The Tripartite Forum and its Education Working Committee are happy to announce the newest co-chair to join the Education Committee: Denise Pictou Maloney.
Denise, who the Nova Scotia Chiefs voted in as Mi’kmaq Co-Chair on October 6th, joins Provincial Co-Chair Melody Martin-Googoo, and Federal Co-Chair Helen Long.
Denise is taking over the reins from previous Mi’kmaq Co-Chair Ann Denny, who left her position when she retired from her career as Aboriginal Services Coordinator with Cape Breton University, in December 2023.
Denise, a member of Sipekne’katik First Nation, was raised just outside of Kjipuktuk (Halifax), with strong family ties to several communities in Mi’kma’ki (Atlantic Canada). She was raised with traditional protocols and a deep respect for her inherent connection to land and water.
At a young age, Denise lost her mother, a loss that had a lasting intergenerational impact on her family. Denise advocates for Indigenous inherent Matrilineal rights, inclusion and equity. She has spoken on behalf of her mother at United Nations, civil rights conferences, journalist conferences. She has spoken domestically and internationally at colleges and universities in Canada and the United States, to bring awareness to the injustices of murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG). She has also worked for the National Inquiry into MMIWG.
Denise, the Nova Scotia Community College Senior Advisor for Mi’kmaw and Indigenous Initiatives, has worked with the Halifax Regional Center for Education (HRCE) for more than a decade. She has most recently worked as HRCE’s Mi’kmaq Indigenous Student Support Worker for the Halifax Region.
Denise has sat as a circle member of the National Family and Survivors Circle with CIRNAC, providing guidance and advice on, and best practices in engaging families, Survivors, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in the development of National Action Plan to implement the 231 Calls For Justice, from the final report on the National Inquiry into MMIWG.
