Jac is a Metis scholar and Social Worker with recognized family membership in the homeland of the Manitoba Red River Metis. Jac’s experience ranges from executive-level positions in health, education, social work, and political governance bridging complex systemic understandings with grassroots meaningfulness.  As a community social worker, Jac has worked with many Indigenous peoples in the areas of addictions, mental health, homelessness, policy analysis and development, and community-based wellness initiatives. Jac completed a PhD at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Jac has been a sessional instructor and contract teaching faculty with two universities. As a sessional instructor at the University of Manitoba Master of Social Work program, Jac’s foundation was based in Indigenous Knowledges teaching alongside Indigenous Knowledge Holders. Jac also taught at Wilfrid Laurier University in the Master of Social Work program and in the Centre for Indigegogy. Jac’s research interests are Indigenous theory, methodology, social policy, self-determination, decolonization, and Indigenous identity with a particular lens on multiple gender expressions and ways of being, Métis identity and Indigenous-Nation specificity.

Jac’s dissertation research titled Anishinaabeg Niizh Manitoag: Asha A’maa: We Were Always Here, highlights a way of knowing and understanding multiple gender expressions from an Anishinaabeg worldview. This collection of knowledge brings forward in-depth insights and Indigenous ways of seeing the world through the perspectives of Indigenous teachers, Elders, knowledge keepers and storytellers. These contributions bridge the recognition of historical, traditional ways of being with the contemporary understanding of two-spirit ways of being.

Jac’s research path delves into Indigenous identity regarding intersectional dynamics. Many of these intersections include challenges that affect the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples. Applications of pan-identity often conflate history, experiences, and circumstances that are piecemeal understandings of only one nation but are assumed to be the same for all. Jac’s work has focused on bringing cultural stories, teachings, and traditional ways of being and knowing to light and bridging these pieces with contemporary use and understanding of nation-specific identities. Jac’s primary role is to teach Indigenous initiatives that traverse the lives of Indigenous people and shed light on not only the colonial impacts but also the strength and resiliency demonstrated by Indigenous Peoples through time.

Selected Publications:

Arayata, C.B., Davis, C., Nobiss, J., Vo, T., Sookpaiboon, S., Khan, M., Zafarr, F., Oakes, H., Van Giessen, E., Woodford, M.R., & other members of the Disability Report Working Group &

Thriving On Campus team (2022). Thriving On Campus: The Experiences of BIPOC 2SLGBTQ+ Students. Thriving On Campus, Wilfrid Laurier University: Kitchener, ON.

Nobiss, J.F. (2015). Making the invisible – visible: A phenomenological study of the lived experiences of two-spirit women [Unpublished master’s thesis]. University of Northern British Columbia.

Martis, T., & Executive Team: Cook, C., Edwards, J., Hart, C., van Massenhoven, J., Moffatt, M., Nobiss, J. (2012). Framework for action: Cultural proficiency & diversity. Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Nobiss, J. (2009). Pre- and post-hospital notification: Improving Aboriginal patient outcomes. Healthcare Excellence Canada. EXTRA Executive Training for Research Application. Fellowship Program. Cohort 6.

Nobiss, J. (2001). Aboriginal women with addictions: A discussion paper on the triple marginalization in the health care system. Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health. Northern Secretariat, University of Northern British Columbia.