Indigenous Directions

Manon Tremblay

Senior Director of Indigenous Directions

Manon Tremblay is a nêhiyaw-iskwêw (Plains Cree) from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation.  She stepped into her role as Senior Director, Indigenous Directions in December 2019.   Prior to joining the Office of the Provost, Manon was the Director, Indigenous Research at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) where she led the initiative to build Indigenous research capacity.  She also held the position of Senior Project Leader for the Public Service Commission of Canada’s Aboriginal Centre of Expertise where she worked in strategic Indigenous recruitment programs and Indigenous talent management. Manon has spent 18 years of her career as a university student services administrator, part-time faculty and senior advisor on Indigenous affairs, first at Concordia University and then at the University of Ottawa. Manon is a recipient of the 2016 Public Service Award of Excellence.

Heather Igloliorte

Special Advisor to the Provost on Advancing Indigenous Knowledges

Heather Igloliorte (Inuk, Nunatsiavut) is an associate professor and curator who holds the University Research Chair in Circumpolar Indigenous Arts. In her role as special advisor, Igloliorte is responsible for identifying, foregrounding and strategically advancing Indigenous academic research and research-creation priorities for Concordia. This includes working with students, faculty, and Indigenous community members, including the Indigenous Directions Leadership Group, to develop new pathways and strategies for decolonizing and Indigenizing our research and scholarly practices.

Heather is the Principal Investigator of the 7-year SSHRC Partnership Grant Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership; she is also the Co-Director of the Initiative for Indigenous Futures Cluster (IIF) in the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology with Professor Jason Edward Lewis. Through these research initiatives Heather works with partners, students and collaborators to explore how Indigenous people are imagining their futures and that of their relations and communities.

Jason Lewis

Special Advisor to the Provost on Indigenous Spaces and Donor Engagement (on leave)

Jason is a professor in the Department of Design and Computation Arts. In his role as special advisor, he provides institution-wide leadership in developing Concordia’s next-generation orientation for developing Indigenous spaces and facilities, engaging with Indigenous alumni, and pursuing philanthropical opportunities for developing related initiatives.

Jason directs the Initiative for Indigenous Futures (IIF) SSHRC Partnership, and co-directs the Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace research network. Within IIF, he co-directs the Skins Workshops on Aboriginal Storytelling and Digital Media Design, which teaches Indigenous youth how to create culturally-grounded digital media.

Jason now holds the Concordia University Research Chair in Computational Media and the Indigenous Future Imaginary.