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Alumni in their own words - Jacqueline Sookermany (CMU ‘15)

Thursday, September 10, 2026 @ 9:00 AM

Where has life taken you since you left CMU?

During my studies at CMU, I developed a deep passion for prisoner justice and prisoner abolition while working for Correctional Service Canada at Stony Mountain Institution in their Programs department for my practicum. After I graduated with my four-year Arts and Sciences degree, I took a job at EPIC Opportunities, working at one of their day service locations. I hadn't previously considered working in the disability sector, but I found that I loved the work. I was able to support people in finding connections in their communities that were meaningful to them, expanding their hopes beyond employment. In this role, I was able to learn more about the world of disability justice and advocacy, which solidified my passion for the disability sector. After a few years, I took a position at Initiatives for Just Communities (IJC) in their disability outreach program, Touchstone, and it was at IJC that I began to think about pursuing a Master of Social Work. I moved to Victoria, BC, to complete my master's degree. My work in disability and corrections had left me skeptical of the social work profession. Over the course of my studies, I had the opportunity to see that social work is making bold strides toward becoming a field where people with lived experience are directly influencing the policies that shape their services, and that many social workers are actively working to decolonize the profession. My journey has led me back to the place where I decided social work was the correct path for me—IJC—as Director of Services for their Winnipeg programs. I am currently overseeing four programs that span work in disability support and advocacy, community education, and restorative justice. It is a bit dreamy to have a role that allows me to engage in many of the sectors I am passionate about.

Alumni in their own words - Marnie Klassen (CMU '21)

Monday, April 6, 2026 @ 10:42 AM

Where has your life taken you since you left CMU?

After graduating I very quickly got a job doing communications and admin support with A Rocha Manitoba, a Christian nature conservation organization. I was eager to explore volunteer and service opportunities elsewhere, and through some encouragement I applied and was accepted to the worker program at Romero House in Toronto. Taking this step felt so big for me, in a wonderful way. In the one-year term, I lived and worked with refugee claimants in Toronto's west end. I was the volunteer coordinator for the organization, which had me managing a team of over 140 volunteers, and was a settlement case worker for several claimant families. I learned a lot about the refugee claimant system in Canada, and a lot about interfaith and intercultural relationships. During my time in Toronto, I made connections at Eglinton Saint George United Church and ended up getting a job with that congregation as the Growth Initiatives Project Coordinator, which meant I was coordinating and running food justice-based events and programs through the church. All during this time I began freelance writing and preaching for organizations and churches, mostly exploring the themes of faith and climate. When the contract at the church came to an end, I decided to move back to Winnipeg and focus on developing a podcast called 'The Schism Between Us', which explores religious polarization in Canada, particularly within the Mennonite community. I've also recently taken on work as communications assistant for a worship resource hub called "Together in Worship."

Alumni in their own words - Nathan Loewen (CMBC '94)

Monday, June 16, 2025 @ 9:00 AM

Where has life taken you since you left CMU?

Today, I'm a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama (UA). I moved to Alabama in 2013 and was hired by UA in 2015. I really enjoy working here! It's a very different context from Canada's that I've come to really enjoy. It's the perfect mix of nature and academia!

Alumni in their own words - J.D. Penner (CMBC '92)

Thursday, April 10, 2025 @ 10:39 AM

Where has life taken you since you left CMU?

My journey since graduating from CMU (formerly Canadian Mennonite Bible College) has been anything but conventional. While I earned a Bachelor of Church Music with a concentration in vocal performance, and minors in piano and violin, my professional path took a dramatic turn into the world of finance and banking. Early on, I discovered an unexpected interest in administration and finance during summer jobs in Toronto.

Alumni in Their Own Words - Nicole Richard Williams

Wednesday, April 17, 2024 @ 9:45 AM

Nicole Richard graduated from CMU in 2013 with a Bachelor of Music Therapy.

Where has your life taken you since you left CMU?

