Artist

Breaking the Silence: Acknowledging the Truth and Empowering Diverse Community Voices

Dr. Jenny Kay Dupuis, Educator, Writer, and Researcher

In this presentation, Jenny Kay shares her journey behind what inspired and motivated her to break the silence and create the bestselling children’s book, I Am Not a Number.  Jenny Kay will share her reflections on working with family, community, and the literary world to tell stories with considerations for responsibilities, ethics, and protocols.  She will also share her knowledge of the power of teaching, telling, and hearing difficult stories, including ones that focus on the realities of diversity, human rights, and social justice issues through diverse literature such as I Am Not a Number, in classrooms, libraries, and community spaces.

Jenny Kay holds a Doctor of Educational Leadership. She will draw on this expertise and her research in leadership and diversity, equity, social justice, and building capacity for system enhancement and innovation to explore what are the possibilities when we unlock the barriers to create a culture of empowerment, respect, trust, and innovation.

Dr. Jenny Kay Dupuis was raised in Northern Ontario and is a proud member of Nipissing First Nation. She is a multi-award winning Indigenous author, educator, and artist whose expertise supports the advancement of Indigenous education and the importance of relationship-building today. Jenny Kay’s interest in her family’s past and her commitment to teaching about truth and Indigenous realities through literature drew her to co-write ‘I Am Not a Number’, a best-selling children’s book about her granny’s experience at a residential school in Ontario. 

 Jenny Kay’s efforts have also taken her around the world where she started out at a young age being selected to represent North America to help inform and draft a youth action plan which was adopted at the World Youth Forum of the United Nations System. With a career and research spanning throughout various sectors, Jenny Kay explores her work through various leadership and diversity, organizational learning and development, and social justice theory frameworks to help others to better understand how to support raising awareness when it comes to Indigenous realities in the fields of education, literature, and the arts. Jenny Kay is known for her dedication and exceptional knowledge where she has supported corporations, non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), as well as school districts, universities and colleges. She has supported these organizations to develop a deep understanding of leadership and diversity while moving their organizational structures and initiatives forward. 

 Jenny Kay completed her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Calgary. She holds a Master of Education in Special Education and a Bachelor of Arts in History and Visual Arts. She is also a certified teacher and learning strategist. Jenny was awarded the J.S. Woodsworth Individual Leadership Award for Human Rights and Equity for her significant achievements. Jenny Kay makes Toronto, Ontario her home.

You can follow Jenny Kay on Twitter and Instagram.