Kristin Kozar appointed Executive Director, Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre
Kristin Kozar is the Executive Director of Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. Her appointment is official as of October 18, 2023. Kozar’s affirmed position with the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre is a welcomed and celebrated announcement.
“On behalf of the staff and partners of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, I am delighted to see Kristin Kozar officially take on the role of Executive Director,” says Dr. Tricia Logan, Academic Director, Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre.
Kozar has been the interim Executive Director since 2022. In her leadership she has expanded the team while building transparency into the work of the Centre. She is working collaboratively with senior staff and managers to establish a robust strategic plan for the Centre. The Centre’s work, going forward, will be grounded in Coast Salish traditional protocols and Indigenous ways of knowing.
“Kristin carries with her, teachings and community-based knowledges that guide the work and strengthen her resolve when she advocates definitively for Indigenous rights, especially for rights to information and data sovereignty,” says Dr. Logan.
Kozar is deeply committed to being in service to Survivors, intergenerational Survivors and all Indigenous Peoples. Her work directly advocates for Indigenous communities right to data sovereignty and is reflected by her strengthening collaborations and partnerships between Indigenous communities across British Columbia and the Centre. Kozar’s vision is to ensure that Survivors and their families have greater access to records, which includes walking alongside communities in their healing journey and determination to share their truth, as well as to establish and manage their own records.
“Kristin works and leads with care and with a respectful dedication to supporting Residential School Survivors and intergenerational Survivors,” says Dr. Logan.
“I am extremely grateful to Kristin for her thoughtful leadership since becoming interim Executive Director in 2022, and am thrilled that with this appointment she will continue to advance the invaluable work of the Centre,” says Dr. Gage Averill UBC Vancouver’s Provost and Vice-President, Academic
Kozar has answered the calls of Survivors by initiating the Oral Testimony Program where Survivors can share their truth, histories, and testimonies about their experience with Residential Schools. She has also partnered with Amber Kostuchenko, Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre on the research project, Mistreated: The legacy of Indian hospitals in BC and Alberta.
Kozar has substantial professional experience in the corporate world through her previous work as a regional district manager, as well as academic experience as a professor at the UBC iSchool. A proud member of the Hwlitsum First Nation, Kozar brings a wealth of traditional knowledge with her that grounds the work the staff at Centre does with Indigenous communities and in their day-to-day responsibilities.
“Kristin is an exceptional mentor and colleague, who leads through partnership, to ‘walk alongside’ team members with integrity and transparency, demonstrating how lateral kindness can support transformative change,” says Dr. Logan.
Congratulations, Kristin Kozar!