She is of Mi’kmaq and Celtic Nations, is of the Fish Clan, and is also known as The Woman Who Passes on the Teachings. She is the Academic Coordinator of Ryerson University’s Chang School of Continuing Education Certificate in Indigenous Knowledges and Experiences in Canada, serves as the Chair of Ryerson University’s Aboriginal Education Council and is the Board President of the Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto. She has published extensively on the value of Aboriginal knowledges in the helping professions, connections between residential schools and child welfare to homelessness, food insecurity, substance misuse and poverty, violence towards Aboriginal women and spirituality. Prior to joining the academy, Cyndy worked for several years as a helper/social worker and consultant in Aboriginal agencies and communities across the country.