What has Ankur done?

Nursing

My experience in healthcare leadership has shaped how I lead.

It has taught me how to listen, advocate, work within complex systems, and build conditions where others can succeed.  Fundamentally, healthcare provision is based in ensuring services are appropriately tailored and adapted to the needs of its population. Good healthcare is care shaped around the population it serves. That means listening, organizing, and then actually doing something about what you heard. I have sought to advance the profession, and patient care across all fields, supporting scope optimization, workplace safety, and the development of our skilled workforce. 

I have served the profession through various forums and boards of governance, seen through my tenure on the board of the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association and the Canadian Nurses Association, as well as through an internationally appointed role with the International Council of Nurses Student and Early Career Nurse Alliance. 

I also serve as the New and Young Nurses Representative for the BC Nurses Union, North West Region. Here, I supporting workforce development and worker's rights for those first entering the field.

Really, what I continue to reinforce, and work to embody, is that an effective leader is one who develops those around them. One that creates the functional conditions for others to thrive and contribute back effectively into the same systems which supported them.

Those are the skills municipal government demands. Kitimat needs councillors who listen to residents, understand the practical realities behind an issue, work collaboratively with staff and fellow elected officials, and advocate effectively when decisions affecting our community are being made somewhere else. My career has given me years of experience doing exactly that in complex systems where the stakes matter to people's everyday lives.

My work and passion towards nursing and healthcare service provision could fill a whole page within itself, so I'll attempt to maintain some brevity here, and let it show throughout the lower facets of who I am. 

Education

Education is a tool to improve the lives of my neighbors and serve others. 

I was fortunate to be raised in a community that invested in my education, from Nechako and MEMSS through to CMTN & UNBC.  That belief has led me to become involved in education myself, I particularly have a passion for the intersection of workforce development, leadership, and advocacy, with planetary health being a key focus of engagement in our current global circumstance. 

I have carried that experience forward by contributing to education myself, including as an author of an in-progress university-level textbook with Springer, in planetary health nursing and midwifery, where I am leading the chapter on global advocacy.

I am also often requested to deliver guest presentations, panels and lectures for post-secondary institutions, and professional associations. This work ranges from local presentations at UNBC, provincial audiences at UBC, to leading national/global presentations including an international seminar for the Nurses Association of Jamaica, regarding the field of planetary health following the devastating events of Hurricane Melissa this past year. 

A community's strength is tied to whether its people have opportunities to learn, develop, participate, and build a future here. We should be creating those opportunities for local residents, supporting the people who educate and develop our workforce, and making sure that the knowledge and leadership being developed in our community has a place to come home to. 

Movement Building and Organizational Development

I’ve also spent much of my career working to build organizations, movements, and opportunities for people to contribute to a shared, better future.

I served as a volunteer organizer for the Youth Climate Corps BC. A growing organization which aligns with my values of creating gainful paid opportunities for youth fields related to planetary health. I supported municipal engagement, strategic planning, and government relations. This included drafting briefing notes and developing informational materials for the 2024 Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Convention, contributing to municipal engagement and a successful resolution supporting the organization’s work. Provincial response included the $3,000,000 inclusion we attained in Provincial Budget 2024. I've crafted policy, sat at the tables with leaders, and collaborated with teams to achieve real gains.

That commitment starts at home. In Kitimat, I’ve seen the challenges facing young people in our community, particularly around mental health and access to meaningful opportunities. So, I joined health professionals, youth, and community advocates to build the 'Youth of Kitimat," a volunteer initiative focused on supporting youth development in the region. Our work includes attaining grants, developing events, creating opportunities for youth to gain experience, and building the networks young people need to participate meaningfully in our community.

I believe strongly that Kitimat does not thrive unless our youth do. Young people need to be heard, supported, and meaningfully engaged in the community they call home. We have a responsibility to create opportunities for those who come after us. We owe ourselves a stronger connection between generations and ensuring that all residents can see a future for themselves here.

I have also brought that same commitment to public health and accountability to Kitimat's industrial context. This meant working to ensure that the health of residents is part of how we think about industrial development, including listening to residents who experience the impacts of industry firsthand. 

I have led a provincial health campaign around understanding the impacts of the provincial LNG industry, including a local town hall in Kitimat, and a delegation to our council requesting a letter to the province asking for a cumulative independent health impact assessment of the industry. This matches the motions and letters passed by the municipalities of Terrace, Hazelton, Dawson Creek, Squamish and New Westminster. 

This request was rejected in a 4-2 majority; however, the community has become more aware of monitoring gaps, industrial compromise, and the BC Energy Regulator has increased monitoring since, with the return of their Roving Air Monitor Van in Kitimat. When there are gaps in information, monitoring, or accountability, we have a responsibility to identify them and make sure they are addressed.   

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I've spent my career fighting for the health of my patients, for workforce development, and for good health system governance. Now I want the opportunity to fight for my community. The community that raised me deserves a council member with the skill, capacity, and time to truly engage with residents and deliver genuinely representative governance.