Mohawk College is committed to meaningfully advancing truth and reconciliation, all while ensuring that the journey forward is Indigenous led
Kerry Wabange has worked in Indigenous organizations as an HR professional for many years before being hired on as the human resources strategic partner and Indigenous specialist at Mohawk College. In her previous jobs, her roles largely focused on her skill sets as an HR professional. In her current role at the college, she is able to bundle her Indigenous world views, knowledge, values and HR expertise together and apply these to her role in a very authentic and meaningful way.
Kerry Wabange has worked in Indigenous organizations as an HR professional for many years before being hired on as the human resources strategic partner and Indigenous specialist at Mohawk College. In her previous jobs, her roles largely focused on her skill sets as an HR professional. In her current role at the college, she is able to bundle her Indigenous world views, knowledge, values and HR expertise together and apply these to her role in a very authentic and meaningful way.
With four campuses in the Hamilton area, Mohawk College has been recognized as one of Hamilton-Niagara’s Top Employers for many excellent reasons. “Its comprehensive HR people strategy is strategically aligned with the college’s overall strategic plan and focuses on excelling current and future HR capabilities,” Wabange says. “There are seven strategic pillars that make up the people strategy and one of the pillars focuses solely on truth and reconciliation. A key factor of this strategy is that the other six strategic pillars must also be reflective of and embed Indigenous ways of knowing and being. This practice ensures that truth and reconciliation remain an intentional and significant focus that is embedded throughout the entire strategic framework.”
Collaborating with the Centre of Indigenous Relations, Knowledge and Learning (CIRKL), Indigenous Student Services (ISS) and the HR department, the collective focus has been to embed Indigegogy within HR as it relates to people and employment policies, procedures, practices and programs. She notes, “I feel that the college really values my contributions and insights and I feel exceptionally honoured to bring my Indigenous knowledge, gifts and values to work, as an HR professional.”
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Wabange explains that Mohawk College shows a collective commitment to “implementing employment policies that incorporate and reflect Indigenous world views, values and ways of knowing and being meaningfully into the foundational framework of HR. And most importantly that this work is Indigenous led and has the collective support and advocacy of the college’s leadership team.”
