About Me

Background

In 2005, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from the University of Saskatchewan. I accepted my first job as a registered dietitian, implementing nutrition care plans for older adults at a long-term care facility in Kelowna, BC.  The role gave me experience in addressing outcomes of the primary prevention principles that I was taught in my undergraduate program. I gained a strong, applied understanding of how the determinants of health, health services, environments, personal health behaviours, and public policy culminates into health or disease. Intrigue and a passion for a career in health promotion evolved from there. I quickly moved into new roles as a public health dietitian in Red Deer, Alberta. Next, I had the opportunity to be a prenatal nutritionist for low income/high risk/refugees and immigrant pregnant clients in the Best Beginning Program in Calgary, Alberta for almost 4 years.  I continued to develop an understanding of health promotion and disease prevention across the life course, as well as an interest in health equity.  I took a short leave, to volunteer in Kenya, Africa for four months in 2009. I was connected to a partnership between the University of Nairobi and the University of Manitoba, where I taught nutrition to female sex trade workers with HIV/AIDS in the slums of Nairobi.  It was an eye opening, and growing experience for me as a health professional. I was exposed to the social determinants of health so tangibly, and able to work with a variety of other health care professionals within a third world health care setting (microbiologists, infectious disease doctors, nurses, etc.).

For 11 years I have worked in the area of child and youth health promotion with Alberta Health Services (AHS). Specifically, my role entails implementing evidence-based practices to develop healthy school communities by using the community development process with stakeholders from school authorities across Alberta. Through this dynamic and strategic role, I have developed expertise and knowledge in collaboration, consensus building, group facilitation, environmental assessment, population health priorities, health marketing, health education, policy development, program planning and evaluation. Over the past two years, I have been supporting Alberta’s covid-19 pandemic response in various capacities during a redeployment of my department. In less than 12 months in the field of communicable disease control, I was promoted to a position of leadership and was tasked with overseeing a diverse range of professionals, innovating program design and acting as an educator. It is not often that a working professional is afforded the opportunity to temporarily practice in a new field, see themselves from a different perspective, and then return to their career path. Throughout my redeployment I have learned many new skills, and I am eager to advance into more leadership roles. I returned back to my department in the fall of 2021, in School Health & Wellness Promotion. In this team, I supported school division decision makers in southern Alberta to use the Comprehensive School Health Approach to build healthy school communities. I prepared and delivered presentations on nutrition, active living, and mental health to teachers and administrators to enhance their practices and inspire change.