Indigenous Insights: An Evaluation Podcast

Dr. Lindsay Marie Brant is the Director, Indigenous Initiatives at St. Lawrence College and is from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. In addition to her administrative role, Lindsay is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Master of Health Professions Education program at Queen’s, and Senior Advisor, Teaching, Innovation and Learning, advising on the curriculum design and redevelopment for this program. Lindsay has received several awards in recognition of her contributions to education, including the Educational Leadership Award from the Educational Developers Caucus and an Ideas Worth Teaching Award from the Aspen Institute in 2021, the latter acknowledging her innovative work in the Commerce program at Smith School of Business at Queen’s University. Most recently, she was honoured with the Canadian Association for Medical Education’s Certificate of Merit Award (2024) for her impactful work in health education curriculum development. Lindsay was also the 2025 recipient of the Indigenous Women’s Movement Award from the Ontario Native Women’s Association, honouring her commitment to leading community-driven and values- based work both in community, and across educational institutions. Lindsay has also been honoured with several team awards from Queen’s University, including Principal’s Teaching & Learning Award for Indigenous Education (2 x recipient in 2023 and in 2026). Dr. Brant was recently named an inaugural invited scholar and Pedagogy of Peace Nexus leader in the newly established Queen’s Institute for Educational Scholarship and Research (QIESR) at Queen’s University, which will allow for cross-institutional research, and global reach for advancing Indigenous knowledges/research/scholarship/educational praxis. In addition to her academic and leadership roles, Lindsay is also an accomplished storyteller, writer, and poet, whose work is rooted in Indigenous knowledges, values, creativity, and community/ancestral connection and healing. Overview In this episode, Gladys is joined by Dr. Lindsay Brant. Rooted in her community of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and guided by the teachings embedded in her name, Lindsay shares a deeply personal journey of leadership, storytelling, and coming into her responsibilities as a knowledge carrier. Their conversation focuses on how her love of language, land, and water shaped her understanding of education as a relational practice and ultimately led to the development of her Pedagogy of Peace framework. Lindsay reflects on creating the framework during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing upon the teachings of the Great Law of Peace, Haudenosaunee values, and Anishinaabe understandings of relationality and balance. The episode explores how peace, strength, a good mind, and self-in-relation can guide educational practice, leadership, and evaluation. Lindsay offers reflections on the responsibilities that come with sharing Indigenous knowledge within institutional spaces, the importance of protecting community-rooted teachings, and the role of poetry and creative practice in imagining decolonial futures. The episode closes with Lindsay sharing her poem Fearless Futures, a powerful reflection on hope, world-building, and the possibilities that emerge when we choose peace, connection, and collective care. Resources Queen’s University Centre for Teaching and Learning Pedagogy of Peace Animation. Available through the Queen’s Centre for Teaching and Learning YouTube channel. Insights For Indigenous Evaluation Book (Open access and free online!) https://pressbooks.pub/indigenousinsightscollective/ For more visit: https://www.gladysrowe.com/podcast (Scroll to the bottom to subscribe to the newsletter!) If you are loving this podcast please leave a five star review on your favourite streaming service. If you would like to offer support please visit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InsightsPod

In this season 3 finale, Gladys pauses in gratitude and looks back across a season filled with stories of disruption, creativity, and community-rooted evaluation. Drawing on the night sky as a guiding metaphor, she reflects on how each conversation this season has been a bright star in a larger constellation of Indigenous resurgence and systems change. Gladys shares what she has learned about holding space as a host, artist, and relative—how art and joy deepen evaluation, how protocol and relationship guide the work, and how community knowledges continue to root evaluation practices. From canoe journeys and star stories to poetry and collective reflection, this episode invites listeners to see evaluation as a living practice of wayfinding and belonging. Email: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com To be added to the mailing list when this is announced please send an email with the subject line: SUBSCRIBE to: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com For more visit: https://gladysrowe.com/category/indigenousinsights/ If you are loving this podcast please leave a five star review on your favourite streaming service. If you would like to offer support please visit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InsightsPod

