Illustrations by Ocean Kiana
Dr. Melanie Goodchild, moose clan, is an Anishinaabekwe (Ojibway woman) from Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation and Ketegaunseebee (Garden River) First Nation. She is a systems thinking and complexity scholar who offers a uniquely Anishinaabe approach to making sense of society's most entrenched problems. Melanie holds a PhD in Social & Ecological Sustainability from the School of Environment, Resources & Sustainability (SERS) in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. She was a Research Fellow with the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation & Resilience (WISIR) from 2015-2022 and was an Alumni Gold Medal Award finalist 2023. She is a faculty member with the u-school for Transformation by the Presencing Institute and the Wolf Willow Institute for Systems Learning. Melanie is an International Women's Forum (IWF) Leadership Fellows Program alumni (2015-16), a program sponsored by Harvard Business School and INSEAD. She lives with her family in Baawaating (place of the rapids), in traditional Anishinaabe territory, part of the Three Fires Confederacy and she is currently the Academic Director of Makwa Waakaa'igan at Algoma University.
Presenting niigani miinigowiziiwin
This beautiful gaa-gii-kwe-win (teaching) is the story of my walk in the woods with complexity. Stories are mashkiki (medicine) and this spirit being has been brought to life through a collaboration with Greater Good Studio, Anishinaabe artist Ocean Kiana, and by yarning with my relatives Eleanor Skead and Bert Landon. Miigwech (thank you) for being here, to share in the telling of this story. You can view the digital flibook or click on the side arrows below to advance through the storybook. You can also play the audio of me reading the story.
​
Illustrator Ocean Kiana's iPad recording, progress on the composition for Niigani Miinigowiziiwin (we give these gifts to the future)
Systems & complexity consulting
A systems approach
I have a PhD in Social & Ecological Sustainability from the University of Waterloo, School of Environment, Resources & Sustainability (SERS) in the Faculty of Environment. My research focus was the interface of Anishinaabe gikendaasowin (our original ways of knowing) with systems thinking and complexity science. I was a Research Fellow with the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation & Resilience (2015-2022) and I was a gold medal alumni award finalist 2023. To make real and lasting change we need to recognize that we are part of the systems we seek to change. I facilitate collective wisdom journeys to uncover pathways to heal self, and heal systems.
Gaa-gitigewaad
My consulting company is located in Ketegaunseebee First Nation. I help communities & teams engaged in systems transformation work get a solid grounding in systems principles and practices from a uniquely Anishinaabeg perspective. I offer a limited menu of consulting services due to the nature of my demanding schedule.