven Prophecies and Eighth Fire Prophecy. Research constitutes a review of literature to explore the questions from thematic categories that emerged from the analysis: economics, epistemology, politics, and patriarchy. There are numerous literary contributions on the colonial phenomenon but few offered explanations about how it affected the psychology of a colonized individual or even how cognitive function is affiliated with acts of domination that affect the psyche of the colonizer. This thesis documents and offers emerging theories on how colonial policies and practices are taken up to influence the dyadic relationship between Settler peoples and Aboriginal populations in Canada today