In this episode of Indigenous Insights, host Gladys Rowe welcomes Dr. Carolee Dodge Francis, Joseph Jean, and Linnea Hjelm for a conversation on kinship, mentorship, and the role of culturally responsive Indigenous evaluation. Together, they share how evaluation is more than a technical process, it is a relational practice that centers community, reciprocity, and the responsibilities evaluators carry in honoring Indigenous ways of knowing. Dr. Dodge Francis shares insights on Indigenous kinship as a framework for evaluation and mentorship, while Joseph and Linnea reflect on their experiences as emerging evaluators navigating academia and community-based research. The conversation highlights the importance of intergenerational knowledge-sharing, humility in evaluation, and the need to challenge extractive research practices. Tune in for a rich discussion on transforming evaluation through Indigenous values, fostering mentorship rooted in care, and ensuring that evaluation serves as a tool for strengthening relationships and building decolonial futures. Dr. Carolee Dodge Francis is a Native American (citizen of Oneida Nation) qualitative social behavioral researcher, Chair of the Civil Society and Community Studies Department and Endowed Lola Culver Professor within the School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison. She strives to intertwine community engagement, research scholarship and student mentorship as a reflection of her cultural understanding within a contemporary context that is focused upon the well-being of Indigenous populations. Dr. Dodge Francis has over 30+ years’ work experience in public health/community wellness, Indigenous evaluation & program development, and community-based participatory research. She intersects curriculum adaptation and culture to create culturally responsive educational materials for urban and rural Native American communities. Dr. Dodge Francis is a published author and has been a Principal Investigator with federal and foundation funding entities for the past two decades. Joseph Jean (He/Him) is a mixed Dinè (Navajo) queer Ph.D. student in Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research aims to address social injustices and improve community health for Indigenous and Queer communities with whom he identifies with. He holds an M.P.H. from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where he specialized in social and behavioral health and biological sciences. He has held various positions, including lecturer, teaching assistant, program assistant, and research assistant for numerous University-affiliated centers, institutes, and laboratories. His experiences include designing, collecting, and reporting on qualitative and quantitative research methods. His academic and professional interests include public health, evaluation, Indigenous frameworks, and health behavior theories. Email: jdjean@wisc.edu Linnea Hjelm, MS, is a PhD Candidate in the Civil Society and Community Research department in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Human Ecology. Linnea is a mixed, Hispanic woman who has a rich cultural background that merges her Swedish and Mexican roots. As a graduate student, she has received a comprehensive training in community-based participatory research methods and transformative evaluation design, and has applied these approaches in projects with many unique community partners. Building from her experiences as a peer educator and crisis advocate, Linnea’s dissertation research explores the impacts of youth leadership and engagement in sexual violence prevention, specifically in the context of a county-level sexual violence resource center, with whom she has been a collaborator for 4 years. Show Notes Articles Kinship pathways: Nurturing and sustaining resilient, responsible, and respected indigenous evaluators, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ev.20537 Rooted in perpetuity: Weaving grandfather teachings as an

Community Stories in Indigenous Evaluation with Veronica LaJoie In this episode of Indigenous Insights, host Gladys Rowe sits down with Veronica LaJoie, a dedicated member of the Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, artist, and Indigenous evaluation specialist. Veronica shares her transformative journey into evaluation, beginning with foundational teachings from the Indigenous Evaluation Framework and scholars and leaders who have offered a pathway into how to approach this work in a good way. The conversation weaves through culturally grounded and strength-based approaches to evaluation, including the integration of art-based methods like ribbon work to honor community stories. Veronica offers listeners an invitation into the rigor, care, and reciprocity needed for Indigenous evaluation to flourish, reflecting on her work with cancer survivors and the importance of centering Indigenous values in evaluation processes. Veronica offers a spotlight on the power of community-driven storytelling, data sovereignty, and the growing influence of Indigenous frameworks in shaping a more equitable future. Bio Veronica A. LaJoie is affiliated with the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She is a dedicated member of her community and a devoted single mother to her son. With a background in biosciences and public health, she has worked with the Indigenous Evaluation Framework in non-profit work, state departments, and Tribal programs and communities. She also served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Evaluation Association. Veronica is committed to culturally grounded, strength-based, and collaborative approaches that honor Indigenous values, promote individual and population wellness, and empower community voices.An artist at heart, Veronica integrates art and traditional practices into her work and life. She believes in the power of cultural expression to foster healing and insight. Show Notes The Body Keeps The Score by Bessel VanDerKolk: https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score Research is Ceremony by Dr. Shawn Wilson: https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/research-is-ceremony-shawn-wilson Email: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com To be added to the mailing list when this is announced please send an email with the subject line: SUBSCRIBE to: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com For more visit: https://gladysrowe.com/category/indigenousinsights/ If you are loving this podcast please leave a five star review on your favourite streaming service. If you would like to offer support please visit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InsightsPod

In this episode host Gladys Rowe engages in a powerful conversation with Indigenous feminist philosopher and educator Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner. Shelbi shares her journey into evaluation through her work on Indigenous language reclamation and her deep engagement within Indigenous research methods. She discusses the significance of relationship-building, the centrality of kinship and gender diversity, and the creation of the Indigenous Feminist Evaluation Framework. Shelbi also highlights her role as the founding director of the Indigenous Futures Lab and her inspiring work on community-driven projects. Together, Gladys and Shelbi reflect on how Indigenous knowledge systems, felt knowledge, and artistic practices like basket weaving can transform research and evaluation processes. This episode is a rich exploration of Indigenous feminist approaches to evaluation and the importance of centering community voices and diverse knowledges. Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner (Luiseño & Cupeño) is an Indigenous feminist philosopher. Shelbi researches, teaches, and consults on Indigenous research and evaluation methods, cultural and language reclamation, Indigenous epistemologies, Indigenous feminist interventions in critical social work, and land-based feminist coalition-building. Shelbi is fascinated by the intersections of Indigenous knowledge systems, caretaking, power, and trauma. Shelbi is a proud first-generation descendant of the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, and is of both Luiseño (Payómkawichum) and Cupeño (Kupangaxwichem) descent. She is an assistant professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at University of Maryland, College Park and the founding director of the Indigenous Futures Lab, a hub of Indigenous feminist research and evaluation. Show Notes Shelbi Nahwilet Meissner’s website and Indigenous Futures Lab: https://www.nahwilet.com/ My Two Aunties: https://www.indianhealth.com/tribal-family-services (scroll down) “Indigenous Feminist Evaluation Methods: A Case Study in ‘My Two Aunties’”: https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/full/10.3138/cjpe-2023-0042 Email: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com To be added to the mailing list when this is announced please send an email with the subject line: SUBSCRIBE to: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com For more visit: https://gladysrowe.com/category/indigenousinsights/ If you are loving this podcast please leave a five star review on your favourite streaming service. If you would like to offer support please visit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InsightsPod

