Anne Harding, CP3, Owner, Forum Community Relations Inc.

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The IAP2 Wild Rose Chapter is excited to highlight the outstanding P2 professionals who guide and shape our community of practice in Alberta! 

This month we connected with Anne Harding, CP3, Owner, Forum Community Relations Inc. Below is some of what she had to share about her experiences in Indigenos engagement, the song title that best represents her career, the importance of humility and more.

What song or movie title best describes your career?

The song called The Middle by Jimmy Eat World. It’s a song from the early 2000s. My work is primarily in Indigenous engagement and a lot of my time is as a bridge. I’m in the middle of different perspectives and supporting different organizations, individuals and communities to build shared understanding and see each other's perspectives.

What’s one quality or skill that you think is key to success in the field of engagement?

I would say humility. It’s very important. No matter what your engagement context, it can be easy to think that you know best or you already have the answer. I think being humble and remembering that the answers need to come from the group, that there is collective wisdom when we bring people together – that’s key. Better decisions are made when we get input from people who are affected by those decisions. 

How exactly did you get into the field of P2 and into your current role?

When I was in doing my undergrad, I started studying in tourism and hospitality management because I like working with people but then started to reconsider part way through. I was doing a bunch of informational interviews to figure out what I wanted to do. Somebody mentioned IAP2 and so I went to the Wild Rose Signature Event. I found a room full of people who got paid to talk to people, and it was amazing. I decided that was what I wanted to do. I was a bit unique in the sense that this was truly my first career out of school. I found an intern role in Aboriginal Affairs at the time, with an oil and gas company. I learned all about Aboriginal consultation and meaningful engagement and that set me on my career path.

Do you have a favorite work tool, technique, gadget, anything like that that you can't live without?

Not a gadget or tool, but something that's been useful in my engagement practice is my medicine bag. At many Indigenous engagement sessions, we start off in Ceremony and in a Good Way. I’ve found that if I have a variety of medicines that have been harvested following proper protocol, I can offer them to whoever is asked to open the session. If I forget it or decide not to bring it, that’s the wrong choice. It's always useful.

What's a common misconception people have about your work?

In Indigenous engagement today, I'd say the biggest misconception is that you have to be Indigenous to do meaningful Indigenous engagement. My experience as a non-Indigenous person working in this space for 20 years has taught me there’s absolutely an important role for non-Indigenous people to play. For sure there are spaces and places that also must be Indigenous-led, and when that’s the case I make sure to support from the background or not participate, as appropriate. I think there's a lot of hesitation, though, for non-Indigenous engagement professionals and a perception that it's not their role. I would say that I disagree.

What does it mean to you to have your CP3? Why was that important to you?

I think I was the first person in Canada, possibly in North America, to get my CP3, who at the time was embedded in an organization and not a consultant. Because I had been engaging in mostly a regulatory context, I didn’t have sufficient project examples from work. So I ended up using volunteer work I had done for two of my three project examples. For me, getting my CP3 was a lot about personal knowledge and credibility – knowing that I was indeed a capable engagement professional.

Is there anything else that we didn't cover that you would like to chat about or share with people?

At a couple points in the last 20 years, IAP2 accelerated my career development, so I would also say that volunteering with your professional association should be a key goal for anybody. The opportunities that I had to build a professional network, but also to apply engagement practices in a volunteer context alongside mentors who had been doing it for a while were really beneficial. People gave me ideas and I could learn from them.  You truly get out what you put into it.

Do you know someone in the field of public participation who you think should be our next member in the spotlight? Email your suggestions to info@iap2wildrose.ca