Content Lead

Amy Lamb BSP (she/her)
Executive Director, Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada
Amy is an advocate for pharmacy practice, Indigenous and holistic health, women’s health, and leadership development. As a Métis woman and Métis Nation-Saskatchewan citizen, Amy advocates for vulnerable and underserved community members, access, and the elimination of systemic barriers in pharmacy practice and the Canadian health-care system.

Amy has worked as a front-line community pharmacist for 10 years and is the founder of Lamb and Sage Personalized Health Solutions, specializing in women’s and person-centred holistic health coaching. She has in-depth experience navigating the health access and equity needs of diverse populations, with a focus on serving urban, remote, and fly-in Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan. She continues to practice as a front-line provider out of a First Nations’ health center operating satellite pharmacy services.

Amy, through a respectful and humility-based approach, honours and upholds cultural and land-based teachings, knowing that cultural diversity, like ecological biodiversity, strengthens and sustains the world.

Academic Lead

Dr. Jaris Swidrovich BSP, PharmD, PhD, AAHIVP, RPh (he/they)
Assistant Professor, Tenure Stream, and Indigenous Engagement Lead in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto
Dr. Swidrovich is a queer, Two Spirit, Saulteaux and Ukrainian pharmacist from Yellow Quill First Nation (Treaty 4 territory, Saskatchewan). His mother was a 60s Scoop survivor and his grandmother and great-grandmother both survived Indian Residential Schools.

He received a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Saskatchewan (2010), a post-baccalaureate Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Toronto (2013), and a PhD in education from the University of Saskatchewan (2024), which earned him the Governor General’s Gold Medal.

His primary areas of research and practice include Indigenous health, pain, HIV/AIDS, substance use disorders, and 2SLGBTQI+ health. As a Two-Spirit, First Nations, and disabled person himself, Dr. Swidrovich brings a strong lens of equity, diversity, inclusion, intersectionality, and social justice to his research program.

Dr. Swidrovich is the Co-Scientific Director of the CIHR-funded Saskatchewan Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research (SK-NEIHR) called nãtawihowin (“art of self-healing” in Cree), which is a First Nations Research Network that supports researchers, students, and First Nations health leaders and communities in Saskatchewan and beyond.

Dr. Swidrovich is the founder and chair of the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada, and also sits on several other local, provincial, and national boards.

Kierra FineDay (she/her)
First Nations Pharmacist
Kierra is a nêhiyaw-iskwêw (Cree Woman) from nakîwaciy askiy ????? (Sweetgrass First Nation) on Treaty 6 Territory (1876). She earned a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Saskatchewan. Following a career in pharmacy, she later focused on First Nations health policy while working as a Non-Insured Health Benefits Navigator in Saskatchewan. Now a health policy consultant, Kierra works to enhance engagement, equity, and respectful relationships between health services and Indigenous communities.

Stephanie Gilbert (she/her)
Inuit Registered Nurse
Originally from Iglulik, Nunavut, Stephanie is an Inuk nurse, Indigenous advocate and mother of four who grew up in Iqaluit. Stephanie currently works as the Territorial Manager, Public Health, for the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority. Outside of her job, Stephanie’s advocacy and work in health policy, nursing education, and system transformation is focused on supporting and developing Indigenous history and cultural safety training in nursing programs to inform knowledge sharing (truth) and the understanding of health system leaders and practitioners' conscious participation in reconciliation through their practice. The focus is on strengthening the allyship of nurses toward the common goal of equity in health care for Indigenous People, utilizing Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (that which Inuit have always known to be true) as it is known through her family line.

Alexa Harvey (she/her)
Métis Pharmacy Student
Alexa Harvey is a PharmD student at the University of Ottawa with interests in sexual and reproductive health, Indigenous health, and equitable access to care. She is involved with the Indigenous Pharmacy Professionals of Canada (IPPC) and the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP), and contributes to research on pharmacist-led approaches to improving access to care.

Alexa has contributed to the review and development of educational materials for pharmacy professionals, bringing a perspective grounded in culturally safe, patient-centred care. She is particularly interested in improving access to services in underserved and remote communities and strengthening the role of pharmacists in clinical care.

Albert McLeod (Fabulous Animate Being)
First Nations Elder
Albert McLeod is a Status Indian with ancestry from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation and the Metis community of Norway House in northern Manitoba. He has over thirty years of experience as a human rights activist and is one of the directors of the Two-Spirited People of Manitoba.

Albert began his Two-Spirit advocacy in Winnipeg in 1986 and became an HIV/AIDS activist in 1987. He was the director of the Manitoba Aboriginal AIDS Task Force from 1991 to 2001. In 2018, Albert received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Winnipeg.

Albert lives in Winnipeg, where he works as a consultant specializing in Indigenous peoples, cultural reclamation, and cross-cultural training.

Derrick Sanderson (he/they)
First Nations Pharmacist
Derrick is a pharmacist with a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Manitoba. Derrick is a health consultant with Opaskwayak Health Authority, and the Director of Pharmacy, Northern Health Region in Manitoba. Derrick has a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry. Derrick is skilled in Pharmacy, Pharmacy Practice, Medication Therapy Management, Healthcare, and Clinical Pharmacy.

Derrick is a two-spirited, non-binary, gender-nonconforming person of First Nations descent. Derrick has been a pharmacist for almost 17 years and has held various leadership roles in healthcare on both the provincial and Indigenous health. Derrick experiences life as a gender non-conforming individual, navigating my identity while also benefiting from privileges associated with being white-presenting and appearing cisgender. Derrick embraces femininity, Indigenous culture and heritage.

Tammy White Quills-Knife (she/her)
First Nations Knowledge Keeper
Tammy is a Siksikaitsitapiakii (Blackfoot) woman from the Kainai First Nation (Blood Tribe) located in the Treaty 7 Region of Southern Alberta.

Tammy’s passion and commitment to Indigenous health have guided her work in health care for many years, spanning on-reserve, regionally, provincially and nationally. She currently works with an NGO as senior advisor on Indigenous health, where she draws on her knowledge and experience to advance truth and reconciliation, acknowledging past wrongs, sharing Canada’s true history and working together to build more respectful relationships.

Tammy believes everything is relational and interconnected, a perspective that has guided her service on numerous boards in health, education, addiction treatment and women’s support. She has also contributed to local and provincial police commissions and has made history as the first Indigenous woman to serve on the Canadian Association of Police Governance Board.

A residential school survivor, Tammy’s experience, knowledge and work assisted in the development of The Path training modules for the CMA. In addition to the CMA’s Indigenous Guiding Circle, Tammy is also a member of the CMA’s Patient Voice.

Tammy strongly believes when a commitment is made that you “walk the talk,” wholeheartedly.