In this episode, Gladys sits down with Dr. Pālama Lee, Dr. Brandon Ledward, and Nina Murrow to discuss Native Hawaiian wellbeing and Indigenous evaluation frameworks. Together, they share their journeys into the field of evaluation, exploring how ancestral knowledge, community-driven approaches, and data sovereignty are transforming health and social outcomes for Native Hawaiians. The group reflects on the significance of the Kūkulu Kumuhana Wellbeing Framework and the ʻImi Pono Hawai‘i Wellbeing Survey, offering insights into the collective power of Indigenous self-determination, culture, and spirituality in shaping brighter futures. Brandon C. Ledward, Ph.D. Born and raised in Kailua, O’ahu (Hawai‘i), Brandon now resides with his wife and three young children in Kapolei. A graduate of the public school system, he went on to earn a MA and PhD in Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. As a Principal Strategist in Kamehameha Schools’ Strategy and Experience group, Brandon blends ‘ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) intelligence, systems thinking and foresight to strengthen and advance our lāhui (Native Hawaiian community). He is passionate about culture- and ‘āina-based (land-based) education as well as indigenous approaches to research and evaluation. Brandon relies on his ‘ohana (family), surfing, and music for joy and inspiration. Dr. Palama Lee Pālama is the Director of Research and Evaluation at Lili‘uokalani Trust, a private operating foundation established by Hawai‘i’s last queen, Lili‘uokalani. His research focuses on wellbeing, illuminating the strengths and assets of Native Hawaiian families and communities. His PhD is in Social Welfare and he is a licensed clinical social worker. Pālama is a lover of Italian Dry Salami, a staunch defender of the conjunction “and”, and most evenings find him nerding out either reading, Netflixing, or gaming. Nina Murrow. Nina's journey began in Philadelphia, PA, but she now proudly calls Honouliuli, Oʻahu, (Hawaiʻi), her home, where she resides with her husband and two children. With a profound passion for public health, Nina is currently pursuing her Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology and Health Informatics at The George Washington University. In her role as a Clinical Data Analyst at The Queen's Health System, Nina works within the departments of Native Hawaiian Health and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Social Justice, & Caregiver Wellness. Her primary focus lies in leveraging clinical and social determinant of health (SDoH) data to address health disparities. Nina's research concentrates on the intersection of Native Hawaiian health, clinical outcomes, SDoH, and epigenetics. Beyond her professional pursuits, Nina finds immense joy in spending quality time with her ʻohana (family), indulging in reading, and exploring her culinary skills through cooking. Show Notes Lili‘uokalani Trust: https://onipaa.org/ Kamehameha Schools: https://www.ksbe.edu/ The Queen’s Health Systems: https://www.queens.org/ Kūkulu Kumuhana Wellbeing Framework: https://kawaiola.news/mauliola/kukulu-kumuhana-wellbeing-framework/ Results of 2023 Imi Pono Survey: https://www.ksbe.edu/research/imi-pono-hawaii-wellbeing-survey Email: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com To be added to the mailing list when this is announced please send an email with the subject line: SUBSCRIBE to: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com For more visit: https://gladysrowe.com/category/indigenousinsights/ If you are loving this podcast please leave a five star review on your favourite streaming service. If you would like to offer support please visit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InsightsPod

In this final episode of the special season that has focused on the arts and arts based practices in evaluation, Gladys reflects on the learnings she has gathered from the stories shared and on an inspiring exhibit from her recent visit to the Tate Modern in London. From this episode: About Richard Wagamese's Medicine Walk (2014). https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-friday-edition-1.5260084/as-it-happened-the-archive-edition-richard-wagamese-on-his-2014-novel-medicine-walk-1.5230835 About Thamesmead Codex: https://hyperallergic.com/805326/diary-of-a-british-town-thamesmead-codex/ Leanne Simpson, As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance: https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517903879/as-we-have-always-done/ These episodes in Season 2 have been made possible through support from Canada Council for the Arts. I am grateful for their support! Email: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com To be added to the mailing list when this is announced please send an email with the subject line: SUBSCRIBE to: indigenousevaluationpodcast@gmail.com For more visit: https://gladysrowe.com/category/indigenousinsights/ If you are loving this podcast please leave a five star review on your favourite streaming service. If you would like to offer support please visit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/InsightsPod