CFN would like to send out a heartfelt congratulations to our friend Christy Morgan, winner of 2021 Chief David Crowchild Memorial Award from the St'uxwtéws (Bonaparte) Band, part of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation. Christy sits on CFN's Indigenous Education for Newcomers Advisory Committee and is the current Director of Indigenous Initiatives at Trellis.
Christy has worked for over 20 years in community development and relations building with the urban Indigenous community in Calgary and area. She has been a leader in facilitating relationship building between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples through her advocacy, policy and committee work. She has pushed to ensure that Aboriginal Awareness Week is accessible to all Calgarians, that Orange Shirt Day is a learning opportunity for everyone despite a global pandemic and that Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are brought together to find common understanding through differences.
Christy is looked to across the Calgary community for her leadership and perspective in Indigenous and non-Indigenous spaces. This speaks to her ability to live in parallel spaces and speak to different issues and topics that impact the whole community while highlighting the importance to consider the inclusion of and impacts on Indigenous peoples. Christy was previously recognized for her leadership and contributions to the Calgary community through being named one of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 under 40 in 2011 and was awarded the Dr. Douglas Cardinal award for Community Leadership in 2015 by the University of Calgary Student Association and the Native Centre. In her role as Director of Indigenous Initiatives at Trellis Society, Christy supports the agency of over 350 staff to decolonize their practices and embed Reconciliation and Indigenous paradigms into their work.
Overall, Christy is known for her fierce advocacy mixed with gentle leadership. Her impact is more felt than seen as she helped develop a generation of Indigenous leaders through her work with Calgary Urban Aboriginal Initiatives, Trellis (previously Boys & Girls Clubs of Calgary) and multiple other initiatives she has participated in.
Christy has also created opportunities for people at all level of societies to understand and support the uniqueness of Indigenous people and our place in the Canadian mosaic while at the same time, encouraging Indigenous people (both clients and staff alike) to follow their individual paths.
“Much of the work we do every day intersects with each other and plays a larger role in the formation of the community we want to see. Thank you so much for this award, it is truly one of the greatest gifts I have been honoured to receive” said Morgan, after receiving her award.
Congratulations Christy!
source: City of Calgary