After finishing my Bachelor of Music Therapy at CMU, I worked as a music therapist in Winnipeg for about three years. During this time, I started working with many clients on the autism spectrum and noticed that doing rhythmic and drumming interventions with these folks really seemed to help them reach some of their therapeutic goals. I wanted to deepen my understanding of how exactly music therapy could help autistic children. Going to grad school had always been a dream of mine, and so I decided to take some time off working to do a Master's in Music and Health Science at the University of Toronto. During that degree, I decided I wanted to continue on and do a PhD and was accepted again at the Music and Health Science Research Collaboratory (the lab out of which the master's and PhD are based) at the University of Toronto.

Faculty in Their Own Words - Dr. Nicolas Malagon

Wednesday, January 24, 2024 @ 3:51 PM

Dr. Nicolas Malagon is Assistant Professor of Biology. He has taught at CMU since 2019.

What do you love about your work here?

Working with the students. You have small classes, so instead of having 300 students you can have here 10 or 20 and in that way you can know them better and work with them.

Faculty: In Their Own Words - Dr. Alexander Sawatsky

Thursday, October 5, 2023 @ 2:28 PM

Dr. Alexander Sawatsky is Professor and Chair of Social Work. He joined the CMU faculty in 2023.

What are you enjoying about your work here so far?

Faculty: In Their Own Words - Dr. Heather Campbell-Enns

Monday, March 27, 2023 @ 11:36 AM

Dr. Heather Campbell-Enns is Associate Professor of Psychology. She has taught at CMU since 2019.

What are you teaching right now that you're most excited about?

"Identity and Intersectionality." That class has been just a pleasure. We're asking questions of identity, looking at concepts and theories of identity. Students are really wrestling with, "Who am I?" Questions around how stable is my identity and how much am I changing and who am I becoming? It's such a beautiful experience, with these students who come into this course at the end of their degree, thinking about: who have I become in this program at CMU? They come into the class with a lot of curiosity, and I see them go through this uncomfortable time of being faced with these questions. I've taught it a few times, and by the end of the course they're grounded into knowing something about themselves and accepting that they are becoming someone and that it's a lifelong journey. That has been really beautiful—including students talking about who am I in relation to the church and the God I've always known and who I am still knowing. It's been impactful for me to witness that with students because it's a journey we're all still on and to have them share that with me is pretty remarkable.

Faculty: In Their Own Words - Dr. Jonathan Sears

Thursday, January 26, 2023 @ 12:45 PM

Dr. Jonathan Sears is Associate Professor of International Development Studies, Affiliate Faculty of Political Studies, and Associate Dean of Menno Simons College (MSC), a program centre of CMU. He has taught at CMU since 2008, primarily from the MSC campus.

What are you researching and writing?

I'm coauthoring a book chapter with Jodi Dueck-Read, Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution Studies and Director of Practicum at MSC. It's about the successes and challenges of decolonizing our pedagogy, of anti-oppression pedagogy, particularly as it relates to our fields in global development and peacebuilding studies. An edited collection by Indiana University Bloomington, it's research and writing about our teaching practice. For me, to write about that is new, but that's part of what we do as teachers; we teach and reflect on our practice, what works, what doesn't, when, with whom. To take a step back and do a bit of analytical work and connect it to some of the literature about anti-oppression pedagogy, how to teach in a way that decentres straight, white, male views or decentres settler views or decentres majority views.

Faculty: In Their Own Words - Dr. Jonathan Dueck

Thursday, December 15, 2022 @ 9:10 AM

Dr. Jonathan Dueck, Vice-President Academic, Academic Dean, Associate Professor of Social Science (Ethnomusicology), and of Writing, has taught at CMU since 2017.

What do you love about your work here?

I like the sense of play that we have as an institution. We invite people to do things they care about, things they're passionate about, and to try them out. As students, as faculty members, and even as an institution, we're willing to try new things in a way that is about what we love.

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