Join us on December 13, 2024 at 8:15am at Launch Co-Working for the final CreativeMornings Winnipeg of 2024! Our speaker is Salena Starling, founder and CEO of Community of Big Hearts. Salena will be speaking to the CreativeMornings global theme of CYCLE.

What to expect at a CM Winnipeg event (beside inspiration and fun):

8:15am Arrival and check in – grab a coffee and make a new friend (or just smile at someone while making a cool nametag)

8:30am Refill coffee and settle in for a great event!

8:35am Welcome, info about CreativeMornings and listen to our featured local performer

8:45am Community creative engagement activity – introvert approved (and introvert friendly!)

8:55am Intro of Speaker

9:00am Speaker and Q and A

9:25am Second performance

9:30am Wrap up and exchange contact info with your new friend!

NOTE: ASL interpretation is available at all CM Winnipeg events.

Breaking Cycles: Creating Change through Understanding and Reconciliation  

In this powerful session, Salena Starling shares her journey of overcoming systemic challenges as a foster care survivor and Indigenous youth. Through personal stories and deep insights, Salena sheds light on how intergenerational trauma and historic injustices continue to affect Indigenous peoples today. The talk focuses on breaking harmful cycles by fostering understanding, addressing unconscious biases, and promoting truth and reconciliation in communities and workplaces. Salena emphasizes the importance of empathy, education, and action, inspiring participants to be part of creating lasting, equitable change.

Meet our Speaker: Salena Starling

Salena Starling is an Indigenous youth advocate, public speaker, and the President and CEO of the Community of Big Hearts. A proud First Nations, Swampy Cree woman from the Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN), Salena has dedicated her life to promoting Truth and Reconciliation and uplifting Indigenous youth, especially those who have experienced the foster care system.

As a foster care survivor herself, Salena’s work is deeply rooted in her personal experiences. Growing up in poverty, navigating the child welfare system, and overcoming generational trauma, she has become a powerful voice for change. By sharing her story, she raises awareness about the challenges Indigenous youth face, including issues like poverty, addiction, sex trafficking, and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S+).

Salena’s work spans workshops, presentations, and the Reconciliation Road Challenge—a national initiative designed to make reconciliation a daily conversation within organizations. With a mission to create equitable and understanding communities, she has worked with businesses across Canada, helping them understand Indigenous history and its lasting impacts on Indigenous peoples today.

A public speaker since the age of 11, Salena’s advocacy extends beyond education. She is a TEDx speaker and a graduate of the CanU program. Her passion lies in empowering Indigenous youth, reforming the foster care system, and ensuring that reconciliation becomes a meaningful, action-driven practice across society.

Our CreativeMornings theme for December is CYCLE. It was chosen by our Freiburg chapter in Germany and illustrated by Isabell Meister. 

Our world runs on cycles. There’s the frantic buzz of the 24-hour news cycle. The boom and bust of economic cycles. The changing seasons. Every plant, animal, and organism exists in a life cycle of birth, growth, reproduction, and death. Water flows through a cycle of evaporation into vapor to condensation in clouds to precipitation that falls as rain or snow. The menstrual cycle. The circadian rhythm of our sleep cycle. 

Cycles are circular and keep things moving. Which cycles are you living in tune with? And which ones are you fighting vainly against?