Rebecca Withers

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT REBECCA WITHERS

Experienced health care operations manager in Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) Services with a strong focus on working in partnership and collaboration with First Nations communities to establish and develop MHSU programs that meet the needs of community members. I excel in the areas of program development and implementation, quality improvement, and clinical MHSU knowledge. I am a compassionate and empathic leader with a strong capacity to lead systems level and strategic change. I have direct experience working in rural and remote Indigenous communities with a demonstrated ability to build rapport and connection with First Nations communities, staff, and key stakeholders in a culturally safe way. With a strong working knowledge of the recommendations contained in the “In Plain Sight” report, I have a deep understanding of the on-going impacts of colonization on the social determinants of health for people who are Indigenous in BC and work daily to improve the delivery of culturally safe MHSU services to the First Nations communities that I’m honoured to work alongside. Before Canada and BC were formed, Indigenous peoples lived in balance and interconnectedness with the land and water in which the necessities of life were provided. Due to the impacts of colonization and Indigenous-specific racism, health disparities persist. Healthy lands, healthy people. I acknowledge and recognize these homelands and the stewardship of Indigenous peoples of this land. It is with this humility that I work as an ally towards building a relationship of reconciliation. Therefore, in gratitude, I acknowledge that I live, work, and play on the traditional territory of the Tla’amin Nation.