International participants
Ron Lawler, Australia
Ron Lawler plays a key role in is presently the International Council of Initiatives of Change – International. He has been a Member here since January 2015, and is its Treasurer, presently.
Ron has been for the last 10 years a Manager of planning and contracting community services with the New South Wales State Government in Australia, based in the regional centre of Wagga Wagga.
He has worked previously for 12 years for the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Commission where he was Deputy Regional Manager responsible for strategic planning, policy, program funding and secretariat support to the elected Aboriginal Council. His region covered one third of the State.
He holds a Bachelor Degree in Humanities and a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Management. His Master of Social Science included a research dissertation on Aboriginal communities and local government.
John Corowa, Australia
John is of Aboriginal and South Sea Islander heritage and identifies with the Bundjalung nation. His 25-year long career in Aboriginal health was recognised at the 18th Deadly Awards when he became the 2012 Aboriginal Health Worker of the Year.
John has a passion to work with communities. His long-standing role with Queensland Health and Wide Bay Medicare Local has given him continued experience in pursuing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health outcomes.
John was also the Regional Manager for the Australian Government funded Indigenous Health Tackling Smoking & Healthy Lifestyles Program, Closing the Gap Program for the Wide Bay Region of Queensland. Through his role, he has organised innovative community health workshops, health promotion and activities to current health and ageing and community agendas such as tackling smoking cessation and promoting a healthy lifestyle, working in with a host of community organisations to deliver community action based health priorities.
He is an accomplished singer and guitarist and recognizes the area of arts is also important to pursue. Currently self-employed business owner and company director, his present role is that of a Cultural Practice Facilitator, Musician and Ka Huna Body Worker.
Armand McKenzie
Armand is a member of the Innu Takuaikan Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam (“ITUM”), an indigenous community located in Quebec, Canada and an employee of Tata Steel Minerals Canada. He is Vice President, Governmental and Stakeholder Relations, TSMC Canada.
In this role, Mr McKenzie is responsible for developing positive intergovernmental relations and raising the profile of the Company with all levels of Government – international, federal, provincial, and municipal – in addition to working closely with the local indigenous communities in the region.
Kathia Angela Luce Rock
Kathia Angela Luce Rock is self-employed Innu singer/songwriter whose compositions are diffused on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6RLJjUYaIU) and SOCAM, an aboriginal broadcasting network (http://www.socam.net/katiarock.html). She is a member of the Innu Takuaikan Uashat Mak Mani-Utenam (“ITUM”), an indigenous community located in Quebec, Canada.
Kathia Rock comes from Malioténam (or Mani-utenam), an Aboriginal reserve near Sept-Îles , Quebec.
In the Innu culture, to be able to play the drum, one must first have seen it in one's dreams 1. The drum is supposed to be played only by men. Kathia Rock goes to Montreal to meet Innu women drum players and get their approval 2.
Kathia Rock has participated in many festivals in Europe and Canada. In 2007, she was a finalist at the Petite-Vallée Song Festival. On August 4, 2011, she made an appearance at the Festival Présence autochtone at Place des Festivals de Montréal. She attended the first Manitou Festival on July 15, 2017.