Event Details
Event Dates: Thursday March 9 – Saturday March 11, 2023
Location: Grey Eagle Resort & Casino, Calgary AB
What is the Symposium All About?
The Alberta Healthy Communities Symposium (AHCS) is an opportunity for wellness Champions to come together to network and build upon current community resources and programs which will allow them to build on the roots of health and wellness. With this fundamental and holistic focus on wellness, participants will be inspired to begin, deepen, or evolve Healthy Eating, and Active Living (HEAL) initiatives in their communities. Communities ChooseWell celebrates that our communities come from diverse backgrounds, so whether your work aims to influence grassroots, organizational, or systems level change, the symposium will have inspiring content for all!
What Will You Learn?
Join us for the first in-person symposium since 2020! Following the impact of COVID-19, we recognize the need to strengthen the foundations of healthy eating and active living in Albertan communities. This year’s theme is Honouring Our Roots, Building Our Future; while honouring the core roots of the Communities ChooseWell HEAL mandate, we aim to provide tangible and actionable content designed to enhance health and wellness initiatives in delegates’ communities.
This year’s symposium will focus on three streams: healthy eating, active living, and community development stream. Stay tuned for program announcements including keynotes, breakout speakers, master classes and more!
Registration
Registration is closed
Subsidies
Travel Subsidies are closed
Accommodations
Book your room at Grey Eagle Resort & Casino by providing the group ID#: 542200 or by letting them know you are attending the Symposium. Reservations must be booked by February 14, 2023 to receive the group rate of $150 for a standard room. To book your room contact the Reservation Department directly at 1.844.719.8777 or email them at reservations@greyeagle.ca.
Symposium Keynotes!
Meet Megan Hunter, BKin, BEd, MSc (Candidate)! Megan is the founder and Social Innovator at Peak + Prairie Co. Health Promotion. Specialising in physical wellbeing and psychological health & safety consulting.
Known for her creative approach to health promotion (and contagious enthusiasm) as an educator, facilitator and presenter, Megan merges kinesiology with mental health advocacy. She is on a mission to connect, create community and collaborate with organisations, communities, and businesses to develop psychologically safe and healthy spaces.
Megan is a co-author of Teacher Take Care and illustrator for the Misty River Valley Fairies book series. Alongside her work she and her family enjoy their time together on bikes and boards in the mountains.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” African Proverb
Meet Anthony Johnson and Dr. James Makokis! Also known as, The Amazing Couple – Team Ahkameyimok.
After travelling more than 20,000 kilometers across 6 provinces, 1 territory, and 14 cities, Dr. James Makokis(Cree) and Anthony Johnson are the first Indigenous, Two-Spirit couple to win The Amazing Race Canada, hence known as The Amazing Couple – Team Ahkameyimok. Not without its challenges during the season, they were able to continuously work together to keep resilient and work together to stay in the race and pass each stage of the race. Not without their ups and downs, the Amazing Couple turned out to be an unstoppable force by the end of the season which eventually led them to winning Season 7 of The Amazing Race Canada. The Amazing Race Canada is not an easy challenge to win, as the couple surpassed Canadian Olympic Athletes and some fierce competitors during the season.
Dr. James Makokis and Anthony Johnson’s story goes much further than the Amazing Race Canada. They both have a unique experience as identifying as Two-Spirit, being advocates for a wide variety of social and community programs and being leaders in and outside of their communities. Two-Spirit, an umbrella term that Indigenous people use to describe people in their communities who are gender-nonconforming, giving them both the ability to access ‘male and female’ traits to accomplish anything they need to.
During their participation on the show, the Amazing Couple used the media coverage and platform to confront stereotypes, homophobia, ignorance, and racism, and raise awareness of issues faced by Indigenous Peoples in Canada, the United States and around the World. Makokis and Johnson Indigenized the race starting from their team’s name, Team Ahkameyimok (in Cree: “Don’t give up, keep going, use whatever you have to get something done.”) Their team motto was also Ahkameyimok! A phrase their elders use to encourage others to do their best and keep going no matter what the challenge or how difficult of a situation one is faced with.
Questions or Concerns?
Our Communities ChooseWell team is happy to help, please contact Maddison Drader at mdrader@arpaonline.ca with any questions or concerns regarding the AHCS.
We look forward to seeing you at the Symposium in March!
Curious what champions gained from last year’s symposium? See below for our infographic to learn more!
You can also view previous symposium presentations here
