Hallie Vermette - Changemaker Profile

Hallie Vermette (she/her) is a fourth-year Mount Royal Policy Studies student and is a Social Impact Technology Policy Analyst with the Institute for Community Prosperity. In this Changemaker Profile, she emphasizes the importance of intentional collaboration and including diverse perspectives in decision-making. Hallie highlights the changes happening in academia, but acknowledges the barriers students face in larger institutions. Hallie finds inspiration in the children she teaches and the importance of protecting the next generation from societal challenges.

 

Could you tell me about yourself?

My name is Hallie Vermette and I am going into my fourth year in Policy Studies, minoring in social innovation. I am the President of the Policy Studies Student Society and this is my second year in that  role. Outside of school, I teach dance and I love it. I love working with kiddos. I teach “mini movers”, which are our two to four year old friends. In my free time, I like to swim and hammock when the weather permits. 

I am currently the Social Impact Technology Policy Analyst with the Institute for Community Prosperity. I took on this role as part of the internship requirements for the Policy Studies program. Through this role, I have worked with the Center for Social Impact technology and with other folks at the Institute.

What does it mean to you, to be a changemaker?

Changemaking is about really intentional collaboration. When I say this, I mean, having conversations with as many people as we can to try and understand the issues, and how to make things better for as many people as we can. 

From my experience in Policy Studies, so much emphasis is placed on “the experts” and what they say. But “the experts” are such a small group of people that excludes so many. I think changemaking is intentionally bringing in people that aren't normally associated with the objective and working with them to find a solution to the problem. Right now, we are really siloed in how we do things, and it makes it hard to collaborate because we're so disconnected from people and where their expertise is. Changemaking is talking and working with as many people as possible.

What big, beautiful question drives your work?

It's not really big, but for me the question is - “What next?” When I am reading or doing research, sometimes I will get an answer to a question I have, but then I ask “What should I be looking at now?” and “Who should I be approaching next?” This work is a journey, and I am always trying to look ahead and see “what’s next?”

How do you embody changemaking in your work?

I embody changemaking by bringing my perspective as a young person into the work that I'm doing. Young people have historically been excluded from a lot of decision making. However, I think there's been a recent change, people are recognizing that young people were excluded and are shifting their mindsets to include the younger generation. The hope is to include the younger generation in decision-making so that it has positive impacts. Bringing in your concerns as a young person is really valuable for shaping what comes for the next generation. As I said previously, “the experts” are needed for these conversations, but I don't want that to stop me from talking to people who aren't considered “ the experts”, especially when the decision impacts them. 

How do you see changemaking happening at Mount Royal?

When I look at Mount Royal as a whole, I see lots of small, incremental changes. One of the most difficult parts of university is that there are so many opportunities and it can be very overwhelming. As a student, it can be hard to know all of what Mount Royal offers in relation to changemaking. 

Speaking on those small changes, one example is Mount Royal changing their washrooms to be gender-neutral. I think this is a great example of changemaking in the sense that they challenge the status quo of having binary washrooms. Another example of tangible changemaking is the work Elder Roy Bear Chief is taking on with many different faculties to develop their own Indigenous strategies for their various programs. 

Beyond this tangible change, there are so many changemaking conversations being had across the university. That being said, I would love to see more collaboration between different departments. I am a Bachelor of Arts student minoring in the business program, but it’s difficult to see if there’s any intentional changemaking happening between these programs. The university can benefit from more collaboration and change. 

Has there been a defining changemaking moment for you as a student at Mount Royal?

I was a panel speaker at the Banff Systems Summit this past May. The panel was examining the conflation between public policy and systems change. It was tough as a student to be on the panel. I was asked to be a part of the conversation, but that’s where it ended. I spoke of intentional collaboration in an earlier conversation, but I was brought into a conversation with “the experts” and to me, I felt a lack of this intentional collaboration. I was hoping for a dialogue I could be included in, to be asked questions about my experiences as a young person and student. That didn't happen, and that was okay. But when we got to the Q&A Elder Roy Bear Chief got on the mic and asked me directly - “Hallie, in Policy Studies, do they teach you anything about the Indian Act?” And I responded with “No, they do not.” Then he asked “What about treaty rights, and when they were signed? Treaty Seven, when was it signed? Residential Schools, what did they teach you about that?” And I responded by saying, “Nothing, to be honest.” The two of us had a conversation while I was on the panel about policy studies, how they are training us to be the future decision makers, but they don't teach us everything about Canadian history or our relationship with Indigenous people. 

Elder Roy Bear Chief asking me that question was what I felt to be that intentional collaboration. He saw me sitting up on that panel with experts, knowing that I was not perceived as having the same level of credibility that they had. So he pointed me out, and directly asked me a question so that I could have that power to speak and tie in my lived experience as a student. That was very much a character development moment for me. I got to feel that power shift in the moment and I was brought to the table. [Elder Roy Bear Chief] fully empowered me to talk about systems change, public policy, and my experience and expertise as a student.

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