Alumni Profiles
CMU alumni and the Crisis & Trauma Resource Institute
Out of the many pockets of opportunities that come from completing a bachelor's degree at CMU, more and more graduates have turned their attention to the Crisis & Trauma Resource Institute (CTRI) situated in the West Broadway neighbourhood of Winnipeg, MB. With many CMU alumni joining the CTRI community and clinical director Vicki Enns' role teaching in CMU's Canadian School of Peacebuilding, the connection between the two institutions runs deep. CTRI, made up of a wide variety of therapists, workshop facilitators, and administrative staff offers training materials and resources focused on keeping the public trauma-informed. Their sibling division, Achieve Centre for Leadership, sets its sights specifically on how workplaces can foster leadership skills, conflict resolutions, management skills, and emotional intelligence.
Perseverance, pilgrimage, and the Bitter Sweet Trail
On October 24, 2020, Kenji Dyck (BA '19, Communications and Media) premiered his documentary Bitter Sweet Trail: Japanese Canadians and the Alberta Sugar Beets, which followed a 2019 bus tour through southern Alberta. Produced by David Iwaasa, and in partnership with Nikkei National Museum, the film tells the story of many Japanese sugar beet farmers who experienced internment, dispossession, and detainment through the Second World War. Tour participants, made up of Japanese Canadians who farmed sugar beets in the mid-20th century, visited sites that played a significant role in Japanese Canadian history. For most Japanese Canadians, this was a time of racial persecution as well as a time of persistence. "The tour and the film," Dyck explains, "is to remember not only the injustice but also the perseverance of the Japanese Canadian people."
CMU Alumni Profile: Lauren Harms, BA General Social Sciences
Lauren Harms (BA '15, General Social Sciences) wears two hats, that of a pastor and of an art therapist, which are taken on and off in the same room in the same Calgary apartment every day over Zoom. Founder of "Lily Inspired", an art therapy practice that focuses on individual and group art therapy as well as expressive arts workshops, Harms combines the creative process and psychotherapy, enabling her clients to explore their healing through colour, shape, and form.
MSC Alumni Profile: Jordan Ewart (BA IDS, 2018)
For Jordan Ewart, policy analyst at the Saskatchewan Trucking Agency, the trucking industry in Canada continues to experience a significant shortage in female employees. With 97% of truckers identifying as male and only 3% as female, Ewart—who graduated with a BA in International Development Studies and is completing an additional major in Conflict Resolution Studies at Menno Simons College (MSC)—is recognizing more and more the need for female employment in a male-dominated industry.
Outtatown Alumni Profile: Ally Siebert (Guatemala 2011-12)
Ally Siebert says Outtatown helped her lay strong foundations in key human skills, placing her ahead of the curve now that she's training for medicine.
What does it take to be a professional healer? Medical student Ally Siebert, a graduate of CMU's Outtatown program, is entering clerkship at University of Waterloo. The Ottawa native says that while much depends on your specialization, human skills can make or break your efficacy as a care provider.
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