EPISODE 069

You don’t need to know everything in order to begin. Today’s episode offers a window into the inner shifts that happen when practitioners stop leading with expertise alone and start leading with curiosity, humility, and a willingness to learn.

Drawing from several years of working alongside Indigenous organizations, Melissa reflects on how Indigenous teachings, community partnerships, and her graduate studies in adult education have threaded together to reshape her approach to learning and program design. She explores the transformative impact of Two-Eyed Seeing, a Mi’kmaq guiding principle that invites us to hold Indigenous and Western ways of knowing together, for the benefit of all. 

Key Topics:

✨ Why Land Acknowledgments Matter
Not as scripted statements, but as invitations to recognize place, history, responsibility, and relational learning.

✨ Cultural Humility as a Practice - Not a Destination
Melissa shares moments of discomfort, vulnerability, and the learning that unfolded when she stepped into Indigenous programming not as an expert, but as a guest.

✨ Facilitating based on Community, not Content
How the programs you’ve created in the past can continue to evolve toward a more culturally responsive, community-led approach.

✨ Two-Eyed Seeing (Etuaptmumk)
How this Indigenous teaching has become a central lens in Melissa’s practice, shaping how she blends Western research, community voice, and Indigenous knowledge into her work.

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⏩ Up Next

Melissa introduces the Sustainable Capacity Operating System, a framework of learning and leadership shaping her next chapter.

Thank you for listening - and for being part of this conversation about learning, community-rooted practice, and doing this work with integrity - especially in cross-cultural contexts. 

— Melissa & the OTGR Podcast Team