Engineering Education Seminar Series: Understanding the Role of Professional Engineers in Truth & Reconciliation

***Note to participants: A zoom link will be sent to the email you have registered with 48 hours in advance of the event.

Indigenous Peoples within Canada have long been oppressed, and advocacy work has led to efforts such as UNDRIP (United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples), the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the 231 Calls to Justice from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Commission.

This talk will explore why it is vital that professional engineers become aware of and take part in the discussion of human rights, living conditions, healing, and access to basic infrastructure such as clean water, both at a personal and professional level. This session will incorporate lived experience as we build awareness and commitment to the role of professional engineers in Truth and Reconciliation, and will touch upon the oppressive Truth of our Indigenous Peoples and Communities.

About Professor Jessica Vandenberghe, PEng

Jessica Vandenberghe, PEng., M.Sc. is born of the Dene Thá First Nation and raised in a very inclusive German family in northern Alberta. She has had an exceptional career based on her two engineering degrees from the University of Alberta. She has worked in the oil sands, mining, regulatory, infrastructure, consulting industries and now academia. She is an Indigenous Professional Engineer, Industrial Professor, and the Assistant Dean, Engineering Community and Culture at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta.

She also contributes to Truth and Reconciliation, acting as a bridge to Indigenous communities, talks to Calls to Action implementation, and works on TRC awareness through her consulting company Guiding Star Consulting.

She is a mother of two and is passionate about equity, diversity and inclusion. She sits on many boards and Councils, walks in many governance worlds, and does her best to contribute to the development of well-rounded and ethically minded engineering students who will ultimately build strong and vibrant communities within Canada.