03 Nov Doug Dokis – National InSTEM

Doug Dokis is a member of the Dokis Anishinabek Nation in northern Ontario. Doug has over 30 years’ working for, and advocating on behalf of Indigenous peoples in numerous private and public sector roles. His primary focus has been on systemic change through developing and advancing partnerships and programming in support of improving Indigenous educational outcomes. Doug believes strongly that Indigenous peoples knowledge has much to offer Canadian society. It is through this belief that he has worked towards greater cross-cultural understanding that draws from the best of the two knowledge systems.

Working within the post-secondary education system for the past 25 years as a teacher, Senior Administrator, Cultural Advisor and in program and curriculum development, Doug has worked with many strategic industry and governmental partners at the national level to bring about systemic change. For the past 12 years, he has been the Director, and more recently has transitioned into an Advisor role for the National InSTEM (Indigenous youth in STEM) program at Actua. Actua is a national charitable organization delivering STEM education to over 35,000 Indigenous youth annually. As Director, Doug was the main point of contact for the 43 University STEM member programs on their local initiatives, Indigenous organization partnerships, Indigenous community and industry partner relations, and in the development and delivery of STEM programming for Indigenous youth. Under Doug’s leadership, Actua has developed the InSTEM in schools’ land based program that is grounded in the knowledge that “Indigenous People Have Always Know About STEM” Doug’s knowledge of Indigenous Land based learning and STEM education has led to the development of a successful Indigenous STEM program across the country in numerous Indigenous communities. This high school credit program emphasizes the importance of land based learning, and its direct relationship to STEM knowledge.