A Little About Linds

I am a fifth-generation settler of English and Scottish descent, born and raised in Wînipêk, on Treaty One Territory. As a guest to these lands, I am on a journey to learn and unlearn. I am committed to listening and speaking the truth. 

I grew up in St. Vital, a neighbourhood in south Winnipeg, and attended K-12 in the Louis Riel School Division. It was always my dream to be a teacher.

After graduating from Dakota Collegiate, I was accepted into the Integrated B.A./B.Ed program at the University of Winnipeg where I majored in English and minored in Theatre. 

I spent the summer after graduating from Education in Jonquière, Québec as part of the Explore program where I worked to develop my rudimentary French skills and lived independently for the first time. Soon after, I moved to Montréal and taught a combined 7-9 multi-age class of students from all over the world.

While this year of teaching in a different province was an incredible learning experience, I was offered a position teaching high school English in the Seven Oaks School Division and subsequently, I returned home. I have taught in the same classroom ever since!

This year marks my 19th year of classroom teaching. I’ve spent most of that time at Maples Collegiate where I am lucky enough to teach what I’m passionate about: literature, language, and film studies.

It was while working at Maples that I became interested in learning more about our union. I served as a school rep off and on for the first decade of my career, until I was encouraged by some colleagues to put my name forward for the Seven Oaks Teachers’ Association Executive.

After being elected in 2016, I served a number of roles, including my current position as Secretary. It was through SOTA that I became more engaged with MTS, including positions on the Equity and Social Justice Standing Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee on Comprehensive Sexual Health Education. The more I learned more about MTS, the more I wanted to get involved in Society governance and politics, leading to my decision to run for a position on the Provincial Executive in May of 2021. I have had the privilege of serving Members in that capacity since, having been re-elected in 2023. 

While serving as a Member-at-Large over the past four years, the most valuable lessons I have learned have come from working with committees that centre Members from marginalized communities and which have the potential to influence systemic change.

Through this work I have come to better understand my personal values and leadership style, both which are encompassed in two frameworks and/or ways of seeing the world: adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy — focused on our relationship to change — and, in particular, the seven principles for Indigenous community engagement found in the University of Manitoba’s Community Engaged Learning Working in Good Ways framework (I encourage you to check it out here). I endeavour to draw on the seven principles when engaging in work with MTS Members, staff, and leadership. In non-hierarchical order:

• Literacy

• Reflection

• Reciprocity

• Relationship

• Protocol

• Humility

• Collaboration

Throughout this process, I have also sought out training and certification in a number of non-profit governance and labour programs. 

I hold a Master of Arts in Cultural Studies and a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Education (PBDE) from the University of Winnipeg. I am currently working as a sessional instructor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg.

More than anything, though, I love to spend time with my friends, family, and partners. I enjoy doing CrossFit, floating on the lake, and losing myself in the dark of the cinema. 

I hope that you’ve learned a little more about me. I encourage any MTS delegates to come by the Candidates’ Tables at Provincial Council so that we can have a conversation.