Leanne McLeod discusses building good relations and walking each other home

By Laura Mushumanski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – The bridge that is between worlds, centres around visits with our Indigenous communities to learn how to serve and support our Indigenous brothers and sisters in a good way. This is the behind the scenes work that the manager of the National Corporate team within Indigenous Relations at Rogers Communications, Leanne McLeod co-creates for an environment to hear story, to laugh, to connect from the heart, and to walk beside each other.

“Our team is the first in the industry, with 9 Indigenous people on our team,” says Leanne, our Anishnaabe sister.  “We focus on outreach, change management, and providing services [with Rogers communications]. Our top priority is building strong relationships with Indigenous communities and providing services to meet their specific needs. We listen, we learn, we collaborate to ensure that the community voices are heard, and needs are met.”

From an Indigenous worldview, we are here to help each other in the best way that we can – we are walking each other home. Our connection to community is deeply rooted in taking care of each other as if we are kin, and everyone is seen through the eyes that we are all related – as brothers and sisters.

“We build that digital divide; we offer connectivity, economic development, community and cultural support to the communities,” shares Leanne. “Every community is different, so we approach them in different ways. Everyone has their own story and own way on how to do things – we are there to build trust and do things the right way.”

The work that McLeod does is embedded in the understanding of, “how can we come in here, not take anything from you, and make your life better?” and with this Indigenous way of knowing and being, the work for Leanne is rewarding.

“The relationships we build and the after effect of when we’re helping out communities and what it brings to the community [is rewarding]. A community with connectivity, a whole new world opens up for them…they can go to school, learn, communicate. It’s just a whole new world with safety, education, scholarships…there’s so many avenues that we deal with that it is overwhelming in the ways that we can help.”

Good relations are created from a place of reciprocity, humility, understanding, and compassion. For McLeod, she walks with this understanding as a way of life with everything that she does to honour her ancestors and the teachings that were inherently passed onto her – and it all starts with taking her time to learn and listen.

“There so much good that we do – things take time though, they take a lot of time. It’s not easy, and its heavy work…Each community has different needs, they need different support [because] there are trust issues [stemming] from so much wrong that was done to these communities…So [the Indigenous relations team] goes into those communities and builds that bridge.”

McLeod becomes the bridge between two worlds – the backbone to the frontline people, the one guiding the Indigenous relations team while they engage with community. This work doesn’t come easy though. The understanding of walking in good relations with everyone and everything that resides on Mother Earth is a foundational teaching that over time becomes embodied as a way of life. She says, “Don’t be afraid to speak your truth, walk tall. always be your true self. You don’t need to hide who you are.”

We don’t know what we know, until we know.