Topher Burke- President

 

Pheb Goulet – Vice President

 

Cherrie Burke -Treasurer

 
 

Kalista Pruden-Women’s Representative

 

Monica Fisher- Member at Large

I was born and raised in Invermere B.C.  I was raised as a strong, proud Métis woman by my Métis mother Debra Fisher (McGilvery), Scottish/English descendant father Ken Fisher and spent much of her life with close connections to her extended family in particular her Nanny (Kokum) Evelyn McGilvery (Bourassa) and James (Streak) McGilvery both originally from Saskatchewan.  My Métis family roots come from the Red River Valley with family names Bourassa, Boyer, Dumont.  

Born and raised in the Columbia Valley I have been exposed to many sports and activities.  I enjoy spending time outside and enjoy mountain biking, hiking, water sports, skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.  

I greatly enjoy international travel having been throughout Central America, parts of Europe, Uganda, Tanzania, Peru, Australia and New Zealand. After returning from Scotland and England, I landed in Calgary to focus my energy on my Post Secondary Education.  I have and continue to work in food and beverage having spend 26 years doing so.  I have worked in various positions which include cooking, serving, bartending, General Management and sales.  I enjoy meeting new people, being busy and watching how food brings people together.  My post secondary education is in Social Work and Disability Studies.  I have always been a helper and working in a helping role for over 17 years.  In Calgary I focused much of my employment working with individuals struggling with mental health, homelessness and addiction.  

I moved back to the valley 8 years ago with my Métis husband Bert Bodry to Invermere.  I am a proud “bonus mom” of 3 smart, kind, beautiful Métis daughters.   I currently work as an Indigenous Education Support Worker at our local high school.  I have been at David Thompson Secondary for 6 years.  I love my job, I love the kids I work with and their families.  

In my volunteer life I have sat in various positions Director with Mountain of Hope Society, organizer for the Tim Goldie Fundraiser, assisted with many fundraising initiatives and more recently with Columbia Valley Métis as VP for 1 year and President for 2 years.  I have decided to step back on all volunteering to focus my energy on my culture and my people. I want all Métis to be proud of their roots, their community and have pride.  As President I want to focus my time on growing our communities pride, fighting for our Métis rights, cultural connections and supports.  

 

We are a strong, proud, independent group of people and I enjoy getting to meet all our relations in the work I do with CVM.