Webinar | Relationship Building with Indigenous Peoples
Les Vonkeman from Bridging Worlds Consulting will share how to build relationships with Indigenous Peoples. As society evolves from generation to generation and life gets busier in the quest to acquire the “Canadian” dream, communication between people has become more transactional than relational.
Session Learning Objectives
This session focuses on slowing life down and learning how to build relationships with Indigenous Peoples. Attendees will learn the “protocols and rules” to connect with Indigenous people and communities.
This webinar is offered as part of APEGA’s Ethnocultural Grant Program speaker series with funding from the Province of Alberta.
About the presenter
Les Vonkeman, owner of Bridging Worlds Consulting, is passionate about building community through relationships. A survivor of the Sixties Scoop, Les recently retired from the Lethbridge Police Service after 24 years, with 10 years as a diversity officer. During that time, Les learned how to thrive as an Indigenous person in the non-Indigenous world—and he connects both worlds through cultural competence programming such as three-day tipi camps, Campfire Conversations and a host of other programs. Les founded Bridging Worlds Consulting after realizing that many people from mainstream society have questions about Indigenous Peoples and culture—Bridging Worlds fills that gap. Les has received the Queens Jubilee Medal as well as the Community Builders Award for his passionate work alongside people making waves of change in our world.